Many people imagine Earth’s interior mantle as separate layers stacked on top of each other, like a layered cake, with each layer representing a plate. In reality, those internal zones are complex and often full of surprises.



Seismologists have relied on specific types of earthquake waves to learn about Earth's subsurface, but now a different technique is painting a far more detailed picture.



This fresh perspective has led scientists to wonder if there is hidden material in places once believed to be empty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-earth-s-mantle-the-basics">Understanding Earth's mantle - the basics</h2>



Earth’s mantle is the thick layer of rock that lies between the planet's crust and its core. It stretches about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) deep, making up around 84% of Earth's total volume. 



The mantle is primarily composed of silicate minerals rich in iron and magnesium, and it's mostly solid, but it behaves like a thick, slow-flowing fluid over long periods of time. 



This flow is what drives the movement of tectonic plates on Earth's surface, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-detect-major-earthquakes-months-in-advance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">causing earthquakes</a>, volcanic eruptions, and the shifting of continents. 



Heat from the Earth’s core causes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-inner-core-rotation-is-slowing-down-making/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">convection currents</a> in the mantle, where hot material rises, cools near the crust, and then sinks back down, creating a continuous cycle. This process plays a key role in shaping the planet's surface.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tectonic-plates-in-earth-s-mantle">Tectonic plates in Earth's mantle</h2>



The discovery stems from the use of a high-resolution method called <a href="https://library.seg.org/doi/10.1190/1.9781560803027.entry6">full-waveform inversion</a>. Scientists use this approach to interpret every type of <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/ocean-floor/layers-earth/compare-contrast-connect-seismic-waves-and-determining-earth-s-structure#">seismic wave</a> produced by earthquakes, rather than focusing on only one kind.



Because of that, they can build a more precise model of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-crust-is-dripping-under-turkey/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth’s internal structures</a>.&nbsp;



After applying this method to the lower mantle, researchers saw pockets that appear to be leftover plate fragments in areas with no known history of subduction. 



Following their analysis, they were startled by just how common these hidden anomalies seemed to be.



This work was led by a team that includes doctoral student <a href="https://www.geology.ethz.ch/people/person-detail.Mjc3OTM4.TGlzdC82NjksNTE5NzQ3MzU0.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Thomas Schouten</a> from the <a href="https://www.geology.ethz.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geological Institute of ETH Zurich</a>, who collaborated with experts from the <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California Institute of Technology</a>.



Their combined efforts brought fresh insights that challenge assumptions about where old tectonic plate remnants might reside in Earth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interpreting-seismic-signals">Interpreting seismic signals</h2>



To understand how researchers got here, it helps to remember how seismic waves work. When an earthquake strikes, it sends waves radiating outward in all directions.



These waves bounce, bend, and shift as they travel through the planet. In much the same way that doctors use medical imaging techniques, geophysicists measure the time these waves take to reach various seismic stations around the globe.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/earth_lower-mantle_rock-zones_mysterious-sunken-worlds_credit-ETHZ_1s.webp" alt="Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue). The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown. Credit: Sebastian Noe / ETH Zurich" class="wp-image-1956322"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue). The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown. Credit: Sebastian Noe / ETH Zurich</figcaption></figure>



The velocity of those signals reveals details about rock density and stiffness. In previous years, scientists relied heavily on <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/108/5A/2894/546740/Generalized-Seismic-Phase-Detection-with-Deep?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particular seismic phases</a>. 



But by examining all available wave data instead, new shapes and densities were identified from Earth's lower <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mantle-heat-shaped-earths-crust-3-billion-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mantle</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-earth-s-mantle-important">Why is Earth's mantle important?</h2>



Over hundreds of millions of years, plates have formed, shifted, and sunk back into Earth’s interior. This <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB073i006p01959">cycling</a> plays a role in controlling phenomena like volcano formation, earthquakes, and the slow drift of continents.&nbsp;



Researchers have long known that slabs of subducted plates cluster under regions where one tectonic plate slides under another. 



So it came as a surprise when the new images revealed large slabs below oceans and continental interiors that lack a clear history of plate collisions.



That signals a possible complication in our understanding of how plates evolve and where they end up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mysterious-plate-under-the-pacific-ocean">Mysterious plate under the Pacific Ocean</h2>



One of the biggest surprises was in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-sunken-oceans-discovered-between-earth-core-and-mantle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">zone</a> under the western Pacific. According to current plate tectonic timelines, there is no reason for old plate fragments to be there.&nbsp;



“Apparently, such zones in the Earth's mantle are much more widespread than previously thought,” said <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77399-2">Schouten</a>.



No geologic data points to historical subduction nearby. This indicates that the anomalies might not be chunks of plates at all, or at least not in the way scientists originally imagined.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-could-it-be-something-else">Could it be something else?</h2>



Scientists now face questions about the origin and nature of these structures.



Some say they may be ancient, silica-rich pockets left over from the early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-earths-mantle-shapes-surface-topography/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mantle</a>. Others suggest they might be iron-rich accumulations that have drifted over billions of years.&nbsp;



Schouten explained that the new model reveals anomalies throughout the Earth's interior, but the exact materials or plate fragments responsible for these patterns remain unclear. 



This uncertainty suggests a more diverse range of compositions in the Earth's mantle than previously understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-deeper-understanding">Next steps for deeper understanding</h2>



Full-waveform inversion is a promising tool for these investigations, but it offers only a view of how fast or slowly waves move through the material. 



Researchers say they need further refinement to tease out chemical and thermal differences. 



Some are turning to additional datasets, including electromagnetic signals and data from mineral physics experiments. 



Combining those methods might highlight whether these mantle “blobs” are from primordial origins, from recycled ocean crust, or from something else entirely.



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



If scientists confirm that more zones like these exist in Earth’s depths, they may have to adjust many theories about how heat moves through the planet. 



Such hidden zones might alter patterns of convection and the formation of mantle plumes.&nbsp;



The story of plate tectonics could also see updates, with new chapters on how plate fragments wander and transform in ways not previously documented. These discoveries remind us that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-volcanic-hotspots-are-all-connected-to-earths-interior-mantle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">geoscience</a>, like any science, is never settled.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-search-continues">The search continues</h2>



In the future, improved supercomputers may crunch even larger datasets to produce clearer images of Earth's lower mantle and its plate structures. That could resolve debates about the true nature of these mysterious anomalies.&nbsp;



By integrating various approaches - seismic, chemical, and computational - Earth scientists will keep uncovering pieces of our planet’s hidden complexity.



As Schouten’s team demonstrated, sometimes seeing the entire picture means looking beyond what we think we already know.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77399-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

'Sunken worlds' discovered under the Pacific ocean in Earth's mantle

Many people imagine Earth’s interior mantle as separate layers stacked on top of each other, like a layered cake, with each layer representing a plate. In reality, those internal zones are complex and often full of surprises. Seismologists have relied on specific types of earthquake waves to learn about Earth's subsurface, but now a different technique is painting a far more detailed picture. This fresh perspective has led scientists to wonder if there is hidden material in places once believed to be empty. Understanding Earth's mantle -...

As cities expand, more of the surface area of the ground becomes covered with materials that are impervious to rainwater. In cities across the US, roads, rooftops, parking lots, sidewalks and driveways increased by an average of 326,000 hectares per year between 2012 and 2017.



These surfaces do not allow rainwater to percolate through and reach the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-may-remove-toxic-metals-from-soil/">soil</a> underneath. Instead, water that falls on these surfaces usually flows away into storm drains and sewer systems. If the downfall is excessive, the rainwater can cause local flooding that affects residents and may cause damage and destruction. In many cities, green infrastructure (GI) such as bioswales or channels with permeable surfaces, or interconnected networks of green space that conserve natural ecosystems, have been introduced into the worst affected urban areas to help with storm water drainage.



Although municipalities now can invest in green infrastructure to mitigate the effects of pluvial floods, they have to select the most appropriate areas in which to employ this technology. Cities including Portland, Phoenix and Atlanta have developed plans and invested in implementing GI but there is a perception that the deployment of the GI may not be equitable in terms of the socio-economic status, race or risk of the population.&nbsp;



A recent study by researchers from Portland State University considers demographic data obtained from the 2011 census along with an identification of the geographic areas prone to rainwater flooding in three US cities, namely Portland, Phoenix and Atlanta. This information is used to assess whether the GI is distributed in these cities in an equitable and appropriate manner in order to mitigate flood risks.&nbsp;



The researchers divided pluvial flood zones into four categories – Vulnerable, Managed,&nbsp;Prepared, and&nbsp;Low Concern&nbsp;– based on the potential flood area and the density of GI infrastructure. They then investigated how GI, racial groups, and economically disadvantaged groups are distributed with respect to the areas at risk of pluvial flooding.&nbsp;



Study lead author Arun Pallathadka is a PhD student in the Earth, Environment and Society program at Portland State University. According to Pallathadka, the research team found that the placement of GI in each of the cities did not consistently overlap with areas prone to rainwater flooding. Furthermore, non-white and low-income populations were found to be more vulnerable to flood risk. The results, published recently in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/landscape-and-urban-planning">Landscape and Urban Planning</a> indicated inequalities and the potential for discriminatory flood-risk management measures.&nbsp;&nbsp;



For example, in Phoenix and Portland, low-income and non-white populations were more likely to be exposed to pluvial flooding than were high-income and white populations. However, there has been increased investment in GI in these two cities, particularly in neighborhoods with higher populations of non-white and low-income residents, marking a transition to more equitable flood risk management.&nbsp;



In Atlanta, the risk of rainwater flooding was relatively low for non-white and low-income residents. In fact, the relationships were reversed, with white populations tending to be more exposed to pluvial flooding. However, GI usage is more frequent where the at-risk white population lives, indicating that there may be active efforts to manage flood risk in these communities. The researchers also found that GI investment increased over time in areas with predominantly white populations.&nbsp;



“Flooding is the costliest natural hazard,” said Pallathadka. “But when we talk about flooding, the focus is often on the floodplain, on rivers. But with climate change, we're expecting an increase in flooding associated with rainfall events. We wanted to know where the hotspots in cities are associated with a risk of flooding from rain, who are the people living in those communities, and where are cities placing infrastructure to help reduce the hazards.”



The researchers found that in Phoenix and Portland, non-white and low-income populations more often lived in areas classified as Vulnerable&nbsp;or&nbsp;Managed, in terms of flood risk, than white and high-income populations. In contrast, white and high-income populations more often lived in areas that were Prepared&nbsp;or&nbsp;of Low Concern. In Atlanta, non-white and low-income populations were more likely to live in&nbsp;Low Concern&nbsp;areas than were white and high-income populations, but white and high-income populations were more likely to live in&nbsp;Prepared&nbsp;and&nbsp;Managed&nbsp;areas.



In the past, urban planning has often been used as a tool, wielded by whites and the wealthy, for discrimination against ethnic minorities and impoverished groups. The results of the current study both reinforce and challenge the argument that urban resources are unequally shared.&nbsp;



The study authors have developed a system to categorize neighbourhood flood risk levels that can be applied by researchers, city planners and policymakers to other cities.&nbsp;This tool can be used to help guide future investments in GI such that neighborhoods most at risk of flooding from rainfall events will receive the required infrastructure.&nbsp;



The methods used by the team provide cities with a novel approach to assessing the need for GI in neighborhoods prone to rainwater flooding while also planning for the equitable distribution of those resources as they move ahead under the threat of increasing extreme precipitation events associated with a warming planet.



---



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

Do cities address the hazards of rainwater floods equitably?

As cities expand, more of the surface area of the...

Colombia is one of only 17 megadiverse countries in the world. It has an unusually high <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-single-gene-could-control-biodiversity-in-an-ecosystem/">biodiversity</a> and is home to many rare and endemic species, including the pink river dolphin, cotton-top tamarin, giant capybara and Orinoco crocodile. Although the country’s biodiversity has been inadvertently protected by years of human conflict and governmental instability, Colombia is now at a crossroads where peace has brought agricultural expansion and a consequent threat to its precious biodiversity.



A recent study by researchers from <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> has identified priority areas where the benefits of conservation actions would be the greatest, while the economic impacts from not developing the land for agriculture would be the least. This is largely in response to the findings of the IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) report of 2019 that pointed the finger at human land-use changes as the major cause of biodiversity loss around the world.



“We focused on the case study of the country of Colombia to demonstrate an approach to maximize the biodiversity benefits from limited conservation funding while ensuring that landowners maintain economic returns equivalent to agriculture,” said Leah Gerber, who was lead author of the IPBES report, and is a&nbsp;<a href="https://conservation-innovation.lab.asu.edu/leah-gerber/">professor</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;School of Life Sciences&nbsp;and founding director of the&nbsp;Center for Biodiversity Outcomes&nbsp;(CBO) at&nbsp;ASU.&nbsp;



In the study, Professor Gerber teamed up with Colombian native Camila Guerrero-Pineda, who, just three years ago, left her home country to join the ASU and hopefully make a difference back home in Colombia. The study developed a prioritization map showing areas of the country that were at highest risk of being developed agriculturally, and areas where biological diversity could be protected most effectively. &nbsp;



“It’s fair to categorize that Colombia is a megadiverse country,” said Guerrero-Pineda, who is first author on the publication. “It arguably has some of the greatest biodiversity in the world, given its size, and a lot of scientists and academics in Colombia fear the ecological consequences of human actions.”&nbsp;



Although years of guerrilla war, led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), kept many forest areas from being settled and developed, the peace treaty of 2016 has led to the opportunity for agricultural expansion and to the consequent loss of vital habitats for the resident fauna and flora.



“FARC had a lot of control over the forests, and it prevented a lot of economic development,” said Guerrero-Pineda. “It also prevented a lot of scientific monitoring because scientists were afraid of going into the forests,” said Guerrero-Pineda. &nbsp;&nbsp;



FARC controlled the forests for coca leaf (the plant used to produce cocaine) production and the drug trade, which financed five decades of warfare. Coca tends to be grown in remote, isolated areas, away from roads. In fact, the ASU-led study found that the probability of forests being cleared for use in farming cattle and other crops decreases with increasing distance to roads, while the probability of transformation to coca plantations increases. One of the unplanned consequences of the way in which FARC operated was that development was limited and the spectacular biodiversity was preserved.



The presence of FARC was the most influential variable determining the fate of deforested areas, as the odds of forest conversion to coca crops over conversion to cattle or other crops in areas with presence of FARC was around 300 percent higher than the odds in areas where FARC was not active.



Gerber’s team feels that if no action were taken to change the current trajectory of farmland development, Colombia’s current biodiversity loss rate could increase by 50 percent by the year 2033. The challenge, therefore, is to balance the need to preserve biodiversity with the country’s need to develop economically.&nbsp;



In order to tackle this dilemma, the researchers applied a unique quantitative model that relates investment in conservation to national biodiversity outcomes.&nbsp;



“The methods developed here offer an approach to identifying areas of&nbsp;greatest conservation returns on investment by balancing cost of conservation action,&nbsp;measured as opportunity cost for agriculture, and biodiversity impacts,” said Guerrero-Pineda.



The declaration of any conservation area will come with inherent costs to people who would otherwise have developed and used the area for generating a livelihood. Therefore, the opportunity cost is a measure of foregone benefits that would otherwise have been derived by farmers who have now lost the opportunity to develop the land.&nbsp;



“Opportunity cost is what you're missing out on or what you're not doing because of a decision to do something else,” said Guerrero-Pineda. “What that means is that someone is not going to be able to use the land that is going to be used for conservation.”



Professor Gerber’s team modeled the opportunity cost of conservation (OCC) to agriculture as an approximation of the expected cost of compensating a landowner for avoiding conversion of their property. They assumed that deforestation can be counteracted by compensating the land owner, either by purchase – such as setting the sale value of a piece of land equal to its expected future cash flow – or in the form of continued payments for ecosystem services.



“Our strategy for targeting conservation funding involves first identifying regions with a high risk of forest conversion to agriculture (such as cattle ranching or other crops),” said Professor Gerber. “More broadly, the research agenda is around incorporating cost into decision-making to achieve the most outcomes, given limited resources.”



They found that the Andean region of Colombia contains the highest mean OCC, reflecting a very strong probability that the remaining forests in this region will be converted to agricultural lands. This was followed by the OCC in the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Orinoquía regions. The Amazon region had the lowest mean probability of conversion to agricultural land and the greatest percentage forest cover remaining. According to the team’s model, it also had a much lower OCC.&nbsp;



The researchers estimated that Colombia would have to invest US$37 - 39 million annually (in the best and worst-case scenarios of deforestation) to avoid further severe loss of biodiversity. According to them, this means an increase in its conservation spending of between 7.69 and 10.16 million USD per year. In total, preventing further biodiversity loss in Colombia would require between US$61 and 63 million annually, which is more than twice the amount spent on conservation before the peace agreement.



“One of the things we're excited about with this work is that it's a demonstration of the potential of this idea of using return on investment for thinking about allocated conservation resources,” said study co-author Gwenllian D. Iacona. “And so, we took these two high profile approaches that are out there, called the Waldron Model and the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric, and we put them together so country-level decision makers can make the best-informed decisions at that type of scale.”



Professor Gerber’s team thinks they have developed a new blueprint, not only to aid Colombia but also to extend to other policymakers in other countries where biodiversity and economic development are in conflict.&nbsp;



The study results can also assist in the planning of land preservation and national parks. In Colombia, the National Natural Park System is working to declare five new protected areas, and to expand three more. This builds on evidence showing that more effective and lasting conservation outcomes are achieved when governance empowers local communities and supports their environmental stewardship, including indigenous communities, reserves and Afro-Colombian lands. &nbsp;



“I think Camila’s work really sets us up to assist entities, whether they be countries or companies, in quantitatively measuring the impact of conservation interventions on different metrics, whether they need biodiversity or climate mitigation, or other types of conservation strategies,” said Gerber. “I'm optimistic that we'll be able to build and scale this to improve conservation outcomes more generally.”



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



---



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

Balancing agricultural expansion and biodiversity loss in Colombia

Colombia is one of only 17 megadiverse countries in the...

Humans all over the world produce billions of tons of solid waste annually, with 70 percent of this refuse ending up deposited in landfills, where it slowly decays. What at first sight may seem to be an inert accumulation of useless debris is in fact a complex ecosystem, with vast communities of microbes feeding on the waste and converting it into carbon dioxide and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-suggests-that-all-living-organisms-produce-methane/">methane</a>.&nbsp;



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) has explored the microbial communities residing in leachate (a liquid percolating through solid waste in landfills) at the Salt River Landfill in Scottsdale, and has argued that the methane produced by these microorganisms could be converted into carbon-neutral fuels and electricity, or even used without additional processing for heating homes.&nbsp;



“I think of a landfill as like a big carbon buffet to these microorganisms,” said study lead author Mark Reynolds, a researcher in Environmental Biotechnology at ASU. “Our trash is mostly paper-heavy and it’s really rich in cellulose and hemicellulose. These are readily degradable under anaerobic (oxygen-free) conditions.”



Municipal solid waste landfills accounted for over 15 percent of methane emissions in 2019, representing the third largest source of methane emissions worldwide. Most of the methane released by microorganisms in landfills is captured as biogas and subsequently flared off and converted into carbon dioxide. Although this method limits methane’s impact on the climate, it is only a short-term solution to the problem of emissions from landfills.



In addition to its negative impact on the climate, the lost methane is a missed opportunity to use a valuable resource. According to the researchers, about one-fifth of United States’ landfills could be suitable for methane capture and processing, if various hurdles (including economic ones) are overcome.&nbsp;



By understanding how microorganisms degrading municipal solid waste generate methane (particularly the methanogenic microbes Archaea – the real “workhorses” in the methane producing cycle), scientists hope to boost methane production. This gas could then be harvested and used to produce carbon-neutral fuels and electricity, or even to heat homes (without the need for additional processing).&nbsp;



Further research is needed to clarify the distinctions between various microbial communities that produce methane in landfills - such as that between arid landfill microbes and those residing in landfills from subtropical or temperate climates - and to explore the use of bio-stimulants or other techniques that could be employed to modify methane production.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.02438-21">Microbial Ecology</a>.



---



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

Microbes in landfills produce valuable methane

Humans all over the world produce billions of tons of...

A tropical plant species that was believed to have gone <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/consumer-choice-are-fueling-the-extinction-crisis-abroad/">extinct</a> nearly four decades ago has been rediscovered in Ecuador, according to a new study from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a>.&nbsp;



The South American wildflower was first discovered in the 1980s. In 2000, the plant was named Gasteranthus extinctus - in anticipation of its extinction. Much of the forest habitat that these tropical plants depend upon have been cleared or converted for farming.&nbsp;



An international team of plant scientists, including Professor Kenneth Feeley and graduate student Riley Fortier, took an expedition to the Centinela Ridge in western Ecuador to search for Gasteranthus extinctus. Upon their arrival, the experts split up into three groups to explore the forest patches that were still intact.



“Almost immediately, two of the teams found the plant growing along streams,” said Fortier. “We were definitely excited to see it, and because of how bright the flowers are, once we knew what to look for, it was easy to find.”&nbsp;



The plants were also found outside of the Centinela Ridge, which suggests that they are more widespread than expected.&nbsp;



“This is a call for optimism - it shows that some of these species that we thought were extinct are not, and that these little patches of forest that are left behind can help save the diversity of plants and animals in this area,” said Professor Feeley.&nbsp;



“Some of these species have been able to hang on for a long time, but that area is still losing forest as they continue to clear it for agricultural land, so we need to save what we have now to prevent any actual extinctions.”&nbsp;



Professor Feeley said he hopes that this expedition will spark others to explore the remaining forests and discover what other tropical species may or may not be extinct today.&nbsp;



“This highlights a problem of the tropics, which is that we have so little information; until you send a team of top botanists to a location, you’ll never know what is really there,” said Professor Feeley. "The fact that we can’t even be confident about if a species is either alive or extinct just highlights that we need more people out there looking for these species.”&nbsp;



The experts are working with local organizations to protect the two remaining patches of forest that exist in the area. According to Fortier, these two spots represent just 100 hectares of land but contain a host of rare plant species.



“Right now, these forests could be cut down any day, so we want to push to protect them,” said Fortier.



“When botanists first collected plants there, they noted the immense biodiversity of the region, but before they did anything about it, they returned and were completely alarmed by the deforestation,” said Professor Feeley. “Unfortunately, deforestation can happen quicker than science can.”&nbsp;



The study authors emphasized the importance of conserving this diversity to help counter the effects of climate change.&nbsp;



“Preserving biodiversity, especially local biodiversity, is more than just plants and animals. It’s also preserving the water cycle, our food, and much more,” said Fortier. “We are ensuring an easier life for humankind in the long run.”



Image Credit: Photo by Riley Fortier



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/">PhytoKeys</a>.



---



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

Back from the dead: Tropical plant rediscovered after 40 years

A tropical plant species that was believed to have gone...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California, San Francisco</a> (UCSF) has found that people who are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pfizer-antibodies-decline-faster-than-those-induced-by-moderna/">vaccinated</a> against SARS-CoV-2 and have a history of certain psychiatric conditions are at a higher risk of developing breakthrough infections. According to the scientists, this phenomenon may be caused by impaired immune responses, as well as risky behaviors associated with some mental disorders.



The researchers investigated a cohort of 263,697 fully vaccinated <a href="https://www.va.gov/">United States Department of Veterans Affairs</a> patients who had at least one SARS-CoV-2 test recorded in the electronic health record, and had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to vaccination. They found that patients over 65 with psychiatric disorders had a heightened risk of up to 24 percent for breakthrough infections.&nbsp;



The risks were higher for people with substance abuse disorder (24 percent), followed by those with psychotic (23 percent), bipolar (16 percent), adjustment (14 percent), and anxiety (12 percent) disorders. For younger participants with psychiatric issues, the risks were up to 11 percent higher than for those without a history of mental illness.&nbsp;



For both age groups, data was adjusted for sex, age, race, ethnicity, and vaccine type, as well as for various comorbidities, including obesity, diabetes, HIV, cancer, sleep apnea, or cardiovascular, lung, kidney, and liver diseases.



“Our research suggests that increased breakthrough infections in people with psychiatric disorders cannot be entirely explained by socio-demographic factors or pre-existing conditions,” said study senior author Aoife O’Donovan, an associate professor of Psychiatry at UCSF. “It’s possible that immunity following vaccination wanes more quickly or more strongly for people with psychiatric disorders and/or they could have less protection to newer variants.”



Moreover, according to a previous study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521003624">Preventive Medicine Reports</a>, individuals with elevated anxiety levels and post-traumatic stress disorder – conditions associated with increased impulsivity - were more likely to engage in various behaviors that put them at higher risk for COVID-19.&nbsp;



These findings suggest that psychiatric disorders should be considered highly significant factors for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections. “Mental health is important to consider in conjunction with other risk factors, and some patients should be prioritized for boosters and other critical preventive efforts,” concluded Professor O’Donovan.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2791033?utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_term=041422">JAMA Network Open</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

Mental illness increases risk of breakthrough COVID infections

A new study led by the University of California, San...

A new study led by the <a href="https://le.ac.uk/">University of Leicester</a> and NASA's <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) has revealed a more complete picture of trends in Neptune’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-in-vegetation-are-a-key-driver-of-global-temperatures/">temperatures</a> than ever before. The scientists combined all existing thermal infrared images of Neptune gathered from multiple observatories over almost two decades. They found a significant decline in the planet's thermal brightness, suggesting that globally-averaged temperatures in Neptune’s stratosphere have dropped by about eight degrees Celsius from 2003 to 2018.&nbsp;



“This change was unexpected. Since we have been observing Neptune during its early southern summer, we would expect temperatures to be slowly growing warmer, not colder,” said study lead author Dr. Michael Roman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Leicester.



Neptune has an axial tilt, so it also experiences different seasons, just like the Earth. However, since it is located at a greater distance from the Sun, Neptune takes over 165 years to complete an orbit around the Sun. This causes its seasons to change slowly, lasting more than 40 Earth-years each. “Our data cover less than half of a Neptune season, so no one was expecting to see large and rapid changes,” said study co-author Glenn Orton, a senior research scientist at JPL.



Further satellite observations of Neptune’s south pole revealed that, after the cooling observed from 2003 to 2018, Neptune’s polar stratosphere warmed by 11°C between 2018 and 2020. Such unexpected polar warming has never been observed on this planet before and challenges scientists’ understanding of Neptune’s atmospheric variability.&nbsp;



“Temperature variations may be related to seasonal changes in Neptune's atmospheric chemistry, which can alter how effectively the atmosphere cools. But random variability in weather patterns or even a response to the 11-year solar activity cycle may also have an effect,” explained Dr. Roman.



Scientists argued that the 11-year solar cycle – characterized by periodic variations in the Sun’s activity and sunspots – could affect Neptune’s brightness and thus its stratospheric temperatures. However, follow-up observations of Neptune’s temperatures and cloud patterns are needed in the coming years in order to further assess any possible connections between these parameters.



Initiating observations later this year with the newly developed <a href="https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/">James Webb Space Telescope</a> (JWST) will be crucial to answer these questions. “The exquisite sensitivity of the space telescope's mid-infrared instrument, MIRI, will provide unprecedented new maps of the chemistry and temperatures in Neptune's atmosphere, helping to better identify the nature of these recent changes,” said co-author Leigh Fletcher, a professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester.



The study is published in the <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac5aa4">Planetary Science Journal</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

Mysterious temperature swings on Neptune have scientists puzzled

A new study led by the University of Leicester and...

A growing collection of research has documented the enormous benefits of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lifelong-exercise-may-be-the-secret-to-staying-young/">exercise</a>, including the role of physical activity in boosting brain health. And now, a new study published by the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a> suggests that exercise may help protect brain volume by supporting healthy insulin and body mass index levels.



“These results may help us to understand how physical activity affects brain health, which may guide us in developing strategies to prevent or delay age-related decline in memory and thinking skills,” said study author Dr. Géraldine Poisnel. “Older adults who are physically active gain cardiovascular benefits, which may result in greater structural brain integrity.”



The study was focused on 134 people with an average age of 69 who did not suffer from any memory issues. The individuals reported their physical activity over the past year, and had brain scans to measure their brain volume and glucose metabolism.&nbsp;



The researchers noted that reduced glucose metabolism in the brain can be seen in people with dementia. The study participants also submitted info on BMI and insulin levels.



An analysis of the data revealed that people who exercised the most frequently had a higher total volume of grey matter in their brains. This group had an average of about 550,000 cubic millimeters of brain volume compared to about 540,000 cubic millimeters of volume in people who exercised the least.&nbsp;



In addition, the experts found that people with the most activity had a higher average rate of glucose metabolism in the brain.



According to Dr. Poisnel, further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind these relationships. “Maintaining a lower BMI through physical activity could help prevent disturbed insulin metabolism that is often seen in aging, thus promoting brain health."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>.



---



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

New evidence of how exercise protects brain health

A growing collection of research has documented the enormous benefits...

A large collaborative study conducted by scientists from the United States, Europe, and Russia has investigated the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human brain. The researchers found that astronauts had increased levels of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain, along with reduced space between the brain and the surrounding membrane at the top of the head. Surprisingly, American <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-aims-to-produce-fuel-from-astronauts-wastewater/">astronauts</a> had more enlargement in the perivascular spaces in the brain – the passages that serve as a cleaning system during sleep – in comparison to Russian cosmonauts.&nbsp;



The study performed fMRI scans of the brains of 24 Americans, 13 Russians, and a few astronauts from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA), both before and after they had spent six months on the International Space Station (a habitable artificial satellite located in the low Earth orbit). “I think it is one of the largest studies on space data, and for sure, one of the very few studies with NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos [the main Russian space corporation] data. It comprises data of almost 10 percent of all people who went into space,” said study senior author Floris Wuyts, a professor of Medical Physics at the <a href="https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/">University of Antwerp</a>.



The scientists found an increased volume of fluid-filled channels in the brain after spaceflight, which was more prominent in the NASA than in the Roscosmos crew. 



“An important implication of our findings is that the volume of fluid-filled channels in the brain of astronauts is linked to the development of the spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome, a syndrome characterized by vision changes and whose mechanisms are still not completely clear,” explained study co-author Donna Roberts, a neuroradiologist at the <a href="https://web.musc.edu/">Medical University of South Carolina</a>.



However, it is important not to speculate about pathology or brain health yet, according to Dr. Roberts. “The observed effects are very small, but there are significant changes when we compare the post-flight scans with the preflight scans,” she said.



The differences between the Americans and the Russians that the study results revealed are still a mystery and require further investigation. “We need to understand how specific microgravity-countermeasure usage, exercise regimes, diet and other factors may play a role in the differences we found between crews,” said co-author Elena Tomilovskaya, an expert in Gravitational Physiology and Space Medicine at the <a href="http://www.ras.ru/">Russian Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2120439119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



---



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

Extended spaceflight can affect the human brain

A large collaborative study conducted by scientists from the United...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-may-be-more-similar-to-humans-than-expected/">Chimpanzees</a> are known to interact with dead members of their species, often revisiting corpses, and even showing signs of mourning-like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-uncovers-4000-years-of-foraging-behavior-among-albatrosses/">behaviors</a>. But do they show recognition and preference when it comes to skeletons belonging to their conspecifics? 



A new study led by <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en">Kyoto University</a> has answered affirmatively, by arguing that chimpanzee skulls possess face-like cues, general contours, and eye-nose-teeth arrangements that likely activate a network of brain areas that originally evolved to detect and process faces. In other words, chimpanzees seem to know when a skull is chimpanzee-like due to their brains’ inherent capacity to detect faces (a phenomenon called “pareidolia”).



Previous research has found that African elephants also show more interest in elephant skulls and tusks than in any other stimuli. However, since elephant skulls lose many important facial traits such as their ears or trunks, the recognition mechanisms might be different than in the case of chimpanzees, most probably relying on the elephants’ past experiences. 



According to study lead author André Gonçalves, a primatologist at Kyoto University, chimpanzee skulls still retain the general facial arrangements, suggesting that pareidolia may indeed be the mechanism behind chimpanzee’s interactions with their dead conspecifics. Pareidolia “explains why we see illusory faces in things like clouds and rocks, and primate skulls are as face-like as anything in nature,” he explained.



To test this hypothesis, Dr. Gonçalves and his colleagues conducted a series of three experiments using an eye-tracker to map where chimpanzees are looking and for how long. The results revealed that not only do the chimpanzees show the most preference for chimpanzee faces, they also have a strong attentional bias towards chimpanzee skulls, looking the longest and most intently at their teeth.



“When a wild chimpanzee finds a skull, it will likely be attentive to it like no other inanimate object in his surroundings as it bears a resemblance to one of its own,” Dr. Gonçalves said. Further research is needed to fully map the brain mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon, and to investigate whether other species of primates exhibit similar behaviors.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210349">Royal Society Open Science</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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

Chimpanzees can recognize the skulls of their conspecifics

Chimpanzees are known to interact with dead members of their...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> has developed detailed maps of bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/higher-levels-of-biodiversity-reduce-extinction-risks-in-birds/">biodiversity</a> across the entire United States in order to help conservation managers focus their efforts in areas where they are more likely to help endangered bird populations. 



Since many resources previously available to conservation managers – such as species range maps – are both too broad and not rigorously tested for accuracy, the new maps focus on individual counties or forests rather than on whole states or regions, and are based on both detailed observations of birds and various environmental factors that affect bird ranges, such as forest cover or temperature levels in specific areas.



“With these maps, managers have a tool they didn’t have before that allows them to get both a broad perspective as well as information at the level of detail that’s necessary for their action plans,” said study co-author Anna Pidgeon, a professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW-Madison.



“Across the world we’re seeing huge species losses. In North America, three billion birds have been lost since 1970. This is across virtually all habitat types,” added study lead author Kathleen Carroll, a postdoctoral researcher in Wildlife Conservation at the same university. “And we’re seeing a disconnect between what scientists produce for conservation and how that translates to boots-on-the-ground management.”



In order to address these problems, Dr. Carroll and her colleagues produced data-driven maps of bird biodiversity by extrapolating observations of birds from scientific surveys to mile-by-mile predictions of where specific species actually live. The predictions were based on factors such as rainfall, forest coverage, or the extent of human influence on the environment, such as the presence of urban areas or farms.



The scientists clustered individual species by habitat, diet, behavior, or conservation status, grouping them in “guilds” such as fruit eaters or forest dwellers.&nbsp;The final maps cover 19 different guilds at resolutions of 0.5, 2.5, and 5 kilometers. According to the researchers, the 2.5 km resolution maps provided the best balance of accuracy and usefulness for realistic conservation needs.&nbsp;



“We see this being really applicable for things like forest management action plans for the U.S. Forest Service,” explained Dr. Carroll. “They can pull up these maps for a group of interest, and they can get a very clear indication of what areas where they might want to limit human use.” In addition, these maps could also help private land conservancies decide where to prioritize their frequently limited resources to maximize biodiversity protection.&nbsp;



The researchers plan to extend their analyses down to individual species instead of guilds made up of different species in order to help conservation managers aiming to protect specific species improve their work.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2624">Ecological Applications</a> and the full set of maps are available for download from the open-access website <a href="https://datadryad.org/stash/landing/show?id=doi%3A10.5061%2Fdryad.vq83bk3v0">Dryad</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

Maps of bird populations can help protect biodiversity

A new study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has...

Tardigrades – colloquially known as water bears or moss piglets – are eight-legged segmented micro-animals that are found everywhere on Earth, from mountaintops to deep <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-reduces-the-hatching-success-of-a-keystone-fish-species/">oceans</a>, and from tropical rainforests to polar regions. Although they are only about 0.5 millimeters-long when fully grown, they are among the most resilient species of animals, being able to survive extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and pressures, dehydration, or even exposures to massive amounts of radiation.&nbsp;



However, since they are so small, they can only travel very short distances by themselves. This made scientists wonder how it is possible that they populate the entire biosphere, exhibiting a genetic diversity of over 1,400 species. A new study led by the <a href="http://international.amu.edu.pl/">Adam Mickiewicz University</a> in Poland has found that these fascinating creatures can travel long distances by clinging to the bodies of larger, more mobile animals, such as snails.



In a laboratory experiment, the scientists placed a number of tardigrades belonging to the species&nbsp;Milnesium inceptum&nbsp;by themselves in a box. In a second box, they put tardigrades together with a species of snail that can be found in their natural habitats (Cepaea nemoralis), while in a third box they put together tardigrades, snails, and moss – a plant species on which tardigrades often reside in nature.&nbsp;



After three days, the researchers checked how many tardigrades remained in the same location and how many of them moved. They discovered that tardigrades only left their original location in the box with snails but no moss. These findings suggests that they might be picked passively by moving snails, a phenomenon that is less likely if they are embedded in moss.



“This emphasizes the role of the fine-scale dispersion of tiny animals,” said study lead co-author Milena Roszkowska, a doctoral student in Bioenergetics at the Adam Mickiewicz University. “Short-distance transportation of invertebrate animals may have a significant impact on their genetic diversity.”



Sadly, the researchers discovered that some of the tardigrades died from contact with the snails’ mucus. However, since these animals reproduce asexually, only one needs to survive the journey in order to establish a population in a new area. Thus, snail travel could still remain a viable and effective way for tardigrades to populate new habitats.



Further research is needed to clarify whether this type of transport occurs in natural environments too, and, if so, how often. In the future, scientists aim to conduct field studies to explore the patterns of movement of these fascinating organisms in the wild.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-08265-2">Nature Scientific Reports</a>. ---



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

Tardigrades can hitch rides on snails to travel farther

Tardigrades – colloquially known as water bears or moss piglets...

People who share the same <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-may-be-more-similar-to-humans-than-expected/">cultural</a> or geographical background have similar visual experiences while listening to music, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>. When listening to instrumental music, study participants in Michigan and Arkansas imagined very similar scenes, while listeners in China visualized completely different stories.&nbsp;



“These results paint a more complex picture of music’s power,” said study lead author Professor Elizabeth Margulis, who is the director of Princeton’s Music Cognition lab. “Music can generate remarkably similar stories in listeners’ minds, but the degree to which these imagined narratives are shared depends on the degree to which culture is shared across listeners.”



The experts recruited more than 600 participants from regions of two continents, including two suburban college towns in Arkansas and Michigan. Some of the participants were from Dimen, a village in rural China where residents have little access to Western media.



Listeners from all three regions were presented with the same instrumental songs: 60-second samples of Western and Chinese music. The participants were asked to describe the stories they envisioned during each music sample.



To quantify the similarities in the listeners' imaginary stories, the researchers used large amounts of natural language data processing.



“Being able to map out these semantic overlaps, using tools from natural language processing, is exciting and very promising for future studies that, like this one, straddle the border between the humanities and the sciences," said Margulis.



The results showed that individuals from similar backgrounds imagined strikingly similar stories. The narratives described by Chinese listeners were very different from those described by Americans.



For Americans, one particular musical piece prompted visions of a sunrise over a forest, with waking animals and chirping birds. During the same song, individuals from Dimen shared a vision of a man blowing a leaf on a mountain, singing a song to his beloved.&nbsp;



“It’s amazing,” said study co-author Benjamin Kubit. “You can take two random people who grew up in a similar environment, have them listen to a song they haven’t heard before, ask them to imagine a narrative, and you’ll find similarities."



"However, if those two people don’t share a culture or geographical location, you won’t see that same kind of similarity in experience. So while we imagine music can bring people together, the opposite can also be true - it can distinguish between sets of people with a different background or culture.”



The music selected for the study had never appeared in a movie or any other setting that would prescribe visuals, explained the researchers. Still yet, within each regional group, hundreds of listeners shared similar visuals.&nbsp;



“It’s stunning to me that some of these visceral, hard-to-articulate, imagined responses we have to music can actually be widely shared,” said Margulis.&nbsp;



“There’s something about that that’s really puzzling and compelling, especially because the way we encounter music in 2022 is often solitary, over headphones. But it turns out, it’s still a shared experience, almost like a shared dream. I find it really surprising and fascinating - with the caveat, of course, that it’s not universally shared, but depends on a common set of cultural experiences.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Music sparks strikingly similar visuals among people of the same culture

People who share the same cultural or geographical background have...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



---



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...