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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What are the chances that alien life exists?

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

International tourism has been hailed as economically important. Some experts even see ecotourism as an important part of environmental preservation. Unfortunately, there are environmental downsides to international travel as well, beyond the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-rings-reveal-the-carbon-storage-capacity-of-a-forest/">carbon</a> footprint.&nbsp;



A recent study from New Zealand looked at the potential for international travelers to introduce non-native and sometimes invasive species from abroad. This follows up on a 2011 study which showed that for every gram of soil carried on shoe soles, 2.5 plant seeds, 41 roundworms, 0.004 insects and a host of microorganisms were also carried along. These organisms were alive and potential threats to the local ecology.&nbsp;



The experts found that international travelers can introduce new species both abroad and to their home country, effectively doubling their impact.&nbsp;



The new research picks up where this study left off, investigating the role of international travel in the spread of exotic species.&nbsp;



The researchers looked at the period from 2011 to 2017 and examined insects, spiders, mites, snails, plants and roundworms. They compared the interceptions of non-natives species to accommodation data for both international and domestic tourists.&nbsp;



The team found that there was a significant correlation between the number of nights spent in hotels and the number of species intercepted. Interestingly, there was no noticeable difference between international and domestic travelers. This shows that even domestic tourism can spread invasive species around.&nbsp;



"The core take-home message is that anthropogenic movements associated with tourism correlate with detection of exotic organisms in New Zealand," explained the study authors. "The results also reinforce the need for biosecurity authorities to continue to allocate resources to managing the tourism pathway."



The scientists suggest that some resources should continue to be used to intercept invasive species carried in by returning tourists. They also point out that there are other vectors such as sea freight to worry about, and suggest that the different vectors should be compared to allocate resources properly.



According to the researchers, understanding the links between international travelers and the potential biosecurity risks that these visitors may present is a new and important area of research.



---



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

International travelers can introduce invasive species

International tourism has been hailed as economically important. Some experts...

Mushrooms in the Amanita genus such as A. muscaria and A. pantherina have long been consumed by humans for their interesting psychedelic effects. Hallucinogenic symptoms from these mushrooms’ poison can distort the size of objects, as described in Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland as well as cause other hallucinations, deliria, seizures and rarely death. There’s also a history of people consuming them as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-can-work-as-well-as-medication-to-lower-cholesterol/">food</a> but after a careful process of detoxifying them first.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A common hypothesis is that poisons contained in the mushrooms have evolved to dissuade consumption by animals. An observation of Japanese squirrels (Sciurus lis) calls into question this idea, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/index.html">Kobe University</a>.



Professor SUETSUGU Kenji and independent photographer GOMI Koichi watched an individual squirrel feeding on Amanita mushrooms several times over a few days in Nagano prefecture, Japan. The team concluded that the squirrel almost certainly evolved a way to safely eat the mushrooms.&nbsp;



From these observations, a new theory emerged - it’s not always detrimental to a mushroom to be eaten. Much like eating the fruits of plants, sometimes an animal can actually benefit a mushroom.&nbsp;



If the mushroom’s spores can survive the digestive tract, it is feasible that a squirrel could be dispersing the mushroom’s spores. In this regard, perhaps the “poison” could be acting to deter some animals, for instance those whose digestive tract would destroy the spores. Other animals that may have co-evolved with the mushroom would be rewarded for their dispersal with a tasty dinner.



Now professor Suetsugo wishes to carry the research further and investigate whether the squirrels are truly dispersing the Amanita spores or not. To do this, the scientists will check squirrel excrement for living spores.&nbsp;



Understanding the relationship between these mushrooms and squirrels could unlock more information on forest ecology in general. Amanita mushrooms form important mutualistic relationships with different trees, helping to maintain forest ecosystems.&nbsp;



"Perhaps Amanita mushrooms facilitate mutualisms with toxin-resistant squirrels, which can disperse viable spores, while deterring toxin-susceptible enemies, which could negatively impact spore survival. If so, potential dispersal of fungal spores by squirrels is analogous to a seed dispersal mutualism, in which a plant offers a reward to an animal as a seed disperser," wrote the study authors.



"How do squirrels safely eat Amanita mushrooms? What role do squirrels play in Amanita spore dispersal? How would squirrel-assisted spore dispersal contribute to the establishment of ectomycorrhizal relationships within these ecosystems? These questions warrant further investigation."



The research is published the journal <a href="https://www.esa.org/frontiers-in-ecology-and-the-environment/">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;



Image Credit: Koichi Gomi



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

Japanese squirrels can eat “poisonous” mushrooms

Mushrooms in the Amanita genus such as A. muscaria and...

New research predicts that 70 percent of the world’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-heat-is-the-new-normal-for-the-ocean/">oceans</a> could be choking from a lack of oxygen caused by climate change. The new model that the research is based on found that mid-level oceans, which support many global fisheries, are already losing oxygen at an unusual rate. The study also shows that a critical threshold of oxygen loss was passed in 2021.&nbsp;



The researchers found that midwater ocean areas, with depths between 200 to 1,000 meters, are especially vulnerable to deoxygenation. This is because these depths are not replenished by oxygen from the atmosphere or photosynthesis, and decomposition of algae happens here.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This zone is actually very important to us because a lot of commercial fish live in this zone,” said study lead author Yuntao Zhou, an oceanographer at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. “Deoxygenation affects other marine resources as well, but fisheries (are) maybe most related to our daily life.”



The research just further highlights the vulnerability of our world’s oceans and the continuing threat of climate change. Not only are the oceans important as a source of fish consumed as food, but they also play a role in Earth’s atmosphere and water supply as well.&nbsp;



“Humanity is currently changing the metabolic state of the largest ecosystem on the planet, with really unknown consequences for marine ecosystems. That may manifest in significant impacts on the ocean’s ability to sustain important fisheries," said Matthew Long, an oceanographer at NCAR who was not involved in the study.&nbsp;



The researchers also discovered that waters closer to the poles are more vulnerable to deoxygenation but are uncertain as to why.&nbsp;



“The oxygen minimum zones actually are spreading into high latitude areas, both to the north and the south. That’s something we need to pay more attention to," said Zhou.&nbsp;"Even if global warming were to reverse, allowing concentrations of dissolved oxygen to increase, whether dissolved oxygen would return to pre-industrial levels remains unknown.”



The study is published by the <a href="https://www.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union</a> in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.



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

The ocean is being suffocated by a lack of oxygen

New research predicts that 70 percent of the world’s oceans...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/">RMIT University</a>, researchers used infrared signals that bounce off plastic particles to identify debris along the shore. The goal is to find ways to remotely track down waste on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rainfall-surge-events-are-a-growing-threat-on-the-east-coast/">coast</a> to clean it up. The new method would allow plastics to be identified in a satellite image in which the plastic is smaller than a single pixel.&nbsp;



"Marine plastic debris (MPD) is a globally relevant environmental challenge, with an estimated 8 million tons of synthetic debris entering the marine environment each year," wrote the study authors.



"Plastic has been found in all parts of the marine environment, including the surface layers of the ocean, within the water column, in coastal waters, on the benthic layer and on beaches."&nbsp;



"While research on detecting MPD using remote sensing is increasing, most of it focuses on detecting floating debris in open waters, rather than detecting MPD on beaches."



Study lead author of the study and PhD candidate Jenna Guffogg explained that looking for trash on beaches makes more sense than searching in the ocean, simply because it’s easier to clean up.&nbsp;



“Stopping plastic from entering the ocean is a global challenge. But if we can find and remove them quickly, it's the next best thing," said Guffogg.



"At the moment, plastic debris are tracked by passing vessels notifying authorities. Using satellites will allow more frequent and reliable observations."



"Our work could let organizations who do remote coastal and marine waste clean-up management know where to focus their efforts.”



Guffogg and her colleagues completed field trials on isolated beaches in Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Island using sensing equipment to see how infrared reflected off different types of plastic debris washed up on shore.&nbsp;



The team compared the results with the same tests on new, undamaged plastics and found little difference. This means that many different types of plastic - regardless of color, shape, texture and weathering - can be detected. The next step is to improve the ability of the imaging system even more.&nbsp;



“In the next few years, we're going to launch satellites with even better remote sensing capabilities," said Professor Simon Jones. "We're developing ways to use these new satellites in the fight against marine waste."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing">Remote Sensing</a>.



---



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

Remote sensing can be used to find plastic debris on the beach

In a new study from RMIT University, researchers used infrared...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> (UW) has found that, after using olfactory cues to detect potential <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-can-recognize-the-plants-that-host-toxic-insects/">hosts</a> to bite, mosquitoes tend to fly towards specific colors, including red, orange, black, and cyan, while ignoring other colors such as green, purple, blue, or white. These findings help explain how mosquitoes find hosts, since human skin, regardless of its particular pigmentation, always emits a strong, red-orange “signal” to their eyes.



“Mosquitoes appear to use odors to help them distinguish what is nearby, like a host to bite,” said study senior author&nbsp;Jeffrey Riffell, a professor of Biology at the UW. “When they smell specific compounds, like CO2 from our breath, that scent stimulates the eyes to scan for specific colors and other visual patterns, which are associated with a potential host, and head to them.”



Professor Riffell and his colleagues tracked the behavior of female yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) when presented with various olfactory and visual cues. As in the case of all mosquito species, only A. aegypti females drink blood, and can transmit various diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, or those caused by the Chikungunya or Zika viruses. Finding what attracts and repels these mosquitoes is thus highly important for protecting ourselves from these diseases.



The researchers discovered that smelling carbon dioxide (CO2) – the gas that we and other animals exhale with each breath – boosts female mosquitoes’ activity levels, making them scan the environment in search for hosts. Without prior exposure to CO2, mosquitoes largely ignored a colored dot the scientists presented to them in the test chamber. After being exposed to this gas, mosquitoes continued to ignore the dot if it was green, blue, or purple, but immediately flew towards it if it was red, orange, black, or cyan.



These findings suggest that mosquitoes’ olfaction and vision are strongly related and that their eyes prefer certain wavelengths in the visual spectrum. Understanding these insects’ visual preferences can help us avoiding their disease-transmitting bites.



“One of the most common questions I'm asked is ‘What can I do to stop mosquitoes from biting me?’” said Professor Riffell. “I used to say there are three major cues that attract mosquitoes: your breath, your sweat, and the temperature of your skin. In this study, we found a fourth cue: the color red, which can not only be found on your clothes, but is also found in everyone’s skin. The shade of your skin doesn’t matter, we are all giving off a strong red signature. Filtering out those attractive colors in our skin, or wearing clothes that avoid those colors, could be another way to prevent a mosquito biting.”



Further research is needed to determine how other visual and olfactory cues – such as skin secretions - help mosquitoes target potential hosts, and to clarify what are the colors and smells preferred by other species of mosquitoes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28195-x">Nature Communications</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

Mosquitoes are attracted to specific scents and colors

A new study led by the University of Washington (UW)...

By playing a fundamental role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, oceans, soils, and forests are important “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-sinks-are-a-powerful-weapon-against-climate-change/">carbon sinks</a>” that can help mitigate climate change. However, the complex and delicate ecology of these ecosystems is still unpredictable, and it remains quite difficult to properly asses how they are responding to climate change and how much carbon they are actually capable of pulling and sequestering from the atmosphere.&nbsp;



The total of sequestered carbon is traditionally estimated indirectly, by calculating the difference between human-produced emissions, the amount of carbon in the world’s oceans, and the level of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide.&nbsp;



According to a new study led by the <a href="https://qcnr.usu.edu/wild/">Department of Wildlife Resources</a> from Utah State University and the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>, supplementing this indirect calculation with data from existing and future collections of tree rings could provide a more accurate and detailed record of the carbon gained by individual trees and forests, with the specificity of an annual time stamp. Such information can then be used to better estimate forest-wide and continent-wide carbon saving.



“Tree-ring time series provide long-term, annually resolved information on the growth of trees. When sampled in a systematic context, tree-ring data can be scaled to estimate the forest carbon capture and storage of landscapes, biomes, and – ultimately - the globe,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



Although tree core samples have been collected during several inventories, their continued collection and analysis in various countries is essential and requires a concerted effort. “We need to get organized with a more cohesive, forward-looking approach, nationally, continentally, and globally,” urged study co-author Justin DeRose, an assistant professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology at Utah State University.&nbsp;



“Adding tree ring data to the carbon equation would provide a much more nuanced, richer perspective about how forests are responding to the changing climate system."



Sampling tree rings in the forest inventories around the world could bring together key data to quantify and understand how forests are changing worldwide, and how much carbon they can hold as partners in humanity’s fight against climate change.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab119">BioScience</a>.



---



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

Tree rings reveal the carbon storage capacity of a forest

By playing a fundamental role in removing carbon dioxide from...

According to recent research led by the <a href="https://www.unh.edu/">University of New Hampshire</a>, winters are warming faster than summers in North America, impacting ecosystems as well as human societies and economy. While global climate models indicate that this trend will likely continue in the following decades, the study authors estimate that a significant reduction in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenhouse-gas-emissions-cause-a-major-delay-in-rainfall/">greenhouse gas emissions</a> could preserve almost three weeks of snow cover and below freezing temperatures.



“The local ski hills of New England raised me to love winter and snow,” said study lead author Elizabeth Burakowski, a research assistant professor of Earth Sciences at the University of New Hampshire.&nbsp;



“But winters are vital to all of us and taking serious action now to limit, or slow, the warming of winter could mean preserving many core purposes of cold weather including providing more winter protection for woodland animals, preventing the spread of invasive forest pests, and increasing the ability of ski resorts to make snow - protecting the economy by maintaining the area’s multimillion-dollar recreation industry.”



In their study, Professor Burakowski and her colleagues have analyzed 29 different climate models to determine the effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. At the current rate of emissions, ski areas in North America will face up to 50 percent decline in snowmaking days.&nbsp;



If between 1980 and 2005, the number of snow-covered days was 95, under a low emissions scenario they would be reduced to 72, and under a high emissions model to 56. If no urgent measures to curb emissions are undertaken, states such as New Jersey, Rhode Island, or Connecticut will likely have snow-free winters by the end of the century.



“Emissions scenarios play a critical role in the loss of winter conditions, indicating a potential doubling of the loss of cold days and snow cover under higher emissions,” said study co-author Alexandra Contosta, an expert in winter ecology at the University of New Hampshire.&nbsp;



“These changes could disrupt and forever change some very significant social and ecological systems that have historically relied on cold, snowy winters for habitat, water resources, forest health, local economies, cultural practices, and human wellbeing,” she concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.eaglehill.us/NENAonline/articles/NENA-sp-11/19-Burakowski.shtml">Northeastern Naturalist</a>.



---



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

Lower emissions needed to save the winter season

According to recent research led by the University of New...

A new study led by the <a href="https://umaine.edu/">University of Maine</a> has found that melting and sublimation caused by anthropogenic climate change is increasingly affecting even the world’s highest peaks, such as Mount Everest’s South Col Glacier, located 8, 020 meters above sea level. According to data from the world’s highest ice core and highest automatic weather stations, the estimated contemporary thinning rates of this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/himalayan-glaciers-are-melting-extremely-fast/">glacier</a> are approaching approximately two meters of water per year, now that its peak has turned from snowpack to ice and lost its ability to reflect solar radiation.



This study “answers one of the big questions posed by our 2019 NGS/Rolex Mount Everest Expedition - whether the highest glaciers on the planet are impacted by human-source climate change,” said study co-author Paul Andrew Mayewski, a glaciologist at the University of Maine. “The answer is a resounding yes, and very significantly since the late 1990s.”&nbsp;



The researchers found that, once South Col Glacier’s ice was regularly exposed, about 55 meters of glacier thinning has occurred in a quarter century. Thus, over the past decades, the glacier lost ice 80 times faster than the nearly 2,000 years it took to form it at the surface. Most likely, the increasing overall surface ice mass loss in the region - marking the transition from permanent snowpack to majority ice cover - was triggered by climate change in the 1950s, and has intensified since the late 1990s.



Model simulations have shown that the glacier’s extreme insolation means that ablation (the loss of surface mass through melting or vaporization) can accelerate by a factor of over 20 once snow cover gives way to ice. While rising temperatures caused most of the sublimation, stronger winds and declining relative humidity have also played important roles in these developments.



“Climate predictions for the Himalaya suggest continued warming and continued glacier mass loss, and even the top of the Everest is impacted by anthropogenic source warming,” said study lead author Mariusz Potocki, a doctoral student in Glaciochemistry at the University of Maine.



These findings highlight the critical balance snow-covered surfaces provide and the “potential for loss throughout high mountain glacier systems as snow cover is depleted by changes in sublimation — passing from a solid to vapor state — and surface melt driven by climate trends.”



“Everest’s highest glacier has served as a sentinel for this delicate balance and has demonstrated that even the roof of the Earth is impacted by anthropogenic source warming,” concluded the authors.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-022-00230-0">Nature Portfolio Journal: Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>.



---



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

The highest peak in the world is rapidly melting

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

As dogs get older, they experience many of the same symptoms as aging humans do, including such conditions as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cbd-improves-eases-arthritis-symptoms-in-dogs/" data-type="news" data-id="1881230">arthritis</a>, diabetes and dementia. But while large research projects exist that investigate factors correlated with healthy aging in humans, similar studies on dog aging have not yet been undertaken. In fact, we do not even know what defines “normal aging” for our canine companions.



How old is your dog in terms of human years, and is it healthy for its age? These questions are currently not easy to answer. The accepted wisdom is that a “dog year” is roughly equivalent to seven human years, making a one-year-old puppy comparable in age to a seven-year-old child. This would mean that an 11-year-old elderly dog is comparable to a 77-year-old senior citizen. But it’s actually much more complicated than this, say experts.



Dogs do not all age at the same rate. Big dogs tend to age faster – maybe 10 times faster than humans – while small breeds may live to 20 years old and experience aging about five times faster than humans.&nbsp;



A team of international scientists is now building an unprecedented research platform to help answer these questions. Known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://dogagingproject.org/">Dog Aging Project</a> (DAP), this involves collecting data from tens of thousands of dogs of all sizes, breeds and backgrounds in order to assess the roles of genetics, environment and lifestyle on the aging process. The specific details of this ambitious research were published in a recent scientific article in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.



Dog owners are invited to enrol their dogs in the project and to contribute data relating to the health, lifestyle and environment of their dogs. A dog will remain enrolled for at least 10 years, during which time regular and extensive surveys will take place.&nbsp;The researchers will also collect environmental information, electronic veterinary medical records, genome-wide sequence information, clinicopathology and molecular phenotypes derived from blood cells, plasma and faecal samples.&nbsp;



There are already 32,000 dogs enrolled in the DAP, ranging in age from young puppies to unusually old individuals. These canine citizen scientists are collectively known as the “DAP Pack.” It is hoped that, since dogs share the same environment as humans but have much shorter lifespans, the insights gained into the aging process in dogs may have benefits for understanding aging in humans as well.



“This is a very large, ambitious, wildly interdisciplinary project that has the potential to be a powerful resource for the broader scientific community,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://lsi.princeton.edu/joshua-akey">Joshua Akey</a>, a professor in Princeton’s&nbsp;<a href="http://lsi.princeton.edu/">Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics</a>&nbsp;and a member of the Dog Aging Project’s research team. “Personally, I find this project exciting because I think it will improve dog, and ultimately, human health.”



“We are sequencing the genomes of 10,000 dogs,” Akey said. “This will be one of the largest genetics data sets ever produced for dogs, and it will be a powerful resource not only to understand the role of genetics in aging, but also to answer more fundamental questions about the evolutionary history and domestication of dogs.”



Once a dog is enrolled in the program, the owner is required to complete annual surveys and take measurements of the dog’s weight and height for the duration of the project. In addition, swabs of the dog’s cheek cells must be submitted for DNA analysis. The dog will visit a veterinarian regularly and vets across the country will submit fur, fecal, urine and blood samples of the dogs involved in the research.&nbsp;



The data and analyses will all be made available in an open-source dataset that will be available to the public and to veterinarians and scientists who wish to develop tools for assessing how well a specific dog is aging.&nbsp;



“We are still recruiting dogs of all ages, all breeds — purebred or mixed breeds, all sizes, all across the United States,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://lsi.princeton.edu/william-thistlethwaite">William Thistlethwaite</a>, a graduate student who works with Akey in the Lewis-Sigler Institute. “Especially puppies and young dogs up to 3 years old.”



The researchers hope that the data will help them to identify specific biomarkers of canine aging. Ideally, these would be useful in understanding the processes involved in human aging as well.&nbsp;



Dr. Daniel Promislow is the principal investigator for the National Institute on Aging grant that funds the project, and a professor of biology at the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences and of laboratory medicine and pathology at the UW School of Medicine.



“Given that dogs share the human environment and have a sophisticated health care system but are much shorter-lived than people, they offer a unique opportunity to identify the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with healthy lifespan,” said Dr. Promislow.



One particular aspect of the research outlined in the recently published paper is the super-centenarian study that involves only the 300 oldest dogs in the DAP pack and aims to identify the keys to their longevity.&nbsp;



“One part of the project that I am super excited about is a ‘super-centenarian’ study, comparing the DNA of exceptionally long-lived dogs to dogs that live to the average age for their breed,” said Akey. “This is the first study of its kind in dogs (to my knowledge), and I think it’s a clever way of trying to find genetic differences that contribute to exceptional longevity.”



Within a few months, the team plans to open their enormous dataset – fully anonymized – to share with scientists around the world. Researchers from many different fields will have the opportunity to contribute to the study in countless different ways, based on their interests.



“It is an honor to share our work with the scientific community,” said Kate Creevy, lead author on the paper and DAP’s chief veterinary officer. “The Dog Aging Project is creating a resource with the power to transform veterinary medicine, aging research, and many scientific and non-scientific fields of inquiry.”



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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

Ambitious project will shed light on the aging process in dogs

As dogs get older, they experience many of the same...

It is well known that spending time in nature has benefits in terms of mental and physical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natural-environments-play-an-overlooked-role-in-public-health/">health</a>, and yet we are not all drawn toward the natural world with the same passion. In trying to understand individual differences in the way we experience nature, environmental factors (such as parental attitudes and access to natural areas) have received the most attention. The potential role of genes in this variation between individuals has been overlooked.&nbsp;



For the first time, scientists have now investigated the contribution of genes and heritability to various aspects of our individual appreciation of nature. The research was focused on data from a large-scale study of UK twins and was led by Chia-Chen Chang at the National University of Singapore.&nbsp;



Researchers surveyed 1,153 pairs of twins listed on the TwinsUK registry. Some of the twins were monozygotic (identical), indicating that they would share almost 100 percent of their genes, while others were dizygotic twins (non-identical) who would share about 50 percent of their genes. The average age of the twins in the study was 60 years, and the participants ranged from 19 - 89 years of age.&nbsp;



The twins were asked to rate their familiarity with and desire to be in nature (termed nature orientation), as well as the frequency with which they visit natural spaces such as public parks and private gardens (termed nature opportunity). Both nature orientation and opportunity have been hypothesized to have a heritable component, but this has never been tested. In addition, the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in explaining individual variation in nature experience remains unexplored.&nbsp;



The results of the study, published today in the open access journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/">PLoS Biology</a>, found that identical twins were more similar to each other than non-identical twins in their orientation towards nature and in their nature experience – how often they visited public open space, and their frequency and duration of visits to gardens.&nbsp;



Heritability ranged from 46 percent for nature orientation to 34 percent for frequency of garden visits, suggesting a moderate influence of genetics over how people experience nature.&nbsp;



However, environmental factors explained more than half of the differences between individuals. For example, people living in urban environments tended to have less frequent nature experiences due, probably, to their more limited access or greater travel times to gardens and public open spaces. This result highlights the importance of availability in shaping nature-seeking behaviors.&nbsp;



Heritability also declined with age, suggesting that genetics may become less influential as people age and experience a unique set of environmental conditions.



Spending time in natural spaces has been found to improve mental well-being, but different people experience and benefit from nature differently. This study provides the first evidence for a genetic component to both our predispositions towards nature and our tendency to visit natural spaces.&nbsp;



Nature-oriented people may actively seek out nature even if it means traveling from their home, but diverse urban planning is needed to provide access to natural spaces and the benefits they offer, the authors say.



“Spending time in nature links to better health and well-being,” adds Chang. “A twin study shows that a person’s desire to be in nature and how often they experience it are influenced by both genes and personal experiences.”



The authors conclude that their study demonstrates genetic contributions to the nature experiences of individuals and opens a new dimension for the study of human-nature interactions in future.&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

How we experience nature is partly hereditary

It is well known that spending time in nature has...

People experience odors in a unique way. Some individuals are unable to detect certain smells, while others report perceptions of varying smell intensity, pleasantness and quality. Variation in odor perception is related to genetic differences since olfactory receptors are proteins that are coded for by particular <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-climate-change-will-affect-the-dungeness-crab/">genes</a>. Currently, only a very few genes have been identified that are directly responsible for the way people detect specific odorous compounds.



Olfactory receptors, the proteins responsible for detecting odor compounds, are present in the cell membranes of nerve cells in the nasal membranes. They show a high level of genetic variation, when compared to other proteins. There are about 800 genes that code for olfactory receptor proteins in humans, but only 400 of them are functional, the rest being mutated to varying extents. In addition, there is a lot of genetic variation between people, with around 30 percent of olfactory receptor genes being functionally different between any two individuals.



Previous research has attempted to correlate sense of smell with genetic variation but only a small number of cases have succeeded in relating variation in the perception of an odor to an actual genetic variation in a receptor gene between people.



Now, a new study has identified the genetic basis of two new odor receptors in humans, one that detects a synthetic musk odor commonly used in fragrances, and the other that detects a compound in human body odor. The results of the study are published today in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/">PLoS Genetics</a>.



Researchers from China, the US and Netherlands, analyzed the genomes of 1,000 Han Chinese people to identify genetic variations correlated with the way in which each individual perceived 10 different scents. &nbsp;Then they repeated the experiment for six odors in an ethnically diverse population of 364 people, to confirm their results.&nbsp;



In both groups of participants, the researchers identified three associations between an individual’s perception of a particular odor and the genes for that specific odor receptor that had been reported in previous studies. In the past, participants in this sort of research had largely been of western (Caucasian) origin, so this current study added information from East Asian participants and other diverse populations as well, and confirmed that the genetics underlying the ability to detect odors remains constant across people from different backgrounds.



In addition, the researchers identified the genes associated with two new odor receptors in humans, one that detects a musky odor, and the other that detects a compound in human body odor. The results showed that there were different versions of the musk and underarm odor receptor genes, and that these genetic variations affected how the person perceived the scents.&nbsp;



The scientists also examined the 29 different mutations in olfactory receptor genes that have been reported in the published scientific literature to date. These mutations have all been associated with differences in odor perception. They calculated when each mutation occurred and found that in 24 of the 29 instances, the mutation occurred more than 100,000 years ago, predating the time when Europeans and East Asians diverged.



Interestingly, in 21 of the 29 instances, the mutated form of the gene is associated with a decreased sensitivity to the specific odor. This indicates that, during human evolution, mutations in the olfactory receptor genes have led to a reduction in sensitivity to odorous compounds. People who have the unmutated ancestral versions of the scent receptors (the versions found in other, non-human primates) tend to experience the corresponding odor as more intense.&nbsp;



These findings support the hypothesis that the sensitivity of humans' and other primates' sense of smell has degraded over time due to changes in the set of genes that code for our smell receptors.



“Genome-wide scans identified novel genetic variants associated with odor perception, providing support for the hypothesis that the primate olfactory receptor repertoire has degenerated over time," wrote the study authors.



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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

Sense of smell has diminished in humans and other primates

People experience odors in a unique way. Some individuals are...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.737379/full">Frontiers in Environmental Science</a> has investigated the source of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-are-higher-than-previously-estimated/">methane</a> emissions in coastal forests that are destroyed by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-levels-are-rising-at-an-alarming-rate/">rising sea levels</a> – the so-called “ghost forests.” The scientists have found that communities of microbes in the soils under dead trees (also called “snags”) are producing methane, while the snags act like filtering straws as the gas rises through the wood.



“We’re tracing where the methane is originally coming from, and what we’re finding is that it’s coming from the soils, and as it moves through the tree, it’s changing as well,” said study co-author Marcelo Ardón, an associate professor of Forestry and Environmental Resources at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a>. “The methane is being processed as it moves through those snags.”



In order to localize the source of methane emissions, Professor Ardón and his colleagues analyzed methane gas samples from standing dead trees in ghost forests from five sites on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula on the North Carolina coast.&nbsp;



“It’s important to be able to understand how methane is moving through the ecosystem,” study lead author Melinda Martinez, a postdoctoral scholar at the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey. </a>“These ghost forest regions are temporary ecosystems; they will become marshes. But even during the transient state, we want to know how ghost forests produce and move this greenhouse gas.”



By measuring concentrations of the gas in the soil, in the soil water, and inside the snags, the scientists found that methane concentrations generally decreased the higher they got from the ground in the dead trees. Afterwards, they also took samples from the trees and placed them in vials to see if they were producing any methane when isolated in oxygen-free environments.



“Only five out of 100 vial samples produced any significant results, which provides further evidence that the methane being emitted from standing dead trees originated in the soil,” said Dr. Martinez.



Since increasingly more scientists agree that methane has a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-methane-is-the-fastest-way-to-slow-global-warming/">higher warming potential</a> than carbon dioxide, mapping methane fluxes in ghost forests is essential for better understanding the environmental impact of forest-to-ghost forest transition and building strategies for mitigating climate change.&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

Why are dead trees emitting methane?

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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