We might like to think of ourselves as autonomous entities but, in reality, we're more like walking ecosystems, teeming with bacteria, viruses, and other microbes. It turns out that differences in these microbes might be as crucial to evolution and natural variation as genetic mutations are.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-biological-variation">Understanding biological variation</h2>



This novel perspective was discussed in a recent publication by Seth Bordenstein, director of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center, who is a professor of biology and entomology and holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair in Microbiome Sciences.



He, along with 21 colleagues from around the globe, collectively known as the Holobiont Biology Network, propose that understanding the relationships between microbes and their hosts will lead to a more profound understanding of biological variation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-in-the-process-of-evolution">Microbes in the process of evolution</h2>



We've all heard the term evolution before, but what does it really mean? 



"The longstanding definition of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-laid-the-foundation-for-early-life-on-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution</a> is the process by which living things change over time due to gradual mutations and adaptations to their environments," Bordenstein explains.



These adaptations are commonly driven by natural selection, a process that involves advantageous traits being passed on down the lineage. 



However, when we incorporate the microbiome, the collection of all microbes in and on a host organism, the process of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-gene-families-pangenome-influence-called-revolutionary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution</a> becomes a whole lot more interesting and complex.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-paradigm-holobiont-biology">New paradigm: Holobiont biology</h2>



Traditionally, we've kept the visible and invisible forms of life separate in the way we consider and study them. Many scientists still think of microbes in terms of background noise or minor contaminants.



But it turns out that this approach may have been selling the microbes short.



"Microbes are the base of the biosphere," Bordenstein explains. "Every host organism lives in contact and association with microbes, and those microbes can cause variation in traits."



This realization has given birth to a new concept - holobiont biology; a multidisciplinary and holistic understanding of how life's forms and functions depend upon relationships between microorganisms and their hosts.



Holobiont biology considers organisms and the microbes with which they are inseparably linked as a whole, rather than as separate entities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-the-biology-impact-classification">How does the biology impact classification?</h2>



The field of biology traditionally categorizes living things into taxa. But holobiont biology poses a challenging and exciting opportunity to rethink this framework.



"We’re making the case that organisms are not autonomous. They exist, by definition, always in association and in contact with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-found-alive-inside-a-rock-after-2-billion-years-beneath-earth-surface/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbes</a>," Bordenstein states.



This novel way of thinking could open doors to harness the power of the microbiome to improve health, resilience in environmental sustainability, and advancements in agriculture. 



Think of it: what if we could use microbes to combat chronic diseases like cancer or make agriculture more resistant to climate change?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revisiting-microbes-and-evolution">Revisiting microbes and evolution</h2>



Darwin's famous treatise, Origin of Species, is a cornerstone of modern biology. However, it was written with species of animals and plants in mind and did not consider the multitude of invisible microbes that are part of every individual macro-organism.



Now that we know so much more about the fundamental role of microbes in the biosphere, we can add a new layer to our understanding of evolution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetic-diversity-and-evolution">Genetic diversity and evolution</h2>



In the 1920s to 1940s, biology witnessed a revolution known as the Modern Synthesis, where Mendel's genetic laws were merged with Darwin's theory of evolution. This created a comprehensive explanation for how new variations of form and function develop over time.



We may well currently be at the cusp of another revolution, a post-Modern Synthesis. As Bordenstein points out, we're now factoring in the role of microbes in our understanding of genetics and evolution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-paradigms-in-life-sciences">Shifting paradigms in life sciences</h2>



How do we incorporate this new understanding of the importance of microbes in the biology and evolution of all organisms? The Holobiont Biology Network authors state that this needs to start with redefining and re-teaching biology.



"We’re thinking of animals and plants as a consortium of host and microbial cells that influence anatomy and physiology," explains Bordenstein.



There's also a need for new analytic tools to determine the contribution of microbes and how they interact with genetics to explain traits. Once we have these analytic tools in place, we can engineer microbes and microbiomes as much as we can engineer genes to yield better outcomes for organisms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-shaping-our-evolution">Microbes shaping our evolution</h2>



Microbes have been here for four billion years, and they outnumber the stars in the universe by orders of magnitude. There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people on the planet. They have shaped our world in ways we are only just beginning to understand.



Research shows that they may also play a role in determining who is more likely to develop colon cancer, have high cholesterol levels or an average body mass index. After all, we contain not only our own genes, but also those of the billions of micro-organisms that live in and on us.  



"What we're learning today and over the past decade, is that sometimes microbes explain more biological trait variation in organisms than the genes do," Bordenstein says.



The future of biology lies not just in our genes, but in the characteristics of our associated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-microbes-are-finding-surprising-new-ways-to-survive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbes</a> too. As we move forward, remember this: we're not lone entities. We're ecosystems.



So next time you brush your teeth, remember, you're not just maintaining dental hygiene; you're also managing an ecosystem!



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado2152" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Humans are walking ecosystems and microbes rule their evolution

We might like to think of ourselves as autonomous entities but, in reality, we're more like walking ecosystems, teeming with bacteria, viruses, and other microbes. It turns out that differences in these microbes might be as crucial to evolution and natural variation as genetic mutations are. Understanding biological variation This novel perspective was discussed in a recent publication by Seth Bordenstein, director of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center, who is a professor of biology and entomology and holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck...

Oil,And,Gas,Processing,Plant,With,Pipe,Line,Valves

&nbsp;A new study from the <a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> (SEAS) has found that methane <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-based-jet-fuel-could-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-68-percent/">emissions</a> from the distribution and use of natural gases across the United States are two to 10 times higher than those estimated by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a>. In Boston, the methane emissions from the natural gas system are six times higher than recent estimates and did not significantly change over a period of eight years.&nbsp;



Methane is the most potent greenhouse gas after CO2. While CO2 has longer-lasting effects, methane has over 80 times the warming power of CO2 in the first two decades after being released into the atmosphere, thus contributing significantly to near term global warming. Oil and natural gas systems account for 30 percent of human-made methane emissions in the U.S.



"Natural gas has been sold as a transitional fuel as we move toward green energy - but its low greenhouse emissions are contingent on a low loss rate as any amount of methane that escapes is going to have a strong climate impact,” said study first author Maryann Sargent, a Research Scientist in Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS.&nbsp;



By using atmospheric measurements to track methane emissions over a period of eight years in Boston, scientists discovered that over half of these emissions might emerge from sources other than pipelines (which were previously considered as the main sources of methane emissions), including compressing stations, meters, and appliances such as furnaces or boilers.



“Traditional approaches to estimating emissions from natural gas systems are missing significant sources of methane emissions,” said study senior author Steven Wofsy, a professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science at SEAS. “If cities and states want to pass meaningful legislation to curb emissions, they need to know where emissions are coming from, how they change over time, and whether or not the policies put in place to reduce them are working.”



The researchers found that emissions were three times higher than recent estimates and remained constant over a period of eight years, despite the development of legislation aiming to curb them by fixing leaking pipelines.



“The government needs to be looking at emissions beyond just pipes and provides more evidence that we should be moving away from natural gas toward renewable energy to heat and electrify our cities,” Sargent concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105804118">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

Methane emissions are higher than previously estimated

&nbsp;A new study from the Harvard John A. Paulson School...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has found that artificial intelligence models of language that excel at predicting the next word in a string of text are surprisingly similar to the human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-brain-responds-to-bad-smells-within-300-milliseconds/">brain</a>, which appears to use next-word prediction to drive language processing. These predictive language models are able to perform tasks that require some degree of genuine understanding, such as question answering, story completion, or document summarization.&nbsp;



Although such computer models were designed to optimize performance in search engines or texting apps, without attempting to mimic human cognition, this new study suggests that their underlying functioning resembles the ways in which language-processing centers in the human brain work.&nbsp;



“The better the model is at predicting the next word, the more closely it fits the human brain,” said study co-author Nancy Kanwisher, a professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT. “It’s amazing that the models fit so well, and it very indirectly suggests that maybe what the human language system is doing is predicting what’s going to happen next.”&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed 43 different language models, including some that were optimized for next-word prediction. By comparing the functioning of these artificial models with neuronal patterns activated when humans listened to stories or read sentences, they discovered that the best-performing next-word prediction models had activity patterns closely resembling those found in human brains.&nbsp;



“We found that the models that predict the neural responses well also tend to best predict human behavior responses, in the form of reading times. And then both of these are explained by the model performance on next-word prediction. This triangle really connects everything together,” explained study first author Martin Schrimpf, an MIT graduate student.



The researchers now plan to build variants of these language processing models that can perform other kinds of tasks, such as the construction of perceptual representations of the physical world.&nbsp;



“If we’re able to understand what these language models do and how they can connect to models which do things that are more like perceiving and thinking, then that can give us more integrative models of how things work in the brain,” explained study senior author Joshua Tenenbaum.&nbsp;



“This could take us toward better artificial intelligence models, as well as giving us better models of how more of the brain works and how general intelligence emerges, than we’ve had in the past.”



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

Computer models can mimic human language processing

A new study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

A new study has revealed that black spruce trees, a key species of trees from the boreal forests, are starting to lose their resilience and capacity to regenerate in the face of increasingly frequent Arctic wildfires caused by climate change. If this trend continues, the Arctic forests might face significant ecological shifts, resulting in a loss of biodiversity and an acceleration in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-melting-may-release-nuclear-waste-into-the-atmosphere/">permafrost</a> melting.&nbsp;



In North America’s boreal forests, the soils on which black spruce trees grow consist of highly flammable peat moss and lichens. Although the black spruce usually relies on fires for regeneration, with its cones opening up in the heat and dropping seeds on the charred organic soil, more severe and frequent fires appear to damage the spruce’s capacity to regenerate.



By collecting data from over 1,500 sites where fires occurred, scientists found that black spruce’s capacity to regenerate dropped at 38 percent of the sites and failed completely 18 percent of the time. Such phenomena could make the black spruce lose its place as the dominant species of trees in boreal North America.



“This trend is especially alarming given its potential impact on Arctic carbon storage,” said co-author Dr. Brendan Rogers, an Associate Scientist at <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/">Woodwell Climate Research Center</a>. “In many parts of the boreal region, the mossy soil layers that promote black spruce regeneration also insulate permafrost. As fires increase and these forests dry out, however, loss of black spruce forests could accelerate permafrost thaw and trigger a warming feedback loop, pushing black spruce to its tipping point and facilitating the release of massive amounts of carbon from the permafrost into the atmosphere.”



Moreover, widespread loss of black spruce trees could also have harmful effects on biodiversity. Caribou species that feed on lichen are already in decline and might suffer even more losses with the disappearance of the trees that offer them shelter and food.



“Basically, as the climate warms, rising Arctic temperatures are causing black spruce forests to dry out, and the drier the system is, the more vulnerable it is to fire,” said&nbsp;study leader Dr. Jennifer Baltzer, a professor at <a href="https://www.wlu.ca/">Wilfrid Laurier University</a>.



“As climate change continues to push these systems to an ever drier state, these tipping points are more likely to be reached, with devastating impacts on the boreal biome and the rest of the world,” she concluded.



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

Black spruce trees are endangered by Arctic wildfires

A new study has revealed that black spruce trees, a...

Toxic algal blooms are on the rise, even in the frigid waters of the Arctic, according to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



An international group of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> (WHOI), and other institutions took samples from the very top and the very bottom of the water column from across the seas surrounding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-threatens-seal-hunting-in-alaska/">Alaska</a>. The depth of the samples as well as their geographic range allowed the researchers to study the algal genus Alexandrium, in particular.&nbsp;



Alexandrium begins its life as a “seed” on the ocean floor, rising through the water column as it matures. Though microscopic algae is a normal part of the marine ecosystem, when conditions are right they can “bloom” - rapidly multiplying and dispersing. The toxic blooms can lead to widespread health impacts for both wildlife and people, and can even be fatal.&nbsp;



“We’ve known about human and marine wildlife health risks associated with Alexandrium and its toxins in Alaskan waters for a long time, including occasional events north of Bering Strait, but these results show increased potential for large and recurrent blooms of this species as a new hazard for Alaska’s Arctic," said WHOI senior scientist Don Anderson.



"The rapid warming that we’re seeing all across the Arctic is setting the stage for dangerous bloom events in the waters of western and northern Alaska that we formerly thought were too cold for significant germination and growth.”



The decline of seasonal ice, in large part due to anthropogenic global warming, has changed the timing of germination and growth. Prior to the last couple of decades, temperatures on the seafloor have been too cold to allow significant blooming events. That’s changed, said Anderson. “What we’re seeing now are very different Arctic Ocean conditions than anyone in living memory has known.”&nbsp;



These modified conditions mean that species which are already vulnerable to climate change face an additional threat - one of those species just happens to be us.&nbsp;



“The threat is clear, but we don’t yet know the extent to which these toxins will ultimately lead to increased human exposure or to impacts on the health of wildlife at all levels of the food web,” said NOAA researcher Kathi Lefebvre.&nbsp;



Fisheries and coastal communities will be an integral part of managing this new risk factor. Lefebvre said that Alaskan coastal communities are now aware of this emerging issue and have helped throughout the research process to protect their subsistence life. These communities are also hoping to help advance our understanding of the changing Arctic and what it means for the future.



“We’ve learned from the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic Ocean how to monitor and manage Alexandrium bloom events and how to sustain commercial and recreational fisheries in the face of HABs, but navigating this new Alaskan Arctic HAB problem is going to take a great deal of targeted research and far more attention to the food security of coastal residents and Alaska Natives and the health of Arctic wildlife than we’ve paid so far," said Anderson.&nbsp;



---



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

Rapid Arctic warming sets the stage for dangerous algae blooms

Toxic algal blooms are on the rise, even in the...

Records have been kept for many decades of the time that northern lakes become iced over and the time when these lakes thaw out after winter. This information is important for winter transportation (e.g., ice roads), <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-heatwaves-could-severely-affect-the-fishing-industry/">fishing</a>, recreation, economic and cultural purposes in the regions where these lakes occur.&nbsp;



In addition, the phenology (seasonal cycles) of lake ice is an excellent indicator of climatic variation, with the formation and loss of ice being particularly sensitive to changes in air temperature.&nbsp;



Recently, a team of scientists updated the ice phenology records for 60 lakes in the northern hemisphere that already have long-term data series covering between 107 and 204&nbsp;years. The experts re-assessed northern hemisphere ice trends for the first time since 2004, and added 15 years of additional data.&nbsp;



The lakes studied included 40 that are in North America (including Lakes Michigan and Superior, Detroit Lake in Minnesota, Lakes Monona and Mendota in Wisconsin, Cazenovia and Oneida lakes in New York, and several in Ontario – Lake Simcoe, Lake Nipissing and Lake of Bays), 18 in Europe, and two in Asia – Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, and Lake Suwa in Japan.



The researchers found that, on average, the lakes are freezing 11 days later and thawing 6.8 days earlier, meaning that ice duration is 17.0&nbsp;days shorter per century over the entire record for each lake.&nbsp;They found that factors including late ice-on, early ice-off, shorter periods of ice cover, no ice at all, warmer winter temperatures and more extreme weather events have contributed to the increasing rate of ice loss, especially in larger lakes and in southern and coastal regions.



<a href="https://news.yorku.ca/experts/?name_or_keyword=sapna+sharma&amp;research_area=&amp;submit=Search+the+Guide&amp;search=Y">Sapna Sharma</a>&nbsp;is an associate professor in the Faculty of Science at York University. He led the study with Professor David Richardson at the State University of New York and climate scientist Dr. Iestyn Woolway of the European Space Agency Climate Office.



“We found that lakes are losing on average 17 days of ice cover per century. Alarmingly, what we found is that warming in the past 25 years, from 1992 to 2016, was six times faster than any other period in the last 100 years,” said Professor Sharma.&nbsp;



“In addition, we found that the duration of winter ice cover has decreased, particularly since 1995, to the point where some lakes are beginning to have more winters with minimal or even no ice cover. For example, some deep lakes in Switzerland and Germany, which historically used to freeze each winter, have permanently lost their ice cover in the past few decades,” said Professor Richardson.



For example, Lake Superior, the most northern of the Great Lakes which straddles the Canada/U.S. border, is one of the fastest warming lakes, losing more than two months of ice cover since ice conditions were first recorded in 1857. In Lake Suwa, Japan, ice formed close to 26 days later per century since 1897 and is now only freezing twice every decade, while Grand Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan had one of the fastest ice-off trends, melting about 16 days earlier per century.



“The findings were in line with our expectations as air temperature has increased over recent decades,” said Dr. Woolway. “Air temperature is one of the most important climatic drivers of lake ice dynamics, owing to its additive effects on various components of the lake energy budget.”



The study authors stress that a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is a matter of priority if increases in air temperature and decreases in lake ice cover are to be mitigated. This would help to limit ecological, cultural, and socioeconomic consequences, including increased evaporation rates, warmer water temperatures, degraded water quality, and the formation of toxic algal blooms.&nbsp;



“Many of our lakes may be approaching a tipping point to ice-free conditions which will have vast cultural and ecological implications," said Professor Sharma.&nbsp;



The research is published in the&nbsp;<a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21698961">Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences</a>.



---



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

Northern lakes are warming at an alarming rate

Records have been kept for many decades of the time...

Although songbirds share the human sense of rhythm, such musical abilities are rare in non-human mammals. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.mpi.nl/">Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics</a> (MPI) has found that one of the few “singing” <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-use-tools/">primates</a>, the critically endangered lemur Indri indri, has a similar sense of rhythm as humans.



“There is longstanding interest in understanding how human musicality evolved, but musicality is not restricted to humans," said study co-author Andrea Ravignani, a researcher at MPI. “Looking for musical features in other species allows us to build an ‘evolutionary tree’ of musical traits, and understand how rhythm capacities originated and evolved in humans.”



Over a period of 12 years, Ravignani together with colleagues from MPI and the <a href="https://en.unito.it/">University of Turin</a>, visited the rainforest of Madagascar to record songs from 20 indri groups living in their natural habitat. Members of indri groups tend to sing together in harmonized duets and choruses.&nbsp;



The researchers found that indri songs have a categorical rhythm, with intervals between sounds having the same duration (1:1 rhythm) or double duration (1:2 rhythm). Such rhythms make a song recognizable even if it’s sung at different speeds.&nbsp;



Besides the fact that indri songs had the classic rhythmic categories, they also exhibited the typical “ritardando” or slowing down found in several music traditions. Although male and female songs had different tempos, they showed the same rhythm. This is the first evidence of a human rhythmic universal in a non-human mammal.



“Categorical rhythms are just one of the six universals that have been identified so far," explained Ravignani. “We would like to look for evidence of others, including an underlying ‘repetitive’ beat and a hierarchical organization of beats - in indri and other species.” 



The scientists encourage other researchers to collect more data on indri and other endangered species, “before it is too late to witness their breath-taking singing displays.”



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



---



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

Primates have musical rhythm similar to humans

Although songbirds share the human sense of rhythm, such musical...

Autumn,Harvest,Colorful,Squashes,And,Pumpkins,In,Different,Varieties.

Despite the fact that scientists have been aware of a decline in crop diversity in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-pollinators-are-70-percent-less-abundant-in-high-intensity-croplands/">agriculture</a> over the last 100 years, many questions remain unanswered regarding the causes, magnitudes, and implications. A new study from agricultural research centers across North America, South America, and Europe is the world’s largest review of declining crop diversity.



The experts reviewed hundreds of primary data sources regarding crop diversity loss over the last 80 years. They found that changes in diversity were reported in 95 percent of cases, while 80 percent of cases produced evidence of diversity loss. This is a result of climatic, political, technological, and agricultural changes over the last 100 years.



Study lead author Colin Khoury is a research scientist at the <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/alliance/">Alliance of Bioversity International</a> and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).



“The global picture that emerges from our review is that of enormous loss over a relatively short period of time of traditional agricultural diversity, which was nurtured by many cultures around the world over the last 10,000 years,” explained Khoury. “Yet the picture also provides hope, as considerable crop diversity persists, and because it shows that agriculture can be re-diversified.”



“The good news is that while we found evidence of enormous diversity loss over the past decades in each of the environments we studied, we also saw significant maintenance of that diversity in some contexts, and even marked increases in specific instances," noted study co-author Stephen Brush.



Crop diversity allows crops to remain productive when facing diseases, pests, and extreme weather. Genetic variation among crops also contributes to dietary diversity, nutrition, and food security.



&nbsp;“The magnitude of crop diversity loss we have seen in some regions of the world underscores the importance of conserving this diversity outside of these ecosystems as well as within them,” said study co-author Luigi Guarino.&nbsp;



”Collections of crop diversity such as those in agricultural genebanks and botanic gardens can mitigate local and regional losses, enable the future reestablishment of diversity on farms, and preserve the availability of crops for future use by all. We need to strengthen these repositories and duplicate unique collections in other locations to insure against the risk of loss."



Across the globe, there are currently 1,750 genebanks, maintaining crop diversity with over seven million crop samples. Additional efforts are provided by botanic gardens, community projects, and universities. However, the recent study has concluded that a lot more work will be required to fully protect crop diversity.



&nbsp;“For crop diversity to continue evolving alongside pests and diseases, in response to climate change, and to meet demands for improved crops that provide both economic products and ecological services, we need to redouble support for conservation efforts in situ, or in the field, as well as ex situ,” said study co-author Allison Miller.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14698137">New Phytologist</a>.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Enormous loss of crop diversity found in recent decades

Despite the fact that scientists have been aware of a...

Footprint,Of,Dinosaur,On,Phoo-luang,loei,thailand

Around 50 years ago, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossils-reveal-a-previously-unknown-mass-extinction-event/">fossil</a> footprints of what was assumed to be a "raptor-like" predatory dinosaur were found in an Australian coal mine. However, new research from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> has discovered that the fossil was in fact of a long-necked herbivore.



Upon re-analyzing the footprints, paleontologist Dr. Anthony Romilio was able to conclude that they belonged to the vegetarian Prosauropod and could be dated back to around 220 million years ago, around the end of the Triassic Period.



“For years it’s been believed that these tracks were made by a massive theropod predator that was part of the dinosaur family Eubrontes, with legs over two meters tall,” explained Dr. Romilio. “This idea caused a sensation decades ago because no other meat-eating dinosaur in the world approached that size during the Triassic period."



However, it was expected at the time that there was something incorrect about this conclusion. “Unfortunately, most earlier researchers could not directly access the footprint specimen for their study, instead relying on old drawings and photographs that lacked detail,” explained Dr. Romilio.



The new conclusion made a lot more sense as the legs of the Prosauropod were in fact smaller, with legs around 1.4 meters in length and a body length of six meters.



The prosauropod dinosaur footprints are known scientifically as ‘Evazoum’ and were made on the water-sodden layers of ancient plant debris.



“After millions of years, the plant material turned into coal which was extracted by the miners to reveal a ceiling of siltstone and sandstone, complete with the natural casts of dinosaur footprints," explained study co-author Hendrik Klein. "This explains why today they occur in an upside-down position right above our heads,”



Whilst the mine closed many years ago, the fossil was mapped and preserved through plaster casts by geologists at the Queensland Museum in 1964. “We made a virtual 3D model of the dinosaur footprint that was emailed to team members across the world to study,” said Klein.



“The more we looked at the footprint and toe impression shapes and proportions, the less they resembled tracks made by predatory dinosaurs – this monster dinosaur was definitely a much friendlier plant-eater."



The findings are published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ghbi20/current">Historical Biology</a>, and the Prosauropod footprint can be seen at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Triassic’s “largest meat-eating dinosaur” was actually a vegetarian

Around 50 years ago, fossil footprints of what was assumed...

A new study led by the <a href="https://vu.nl/en">Free University of Amsterdam</a> has found traces of <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/understanding-the-effects-of-microplastics-on-our-environment/">microplastics</a> in the blood of cows and pigs, sparking concern about how these harmful particles might move through the food chain. Although this discovery could have serious implications for public health, more research is needed to assess the toxicity levels of these substances and the potential risks of exposure.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Microplastics, small non-biodegradable particles produced from the breakdown of plastic materials, are increasingly widespread in nature, polluting large portions of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.&nbsp;



The plastic particles are present in our water, food and surfaces that we touch, and scientists are only recently starting to understand their impact.&nbsp;They have been linked to harmful health effects, including inflammation. Microplastics are also believed to cause potentially dangerous immune overreactions, and can increase the risk of various diseases.&nbsp;



Although microplastics have been found in many marine animals and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabirds-are-damaging-their-health-by-eating-plastic/">birds</a>, this is the first time they have been discovered in the bloodstream of farm animals. The discovery was made by a team of researchers led by Dr. Heather Leslie, an expert in microplastics. The researchers analyzed blood samples from 12 cows and six pigs and detected traces of microplastics.&nbsp;



“We have uncovered preliminary evidence of trace amounts of plastic particles in farm animals' bloodstreams,” said Dr. Leslie.&nbsp;“We already know that hundreds of other animals also have microplastics in their bodies. But in cows and pigs, it had not been discovered before.”&nbsp;



Dr. Leslie’s hypothesis is that microplastics in the soil probably ended up in the crops eaten by farm animals. These particles cannot be broken down by the intestines and end up in manure, continuing thus to be disseminated through the environment.&nbsp;



“If you want to assess the risks, you first have to know what the actual exposure is and how toxic it is.&nbsp;If we are above the values ​​that are still safe and responsible, then we have to do something about it,” said Dr. Leslie.



“It is in the interest of&nbsp;animal and human health protection to further explore this nascent signal of plastic pollution exposure in the food chain."



The research was presented at Amsterdam's <a href="https://www.plastichealthsummit.org/">Plastic Health Summit</a>.



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

Microplastics discovered in the blood of livestock

A new study led by the Free University of Amsterdam...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> (UGA) has managed to create functional sperm cells by using embryonic stem cells collected from rhesus macaque monkeys. This important scientific breakthrough could lead to innovative human infertility treatments.



“This is a major breakthrough towards producing stem cell-based therapies to treat male infertility in cases where the men do not produce any&nbsp;viable sperm cells,” said lead researcher Charles Easley, an associate professor in UGA’s <a href="https://publichealth.uga.edu/">College of Public Health</a>.&nbsp;



The scientists used embryonic stem cells from rhesus macaque monkeys in order to generate immature sperm cells (known as round spermatids) which they showed to be capable of fertilizing a rhesus macaque egg. According to the study authors, since rhesus monkeys share similar reproductive mechanisms to humans, they are an&nbsp;“ideal and necessary model for exploring stem cell-based therapies for male infertility.”



Although a few years ago researchers have managed to produce sperm-like cells using mouse stem cells, it was not yet clear whether this technology could prove successful in humans, due to vast differences between mice’s and humans’ reproductive systems. With the recent replication of this technology in monkeys, more hope emerges that humans will soon be able to benefit from these findings too.



“This is the first step that shows this technology is potentially translatable. We’re using a species that’s more relevant to us, and we’re having success in making healthy embryos,” said Professor Easley.



In a future study, the researchers aim to implant the embryos into a surrogate rhesus macaque monkey in order to asses whether embryos from in vitro spermatids could ultimately produce healthy babies.&nbsp;



“This is a significant step in establishing whether sperm created in the lab could, one day, be used for human reproduction,”&nbsp;said Sarah Norcross, the director of fertility and genomics charity <a href="https://www.progress.org.uk/">Progress Educational Trust</a>.



“We will be watching closely as the researchers carry out this work in macaques, first seeing whether eggs fertilized with this type of sperm can lead to a pregnancy, and then seeing whether a pregnancy can be achieved with sperm derived from skin cells.&nbsp;Even if all of these things are achieved in macaques, it will still take many years and much more research before such techniques are fit for use in human treatments,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.fertstertscience.org/article/S2666-335X(21)00066-5/fulltext">Fertility and Sterility Science</a>.



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

Monkey sperm cells could treat human infertility

A new study led by the University of Georgia (UGA)...

According to this year’s Lancet Countdown on health and climate change <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/countdown-health-climate">report</a>, there is currently an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change, and a delayed and inconsistent response of countries around the world. The report is an annual assessment of the progress towards the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-heat-stress-will-impact-millions-in-the-brazilian-amazon/">Heatwaves</a> and their ability to exhaust and kill people are a significant public health threat all over the globe. According to study co-author Jeremy Hess, a medical doctor and professor of Public Health and Emergency Medicine at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>, the effects of extreme heat on the health of the world’s population are steadily increasing.



“This was the first year I can say confidently that I and my patients very clearly experienced the impacts of climate change,” said Dr. Hess. “I saw paramedics who had burns on their knees from kneeling down to care for patients who had heat stroke, and I saw far too many patients die in the evening as a result of their heat exposure.”



However, heat exposure is just one of the many public health threats associated with climate change and global warming. Rising temperatures lead to droughts and crop losses, obliterate jobs and access to health care, and create more suitable conditions for mosquitoes which carry life-threatening pathogens, such as the West Nile or Dengue viruses.&nbsp;



Moreover, droughts decrease water quality and increase the risks of exposure to toxic algae, while excessive heat harms the respiratory system and contributes to the rise of anxiety and depression among a large number of people.



Additional health threats related to global warming include wildfires that pollute the air thousands of miles across the country, and worsening pollen seasons that add further stress to people suffering from chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma.&nbsp;



According to the Lancet Countdown report, in order to mitigate the public health consequences of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions should be urgently curbed, and the public health policies and resource allocation should be fundamentally restructured and vastly expanded.



“The imperative is clear for accelerated action putting the health of people and planet above all else,” the report concluded.



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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

Global warming is a public health crisis

According to this year’s Lancet Countdown on health and climate...

Over the past twenty years, many vineyards across the world have shown signs of deterioration, with vine yields and longevity declining and vine mortality significantly increasing. According to researchers, dieback due to vine wood diseases such as esca - a disease caused by parasitic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fungi-help-to-balance-a-healthy-gut/">fungi</a> for which there is no curative treatment - are responsible for the loss of five percent of vineyard surface each year.&nbsp;



“The world is witnessing a sharp increase in perennial plant dieback,” wrote the study authors. “The hypothesized cause is that environmental stresses such as drought are interacting with pathogens fueling plant decline. Global vitculture has seen similar decreases in fruit yield and vine longevity.”&nbsp;



Until recently, a prominent hypothesis explaining the increase in vine dieback has relied upon a postulated synergy between environmental factors such as the increased frequency and intensity of droughts and diseases like esca. However, a new study led by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (<a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a>) has found that droughts are actually inhibiting esca disease.



“In sharp contrast to this theory, our study demonstrates that drought completely suppresses esca leaf symptoms, and although esca and drought both alter plant water transport and carbon balance, they do so in completely distinct ways,” the researchers explained.



Since esca is affecting vines over seven years old, it can usually be observed only in outdoors plots. However, by using a method of transplanting vines into pots that was similar to techniques used to grow bonsai trees, the scientists managed to transplant dozens of 30-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines from the INRAE Grande Ferrade experimental estate near Bordeaux, and monitored the appearance of esca symptoms in a controlled environment. Half of the vines were placed under drought conditions.



The study revealed that no vines under moderate to severe drought conditions exhibited any esca symptoms. The scientists suggested several possible explanations for this surprising result. Water deficits caused by drought could inhibit the activity of the parasitic fungi causing esca or could affect the plant’s defense responses. Another hypothesis was that reduction in water transport in the plant could also suppress the transport of toxic chemicals produced by the fungi.&nbsp;



Further research is needed to clarify the role of climate on esca expression on a national and international scale, and to accurately predict the appearance of esca symptoms by monitoring drought indices.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/43/e2112825118">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.&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

Droughts can protect vineyards from deadly disease

Over the past twenty years, many vineyards across the world...

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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



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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



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

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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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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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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...