Our gut is a bustling metropolis of microbes, a complex ecosystem that plays a pivotal role in our overall health. Recent research from King's College London has thrown a fascinating light on two key residents of this microbial city.



Persistent colonizing species (PCS), the good guys, help maintain a healthy gut. But there's another type, transient colonizing species (TCS), which aren't as benign. 



They can throw a spanner in the works, destabilizing the gut and potentially leading to diseases such as type-2 diabetes and colon cancer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-types-of-gut-microbes">Two types of gut microbes</h2>



The constant tug-of-war between PCS and TCS is crucial. Their numbers keep each other in check, maintaining a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-tool-detects-changes-in-gut-health-to-help-prevent-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">healthy gut environment</a>. 



However, outside factors like diet and lifestyle can upset this delicate balance. TCS, though typically low in number, can rapidly multiply under certain conditions, outmuscling our beneficial PCS.



The troublemakers, TCS, thrive on sugar and xenobiotics - substances foreign to living systems like pesticides and food additives. In contrast, the good PCS grow stronger with a diet high in protein and fiber.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-power-of-personalized-diets">Power of personalized diets</h2>



This breakthrough discovery suggests a roadmap to maintaining gut health: personalized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-bacteria-influence-our-social-behavior-and-sense-of-fairness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diet plans</a> that cater to PCS and stifle the growth of TCS. 



By feeding the beneficial PCS and suppressing the detrimental TCS, we could potentially prevent diseases and boost gut health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gut-microbes-and-disease-prevention">Gut microbes and disease prevention </h2>



"The power of the gut microbiome and the dynamic pace of it in health and disease is well known. Our study shows that while the balance of these microbes can change over time, we can predict how these changes happen," said Dr. Saeed Shoaie, group leader in Systems Biology at <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">King's College London</a>.



"Even bacteria that are usually found in low numbers can suddenly increase, while the beneficial ones might decrease. Although these shifts in the gut don't always cause immediate symptoms, even a short period of imbalance can leave a lasting impact."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disruption-in-the-gut-microbe-balance">Disruption in the gut microbe balance</h2>



According to Dr. Shoaie, a disruption in the balance of gut microbes can lead to harmful changes in the gut environment that may persist, potentially contributing to the development of various diseases over time. 



"Moreover, we showed that transient bugs can rapidly grow under specific conditions and produce toxins," said Dr. Shoaie.



"This finding suggests that understanding the proportion of these two types of species categories can help for a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-bacteria-linked-to-younger-colon-cancer-patients/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">personalized diet plan</a>. These two categories of microbes can act as potential markers to check the success of the dietary plan, which could be important for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-understanding-of-disease">A new understanding of disease</h2>



Dr. Sunjae Lee, the first author of the paper, noted that the new categorizations of gut microbes will change the way researchers understand disease and think of new ways to build effective treatments.



"By including these labels in a freely available Gut Microbiome Atlas that identifies gut bacteria appearing in individuals with 23 separate diseases across 19 countries, we can share this work with the world," said Dr. Lee.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-personalized-nutrition-for-gut-microbes">Personalized nutrition for gut microbes</h2>



With the insight provided by this study, personalized nutrition emerges as a promising frontier in health science. By tailoring dietary recommendations based on the unique composition of an individual's gut microbiome, there is potential to optimize health outcomes. 



This approach requires detailed profiling of one's gut microbial landscape to identify dietary components that could foster beneficial PCS while inhibiting the proliferation of TCS. 



Such precision in dietary interventions could not only enhance general well-being but also serve as a preventative strategy against chronic diseases. 



The idea is to move beyond one-size-fits-all dietary guidelines to a more customized regimen that capitalizes on the dynamic interplay of microbes in the gut.



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



The burgeoning field of gut microbiome research holds vast potential for future discoveries that could revolutionize how we approach health and disease. 



The research led by Dr. Shoaie and Dr. Lee paves the way for more intricate studies that examine the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors influencing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/your-microbiome-trillions-of-bacteria-unique-like-your-fingerprint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbial dynamics</a>. 



Future research endeavors might explore how modern stressors, from processed foods to increased antibiotic usage, impact gut health.



Additionally, further studies into the gut-brain axis could yield innovative treatments for mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. 



Ultimately, understanding the multifaceted interactions within the gut microbiome will not only enhance disease prevention but could lead to new therapeutic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breast-milk-lowers-asthma-risk-in-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">strategies</a> that harness these microorganisms for healing.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-024-00561-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">npj Biofilms and Microbiomes</a>.



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Balancing gut microbes could protect us from disease

Our gut is a bustling metropolis of microbes, a complex ecosystem that plays a pivotal role in our overall health. Recent research from King's College London has thrown a fascinating light on two key residents of this microbial city. Persistent colonizing species (PCS), the good guys, help maintain a healthy gut. But there's another type, transient colonizing species (TCS), which aren't as benign. They can throw a spanner in the works, destabilizing the gut and potentially leading to diseases such as type-2 diabetes and colon cancer. Two...

A recent study has found evidence of beer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/light-drinking-lowers-risk-of-fatality-from-heart-disease/">drinking</a> in Southern China 9,000 years ago. These findings are based on the discovery of ancient pots at a burial site in Qiaotou that contained several chemicals that are still used to make beer.



A research team from <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a> and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology analyzed various types of pottery found during the excavations at Qiaotou, an ancient burial site from Southern China. Seven of the 20 vessels were long-necked Hu pots, which were known to be used for drinking alcohol in later historical periods.



Scientists analyzed microfossil residues extracted from the interior of the pots, and discovered microbotanical (phytoliths and starch granules) and microbial (yeast and mold) residues, which are characteristic ingredients of beer-like alcoholic beverages.



“Through a residue analysis of pots from Qiaotou, our results revealed that the pottery vessels were used to hold beer, in its most general sense - a fermented beverage made of rice (Oryza&nbsp;sp.), a grain called Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and unidentified tubers,” said study co-author Professor Jiajing Wang.&nbsp;



“This ancient beer though would not have been like the IPA that we have today. Instead, it was likely a slightly fermented and sweet beverage, which was probably cloudy in color.”



The researchers also found phytoliths of rice husks present in the residues, which were probably used as fermentation agents. Since 9,000 years ago rice was still in an early stage of domestication in China, and thus rice harvesting and processing was quite a difficult and labor intensive process,&nbsp;



Professor Wang and his colleagues believe that the beer produced and consumed there had of special, ritualistic significance. The fact that the pottery was found near an ancient burial site in a non-residential area seems to confirm such a hypothesis. However, it is not yet clear how this beverage was actually produced.&nbsp;



“We don’t know how people made the mold 9,000 years ago, as fermentation can happen naturally,” said Professor Wang. “If people had some leftover rice and the grains became moldy, they may have noticed that the grains became sweeter and alcoholic with age. While people may not have known the biochemistry associated with grains that became moldy, they probably observed the fermentation process and leveraged it through trial and error.”



This research was published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0255833">PLOS ONE</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Evidence of beer drinking in China 9,000 years ago

A recent study has found evidence of beer drinking in...

Spotted skunks are found throughout North America but have not been well studied. This is partly because they spray their noxious odor at researchers who try to catch them, but also because they are nocturnal, usually occur in remote areas and are very agile tree climbers. Until recently, it was not even known how many species of spotted skunks exist in the wild.



Weighing in at less than two pounds, spotted skunks are smaller than their striped cousins. They also have spots on their backs, although these are actually formed by white stripes that are disrupted by black coloration along their length. Spotted skunks have a characteristic way of dispensing their smelly spray, too - they do a handstand before release, lifting their hind legs and bushy tail into the air in a menacing display.&nbsp;



In the past, the number of spotted skunk species has increased as biologists learn more about these small animals. Ever since Carl Linnaeus first described a specimen in 1758, researchers have struggled to decide whether the many different forms are subspecies or full species. More recently, scientists agreed that there are four separate species.&nbsp;



However, new research published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/molecular-phylogenetics-and-evolution">Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution</a> used an analysis of skunk DNA to establish that there are actually seven species of spotted skunks.&nbsp;



According to Adam Ferguson, one of the paper’s authors and the Negaunee collections manager of mammals at Chicago’s Field Museum, the study was likely to turn up some interesting results as there are many skunk populations that are geographically isolated and morphologically distinct.&nbsp;



“We figured there had to be some surprises when it came to spotted skunk diversity, because the genus as a whole had never been properly analyzed using genetic data,” said Ferguson.



The researchers obtained spotted skunk DNA samples using a variety of methods. In addition to collecting tissue from skunks that they captured, they also distributed “wanted” posters asking the public to inform them when spotted skunks were trapped or killed on the road. Tissue from museum specimens helped to fill in the gaps when they had no modern tissue samples, as was the case for skunks from Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula. In total, 203 samples were collected for DNA analysis.



A comparison of the DNA sequences indicated that skunks can be grouped into seven distinct species; some species that had been lumped together previously were significantly different and warranted separate species status. The researchers consequently resurrected some species names that hadn’t been used in centuries.



“I was able to extract DNA from century-old museum samples and it was really exciting to see who those individuals were related to. It turns out that one of those was a currently unrecognized, endemic species in the Yucatan,'' says study first author Molly McDonough, a professor of Biology at Chicago State University and a research associate at the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a>.



The Yucatan spotted skunk and the Plains spotted skunk were among the new species described as a consequence of the DNA analysis in this study. Plains spotted skunks used to inhabit the central plains of the US, from Texas to Wyoming, but have been declining over the past century due to threats such as habitat loss, food shortage resulting from the use of pesticides, and mortality due to vehicle strikes.&nbsp;



It is important for conservationists to know whether a population of skunks is a full species or a subspecies, and this recent study has helped to define the status of the spotted skunk populations more clearly.&nbsp;



“If a subspecies is in trouble, there’s sometimes less emphasis on protecting it because it's not as distinct an evolutionary lineage as a species,” says Ferguson. “We’ve shown that the Plains spotted skunks are distinct at the species level, which means they've been evolving independently of the other skunks for a long time. Once something has a species name, it's easier to conserve and protect.”



Although skunks generally are maligned mammals, they play important roles in ecosystems, and protecting them from extinction is critical. Now that scientists know the evolutionary relationships between skunk species, they will be able to advise more accurately about management and conservation programs.&nbsp;



“By analyzing the genome of spotted skunks, we’ve been able to learn that their evolution and splitting into different species was driven by climate change during the Ice Age,” says Ferguson. “The different lineages we found might help us find different conservation angles for protecting them in the future.”



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

Spotted skunk DNA helps identify new species

Spotted skunks are found throughout North America but have not...

International collaboration in Saudi Arabian archaeological research has uncovered previously unknown clues about the history of the region. The new findings include the oldest evidence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-are-unequivocally-to-blame-for-the-climate-crisis/">humans</a> in Arabia, dating back 400,000 years.&nbsp;



The study, led by Dr. Huw Groucutt of the <a href="https://www.shh.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute</a>, found an interesting pattern. It seems that water sources fluctuated over long periods of time in what is now the Nefud Desert. When pools and streams of water formed, they created corridors for humans to travel, allowing access to previously inaccessible areas.&nbsp;



In one site, human habitation appeared sporadically at 400, 300, 200, 100 and 55 thousand years ago. Each human occupation brought with it a different stone tool culture, documenting the shift in technology over time.



The diversity of the region is highlighted by the difference in tools brought to archaeological sites by people who commingled at the same spots but arrived from different origins. Animal remains emphasize this point. Some animals came more from Africa while others were inhabitants or Arabia itself.&nbsp;



Dr. Groucutt explained the importance of his team’s research and how it changes our perspective. “Arabia has long been seen as empty place throughout the past. Our work shows that we still know so little about human evolution in vast areas of the world and highlights the fact that many surprises are still out there.”



The study shows that humans have always depended on a liveable climate to determine where they lived, even in a region that seems to be one of the most inhospitable on Earth. When water was available, people occupied the site until they were forced to move, a common pattern.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It’s remarkable; every time it was wet, people were there,” said project leader Prof. Michael Petraglia. “This work puts Arabia on the global map for human prehistory."



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



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

Climate change pushed humans back and forth across Arabia

International collaboration in Saudi Arabian archaeological research has uncovered previously...

Researchers from Switzerland recently created a highly innovative and eco-friendly energy source: a wooden floor which, when walked on, can produce enough <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/energy-can-be-generated-from-sweaty-fingertips/">energy</a> to power the LED lightbulbs and small electronics from an entire household.&nbsp;



The team transformed wood into a nanogenerator by placing two pieces of functionalized wood between electrodes. Through periodic contacts and separations when stepped on, the wood pieces become electrically charged (a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://www.tribonet.org/wiki/triboelectricity/">triboelectric effect</a>).&nbsp;



However, wood is generally a triboneutral material. It means that wood has no real tendency to acquire or to lose electrons, which limits the material’s ability to generate electricity, explained group leader Guido Panzarasa, a professor in the <a href="https://ifb.ethz.ch/woodmaterialsscience">Woods Material Science Department</a> at ETH Zürich.&nbsp;



In order to make wood capable of attracting and losing electrons, Professor Panzarasa and his colleagues coated one piece of wood with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a type of silicone which gains electrons upon contact, and functionalized the other piece with in-situ-grown nanocrystals called zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8).&nbsp;



Moreover, the experts investigated which species of wood have the most triboelectric potential. They discovered that spruce, a wood species often used for construction in Europe, performed best.



“Our focus was to demonstrate the possibility of modifying wood with relatively environmentally friendly procedures to make it triboelectric,” explained Professor Panzarasa. “Spruce is cheap and available and has favorable mechanical properties. The functionalization approach is quite simple, and it can be scalable on an industrial level. It’s only a matter of engineering.”



Their triboelectric generator constructed with this upgraded wood was able to generate 80 times more electricity than natural wood. Researchers found that a wood floor prototype with a surface smaller than a piece of paper could produce enough energy to power household LED lamps and small electronic appliances such as calculators.



These innovative wood nanogenerators can be used as green energy sources in smart buildings and help mitigate climate change by sequestering CO2 from the environment. “The ultimate goal is to understand the potentialities of wood beyond those already known and to enable wood with new properties for future sustainable smart buildings,” concluded Professor Panzarasa.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/home">Matter</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

Wooden floors can be turned into eco-friendly energy sources

Researchers from Switzerland recently created a highly innovative and eco-friendly...

Staying fit is hard, and when you begin the long journey to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bottlenose-dolphins-struggle-with-weight-in-their-40s/">weight</a> loss it can be an uphill battle. New research confirms that shedding pounds is more than a matter of mindset - if you’re already obese, it can be even harder for you to burn calories than people who are already in shape.&nbsp;



"This analysis using data from the <a href="https://doubly-labelled-water-database.iaea.org/">DLW database</a> shows how individuals are not all the same in the way they budget their energy use. People living with obesity may be particularly efficient at hanging onto their fat stores, making weight loss difficult," explained Professor John Speakman of the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>



The research, published by a group of international scholars from China and the United Kingdom, looked at data from 1,750 adults. Individuals with a more normal body mass index (BMI) ended up burning more calories at the end of the day after vigorous activity - 72 percent of those calories burned during exercise stayed gone. Those with a higher BMI only ended up losing about half of the calories they burned during exercise.&nbsp;



The researchers believe compensatory mechanisms to be the cause. The body is constantly seeking a state of equilibrium, a balance that both environment and history influence. So, if you eat a lot and then exercise, your body is going to increase your appetite, or possibly reduce the calories you burn while resting to maintain your “normal” state.&nbsp;



Professor Speakman says that this discrepancy explains why despite significant effort, it can be hard for more obese individuals to lose weight. "When enrolled into exercise programs for weight loss, most people lose a little weight. Some individuals lose lots, but a few unlucky individuals actually gain weight.”&nbsp;



Professor Lewis Halsey from the University of Roehampton says that medical professionals and weight loss programs need to take heed of the difference between individuals’ metabolisms.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Around the world, national guidelines tend to recommend a 500–600 calorie deficit through exercising and dieting to lose weight. However, they do not take into account the reduction of calories being burned in the most basic of human functions as the body compensates for the calories burned on the exercise," explained Professor Halsey.



While the study might sound discouraging to those pursuing a healthier lifestyle, understanding the nuances of one’s own body can only be a good thing. Paying close attention to your own physiological cues can be an added tool for weight loss.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who are obese have a harder time burning calories

Staying fit is hard, and when you begin the long...

Everyone knows that dogs can be conditioned, or trained, to do basic tasks. Due to the co-evolution of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-gave-up-rotating-hips-for-a-smoother-stride/">humans</a> and dogs, our canine companions seem able to do many things for us. Sitting, staying, assisting disabled people, and retrieving are all well known canine skills. A question that many people may not consider is whether dogs can understand the human intention behind a command.



Understanding intention in others is part of a “theory of mind,” which involves the ability to think about mental states - both your own and those of others. This ability has often been assumed to be unique to humans. But now, new research from the <a href="https://www.shh.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute</a> presents evidence that dogs may have at least some components of a theory of mind.&nbsp;



The study was focused on 51 dogs, who were each tested in three different scenarios. The dogs were placed on one side of a transparent barrier with human researchers on the other side.&nbsp;The experimenters withheld a treat from the dogs - either intentionally or unintentionally.



When the humans appeared simply unwilling to give the treat, they placed it in front of themselves. In two other scenarios, the researchers appeared unable to give the treat, either because they fumbled it at the gap in the barrier and dropped it or because the barrier was blocked.&nbsp;



“If dogs are indeed able to ascribe intention-in-action to humans, we would expect them to show different reactions in the unwilling condition compared to the two unable conditions. As it turns out, this is exactly what we observed," explained Dr. Juliane Bräuer.



The dogs waited longer in hopes of a treat when the human seemed unwilling to give it compared to when they were unable. The canine test subjects were also more likely to lay or sit down - behaviors interpreted as appeasing - and they stopped wagging their tails when a person seemed to be intentionally withholding a reward.



“The dogs in our study clearly behaved differently depending on whether the actions of a human experimenter were intentional or unintentional,” said study first author Britta Schünemann. “This suggests that dogs may indeed be able to identify humans’ intention-in-action,” added co-author Hannes Rakoczy.



The researchers know their study is likely to be met with skepticism. “Nevertheless, the findings present important initial evidence that dogs may have at least one aspect of Theory of Mind: The capacity to recognize intention-in-action.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.



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

Can dogs understand the intention behind our actions?

Everyone knows that dogs can be conditioned, or trained, to...

For many, coffee is a necessary ingredient to start the day. Now, new research has revealed that regular coffee consumption may also be a key component to extending your longevity.



"Our findings suggest that coffee consumption of up to 3 cups per day is associated with favorable cardiovascular outcomes," said Dr. Judit Simon of Semmelweis University. "While further studies are needed to explain the underlying mechanisms, the observed benefits might be partly explained by positive alterations in cardiac structure and function.”



The research, presented at the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/Congress-Home">European Society of Cardiology</a>, assessed coffee consumption among those that did not yet have significant heart problems. Dr. Simon says that her team’s research “is the largest study to systematically assess the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease.”&nbsp;



Study participants either drank no coffee, 0.5 to three cups a day, or more than three cups daily. The scientists then looked at each individual's age, weight, sex, respiratory health, blood pressure, and other factors to determine their likelihood of being diagnosed with heart disease.&nbsp;



The results showed that those who consumed a moderate amount of coffee had a 17 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who drank no coffee at all.&nbsp;



The researchers also used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to directly look at the heart health of over 30,000 participants. According to Dr. Simon, daily consumers had healthier sized and better functioning hearts. "This was consistent with reversing the detrimental effects of aging on the heart.”



“Our results suggest that regular coffee consumption is safe, as even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality after a follow-up of 10 to 15 years.”&nbsp;



Other benefits of drinking coffee regularly may include lower risks of stroke, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from any cause. Although further research is needed to understand this phenomenon, it appears that you don’t need to feel guilty about pouring yourself a cup of joe in the morning.&nbsp;



The research will be presented at <a href="https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-&amp;-Events/ESC-Congress">ESC Congress 2021</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Coffee consumption may reverse the detrimental effects of heart aging

For many, coffee is a necessary ingredient to start the...

Stingrays are unusual among <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bowfin-fish-proves-that-evolution-can-be-flexible/">fish</a> in that their bodies are dorsoventrally compressed into flattened discs, rather than being laterally flattened into the more traditional fish shape. When stingrays swim, they propel themselves using undulations of their body and pectoral “wings” without relying on side-to-side motion of the tail.



Scientists have long been fascinated by this very efficient form of locomotion through the water. Until now, however, their studies have not quantified the effects of a stingray’s protruding eyes and snout, which potentially have the ability to disrupt the smooth flow of water and reduce the animal’s hydrodynamic properties.



In a new study published by the <a href="https://www.aip.org/">American Institute of Physics</a>, the Chinese and South Korean scientists investigate the effects that these protruding features have on the various forces involved in the propulsion of simulated stingrays, such as pressure and vorticity.



“The influence of 3D protruding eyes and mouth on a self-propelled flexible stingray and its underlying hydrodynamic mechanism are not yet fully understood,” said Hyung Jin Sung, from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. “In the present study, the hydrodynamic benefit of protruding eyes and mouth was explored for the first time, revealing the hydrodynamic role of protruding eyes and mouth.”



The hydrodynamic forces at play during stingray swimming are complex and cannot be measured adequately using live animals. Instead, the researchers generated a computer model of a self-propelled flexible plate. By “fixing” the front of the plate they could simulate the up-and-down oscillations that a stingray generates when moving through the water.



The model was then adjusted to allow for the addition of multiple rigid plates in 3D, at the position where a stingray’s head and eyes would be. The two models (with and without a protruding 3D head) were then compared using a technique known as the penalty immersed boundary method.



“Managing random fish swimming, and isolating the desired purpose of measurement from numerous factors are difficult,” said Sung. “To overcome these limitations, the penalty immersed boundary method was adopted to find the hydrodynamic benefits of the protruding eyes and mouth.”



The results showed that the presence of the protruding eyes and snout increased a stingray’s propulsion efficiency by more than 20 percent and 10 percent respectively. This was achieved due to the generation of vortices as water flowed over the head region. A vortex at the simulated animal’s front increased negative pressure in the forward-backward plane, while a side-to-side vortex added to the pressure differential above and below the body. These factors led to a boost in thrust, cruising speed, and overall efficiency of locomotion.&nbsp;



The researchers hope that their new understanding of fluid phenomena in stingray locomotion can be applied in the design and development of future aquatic vehicles that move efficiently underwater.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/journal/phf">Physics of Fluids</a>.



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

Protruding eyes and snout improve stingray hydrodynamics

Stingrays are unusual among fish in that their bodies are...

Scientists from the <a href="https://uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a> and the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> have investigated what makes a human voice attractive, a question with important implications in both our personal and professional lives.



The researchers recorded 42 individuals performing a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/speech-is-the-biggest-spreader-of-covid-19/">speech</a> tasks and asked participants to rate the vocal attractiveness of the recorded speakers. They studied how acoustic correlates of speech clarity might predict attractiveness ratings, with the concept of “vowel space area” (an important qualitative intelligibility index) as a main acoustic feature.



"Much received wisdom and many vocal coaches would encourage people to slow down and carefully enunciate to make a better impression on their audience," said study co-author Daniel Stehr.&nbsp;



"However, when it comes to empirical studies of how attractiveness of the human voice is judged, we couldn't find previous work investigating whether an actual link exists between perceived attractiveness and overall clarity of articulation."



Stehr and his colleagues were surprised to discover an important gender difference for the correlation between speech intelligibility and perceived attractiveness. Although clarity of articulation seemed to be strongly predictive of vocal attractiveness, these results only applied to female speakers.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Scientists believe that the lack of relationship between acoustic correlates of clearly produced speech and male vocal attractiveness might have compelling evolutionary origins.



“From a sexual selection standpoint, males with traits that are slightly more masculine than average are typically preferred, which in this context would make males with less clear speech more attractive,” Stehr explained.&nbsp;



However, such theories should not be taken for granted. As Stehr acknowledged, everything connected to evolution can have different, sometimes even contradictory, explanations.&nbsp;



"At the same time, constricted vowel space area and lower perceived clarity is associated with a range of speech motor disorders, suggesting a lack of clarity may also have indicated the presence of disease to our ancestors," said Stehr.



Further research is needed to sort through such contradictory explanations, and shed more light on the evolutionary origins of contemporary human behaviors.



The study was published in <a href="https://asa.scitation.org/journal/jas">The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</a>.&nbsp;



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

What makes a human voice attractive?

Scientists from the University of California, Irvine and the University...

According to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/estlcu">Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</a>, the indoor air we breathe at home, in offices, or classrooms can be polluted with harmful <a href="https://epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas#:~:text=Per-%20and%20polyfluoroalkyl%20substances%20(PFAS,GenX%2C%20and%20many%20other%20chemicals.&amp;text=Both%20chemicals%20are%20very%20persistent,they%20can%20accumulate%20over%20time.">PFAS chemicals</a>. These findings suggest that indoor air is an underestimated source of exposure to dangerous <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/polar-bears-threatened-by-toxic-chemicals-in-melting-sea-ice/">chemicals</a>.



PFAS chemicals are well-known health hazards that are often associated with cancer, infertility, and immune system problems. Moreover, they are either extremely persistent in many environments or capable of breaking down into highly persistent elements.&nbsp;



“Food and water are known to be major sources of PFAS exposure,” said Rainer Lohmann, senior author and professor of oceanography at the <a href="https://www.uri.edu/">University of Rhode Island</a>. 



“Our study shows that indoor air, including dust, is another source of exposure to potentially harmful forever chemicals. In fact, for children in homes or schools with old PFAS-treated carpets, inhalation may be even more important than dust as an exposure pathway to volatile PFAS that eventually could biotransform to more persistent and harmful PFAS.”



Professor Lohmann and colleagues measured the concentration of PFAS in the air in nine carpeted kindergarten classrooms, one home, the storage room of a Californian clothing store, two carpet stores from Rhode Island, as well as in two labs, five offices, one storage area, and one elevator at the University of Rhode Island.&nbsp;



They detected PFAS chemicals in all of these locations, several kindergarten and university classrooms having even higher concentrations than the clothing store, where most of the clothes and gear were treated with PFAS. However, the highest concentration was found in two carpet stores.&nbsp;



“PFAS were formerly used as stain and water repellents in most carpets,"&nbsp;explained study lead author Maya Morales-McDevitt. “Fortunately, major retailers including The Home Depot and Lowe’s now only sell PFAS-free carpets. We believe that slowly smaller retailers will do so as well.”



Although families, schools, and workplaces are currently reducing indoor concentrations of PFAS by replacing carpets, many other products, such as clothes, shoes, building products, and furnishing still emit PFAS chemicals in the air.&nbsp;



“As long as they continue to be used in products, we’ll all be eating, drinking, and breathing PFAS,” concluded co-author Tom Bruton, a senior scientist at the <a href="https://greensciencepolicy.org/">Green Science Policy Institute</a>. “We need to turn off the tap and stop all unnecessary uses of PFAS as soon as possible.”



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

Indoor air is an underestimated source of dangerous chemicals

According to a new study published in the journal Environmental...

The insides of plants can shelter a large variety of microorganisms, similar to the well-known microbes residing in the human gut. A research team from the <a href="https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/">Tokyo University of Science</a> is the first to isolate the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-bacteria-of-infant-boys-can-enhance-cognitive-skills/">bacteria</a> contained in the seeds of the passion fruit (Passiflora edulis).&nbsp;



The endophytic microorganisms residing inside plants’ fruits, leaves, stems, roots, or seeds are not necessarily harmful to plants. Instead, they often develop a synergistic relationship with their host, and are beneficial for processes of germination, growth, and even defense. 



However, most of the plants contain many “secondary metabolites” – natural bioactive compounds with strong antimicrobial properties. This makes such environments typically hostile to endophytic microorganisms.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Passion fruit seeds are generally full of secondary metabolites, such as resveratrol and, particularly, piceatannol. This is precisely the reason why scientists were curious to investigate whether passion fruit seeds contain any endophytic microorganisms too.&nbsp;



“The extraordinarily high concentration of piceatannol protects P. edulis seeds from microorganisms. We thought it would be interesting to know if any endophytic microorganism could survive this extreme environment, and if yes, how,” explained study co-author Toshiki Furuya, an associate professor in the <a href="https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/fac/riko/app_bio.html">Department of Applied Biological Science</a> at Tokyo University of Science.



Remarkably, the researchers discovered 19 bacterial strains in the passion fruit seeds, including three that were previously unknown. Their hypothesis is that the piceatannol from the seeds had bacteriostatic (“bacterial growth-stalling”) rather than bactericidal (“bacteria-killing”) effects on the endophytic bacteria residing in the seeds. 



“Due to the presence of a high concentration of piceatannol, the growth of the bacteria was stagnated inside the seed, but when transmitted to the next-generation seedlings during germination, the bacteria were relieved from the effect of piceatannol and able to grow again,” said study co-author Aoi Ishida.



The scientists also made another surprising discovery. One of the isolated bacteria, Brevibacterium sp. PE28-2, possessed the ability to convert piceatannol and resveratrol to their respective derivatives. This is the first endophytic bacteria shown to exhibit such abilities.



Earlier research demonstrated that endophytic bacteria which are capable to survive in environments rich in secondary metabolites compounds possess biocatalytic activities related to the metabolism of these compounds. This biocatalytic potential can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. 



Further research on the mechanisms of endophytic resistance inside of plants is needed to open new paths in medicine and beyond.   



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mbo3.1226">MicrobiologyOpen</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;



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

Bacteria can survive the hostile interior of passion fruit seeds

The insides of plants can shelter a large variety of...

Flowers are the most complex structures to be found on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-and-animals-rely-on-the-same-chemicals-for-growth/">plants</a>. They are formed at the tips of stems and involve a transition of the normal apical meristem (growing tissue) into a flower meristem that develops the reproductive organs. Scientists have long wondered about the mechanisms that allow this transition to take place correctly, and how flower formation occurs so rapidly.



A team of researchers led by the <a href="http://www.naist.jp/en/">Nara Institute of Science and Technology</a> has now identified a small protein that plays a key role in correctly timing the developmental changes that lead to flower formation in the cress plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In the growing tips of stems, a gene known as WUSCHEL (WUS) promotes the formation and maintenance of stem cells. During the early stages of flower formation, stem cells act as a source of tissue to form what will be the flower’s reproductive organs.&nbsp;



Clearly, the activity of WUS needs to be restricted at this stage so that the stem cells stop proliferating and, instead, differentiate successfully into the correct number of sepals, petals, stamens and carpels. There is a balance between the formation of stem cells (WUS) and the differentiation of stem cells into reproductive organs, which is under the influence of the gene CLAVATA3 (CLV3), via a feedback loop.



The protein identified by the researchers, known as KNUCKLES (KNU), represses the activity of both the WUS and CLV3 genes and disrupts the feedback loop. This means that the floral meristem is no longer maintained and the development of the flower’s reproductive organs can progress toward completion.&nbsp;



“A small protein called KNUCKLES (KNU) represses WUS directly, which leads to the completion of floral stem cell activity at the right time,” explained study lead author Erlei Shang. “What isn’t fully understood is how the robust floral stem cell activity finishes within a limited time period to ensure carpel development.”



“The team’s research revealed that in Arabidopsis thaliana, KNU can completely deactivate the robust floral meristems at a particular floral stage, thanks to the multiple functions that KNU carries out via its position-specific roles,” said senior author Toshiro Ito.



The findings will help scientists to understand flower formation in important food crops such as rice, tomatoes and maize. The researchers hope that their discovery of the molecular genetic mechanism whereby floral meristem is terminated will benefit crop yields for food production globally.



“Our results reveal a regulatory pathway where KNU plays a key role in supporting the completion of floral meristem development within a short time window, and ensures that flower reproductive organs are properly formed,” said study co-author Bo Sun.



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



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

Small protein plays a big role in flower formation

Flowers are the most complex structures to be found on...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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