Scientists have uncovered an intriguing tale of galactic growth, featuring mysterious “red monsters” that are revealing new secrets of the young universe.



An international team of experts led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has discovered three ultra-massive galaxies - each almost as substantial as the Milky Way - that emerged within the first billion years following the Big Bang.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-theory-of-galaxy-formation">Theory of galaxy formation</h2>



This discovery surprised scientists because it challenges the popular theory of galaxy formation. According to current models, galaxies grow slowly within large halos of dark matter. 



These halos, which are invisible structures, pull in gas that eventually forms stars. Traditionally, scientists believed only about 20% of this gas would turn into stars in these galaxies.



However, the findings from the UNIGE team show that these early massive galaxies were exceptionally efficient at creating stars. They produced stars much faster and in larger numbers than expected, growing at an extraordinary rate compared to galaxies that formed later. 



This unexpected efficiency suggests that early galaxies grew in ways scientists hadn’t previously considered, prompting a rethink of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-galaxies-formed-from-the-earliest-elements-in-the-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxy formation theories</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-three-red-monsters">The three "red monsters"</h2>



The James Webb Space Telescope's FRESCO program made this remarkable discovery possible.



The beauty of the FRESCO program lies in its cutting-edge tool, the NIRCam/grism spectrograph, which enables accurate measurement of the distance and stellar masses of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-galaxy-formation-occurred-much-faster-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies</a>.



Thanks to the superior capabilities of <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JWST</a>, astronomers have been able to study galaxies in the distant and early universe systematically - including massive and dust-obscured galaxies.



Upon examining the galaxies in the FRESCO survey, most galaxies conformed to existing models. Yet, the team found three galaxies that were surprisingly massive.



Due to their high dust content, which gives them a unique red appearance in JWST images, the giant galaxies are now known as the "red monsters."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unveiling-the-hidden-red-monsters">Unveiling the hidden red monsters</h2>



Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, the lead author of the study, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Astronomy at <a href="https://www.unige.ch/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNIGE</a> Faculty of Science.



Dr. Xiao joined forces with Dr. David Elbaz, director of research at CEA Paris-Saclay, to investigate the red monsters.



“Our findings are reshaping our understanding of galaxy formation in the early universe,” noted Dr. Xiao.



“The massive properties of these red monsters were hardly determined before JWST, as they are optically invisible due to dust attenuation,” said Dr. Elbaz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-the-growth-of-galaxies-over-time">Studying the growth of galaxies over time</h2>



Using the James Webb telescope, the researchers developed an innovative program which enables the systematic analysis of a complete sample of emission-line galaxies within the first billion years of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/milky-way-like-galaxies-were-present-in-the-early-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmic history</a>.



This program allowed the team to achieve precise distance estimates and reliable stellar mass measurements for the full galaxy sample.



Pascal Oesch is an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at the UNIGE and principal investigator of the observation program.



“Our findings highlight the remarkable power of NIRCam/grism spectroscopy," noted Oesch. "The instrument on board the space telescope allows us to identify and study the growth of galaxies over time, and to obtain a clearer picture of how stellar mass accumulates over the course of cosmic history.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-too-many-too-massive-galaxies">"Too many, too massive" galaxies</h2>



The discovery of these massive galaxies challenges existing ideas about how galaxies form.



The findings highlight the presence of an unexpectedly high number of large galaxies - "too many, too massive" galaxies - very early in the universe’s history.



This suggests that existing models may be missing certain processes or factors that allowed some galaxies to grow rapidly right after the Big Bang.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



To understand these giant galaxies better, scientists will continue observing them with powerful instruments like JWST and ALMA.



These tools can offer more detailed views and help find more of these ultra-massive galaxies, deepening our understanding of galaxy formation in the early universe and potentially revising the models of cosmic evolution.



Future endeavors hold the promise of addressing lingering questions about the universe’s dark matter content, stellar formation processes, and the dynamic behavior of galaxies over cosmic time scales.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-the-red-monsters">Significance of the red monsters</h2>



The discoveries with JWST have significantly contributed to our understanding of cosmic origins, particularly by offering new perspectives on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/galaxies-like-our-own-milky-way-are-not-unique/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">early universe</a>.



These revelations challenge the existing paradigms of universe evolution, suggesting that even in the nascent stages following the Big Bang, there existed environments ripe for the rapid growth and formation of the red monsters.



“These results indicate that galaxies in the early universe could form stars with unexpected efficiency," said Dr. Xiao.



"As we study these galaxies in more depth, they will offer new insights into the conditions that shaped the universe’s earliest epochs. The red monsters are just the beginning of a new era in our exploration of the early universe."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08094-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



Image Credit: NASA / CSA / ESA / M. Xiao &amp; P. A. Oesch / G. Brammer / Dawn JWST Archive



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'Red monsters' challenge what we know about the early universe

Scientists have uncovered an intriguing tale of galactic growth, featuring mysterious “red monsters” that are revealing new secrets of the young universe. An international team of experts led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has discovered three ultra-massive galaxies - each almost as substantial as the Milky Way - that emerged within the first billion years following the Big Bang. Theory of galaxy formation This discovery surprised scientists because it challenges the popular theory of galaxy formation. According to current models, galaxies grow slowly within large halos...

Faster sound transmission in the oceans due to climate change will alter the underwater soundscape marine organisms rely on for survival. New research published by the <a href="https://www.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union</a> reveals that climate change will significantly alter how sound travels underwater, as sound waves move faster and farther in warmer water.



The <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021EF002099">new global study</a> demonstrates how changes to ocean soundscapes could impact essential activities of marine life. The ocean soundscape is made of vibrations produced by living organisms, waves and cracking ice, and human caused sound such as ship traffic and resource extraction.&nbsp;



“We calculated the effects of temperature, depth and salinity based on public data to model the soundscape of the future,” said study lead author Alice Affatati. These factors all affect how fast and how far sound travels in water.



Two “acoustic hotspots” of sound speed increases are predicted in the east of Greenland and in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, East of Newfoundland.&nbsp;



These hotspots can expect the most change at 50 and 500 meter depths, where the average speed of sound is likely to increase by more than 1.5%, or approximately 25 meters per second by the end of the century.



Marine animals use sound to communicate and navigate their underwater world. Changes in sound speed can impact day to day activity such as finding food and mates, avoiding predators and even migrating.



“The major impact is expected in the Arctic, where we know already there is amplification of the effects of climate change now. Not all the Arctic, but one specific part where all factors play together to give a signal that, according to the model predictions, overcomes the uncertainty of the model itself,” said author Stefano Salon.



To consider how these changes impact species, the study also modeled vocalizations of the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale">inhabiting both north Atlantic acoustic hotspots</a>. This found that&nbsp; whales’ typical “upcall” at 50 Hertz is likely to travel farther in a warmer future ocean.



“We chose to talk about one megafauna species, but many trophic levels in the ocean are affected by the soundscape or use sound,” Affatati said. “All these hotspots are locations of great biodiversity.”



This study has inspired future work to combine the global soundscape with anthropogenic impacts in the oceans to identify areas of combined stressors, or direct needed observational research.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/23284277">Earth’s Future</a>.



---



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

Climate warming is transforming the underwater soundscape

Faster sound transmission in the oceans due to climate change...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> has recently investigated the types of Salmonella enterica - a pathogen that sickens millions of people each year – circulating among wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dads-lead-young-birds-on-their-first-migration/">bird</a> populations. While domestic birds are known to carry antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strains, the scientists discovered that, fortunately, the strains of bacteria found in wild birds did not usually harbor antimicrobial resistant genes.



Scientists have long worried that wild birds carrying antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella may pose a high risk to public health because they could spread the resistant bacteria across vast areas in short periods of time. In order to clarify whether this was indeed the case, the scientists fully sequenced 375 Salmonella enterica strains from wild birds collected in 41 U.S. states from 1978 to 2019.&nbsp;



&nbsp;“To find what antibiotics a particular Salmonella strain is resistant to, we don't have to run the traditional lab-based tests anymore - where you grow it on some type of media, expose it to antibiotics, and it either grows or it doesn't,” explained study senior author Edward Dudley, a professor of Food Science at Penn State. “Now, we can sequence the entire genome, and by identifying certain gene markers, we can predict - with almost perfect precision - what antibiotics the organism will be resistant to.”



The genetic analyses revealed that the most dominant Salmonella enterica strain found in wild bird populations was Typhimurium, accounting for 68 percent of the bird isolates. However, less than two percent of these isolates were identified to be resistant to antibiotics or heavy metals. Interestingly, all the multi-resistant strains were isolated from raptors or water birds, while none were found in songbirds.



“While we've known for a while that wild birds can carry Salmonella, the strains they carry appear to be of lesser concern to human health. The assumption was that these Salmonella - like the bacteria we can isolate from domesticated farm animals - would carry large numbers of antimicrobial-resistance genes. We found the opposite to be true,” Professor Dudley concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1462-2920.15865">Environmental Microbiology</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

Wild birds do not carry antibiotic-resistant Salmonella

A research team led by Pennsylvania State University has recently...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a> has found that the worldwide proliferation of energy efficient broad spectrum artificial lighting is increasingly disrupting a variety of visually guided ecological processes. Many animal species that rely on darkness to forage and feed are losing their camouflage efficacy due to advancement in the lighting used to illuminate cities and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-levels-on-the-u-s-coast-will-rise-one-foot-by-2050/">coastlines</a> at night, and can be more easily spotted by predators as a consequence.



“This study clearly indicates that new lighting technologies will increase the conspicuousness of prey species by reducing the efficacy of their camouflage,” said study lead author Oak McMahon, a PhD student at the University of Plymouth.



McMahon and his colleagues assessed the conspicuousness of three distinct color morphs of Littorinid snails - a species commonly found along the world’s coastlines - under different forms of artificial lighting. They found that under the 20th century narrow spectrum Low Pressure Sodium (LPS) lighting, all snails were effectively camouflaged and could not be easily spotted by three of their most common predators.&nbsp;



However, under more recent, broad spectrum lighting - such as High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Light Emitting Diodes (LED), or Metal Halide (MH) - yellow snails were significantly more visible compared to brown or olive ones, increasing their risk of being killed by predators.



“Our findings revealed that species of Littorinid snails found commonly on our coastlines will remain camouflaged when illuminated by older style lighting. However, when illuminated by modern broad spectrum lighting, they are clearly visible to predators and at far greater long-term risk as a result,” explained McMahon.



“As technologies develop, there has been a shift from narrow spectrum to lighting that enables us to live and travel in a safe, secure manner. However, estimates suggest that a quarter of the planet between the Arctic Circle and Antarctica is now being affected by night-time light pollution,” added study senior author Dr. Thomas Davies, a lecturer in Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth.



“Some predictions say that LED bulbs will account for 85 percent of the global street lighting market in around five years, and our study highlights that such advances will have repercussions for humans and animals alike now and in the future.”



According to the scientists, there are a variety of mitigation methods available to urban planners and environmental managers when considering the ecological impact of broad spectrum lighting, such as reducing the amount of light used, shielding lights in order to reduce their range, employing night-lighting only during times of peak demand, or manipulating the spectra of lighting to minimize ecological impact.



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14146">Journal of Applied Ecology</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

Animals are losing their camouflage under modern street lights

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

Tropical peatlands are some of the most efficient carbon sinks worldwide. However, when they are damaged – for instance by changes in land use, degradation, or wildfires – they can become massive emitters of carbon. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Göttingen</a> has analyzed how peatland in the coastal areas of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia has developed over thousands of years in order to shed more light on the relationship between tropical peatlands and climate-related changes such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/modern-rates-of-sea-level-rise-first-emerged-in-1863/">sea level rise</a>.



The researchers analyzed two peat cores, each over eight meters long, searching for traces of pollen, spores, and charcoal, and conducting carbon dating and a series of biogeochemical investigations. They found that these peatlands contained much higher concentrations of charcoal during the mid-Holocene (9,000 to 4,000 years ago), when sea levels were higher than they are now. The presence of charcoal signifies that there were much larger forest fires during that period.



Later, about 3,000 years ago, the irregular periodic variations in winds and sea surface temperatures known as “<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/el-nino/">El Niño</a>” most probably caused prolonged droughts, making the forests susceptible to fires caused by lightning. Surprisingly though, even during that time, the fires seemed to be fewer than in the earlier, mid-Holocene period.



According to the scientists, the presence of mangrove forests growing along the coast in salty waters may explain this phenomenon. Mangrove forests are a good indicator of rising sea levels and increases of salt in the otherwise freshwater peatland ecosystem. Since salt is harmful to freshwater vegetation, its widespread presence probably resulted in more dry leaves and dead trees, as well as in the reduction of forest canopy cover and air humidity, which are important factors in protecting peatland forests from fires.&nbsp;



“We were surprised to find that rising sea levels could potentially exacerbate fires in coastal areas in Indonesia,” said study lead author Dr. Anggi Hapsari, an expert in vegetation dynamics at the University of Göttingen. “Our findings underline how the interaction between rising sea levels and dry climate may contribute to massive forest fires even in relatively fire-proof ecosystems, such as pristine peatlands. This reveals the potential hidden impact of sea level rise exacerbating climate warming.”



According to Dr. Hapsari and his colleagues, these findings suggest that, if we continue activities such as the destruction of peat swamp forests, peatland drainage, and intentional burning, at a time when climate change is steadily increasing sea levels and is exacerbating patterns such as El Niño, the probability of catastrophic and widespread forest fires and uncontrollable carbon release significantly rises.



“Our unexpected finding adds an as yet unknown threat to the survival of these valuable ecosystems,” explained study co-author Tim Jennerjahn, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/de/">Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research</a> in Bremen. “It demonstrates how the reconstruction of past environmental change can help improve present-day management of coastal ecosystems. It is clear that fire risk assessment in tropical peatlands deserves more attention.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16131">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Sea level rise can increase fires in tropical peatlands

Tropical peatlands are some of the most efficient carbon sinks...

Bird migration has long fascinated scientists, who continue to question how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-are-laying-their-eggs-earlier-to-adapt-to-climate-change/">birds</a> learn to find their way to distant locations. While it has been well established that birds migrate in groups, there is limited information on how individuals that migrate together interact. To investigate, a team of researchers from Finland, Sweden and the UK tracked bird families with GPS devices.



“We wanted to get a better idea of how the migratory skills of birds are passed from one generation to another in a species where individuals normally migrate together,” said study lead author Patrik Byholm of the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a>.



Caspian terns were selected for the study. They are a fish eating waterbird that normally migrates in small groups. GPS tracking of the birds showed that the male parents are responsible for leading their young during their first migration from the Baltic Sea to Africa.



This is known as "guiding behavior'' which the study identified as the responsibility of the biological father, and in one case a foster father took on this role. The researchers were unable to determine why males, instead of females, were leading their young.



“This is very fascinating behavior, which we really did not expect to find when setting up our study,” said Byholm.



The experts also found that during migration, young individuals kept close to an adult bird. In cases where young birds lost contact with their parent, they did not survive. Staying close to an experienced adult is critical for young birds to survive their first migration.&nbsp;



The study revealed that during the first solo return trip, the young terns used the same migratory route their father guided them on. 



“This indicates that in Caspian terns, migration knowledge is inherited through culture from one generation to another. This has consequences on the decisions individuals make years after they first migrated with their father,” said study co-author Susanne Åkesson from Lund University. Learning the right migratory routes is critical to survival.&nbsp;



Understanding how Capsian terns and other birds learn how to migrate is important to predicting how these birds will fare in a changing climate. This study highlights how the future survival of Caspian terns relies on passing migration knowledge down from one generation to the next.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

Dads lead young birds on their first migration

Bird migration has long fascinated scientists, who continue to question...

While previous observational research has suggested that light <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-amounts-of-alcohol-have-big-impacts-on-brain-health/">alcohol</a> consumption may provide heart-related benefits, a large study led by the <a href="https://www.massgeneral.org/">Massachusetts General Hospital</a> (MGH) has found that alcohol intake at all levels is in fact linked to cardiovascular disease. According to the researchers, any benefits that were observed before most likely resulted from other lifestyle factors common among light to moderate drinkers.



The study included 371,463 adults from the<a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/"> UK Biobank</a>, a large biomedical database containing in-depth genetic and health information about a vast number of UK residents. The participants had an average age of 57 and an average alcohol consumption of 9.2 drinks per week. Consistent with earlier studies, light to moderate drinkers appeared to have the lowest risk of heart disease, followed by people who abstained from drinking completely. As expected, participants who drank heavily had the higher risk of developing cardiovascular issues.



However, the researchers found that light to moderate drinkers often tended to have healthier lifestyles than abstainers, such as more physical activity and vegetable intake, and less smoking. Taking these lifestyle factors into account significantly lowered any supposed benefit associated with light alcohol consumption.&nbsp;



By conducting advanced genetical analyses of samples taken from the participants, the scientists discovered that individuals with genetic variants that predicted higher alcohol consumption were indeed more likely to consume larger amounts of alcohol and to have hypertension and coronary artery disease.&nbsp;



The investigations also revealed that there are substantial differences in heart disease risk across the spectrum of alcohol consumption for both genders, with minimal increases in risk when consuming between zero and seven drinks per week, much higher risks when progressing from seven to 14 drinks, and particularly high when consuming over 21 drinks per week.



These findings suggest that the relationship between alcohol intake and cardiovascular risk is an exponential rather than linear one. Thus, while cutting back on alcohol consumption could benefit even people who have just one drink per day, the health gains of reducing alcohol intake are more substantial and clinically meaningful for people who drank more.



“The findings affirm that alcohol intake should not be recommended to improve cardiovascular health; rather, that reducing alcohol intake will likely reduce cardiovascular risk in all individuals, albeit to different extents based on one’s current level of consumption,” concluded senior author Krishna G. Aragam, a cardiologist at MGH.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2790520">JAMA Network Open</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

Even light alcohol intake can damage the heart

While previous observational research has suggested that light alcohol consumption...

Massive amounts of plastic waste are continuously dumped into the environment. Microplastics – tiny pieces of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-discovered-in-the-blood-of-livestock/">plastic</a> less than five millimeters in diameter – now contaminate our entire planet, from the peak of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Previous research has found that people ingest these particles through food and water and even breathe them in from the air. A new study led the <a href="https://vu.nl/en">Free University of Amsterdam</a> (VU Amsterdam) has now detected microplastics in the human blood for the first time.



The researchers analyzed blood samples from 22 healthy anonymous donors and discovered traces of microplastics in 17 of the samples. Half of these samples contained PET plastic (commonly used in drinks bottles), a third of them contained polystyrene (used for packaging foods and various other products), and a quarter contained polyethylene (from which plastic carrier bags are manufactured).



“Our study is the first indication that we have polymer particles in our blood – ​it’s a breakthrough result,” said study co-author Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at VU Amsterdam. “It is certainly reasonable to be concerned. The particles are there and are transported throughout the body.”



Since plastic production is set to double by 2040, it is urgent to better understand how plastic pollution can affect human health. While previous work has shown that microplastics were up to 10 times higher in the feces of babies compared with adults, and that infants fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles each day, the common assumption was that adults are less exposed to these dangerous pollutants. Unfortunately, this new study suggests that this is far from being the case.



“The big question is what is happening in our body,” said Professor Vethaak. “Are the particles retained in the body? Are they transported to certain organs, such as getting past the blood-brain barrier? And are these levels sufficiently high to trigger disease? We urgently need to fund further research so we can find out.”



Previous studies have already discovered that microplastics can latch onto the outer membranes of red blood cells and limit their ability to transport oxygen, and that pregnant women may transfer microplastic particles through the placenta to the hearts, brains, and other organs of fetuses. Further research is needed to assess the short- and long-term effects of exposure to these particles, and to urgently find ways of limiting plastic pollution, before it turns into a huge public health hazard.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258#!">Environment International</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

Microplastics found in human blood for the first time

Massive amounts of plastic waste are continuously dumped into the...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.fiu.edu/">Florida International University</a> (FIU) has investigated the social lives of great white <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-attacks-linked-to-phases-of-the-moon/">sharks</a> that gather seasonally around Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, and found that these animals tend to form “friendships” as they prowl the oceans in search of prey. By using an innovative combination of tracking tools, the scientists discovered that sharks tended to stick together while patrolling to check out seal colonies or other food sources around the island.



“Most associations were short, but there were sharks where we found considerably longer associations, much more likely to be social associations,” said study lead author Yannis Papastamatiou, a marine biologist at FIU. “Seventy minutes is a long time to be swimming around with another white shark.”



Since the Guadalupe Island is rife with tuna and seals, it has become a hotspot for white sharks in search of prey. While close to South African and Australian coasts, the waters are murkier and white sharks leap out of the water to launch sneak attacks and ambush prey, Guadalupe Island’s waters are very clear, making it much easier for predator and prey to notice each other. According to the researchers, these environmental peculiarities are forcing sharks to adapt their hunting strategies.



In order to study and understand these behavioral changes, the scientists combined different commercially available technology into a “super social tag” which collected data for up to five days before popping off the sharks’ dorsal fins and floating to the sea surface. These instruments were equipped with a video camera and various sensors, including special receivers that could detect if other sharks were nearby.



The researchers tagged six sharks (three males and three females) over a four-year period and found that they often associated with other sharks, most likely in order to take advantage of other sharks’ hunting success.



“The important question we still have to answer is what is the reason for being social for these sharks? We still don't know. But it is likely they may stay in proximity of other individuals in case those individuals are successful in killing large prey,” explained Dr. Papastamatiou. “They aren't working together but being social could be a way to share information.”



Although the researchers admit that the study’s sample size is small, they nevertheless argue that it provides more evidence that sharks are forming non-random social associations and can offer new insights into when and why such associations occur.&nbsp;



Further research with better technological tools is needed to fully understand the complex social lives of white sharks. “Technology now can really open up the secret lives of these animals. We’re going beyond tracking where they are and where they go. As the technology gets better, we can keep answering more questions,” concluded Dr. Papastamatiou.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0599">Biology Letters</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Great white sharks form social bonds while hunting

A new study led by Florida International University (FIU) has...

Girl,With,Mask,Covering,Her,Ears,Because,Of,Noise,Pollution

Research presented at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.acc.org/">American College of Cardiology</a> is shedding new light on the risk of heart attack caused by noise pollution. According to the study, one in 20 heart attacks in New Jersey can be attributed to noise from highways, trains and air traffic.



Study lead author Dr. Abel E. Moreyra is a professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.



“When people talk about pollution, they’re usually talking about particles in the air or water,” said Dr. Moreyra. “But there are other forms of pollution, and noise pollution is one of these.”



The researchers looked at heart attack rates among almost 16,000 hospital patients in New Jersey hospitalized for heart attacks in 2018. The noise pollution levels were estimated by comparing the patient’s residence with data from the New Jersey Bureau of Transportation.&nbsp;



The patients were then categorized as experiencing low levels of noise pollution (50 decibels or less per day on average) or high levels of noise pollution (65 decibels or more per day on average). Because it is an average, the results could represent long periods of quiet punctuated by extremely loud noises.&nbsp;



The results showed that five percent of heart attacks could be attributed to noise pollution. In fact, the heart attack rate was 72 percent higher in areas with large amounts of noise from traffic.&nbsp;



“As cardiologists, we are used to thinking about many traditional risk factors such as smoking, hypertension or diabetes,” said Dr. Moreyra. “This study and others suggest maybe we should start thinking about air pollution and noise pollution as additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”



Although, the results aren’t that simple because noise is often accompanied by normal air pollution, as traffic causes both.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Air pollution and noise go hand-in-hand,” said Dr. Moreyra. “The question is: how much of this effect is due to particle pollution, and how much is noise?”



According to Dr. Moreyra, there are a variety of policy interventions that could help to reduce an individual’s exposure to transportation noise at home, such as better enforcement of noise ordinances, infrastructure to block road noise, rules for air traffic, and better noise insulation for buildings.



The research was presented by Dr. Moreyra at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session.



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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

Noise pollution is a major risk factor for heart attacks

Research presented at the annual meeting of the American College...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/modern-snakes-evolved-from-just-a-few-surviving-species/">Snakes</a> that constrict their prey and squeeze them to death have an interesting challenge to face. How does a snake squeeze its prey so hard that it stops breathing while, at the same time, ensuring it doesn’t squash its own lugs and suffocate itself? The latest study on this topic concludes that snakes, such as boa constrictors, are able to breathe with different parts of their ribcage, depending on whether they are throttling a prey, eating a meal or digesting their most recent dinner.



“With no diaphragm, they rely entirely on motions of their ribs,” said John Capano from Brown University, USA. He added that the earliest snake ancestors must have overcome the challenge of breathing while squeezing and digesting dinner, but it was not clear how modern snakes prevent themselves from suffocating while constricting their victims.&nbsp;



The researchers considered the possibility that boa constrictors adjust the region of the ribcage they use to inhale, depending on whether they are resting, constricting a prey animal or digesting. But no one had monitored in detail the breathing patterns of snakes in the act of subduing their dinner to check whether the animals can indeed adjust which section of the ribcage they use.



Capano and co-author Elizabeth Brainerd (Brown University) investigated the way in which boa constrictors breathe by first attaching small metal markers to two ribs in each of the study snakes. One marker was a third of the way down the snake’s body, while the second marker was halfway along the body. They then used X-rays to monitor how the ribs moved while the snake carried out various activities.&nbsp;



The researchers placed a blood pressure cuff around the ribs of the snakes in the same regions where the rib markers had been placed. As the cuffs were inflated, the increasing pressure immobilized the snake’s ribcage and breathing became more difficult. What they discovered was that the snakes simply used different sections of the rib cage with which to breathe when the ribs were prevented from moving freely by the blood pressure cuffs. In this way, the hind section of the snake’s lung works like a bellows, to pull air into the lung when the ribs further forward can no longer move, as would be the case when squeezing a prey item to death.



The findings of the study, published today in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, clearly show that when a boa constrictor is squeezed by the blood pressure cuff a third of the way along the body it breathes using the ribs further along, while when the ribs are constricted halfway along the body, the snake breathes using ribs closer to its head. Breathing is thus compartmentalized along the body, with different regions being able to move independently.



“Either the animals did not mind the cuff or became defensive and hissed to try to get the researcher to leave,” recalls Capano, explaining that the reptiles really fill their lungs when hissing: “this was an opportunity to measure some of the biggest breaths snakes take."



In addition, Capano, Scott Boback and Charles Zwemer (both from Dickinson College, USA), filmed and recorded the nerve signals controlling the rib muscles when constricted by the blood pressure cuff. Boback also filmed a snake with a GoPro as it dined, which revealed that the ribs were not simply being held immobile. There were no nerve signals in the constricted muscles; the snakes had shifted to breathing by activating a different set of ribs further along the body.



Subduing and digesting a victim are two very energetic things that boa constrictors do and it would have been crucial for them to evolve the ability to breathe using different regions of the rib cage before they adopted the strategy of squeezing their prey to death. If this had not happened, they would have suffocated themselves each time they tried to constrict a prey. “It would have been difficult for snakes to evolve those behaviors without the ability to breathe," concluded Capano.



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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

How boas keep themselves from suffocating while digesting dinner

Snakes that constrict their prey and squeeze them to death...

Close-up,Of,Young,Businesswoman,Putting,Sugar,In,Cup,At,Glass

People are tempted to buy food products that taste sweet and this has led food producers, over the years, to add <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sugars-in-breast-milk-help-prevent-infections-in-newborns/">sugar</a> to almost every processed food and beverage on the supermarket shelves. Since the public has become aware of the calorific consequences of this added sugar, and links between sugar and several diseases have become clearer, manufacturers have tended to replace the sugar with non-nutritive artifical sweeteners instead.



The safety of artificial sweeteners has been debated, and several experimental studies have indicated that some of them may be carcinogenic. However, robust epidemiological studies on the association between use of artificial sweeteners and disease incidence in human populations have not been undertaken.&nbsp;



With this in mind, Charlotte Debras and Mathilde Touvier of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and Sorbonne Paris Nord University, France, along with colleagues, undertook a study to evaluate the potential carcinogenicity of artificial sweeteners. The research was focused on 102,865 French adults who were participants in the NutriNet-Santé study - an ongoing web-based study initiated in 2009 by the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN).&nbsp;



This study requires participants to enroll voluntarily and to self-report their medical history, sociodemographic, diet, lifestyle, and health data. The researchers gathered data about dietary intake and use of artificial sweeteners using repeated 24-hour dietary records from the French population-based cohort. The brand names of foods and beverages were recorded as well, to enable the consumption of artificial sweeteners to be quantified. The participants were followed up with between 2009 and 2021, which represented a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years.&nbsp;



After collecting cancer diagnosis information during follow-up monitoring, the researchers carried out statistical analyses to investigate the associations between artificial sweetener intakes and cancer risk. They adjusted the data for a range of variables including age, sex, education level, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, height, weight-gain during follow-up, diabetes, family history of cancer, as well as baseline intakes of energy, alcohol, sodium, saturated fatty acids, fiber, sugar, whole-grain foods, and dairy products.



The results of the analyses, published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/">PLOS Medicine</a>, show that participants who consumed larger quantities of artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K, had a higher risk overall of developing cancer, when compared to those who did not consume artificial sweeteners. In particular, there was an increased risk of developing breast cancer associated with the use of aspartame. There was also an increased risk of developing obesity-related cancers with overall high intake of artificial sweeteners, and with the use of aspartame specifically.



Although the study had several important limitations, such as the fact that dietary intakes were self-reported and participants were more likely to be women, have higher educational levels and show health-conscious behaviors, it highlights the need for future research into the effects of using artificial sweeteners in foods and beverages. Additional research will also be needed to establish the mechanisms whereby these sweeteners may affect health in this way.



“Our findings do not support the use of artificial sweeteners as safe alternatives for sugar in foods or beverages, and provide important and novel information to address the controversies about their potential adverse health effects," said the study authors. "While these results need to be replicated in other large-scale cohorts and underlying mechanisms clarified by experimental studies, they provide important and novel insights for the ongoing re-evaluation of food additive sweeteners by the European Food Safety Authority and other health agencies globally.”



“Results from the NutriNet-Santé cohort (n=102,865) suggest that artificial sweeteners found in many food and beverage brands worldwide may be associated with increased cancer risk, in line with several experimental in vivo and in vitro studies," said Debras. "These findings provide novel information for the re-evaluation of these food additives by health agencies.”&nbsp;



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

Artificial sweeteners linked to increased risk of cancer

People are tempted to buy food products that taste sweet...

Alpacas,On,A,Ranch,On,A,Farm,In,A,Field

After more than two years of dealing with and adapting to life with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-doubles-the-risk-of-severe-pregnancy-complications/">COVID-19,</a> the virus that causes this disease is still with us. And it looks set to be with us long into the future. Despite the use of vaccines and antiviral treatments, people are still suffering and even dying from serious COVID infection.&nbsp;



In addition, millions of people in poorer countries have not yet received access to vaccines, making them more susceptible to the effects of serious COVID. With this in mind, any effective treatment that may increase the chances of surviving severe infection is a high priority.



One area of interest has been the use of nanobodies, or miniature antibodies. Nanobodies are like small fragments of an antibody that bind only to a specific section (domain) of an antigen, such as the spike protein. They can immobilize a virus in this way, with their small and nimble structure making them able to get into folds and crannies in a viral spike protein. Nanobodies are produced in members of the camel family, including llamas, alpacas and camels, in response to infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.&nbsp;



Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have recently developed a novel strategy for identifying potent nanobodies from alpacas, in particular, that are effective against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. They have identified multiple different nanobodies and tested them in cell cultures, and in live mice, to find out whether they blocked infection by different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The findings are reported in two publications - one in the recent past in Nature Communications&nbsp;and&nbsp;the other, today, in <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.&nbsp;



“With the help of advanced laboratory techniques, we were able to identify a panel of nanobodies that very effectively neutralized several variants of SARS-CoV-2,” said Professor Gerald McInerney, joint senior author of both studies.



Despite the roll-out of vaccines and antivirals, people in many countries still don’t have the access to COVID treatments that they need. Nanobodies from alpacas can be adapted for use in humans and carry several advantages over conventional treatments and antibodies. For example, they are cheap to produce on a mass scale and have favorable biochemical properties that make them effective in the treatment of different viruses.&nbsp;



The first report in&nbsp;Nature Communications&nbsp;describes a single nanobody, Fu2 (named after the alpaca Funny), that significantly reduced the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in cell cultures and live mice. Using electron cryo-microscopy, the researchers found that Fu2 binds to two separate sites on the viral spike protein, thus inhibiting the virus’ ability to enter the host cells. This part of the study was conducted in collaboration with Hrishikesh Das and Martin Hällberg at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet.



In the next phase of the study, the researchers combined a range of advanced laboratory techniques and computational methods, to assess the diversity of alpaca nanobodies and find out whether they would be effective against different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results, presented today in&nbsp;Science Advances, revealed several additional nanobodies that effectively neutralized both the initial and beta variant of SARS-CoV-2 and even the more distantly related SARS-CoV-1.



“These nanobodies represent promising therapeutic candidates against several SARS-CoV-2 variants,” said study first author Leo Hanke, a postdoctoral researcher who established the nanobody technology in the McInerney group.



The researchers are currently applying the same techniques to identify which nanobodies from this set are best able to neutralize omicron, the variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is currently dominant in many countries worldwide.&nbsp;



“Once established, these libraries can be expanded and mined for nanobodies that neutralize new emerging variants,” said Professor Ben Murrell, also joint senior author of both studies.



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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

Alpaca nanobodies can neutralize coronavirus variants

After more than two years of dealing with and adapting...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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...