An asteroid impact on Mars 11 million years ago sent fragments of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these pieces eventually crashed into Earth, making its way to Purdue University and becoming known as the Lafayette Meteorite.&nbsp;



This rare find has been instrumental in unlocking secrets of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/manganese-discovery-ancient-mars-earth-like-water-lake-habitable/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mars</a>’ watery past, with new research recently published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2443" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geochemical Perspective Letters</a> that provides insight into the timing and nature of Mars’ ancient water activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-mars-watery-past">Tracing Mars’ watery past</h2>



Scientists have long known that the Lafayette Meteorite interacted with liquid water on Mars, but the exact timing of this event was uncertain.&nbsp;



Dr. Marissa Tremblay, an assistant professor at Purdue University’s <a href="https://www.eaps.purdue.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences</a> (EAPS), led an international research team to determine the age of the water-altered minerals in the meteorite, pinpointing it to 742 million years ago.



“Dating these minerals can therefore tell us when there was liquid water at or near the surface of Mars in the planet's geologic past,” Tremblay explained.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that while liquid water wasn’t abundant on the surface at this time, it likely came from melting subsurface ice, or permafrost, caused by intermittent volcanic activity - a phenomenon still observed on Mars today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-a-moment-in-mars-geological-timeline">Preserving a moment in Mars’ geological timeline</h2>



The study not only identified when water interacted with the meteorite but also established that the dating was unaffected by events after the meteorite left Mars.&nbsp;



“The age could have been affected by the impact that ejected the Lafayette Meteorite from Mars, the heating it experienced during the 11 million years it was floating in space, or the heating when it fell to Earth,” Tremblay said.&nbsp;



However, the team confirmed that none of these factors altered the age, validating the timeline of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-lost-most-of-its-water-but-where-did-it-go/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a> interaction.



Study co-author and Purdue EAPS researcher Ryan Ickert applied heavy isotope analysis to further verify that previous data on the meteorite’s water-rock interaction had likely been skewed by other geological processes.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This meteorite uniquely has evidence that it has reacted with water. The exact date of this was controversial, and our publication dates when water was present,” said Ickert.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mysterious-journey-of-the-meteorite">Mysterious journey of the meteorite </h2>



The Lafayette Meteorite’s journey to Purdue is something of a mystery. It was found in a university drawer in 1931, though how it got there remains unknown.&nbsp;



In previous research, Tremblay and her team used crop disease markers from organic contaminants found on the meteorite to narrow down when it might have fallen to Earth.



Once the meteorite was ejected from Mars, it endured constant cosmic ray bombardment in space, which produced certain isotopes, offering clues to its time of impact on Earth.&nbsp;



“Many meteoroids are produced by impacts on Mars and other planetary bodies, but only a handful will eventually fall to Earth,” Tremblay said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planetary-time-capsules">Planetary time capsules</h2>



Meteorites like Lafayette serve as planetary time capsules, offering invaluable data on the geological and environmental history of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-meteorites-can-be-traced-to-three-asteroid-families/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">home worlds</a>. With their dense structure, metallic content, and magnetic properties, meteorites are often distinguishable from Earth rocks.&nbsp;



“We can identify meteorites by studying what minerals are present in them, their mineral relationships, and by checking for a fusion crust formed during entry into Earth’s atmosphere,” Tremblay explained.&nbsp;



By analyzing these traits and their chemical signatures, scientists can often determine a meteorite’s planetary origin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-history-of-meteorites">Complex history of meteorites</h2>



This research marks a significant milestone for the team, which included scientists from institutions across the globe, such as the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center (SUERC), the University of St. Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Bristol, and London’s <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural History Museum</a>.&nbsp;



“Before moving to Purdue, Ryan and I were both based at SUERC, where the argon-argon isotopic analyses of the alteration minerals in Lafayette took place,” Tremblay said.&nbsp;



Their partners at SUERC and the Natural History Museum have long contributed to studying Lafayette’s complex history.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dating-minerals-in-meteorites">Dating minerals in meteorites</h2>



Dating the water-altered minerals in Lafayette, and others in its class of Martian meteorites called nakhlites, has been a central focus in planetary science, as they uniquely capture moments when liquid water was present on Mars.&nbsp;



Due to complex alterations over time, previous attempts to date these minerals were plagued with uncertainties.&nbsp;



However, the team has now developed a robust dating method that could be applied to other meteorites, enhancing our understanding of when water might have been present on Mars and other planetary bodies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-planetary-science">The future of planetary science</h2>



Thanks to the Stahura Undergraduate Meteorite Fund, Tremblay and Ickert’s research on the Lafayette Meteorite will continue, with the involvement of undergraduate students in Purdue EAPS.&nbsp;



This opportunity allows students to engage in real-world planetary science, helping to reveal the intricate histories of meteoritic samples.



Tremblay and her team’s work on the Lafayette Meteorite highlights its scientific significance, revealing a complex history that ties it to Mars’ geological past.&nbsp;



Their findings not only deepen our understanding of Mars but also set a precedent for future studies that might unveil even more about the red planet’s climate history, water activity, and potential for supporting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-mars-rocks-contain-signs-of-life-scientists-call-to-bring-them-back-to-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a>.



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Meteorite that struck Mars reveals when the planet had liquid water

An asteroid impact on Mars 11 million years ago sent fragments of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these pieces eventually crashed into Earth, making its way to Purdue University and becoming known as the Lafayette Meteorite.&nbsp; This rare find has been instrumental in unlocking secrets of Mars’ watery past, with new research recently published in the journal Geochemical Perspective Letters that provides insight into the timing and nature of Mars’ ancient water activity. Tracing Mars’ watery past Scientists have long known that the Lafayette...

On a mild summer evening, grasshoppers and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mating-crickets-lower-their-standards-when-exposed-to-traffic-noise/">crickets</a> share an impressive concert to anyone walking by with their chirping. The sounds are usually males trying to attract females to mate with them. But some can be the sound of a rivalry when two males get too close to each other.



In Germany, there are more than 80 Orthoptera species. The feeding habits of grasshoppers are a scientifically exciting topic. Most recently, scientists have been looking to understand how food webs can remain stable under a changing climate.&nbsp;



A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a> has investigated how grasshoppers interact with plants. The researchers investigated orthoptera-plant communities in different regions to complete an analysis along a climatic gradient, at altitudes ranging from 250 to 2,100 meters.



"Grasshoppers are very important for many open grassland ecosystems," said zoologist Sebastian König from the <a href="https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/university/">University of Würzburg</a> in Bavaria, Germany. "The insects are an important food source for birds. And as herbivores, they remove up to 30 percent of the plant biomass in a meadow, thus promoting the co-occurrence of many plant species."



During the summers of 2019, 2020 and 2021, the team determined which grasshopper species fed on which plants on 41 grassland sites. They observed more than 3,000 individuals of 54 species and collected the fecal pellets of the animals to analyze the plant remains they contained.



The ecologists tested a hypothesis that it should be advantageous for insects at higher altitudes to feed on a broader range of plant species, because in high alpine environments, the choice of food plants is limited. Therefore, and because of environmental variability, it is advisable not to be too choosy there.



The study partially confirms the theory, as grasshoppers were found to eat a relatively wide range of plants in cold regions. The experts also found that this applies to warm habitats.&nbsp;



However, in temperate habitats the number of plant species is large and grasshoppers are more specialized, feeding on plants that are closely related. Resource composition also plays an important role for the herbivores. For example, grasshoppers with a preference for grasses dominate in meadows with a high proportion of grasses.



"Our results suggest that climate and plant community composition influence the dietary specialization of herbivores. If herbivores devour many different species, this could be an adaptation and a prerequisite for being able to survive in climatically extreme habitats," the researchers concluded.&nbsp;



The scientists now want to gather information about the food niche breadth of herbivorous insects. Next, they will analyze the microorganisms that live in the guts of the grasshoppers. This could reveal potential relationships between the diet and the diversity and composition of the microorganisms.



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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

New clues about the feeding habits of grasshoppers

On a mild summer evening, grasshoppers and crickets share an...

At least half a dozen studies in the past have found that children gain weight at a faster rate during the summer holiday months than during the months they attend school. This phenomenon has been attributed to changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restaurant-menus-could-guide-more-climate-friendly-diets/">diet</a> and activity patterns during summer months when children are at home and tend to spend more time in front of screens and consume more unhealthy snacks and sugary beverages.&nbsp;



But a new study that followed changes in mass and height in 3,588 primary school children for five years has now come up with an unexpected result. The US scientists who conducted the study found that children grow faster over the school year than over the summer. And because of the way that weight is usually calculated during these studies, using the body mass index (BMI), the seasonal variation in rate of growth influences the apparent mass of the children.&nbsp;



BMI is calculated using the ratio of body weight in kg to height in meters squared. In the current study, children’s weight and height were measured by nurses twice a year between the time that they entered kindergarten and the time they completed grade 4, a period of five years. The data were used to calculate changes in BMI over the school months and over the summer months.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers found that vertical growth showed a seasonal pattern: children's height increased faster over the school year than over the summer, by an average rate difference of .055 cm/month. In contrast, they found that the rate of weight gain did not differ between seasons, a result that differed from those of previous studies. But with the combination of these two patterns children’s standardized BMI (BMIz) values showed a trend of being higher in summer. In other words, the faster vertical growth during the school months influences the results of BMIz calculations for children during the summer months.&nbsp;



BMIz is individual BMI scaled to the population-specific average BMI, so that a BMIz of one is equal to a BMI one standard deviation above average. Typically, a BMIz of 1.04 is considered overweight, and a BMIz of 1.64 represents an obese individual.



“Despite the pattern of height gain showing greater increase in height during the school year, children's height gain influenced BMIz more strongly during the summer holiday months than during the school year, with weight gain showing a constant increase during the school year,” explained co-author Dr Debbe Thompson, a USDA/ARS research nutritionist and professor at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. “This differential seasonal impact of height and weight on BMIz lead to a healthier BMIz status during the school year."



The researchers statistically reanalyzed the results from their 2013&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23782089/">study</a>, where they followed 3,588 children who entered kindergarten in September 2005, at any of 41 schools in the Fort Bend Independent School District around the city of Sugar Land in Texas. They followed these children, who were five to six years old at the start, until the fall that followed completion of the fourth grade of primary school, five years later. Nurses measured each child's height and weight twice a year, in mid-September and mid-April. The present reanalysis is more powerful than in 2013, say the authors of the study, which is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.793999/full">Frontiers in Physiology</a>.



“Here we show seasonality in standardized body mass index (BMIz), with children gaining height at a greater rate during the school year compared to the summer,” said study first author Dr Jennette P. Moreno, an assistant professor at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.



“The children's rate of weight gain was more consistent than their rate of gain in height across the year, except among children who started to transition to an unhealthy weight status in the summer after completion of the second grade,” said Dr. Moreno.



It is currently not known what causes the seasonal differences in growth rates. “It's possible that the demands of the school year alter children's exposure to the daily light-dark cycle, which may cause the seasonal pattern in height. Additional studies on children who receive year-round schooling might help to answer this question,” said co-author Dr. Craig A Johnston, an associate professor at the Department of Health and Human Performance of the University of Houston.



“What is clear is that children at the greatest risk of becoming overweight and obese have a less pronounced seasonal impact of height gain on BMIz, indicating they would benefit from obesity prevention efforts throughout the year,” concluded Professor Johnston.



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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

Children grow faster during school year, slower in summer

At least half a dozen studies in the past have...

Time spent in front of a screen is part of the modern child’s everyday life. Children aged 8 to 12, for example, spend an average of 4 to 6&nbsp;hours each day watching videos, gaming and socializing using the screens of their digital <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/screen-time-does-not-inhibit-social-skills-among-kids/">devices</a>. Although digital media brings a variety of new experiences to children, it is not known what the effects of these experiences are on the developing minds and cognitive abilities of young people. Although much research has been done, this topic remains hotly debated.&nbsp;



A recent study by researchers from the <a href="https://ki.se/en">Karolinska Institutet</a> in Sweden has focused specifically on the impact of screen time on children’s intelligence, in particular their ability to learn effectively, think rationally, understand complex ideas, and adapt to new situations. The researchers used a sample of just over 9,000 US boys and girls, aged 9 to 10, to investigate how screen habits correlate with the development of cognitive abilities over time.



The team identified three different types of screen time usage: time spent watching&nbsp;TV and online videos;&nbsp;time spent socializing&nbsp;via social media, text, and video chat; and time spent&nbsp;gaming. They estimated the effect of each type of activity on intelligence after accounting for the critical confounding influences of genetic and socioeconomic backgrounds.



At the age of nine or ten, the children performed a battery of psychological tests to gauge their general cognitive abilities (intelligence). The children and their parents were also asked about how much time the children spent watching TV and videos, playing video games and engaging with social media. Then, two years later, just over 5,000 of the children repeated the cognitive tests. This allowed the researchers to study how the children’s performance on the tests varied from the one testing session to the other, and to control for individual differences in the first test.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The results, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11341-2">Scientific Reports</a>, showed that the children spent an average of 2.5 hours a day watching TV, half an hour on social media and one hour playing video games. They also showed that gaming positively impacted the amount of change in intelligence between the two sets of tests, so that children who played more video games at 9 to 10&nbsp;years showed the greatest gains in intelligence two years later. Children who played more games than average showed an increase in their intelligence scores of approximately 2.5 IQ points more than the average increase.&nbsp;



This result was the same for boys and for girls. Surprisingly, watching TV also showed a positive effect on the change in intelligence but, less shockingly, socializing had no effect on cognitive change. No significant effect was observed, positive or negative, for TV-watching or for social media use.



“We didn’t examine the effects of screen behavior on physical activity, sleep, wellbeing or school performance, so we can’t say anything about that,” said Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. “But our results support the claim that screen time generally doesn’t impair children’s cognitive abilities, and that playing video games can actually help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing.”



A fascinating finding of the study is that intelligence is not a constant but can vary during a person’s lifetime. This is in line with other recent research showing that intelligence is not fixed, but is influenced by environmental factors. More profoundly, the positive cognitive impacts of watching videos and playing video games could partially explain the worldwide gradual increase in intelligence scores over the decades, known as the Flynn effect.&nbsp;The authors state that it is probably not a coincidence that the introduction of video games and computer technologies in the 1970s and 1980s coincides with a slight but discernible increase in the measured rate of increase in IQ scores.&nbsp;



“We’ll now be studying the effects of other environmental factors and how the cognitive effects relate to childhood brain development,” said Professor Klingberg.



One limitation of the study is that it only covered US children and did not differentiate between different types of video games, which makes the results difficult to transfer to children in other countries with other gaming habits. There was also a risk of reporting error since screen time and habits were self-rated.



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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

Video games can help boost children’s intelligence

Time spent in front of a screen is part of...

Dragonflies, one of the most ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-have-found-a-terrifying-decline-in-flying-insects/">insect</a> species, are highly skilled flyers, exhibiting a repertoire of complicated flight maneuvers. For instance, they have evolved sophisticated reflexes that enable them to right themselves when falling or after being flipped upside-down during flight. 



According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>, dragonflies’ nimble righting reflexes are complex processes involving signals from their visual system and dynamic muscular control of wing pitch. 



“Insects have evolved sophisticated reflexes to right themselves in mid-air. Their recovery mechanisms involve complex interactions among the physical senses, muscles, body, and wings, and they must obey the laws of flight. We sought to understand the key mechanisms involved in dragonfly righting reflexes and to develop physics-based models for understanding the control strategies of flight maneuvers,” explained the study authors.



By using a series of kinematic analyses, physical modeling, and three-dimensional flight simulations, the scientists discovered that dragonflies use wing pitch asymmetry between the left and the right wings to drive upright recovery in less than 200 milliseconds. 



In a second step, the experts aimed to determine through behavioral experiments whether these wing movements are elicited by upstream sensory signals. They blocked the insects’ visual systems while observing their ability to perform the complex movements required to flip over. This revealed that the loss of visual sensory information impaired the dragonflies’ ability to perform mid-air righting, implying a clear connection between visual signals and the insects’ motor reflexes. 



“These results suggest a pathway from the dragonfly’s visual system to the muscles regulating wing pitch that underly the recovery,” said the study authors.



“The methods developed here offer quantitative tools for inferring insects’ internal actions from their acrobatics, and are applicable to a broad class of natural and robotic flying systems,” they concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abg0946">Science</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

How do dragonflies right themselves in mid-air?

Dragonflies, one of the most ancient insect species, are highly...

Scientists have long recognized the importance of sleeping and dreaming on cognitive processes such as learning or memory. During sleep, we often experience two alternating phases – non-REM sleep (NREM), when the brain mostly “replays” the sensory stimuli experienced when awake, and REM sleep, when spontaneous bursts of intense brain activity produce vivid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dreams-keep-the-brain-from-becoming-too-familiar-with-everyday-life/">dreams</a>. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/">Human Brain Project</a> (HBP) has now used complex simulations of the brain cortex to model how different sleep phases affect learning.



In order to introduce an element of unusualness in the artificial dreams, the scientists took inspiration from a machine learning technique called Generative Adversarial Models (GANs), where two neural networks compete with each other to generate new data from a simple dataset. In this case, a series of simple pictures of objects and animals were combined to produce new artificial images that can look superficially realistic to a human observer.



The researchers simulated the cortex during three distinct states – wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep. During wakefulness, the model is exposed to pictures of dogs, cars, boats, and other animals and objects. During NREM sleep, the model replays these sensory inputs with some occlusions. In REM sleep, the model creates new sensory inputs through the GANs, generating twisted yet realistic versions and combinations of the inputs. 



To test the performance of the object, the scientists used a simple classifier to evaluate how easily the identity of an object could be read from cortical representations.



“Non-REM and REM dreams become more realistic as our model learns,” said study senior author Jakob Jordan, an expert in Computational Neuroscience at the <a href="https://www.unibe.ch/index_eng.html">University of Bern</a>. “While non-REM dreams resemble waking experiences quite closely, REM dreams tend to creatively combine these experiences.”



Interestingly, when the REM phase was suppressed in the model, or when the dreams were made less creative, the accuracy of the classifier decreased. When the NREM phase was removed, the representations tended to become more sensitive to sensory perturbations.



These findings suggest that wakefulness, NREM, and REM sleep have complementary functions for learning: experiencing the stimuli, solidifying those experiences, and discovering semantic concepts.&nbsp;



“We think these findings suggest a simple evolutionary role for dreams, without interpreting their exact meaning,” said study lead author Nicolas Deperrois, a doctoral student in Computational Neuroscience at Bern. “It shouldn't be surprising that dreams are bizarre: this bizarreness serves a purpose. The next time you’re having crazy dreams, maybe don't try to find a deeper meaning - your brain may be simply organizing your experiences,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/76384.pdf">eLife</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

Strange dreams help us organize our experiences

Scientists have long recognized the importance of sleeping and dreaming...

While the sounds of many animals are already well-documented (such as bird calls or whale songs), the enormous variety of sounds that fish make has largely been ignored until recently by the scientific community. However, an international team of researchers has now created a website called <a href="https://fishsounds.net/index.js">FishSounds</a> - the first online, interactive repository of its kind, where visitors can browse audio files, sound visualizations, and more.



“People are often surprised to learn that fish make sounds,” said Audrey Looby, a doctoral student at the <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a>. “But you could make the case that they are as important for understanding fish as bird sounds are for studying birds.”



Fish make noises in various ways. Some species, like the toadfish, have evolved organs or other structures in their bodies which produce what scientists call “active sounds.” Others produce just incidental or “passive sounds,” such as chewing or splashing. However, even these types of sounds can convey important information.&nbsp;



According to scientists, fish evolved to make these diverse sounds because sound is a highly effective way to communicate underwater. Since sound travels faster underwater than through the air, it is an excellent communication medium for marine creatures. “Fish sounds contain a lot of important information,” said Looby. “Fish may communicate about territory, predators, food, and reproduction. And when we can match fish sounds to fish species, their sounds are a kind of calling card that can tell us what kinds of fish are in an area and what they are doing.”



Knowing the location or movement patterns of different fish species is crucial for environmental monitoring, fisheries management, and conservation efforts. In the future, scientists and conservation activists could use hydrophones (special types of underwater microphones) to gather data regarding the distribution of fish species. However, they will first need to be able to identify which fish they are hearing.&nbsp;



Looby and her colleagues hope that this new online database will play a major role in facilitating this process. The website’s creators plan to add a feature that will allow people to submit their own fish sound recordings, as well as other interactive features, such as a world map with clickable fish sound data points.&nbsp;&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

Fish sounds database may help conserve underwater ecosystems

While the sounds of many animals are already well-documented (such...

Our school textbooks teach us that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-grow-plants-in-lunar-soil-for-the-first-time/">plants</a> make their own food using water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and energy from sunlight. This process, known as photosynthesis, would thus be limited by the availability of these three resources. But it seems that plant growth is not as simple as this. For trees, growth can also be limited by the rate at which new cells can form in the trunks and branches, a process that is affected by temperature.&nbsp;



Understanding the factors that limit the growth of the world’s forests will become more critical as the effects of global warming take hold. Will increased atmospheric carbon dioxide help trees to grow? Or will extremes in temperature and precipitation restrict this growth? Until now, the question of whether plant growth is limited by the rate of photosynthesis or by the environmental conditions that affect cell growth was not adequately answered, despite its fundamental nature.



A new study led by <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> researchers, along with an international team of collaborators, has now attempted to answer this question. They have measured and compared the rates of photosynthesis and woody growth in forest trees at sites in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. Their results, published today in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm4875">Science</a>, suggest that we need to rethink the way we forecast forest growth in a changing climate, and that forests in the future may not be able to absorb as much carbon from the atmosphere as we hoped.



“A tree growing is like a horse and cart system moving forward down the road,” said Professor William Anderegg, who is the principal investigator of the study. “But we basically don’t know if photosynthesis is the horse most often, or if it’s cell expansion and division. This has been a longstanding and difficult question in the field. And it matters immensely for understanding how trees will respond to climate change.”



The scientists distinguish between a tree’s carbon source and its carbon sink. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the carbon source – the tree uses this during photosynthesis to make food for its own use. Some of the carbon-based food is then used to grow new wood cells, and to enlarge existing ones. The tree’s wood is thus its carbon sink.&nbsp;



If the growth of trees is source-limited, then the amount of carbon dioxide available in the air is what would determine the rate of photosynthesis, and tree growth would be relatively easy to predict in a mathematical model. In this case, rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would be a good thing and forests would be expected to expand and proliferate.&nbsp;



However, if tree growth is sink-limited then they can only grow as fast as their cells can divide and mature. Many environmental factors can impact cell growth rate, including temperature, the supply of water and nutrients, and the rate of photosynthesis. In this case, modeling potential tree growth in future would have to take into account the impacts of these different factors.&nbsp;



In order to find out whether tree growth is limited by source or sink factors, the researchers compared the rates of photosynthesis and cell growth at forest sites on different continents. Measuring cell growth (sink) rates was done by sampling the growth rings of the trees.&nbsp;



“Extracting wood cores from tree stems and measuring the width of each ring on these cores essentially lets us reconstruct past tree growth,” said study lead author Antoine Cabon.&nbsp;



Measuring carbon sources was more difficult. Source data was measured with 78 eddy covariance towers, 30 feet tall or more, that record carbon dioxide concentrations and wind speeds in three dimensions at the top of forest canopies. “Based on these measurements and some other calculations, we can estimate the total forest photosynthesis of a forest stand," explained Cabon.



The researchers expected to find that the processes of photosynthesis and cell growth were coupled – that when photosynthesis increased (or decreased), a corresponding increase (or decrease) would be seen in cell growth. They did not find this. Trees did not necessarily add more growth when the photosynthetic rate increased.



“Strong coupling between photosynthesis and tree growth would be expected in the case where tree growth is source-limited,” said Cabon. “The fact that we mostly observe a decoupling is our principal argument to conclude that tree growth is not source-limited.”



Although the decoupling of these two processes was recorded in environments across the globe, there were instances where it was weaker. The researchers were interested in what conditions led to stronger or weaker decoupling. Fruit-bearing and flowering trees, for example, exhibited different source-sink relationships to those of conifers. Greater diversity in a forest increased coupling, whereas dense leaf canopies decreased it.



Finally, coupling between photosynthesis and growth increased in warm and wet environments, while in cold, dry conditions the processes were decoupled and tree growth was more limited by the rate of cell growth.&nbsp;



According to Cabon, this last finding suggests that the source vs. sink issue depends on the tree’s environment and climate. “This means that climate change may reshape the distribution of source and sink limitations of the world’s forests," he said.&nbsp;



The key finding from this study is that vegetation models, which use mathematical equations and plant characteristics to estimate future forest growth, may need to be updated. “Virtually all these models assume that tree growth is source-limited,” said Cabon.



For example, he explained, current vegetation models predict that forests will thrive with higher atmospheric carbon dioxide. “The fact that tree growth is often sink-limited means that for many forests this may not actually happen.”



That has additional implications: forests absorb and store about a quarter of our current carbon dioxide emissions. If the growth of forests slows down, their ability to take in carbon and mitigate the effects of climate change may be significantly reduced.



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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

We still have much to learn about tree growth

Our school textbooks teach us that plants make their own...

What are the impacts of reforestation or converting other lands to new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hotter-drier-deadlier-how-much-can-forests-tolerate/">forests</a>? We know that such a move can help sequester carbon, but what is the impact on the water cycle? A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a> attempts to answer this question.&nbsp;



Martin Herold from the <a href="https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/">GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences</a> contributed to the study, which was led by Anne Hoek van Dijke from Wageningen University &amp; Research.&nbsp;



“Restoration and planting more trees is seen as a viable solution for enhancing carbon storage and the biodiverse functioning of ecosystems," said Herold. "With innovative data and analysis, our interdisciplinary analysis highlights that the hydrological effects are important for how and where such nature-based solutions are more suitable to achieve towards more climate-smart and sustainable future landscapes."



The scientists looked at a global model which focused on 900 million hectares of land where trees could grow given local climatic conditions. The change in evaporation given new tree cover was calculated across these locations. The researchers estimated the amount of water that would evaporate and that which would go to streams.&nbsp;



“These models include a vegetation parameter for forest and non-forest conditions that was calibrated to a range of different evaporation and streamflow measurements," said van Dijke. "Afterwards, we calculated where, and to what extent, the increased evaporation would return to the land surface as increased precipitation.”



The results show that increases in water evaporation vary depending on the local climate. In the tropics, water evaporation can increase by 250 liters of water per square meter of land. In other areas, the increase is a more modest 10 liters.&nbsp;



Around 70 percent of this water is rained back down on land, while 30 percent is precipitated over oceans. Worldwide, this means that reforestation could lead to a loss of water availability.&nbsp;



On the local scale, the impact is more complex. In some watersheds, reforestation leads to a decrease in stream flow. In others, such as the Amazon, the increase in rainflow is enough that the streamflow reduction is nearly zero.&nbsp;&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

Reforestation may reduce water availability in some places

What are the impacts of reforestation or converting other lands...

Genes contain all the instructions living organisms need to survive, grow and reproduce. While identifying genes is becoming a rather simple scientific procedure, learning what are the functions of these genes is a more complicated matter. A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> has now discovered the functions of hundreds of genes in algae, many of which are also present in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-grow-plants-in-lunar-soil-for-the-first-time/">plants</a>, where they play similar roles.&nbsp;



The findings could help scientists genetically engineer algae for biofuel production and develop agricultural crops which can better withstand the effects of climate change.



“Plant and algae genetics are understudied. These organisms make the foods, fuels, materials, and medicines that modern society relies on, but we have a poor understanding of how they work, which makes engineering them a difficult task,” said study senior author Robert Jinkerson, an assistant professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UC Riverside. “A common way to learn more about biology is to mutate genes and then see how that affects the organism. By breaking the biology we can see how it works.”



Professor Jinkerson and his colleagues used a variety of algal mutants and automated tools in order to perform experiments that generated millions of data points. By analyzing this vast dataset, the scientists learned the functional role of hundreds of poorly characterized genes and discovered new functions of previously known genes.&nbsp;



Several of the genes found in algae have counterparts in plants with similar roles, including photosynthesis, heat stress response, DNA damage response, or response to toxic chemicals and predators.



Better understanding how these genes function in algae could help engineer plants that are more resilient to heat or cold stress, have improved photosynthesis capacities, and grow well even in some contaminated soils. Such features which will be increasingly important as climate change advances and threatens the world’s food supply. Moreover, a deeper knowledge of algal genetics will also improve engineering strategies making them produce more biofuels.



“The data and knowledge generated in this study is already being leveraged to engineer algae to make more biofuels and to improve environmental stress tolerance in crops,” concluded Professor Jinkerson.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-022-01052-9">Nature Genetics</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

Algae genetics could help engineer more resilient plants

Genes contain all the instructions living organisms need to survive,...

Cavefish are surface-dwelling river fish which flooded into underground cave systems over 100,000 years ago. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> has investigated how cavefish developed a series of unique metabolic adaptations, allowing them to survive in nutrient-scarce environments. Better understanding these peculiar fish’s metabolism could shed more light on human metabolic disorders, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthy-plant-based-diets-reduce-the-risk-of-type-2-diabetes/">diabetes</a>, heart disease, or stroke, and open new therapeutic pathways.



During history, humans have been able to adapt to periods of both feast and famine. Nowadays, in many regions of the globe, feast has largely replaced famine, leading to a rise of diseases related to metabolism, collectively called “metabolic syndrome,” and including cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and stroke. These conditions are associated with genetic mutations in regions of DNA which regulate how genes work to keep us healthy. Since, from an evolutionary standpoint, the “feast state” is in its early infancy, it frequently causes such metabolic disruptions in humans.



According to the experts, cavefish are ideal for studying metabolism and its disorders. During periodic flooding of their caves, these fish consume and store all the nutrients they need in order to survive until the next nutrient inundation, which rarely happens more than once per year.&nbsp;



Surprisingly, despite highly elevated fat and blood glucose levels during these periods of feasting, cavefish remain vibrant and healthy. “The fact that these fish are apparently healthy, despite having these extreme traits is, by definition, a good place to ask how they deal with that,” said study senior author Nicolas Rohner, an associate investigator at the Stowers Institute.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In order to understand the genetic basis of starvation resistance and metabolism, Professor Rohner and his team created a genome-wide map of liver tissue for two independent colonies of cavefish that evolved strikingly similar metabolic adaptations to survive in dark, nutrient-scarce environments. Since multiple cavefish populations appeared to evolve in a very similar manner completely independent from each other, they may exhibit universal adaptation mechanisms which could be potentially triggered in other species, including humans.



“We know only a handful of genes that could be therapeutic targets,” said study lead author Jaya Krishnan, a senior research associate in Professor Rohner’s lab. “This means we need to adopt novel ways to identify such potential genes so that we can investigate them, and cavefish are a very powerful system for us to do that.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-022-01049-4">Nature Genetics</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

Cavefish may provide therapeutic insights for metabolic disorders

Cavefish are surface-dwelling river fish which flooded into underground cave...

A nationwide study monitored <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vegetable-consumption-before-pregnancy-lowers-risk-of-preterm-birth/">pregnant</a> women for chemical exposure over 12 years. Disturbingly, the research showed an increased exposure to harmful chemicals, including those from plastics and pesticides. Many of these chemicals were meant to replace other chemicals which are banned. Ironically, some of these replacements are as dangerous as the originals.&nbsp;



The scientists tested the women for 103 chemicals using a urine sample. Chemicals from pesticides, plastics, and replacements for BPA were among those that were tested for.&nbsp;



Overall, 171 women tested were from California, Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New York and Puerto Rico. Over 80 percent of the chemicals were detected in at least one of the women, and more than one third of the chemicals were found in most of the women. Some of the chemicals were also detected at higher than historic levels.



Study senior author Dr. Tracey J. Woodruff is the director of the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California, San Francisco</a> (UCSF) Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and co-director of the UCSF EaRTH Center.



“This is the first time we’ve been able to measure the amounts of chemicals in such a large and diverse group of pregnant women – not just identify chemicals,” said Dr. Woodruff. “Our findings make clear that the number and scope of chemicals in pregnant women are increasing during a very vulnerable time of development for both the pregnant person and the fetus.”



Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that non-white women had higher exposures to chemicals. Women with lower education, were single parents or exposed to tobacco also had higher exposure levels. Latinas, in particular, had high levels of exposure to parabens, phthalates and bisphenols.&nbsp;



“While pesticides and replacement chemicals were prevalent in all women, we were surprised to find that Latinas had substantially higher levels of parabens, phthalates and bisphenols,” said study first author Dr. Jessie Buckley. “This could be the result of higher exposures to products with chemicals, such as processed foods or personal care products."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.



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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

Chemical exposure is increasing among pregnant women

A nationwide study monitored pregnant women for chemical exposure over...

Working outdoors during extreme heat is a growing concern for Southwestern cities like Las Vegas, where summer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-in-vegetation-are-a-key-driver-of-global-temperatures/">temperatures</a> are rising each year. However, the risks of working outdoors in extreme heat are not distributed evenly. Female workers are facing disproportionate impacts, and more experienced outdoor workers are at higher risk than those with fewer years on the job.&nbsp;



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a>, scientists have investigated how extreme heat is impacting the workforce in three of the hottest cities in North America – Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The results share important findings for policymakers and employers across the US.&nbsp;



Heat index data combines temperature and humidity as a measure of how people feel the heat. To assess the relationship between extreme heat and workplace heat-related illness, the study compared occupational injuries and illnesses from 2011-2018 with heat index data.&nbsp;



This type of analysis has not been completed in the past, which allowed the research team to identify interesting social implications.&nbsp;



The experts found a significant increase in heat index at two of the three locations (Phoenix and Las Vegas) during the study period. In these locations, average heat index values for June to August increased from “extreme caution” in 2012 to “danger” by 2018. Over the same period, the number of nonfatal heat-related workplace injuries and illnesses increased steadily, climbing above the national average in 2018.&nbsp;



“Our data indicate that the increases in heat are happening alongside increases in the number of nonfatal occupational injuries across these three states,” said lead author Erick Bandala. “Every year we are seeing increased heat waves and higher temperatures, and all of the people who work outside in the streets or in gardens or agriculture are exposed to this.”&nbsp;



Next, the team wanted to learn about the number of male and female workers affected. At the beginning of the study in 2011, 26 to 50 percent of the people affected were female. By 2018, 42 to 86 percent of the people affected were female.&nbsp;



This could be a result of more women entering the outdoor workforce, or, it could be related to the vulnerability of women to certain heat-related effects, like hyponatremia -- a condition that develops when too much plain water is consumed under high heat conditions and sodium levels in blood get too low.&nbsp;



“As the number of female workers exposed to extreme temperatures increases, there is an increasing need to consider the effect of gender and use different approaches to recommend prevention measures as hormonal factors and cycles that can be exacerbated during exposure to extreme heat,” said study co-author Dr. Kebret Kebede, an associate professor of Biology at Nevada State College.



The researchers also examined the length of an employee’s service and found that those who had more than five years of experience were at greater risk than those with less than one year. This may be due to a reduced perception of risk, or could be a cumulative effect of years of chronic heat exposure.



In severe cases, heat-related illness or injury can cause extensive damage to all tissues and organs, disrupting the central nervous system, blood-clotting mechanisms, and liver and kidney functions. In these cases, lengthy recoveries are keeping many outdoor workers away from work for more than 30 days.&nbsp;



“These lengthy recovery times are a significant problem for workers and their families, many of whom are living day-to-day,” said Bandala. “When we have these extreme heat conditions coming every year and a lot of people working outside, we need to know what are the consequences of these problems, and we need the people to know about the risk so that they take proper precautions.”



The team hopes that their results will be useful to policymakers to protect outdoor workers by adopting regulation to address heat illness. The need for public policy is clear to alleviate health and the economic impacts of rising temperatures.&nbsp;



The experts also hope that the information will inform outdoor workers to stay safe during extreme heat, and employers who rely on a healthy workforce to keep their businesses operating. In the future, the team hopes to continue research to better support people who are most vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13762-022-04180-1">study</a> is published in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.



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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

Extreme heat poses extreme risks for outdoor workers

Working outdoors during extreme heat is a growing concern for...

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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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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.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



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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

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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



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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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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