In the quest for extraterrestrial life, telescopes have been our biggest allies, revealing new clues about how and where to search. 



For example, powerful tools like the James Webb Space Telescope make it possible to study a planet's atmosphere, where gases may serve as indicators of life, or "biosignatures." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biosignatures-of-extraterrestrial-life">Biosignatures of extraterrestrial life</h2>



Traditionally, certain gases have been considered as potential biosignatures that provide scientific evidence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insights-alien-life-mars-water-sulfur-discovered-gained-studying-extreme-life-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">past or present life</a>.



While sulfur compounds have been viewed as robust biomarkers, a recent study challenges this assumption.



In a game-changing turn of events, scientists at the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Colorado Boulder</a> have created dimethyl sulfide, an organic sulfur compound often made by marine microbes, in a chemistry lab without any living organisms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creating-dimethyl-sulfide-in-the-lab">Creating dimethyl sulfide in the lab </h2>



Dimethyl sulfide is a type of molecule that scientists typically view as a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-oxygen-in-the-deep-sea-may-hold-clues-about-alien-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sign of life</a>. The researchers said creating dimethyl sulfide in the lab was exciting, but their findings flip previous research on its head.



The study was led by Nate Reed, a visiting fellow at CU Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (<a href="https://cires.colorado.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CIRES</a>), and Ellie Browne, CIRES Fellow and associate professor of chemistry.



The experts used light and gases found in many planets' atmospheres to create this molecule, and their results suggest that organic sulfur compounds might not be robust biomarkers after all.



“The sulfur molecules that we’re making are thought to be indicators of life because they’re produced by life on Earth,” said Browne. "But we made them in the lab without life - so it might not be a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-the-hellish-planet-venus-can-help-us-find-alien-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sign of life</a>, but could be a sign of something hospitable for life.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-searching-for-signs-of-life-on-exoplanets">Searching for signs of life on exoplanets </h2>



The implications of this research are significant. What does it mean for the search for life on other planets? Could these compounds serve as markers of metabolic potential instead?



NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">James Webb Space Telescope</a>, launched in 2009, has been helping us understand different planetary atmospheres and their potential to support life. 



One of the primary objectives of this satellite mission is to capture images of exoplanets (planets outside Earth’s solar system) and study atmospheres for signs of life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-detecting-extraterrestrial-life">Detecting extraterrestrial life</h2>



The researchers also explored what happens in a planet's atmosphere when gases react with light, forming an "organic haze and associated gases." These are aerosol particles formed via atmospheric chemistry.



The study was focused on organic molecules containing sulfur, including dimethyl sulfide, which are secondary metabolic products of living organisms on Earth.



While the results are intriguing, Reed noted that they relate to just <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenhouse-gases-can-help-detect-alien-life-on-distant-planets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one type of atmosphere</a>. "There’s a wide variety of atmospheres, and we only looked at small differences in one - you can’t study every atmosphere that exists in a lab,” he said.



The researchers hope their work will inspire more basic chemical reaction studies, particularly involving sulfur, despite its challenging characteristics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reevaluating-what-makes-planets-habitable">Reevaluating what makes planets habitable</h2>



The findings highlight the need for a reevaluation of how scientists interpret biosignatures in extraterrestrial atmospheres.



Future research will need to explore a wider range of atmospheric conditions, perhaps integrating advanced computational modeling with empirical laboratory studies. 



By challenging the traditional indicators of life, this research pushes the scientific community to redefine what makes an environment "habitable." 



Current criteria often emphasize the presence of water and specific gases associated with life as we know it. However, as this study reveals, some of these elements may originate from non-biological processes, thereby expanding the scope of what is considered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-have-identified-85-new-exoplanets-that-could-harbor-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potentially habitable</a>. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-perspective-on-biosignatures">New perspective on biosignatures</h2>



Scientists are now encouraged to consider a broader spectrum of environmental conditions to expand the search for extraterrestrial life beyond our current paradigm.



“When we’re searching for these biosignatures, the tendency is to want to sensationalize ‘we detected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/finding-alien-life-searching-for-color-purple-not-green/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">signs of life</a>,’” Browne said.



“The atmosphere is really good at making a whole bunch of different molecules, and we’ve found that just because it can be made in a lab, doesn’t mean it’s not a source.”



The study is published in <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad74da" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Astrophysical Journal Letters</a>. 



-----



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Expanding the search for extraterrestrial life

In the quest for extraterrestrial life, telescopes have been our biggest allies, revealing new clues about how and where to search. For example, powerful tools like the James Webb Space Telescope make it possible to study a planet's atmosphere, where gases may serve as indicators of life, or "biosignatures." Biosignatures of extraterrestrial life Traditionally, certain gases have been considered as potential biosignatures that provide scientific evidence of past or present life. While sulfur compounds have been viewed as robust biomarkers, a recent study challenges this assumption. In...

A study led by investigators at <a href="https://www.bidmc.org/">Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center</a> (BIDMC) is providing new insight into why the benefits of the same exercise can vary among individuals. The research could be helpful for identifying new therapeutic targets for diseases related to metabolism.

"While groups as a whole benefit from exercise, the variability in responses between any two individuals undergoing the very same exercise regimen is actually quite striking, explained study senior author Dr. Robert E. Gerszten, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at BIDMC.

"For example, some may experience improved endurance while others will see improved blood sugar levels. To date, no aspects of an individual's baseline clinical profile allow us to predict beforehand who is most likely to derive a significant cardiorespiratory fitness benefit from exercise training."

To investigate how the effects of exercise may differ from one person to the next, the researchers analyzed the blood levels of approximately 5,000 proteins in 650 sedentary adults before and after a 20-week physical fitness program.

"We were particularly interested at looking at proteins in the blood to study the effects of exercise because there is a growing body of evidence showing that exercise stimulates the secretion of chemicals into circulation that can impart their effects on distant organs," said study first author Dr. Jeremy Robbins.

Initially, 147 proteins in the blood indicated an individual's cardiorespiratory fitness, or VO2max. Another set of 102 proteins indicated an individual's change in VO2max after completing the exercise program.

"We identified proteins that emanate from bone, muscle, and blood vessels that are strongly related to cardiorespiratory fitness and had never been previously associated with exercise training responses," said Dr. Gerszten.

"Even though prior studies have shown that an individual's baseline fitness level is unrelated to their response to exercise training, it was fascinating to see that there was minimal overlap between the protein profiles of baseline VO2max and its response to the exercise training intervention," said Dr. Robbins.

Based on their findings, the researchers developed a protein score that predicts an individual's trainability, or change in VO2max. This score could be used to pinpoint individuals who are unable to significantly improve their cardiorespiratory fitness. 

"Baseline levels of several proteins predicted who would respond to the exercise training protocol far better than any of our established patient factors," explained Dr. Gerszten.

In a separate trial, the experts discovered that some of these proteins were associated with an elevated risk of premature death. This highlights the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term health outcomes.

"We now have a detailed list of new blood compounds that further inform our understanding of the biology of fitness and exercise adaptation, and predict individual responses to a given exercise regimen," said Dr. Gerszten. 

"While no pill is ever likely to recapitulate the diversity of benefits from exercise, our study has helped create a roadmap to further explore potential interventions and provides an important step in individualizing exercise as a therapy." 

Dr. Gerszten noted that additional research is needed to better understand the precise effects of the different proteins before and after exercise.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natmetab/">Nature Metabolism</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why do some people benefit more from exercise than others?

A study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/">University of Maryland School of Medicine</a> (UMSOM), researchers have found that each city has its own unique collection of bacteria and viruses. The findings are based on the analysis of 4,728 samples from cities on six continents taken over the course of three years.

The experts sequenced and analyzed samples collected from both public transit systems and hospitals in 60 cities around the world. 

The research, which was conducted by an international team of experts, is considered to be the largest-ever global study of urban microbiomes. The microbial species identified include thousands of viruses and bacteria and two newly identified single-cell organisms.

Study co-author Dr. Lynn Schriml is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology &amp; Public Health at the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), at UMSOM, who led the study sampling efforts for Baltimore's transit systems. 

"Baltimore's distinct microbial signature reveals a unique, fascinating, and diverse world, providing insights into geographical variation and previously unknown microbial genomes," said Dr. Schriml.

Study senior author Dr. Christopher Mason is a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and the director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction.

"Every city has its own 'molecular echo' of the microbes that define it. If you gave me your shoe, I could tell you with about 90 percent accuracy the city in the world from which you came," said Dr. Mason.

The researchers are now looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the microbiome fingerprint of each city. 

In 2020, the team launched the MetaCOV project in 2020 to investigate the change in urban metagenomes and isolate the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in urban environments, such as ATM machines, hospitals, and transit systems.

In addition to distinct microbial signatures in various cities, the analysis revealed a core set of 31 species that were found in 97 percent of samples across the sampled urban areas, according to the researchers.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cities have their own unique collection of bacteria and viruses

In a new study from the University of Maryland School...

In a new study from the <a href="https://microbiologysociety.org/">Microbiology Society</a>, researchers are describing a previously unknown type of bacteria that causes a fatal wilt disease in palms. 

The experts discovered the new bacteria species, Candidatus Phytoplasma dypsidis, while investigating a disease outbreak in a botanical garden in Queensland, Australia.

A few years ago, several ornamental palms in the Cairns Botanic Gardens died mysteriously. Dr. Richard Davis and colleagues from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment analyzed a sample from one of the diseased plants.

Genetic testing showed that the bacterium was similar to other species of Candidatus Phytoplasma, many of which are responsible for disease epidemics in palms elsewhere. However, the new strain was different enough to be distinguished as an independent species. 

"When the laboratory testing indicated it was something close to, but not the same as, devastating palm pathogens overseas, we were very surprised," said Dr Davis.

"At first we thought it was most likely an unrelated fungal disease. Almost as an afterthought, I suggested we screen for phytoplasma because there are some very bad phytoplasma diseases of palms moving around the world, including in neighboring Papua New Guinea."

So far, Candidatus Phytoplasma dypsidis has infected 12 different species of palms, including Cocos nucifera, which produces coconuts. 

"Although palms are not grown as a cash crop in Australia, they are important ornamental garden and amenity plants. Coconuts and other palms are an economically significant component of Australia's tourism industry in the tropics," said Dr Davis.

"Palms take on a much greater significance in most of the countries near Australia, in south east Asia and the Pacific, where coconuts are 'the tree of life'. It is important to raise awareness of a new disease threat, such as this, so that regional biosecurity measures can be prioritized."

The experts speculate that the bacteria and wilt disease is being spread from plant to plant by insects which feed on phloem, the tissue which transports nutrients around the plant. 

"It seems certain from our observations of how this thing has spread through the local area, that there must be an insect vector. Finding out what vector species are involved is a vital next research priority."

"Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific island countries and territories have an enviable plant and animal health status compared to much of the rest of the world. Because we are islands, we have escaped many significant plant disease threats that have traveled around the world, over history," explained Dr. Davis.

"As biosecurity plant pathologists for the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, our team's main role is to look out for and detect incursions of exotic plant pathogens. We usually do this in remote parts of Australia's north, so to come across something much closer to home in the suburbs of Cairns, in far North Queensland, Australia, was unusual. However, we have no evidence to suggest this is an incursion from overseas because it is a unique organism. It may well be indigenous to Australia and some as yet unknown factor has triggered a disease outbreak."

Dr. Davis is concerned that the new wilting disease could spread outside of Cairns and affect palm populations further north. "North of Cairns, we have threatened ecological communities of fan palms which are of great environmental significance." 

The researchers will continue to monitor the spread of Candidatus Phytoplasma dypsidis, and will investigate a number of questions that remain, such as whether the bacteria is capable of infecting other types of plants, including bananas and other crops.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem">International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Newly discovered bacteria causes fatal wilt disease in palms

In a new study from the Microbiology Society, researchers are...

To investigate reproductive success in seabirds, researchers have analyzed more than 50 years of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/murrelets-rely-on-each-other-to-find-breeding-sites/">breeding</a> records for 67 species worldwide. The study shows that many seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere are struggling to breed, and the conditions in the Southern Hemisphere are beginning to follow suit.

The experts report that reproductive success has decreased over the past half century for fish-eating seabirds north of the equator. The greater impacts in this region are tied to climate change and human activities, like overfishing.

Study co-author P. Dee Boersma is the director of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels and a professor of Biology at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>. She noted that many scientists view seabirds as sentinels of habitat health because their lives and well-being depend on sound conditions both on land and at sea.

"Seabirds travel long distances - some going from one hemisphere to the other - chasing their food in the ocean," said Professor Boersma. "This makes them very sensitive to changes in things like ocean productivity, often over a large area."

Furthermore, seabirds congregate at particular sites along coasts to breed and rear their young, which makes them vulnerable to changing shore and surface conditions and restricts how far they can travel for food while still successfully raising their chicks, explained Professor Boersma.

The research shows that the diets of seabirds play a major role in their ability to rear chicks. Reproductive success was found to decline among fish-eating seabirds in the north, and also among surface-feeding birds in both hemispheres, over the course of the study period. 

The experts believe that changing environmental conditions are to blame. Climate change is causing more frequent and more extreme events like heat waves. A long term marine heat wave in 2015-2016 caused one million murres to starve to death. In the ocean, seabirds face other threats as well.

"They have to compete with us for food. They can get caught in our fishing nets. They eat our plastic, which they think is food," said Professor Boersma. "All of these factors can kill off large numbers of long-lived seabirds."

"What's also at stake is the health of fish populations such as salmon and cod, as well as marine mammals and large invertebrates, such as squid, that are eating the same small forage fish and plankton that seabirds eat," said study co-author William Sydeman of the Farallon Institute. 

"When seabirds aren't doing well, this is a red flag that something bigger is happening below the ocean's surface which is concerning because we depend on healthy oceans for quality of life."

The team found high variability in reproductive success among species, which means that additional research is needed to understand all the factors that shape feeding and breeding among seabirds.

"By knowing what is important to a species for success, we can make the world a better place for its survival," said Professor Boersma.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Declining reproductive success in seabirds is a red flag for ocean health

To investigate reproductive success in seabirds, researchers have analyzed more...

Wild elephants pay close attention to scent trails of dung and urine that have been left behind by other elephants, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> and <a href="https://www.elephantsforafrica.org/">Elephants for Africa</a>.

"When animals move along well-established pathways, sensory cues along the path may provide valuable information concerning other individuals that have used the same route. Yet the extent to which animals use pathways as sources of public social information is poorly understood," explained the study authors. 

"Here we quantified the responses of wild African savannah elephants, Loxodonta africana, to olfactory information along natural elephant pathways, habitual routes that link predictable critical resources in the environment."

The researchers found that the African savannah elephants were "highly attentive" as they traveled, sniffing and tracking the trail with their trunks. This was especially true of those traveling alone.

The experts said their findings indicate that scents act as a type of "public information resource" for wild elephants. 

Further research is needed to investigate the potential for artificial elephant trails to be used to steer the animals away from farms and villages, where human-elephant conflict can cause devastation. 

Scent trails could also be created to improve the efficiency of routes connecting elephant populations between protected areas.

"Our findings suggest an important role of an elephant's sense of smell in long-distance navigation," said study lead author Connie Allen. "As elephants follow these trails, they deposit their own urine and dung, which reinforces the pathway's presence for future elephants."

"We see great potential for these findings to be applied to elephant management and conservation - primarily as a method for manipulating elephant movements."

Allen noted that the study was conducted in Botswana, where the main threat to elephants is conflict with humans.

"By removing the existing scent paths that lead elephants to close contact with humans in problem areas, and redirecting them, perhaps we could reduce such conflicts happening."

The study also revealed that urine deposits from adults were more likely to attract attention than that of younger elephants.

"African elephants may therefore be able to discern the age and maturity of individuals they can expect to encounter from remote urine cues on pathways," said Allen.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/animal-behavior">Animal Behavior</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wild elephants track the scents of others in their path

Wild elephants pay close attention to scent trails of dung...

An international team of researchers has discovered amounts of highly toxic mercury in the deepest trenches of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salmon-virus-has-spread-from-the-atlantic-to-the-pacific/">Pacific</a> Ocean that exceed any value ever recorded in remote marine sediments. 

The experts report that the mercury levels which have accumulated in the remote Pacific are even higher than in many areas that are directly contaminated by industrial releases.

The researchers have obtained the first-ever direct measurements of mercury deposition in one of the most challenging environments to sample on Earth.

Study lead author Professor Hamed Sanei is the director of the Lithospheric Organic Carbon Laboratory (LOC) in the Department of Geoscience at <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University </a>. 

"The bad news is that these high mercury levels may be representative of the collective increase in anthropogenic emissions of Hg into our oceans," said Professor Sanei. "But the good news is that ocean trenches act as a permanent dump, and so we can expect the mercury that does end up there will be buried for many millions of years. Plate tectonics will carry these sediments deep into the earth's upper mantle."

"But even as mercury is being removed from the biosphere, it remains quite alarming how much mercury has ended up in the ocean trenches. This may be an indicator of the overall health of our oceans."

Study co-author Dr. Peter Outridge is a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada and the lead author of the United Nations' Global Mercury Assessment.

"The results of this research help fulfill a key knowledge gap in the mercury cycle, i.e. the true rate of mercury removal from the global environment into deep-ocean sediments," said Dr. Outridge. "We have shown that sediments in the ocean trenches are mercury accumulation 'hotspots,' with mercury accumulation rates many times higher than were previously believed to be present."

Study co-author Professor Ronnie Glud, the director of the Hadal Centre at the University of Southern Denmark, was the scientific leader of a multi-national expedition to the ocean trenches. 

"This paper calls for extensive additional sampling of the deep-ocean and in particular hadal trenches to support this preliminary work," said Professor Glud.

"Ultimately this will improve the accuracy of environmental mercury models and the management of global mercury pollution."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mercury levels found in remote Pacific trenches are unprecedented

An international team of researchers has discovered amounts of highly...

Some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-use-tools/">primates</a> can change their accent to avoid conflict with other groups, according to a new study. The researchers investigated the behavior of 15 groups of tamarins in the Brazilian Amazon, and found that one species adopts the calls of another species to improve communication in shared territory. 

Focused on pied tamarins and red-handed tamarins, the study is the first to identify this behavior in primates.

Pied tamarins are critically endangered and have one of the smallest ranges of any primate in the world, while red-handed tamarins are found throughout the northeastern Amazon.

The study revealed that when groups of red-handed tamarins enter shared territory, they adopt the long calls used by the pied tamarins. The experts believe this behavior is used to avoid territorial disputes over resources.

"When groups of tamarins are moving quickly around mature Amazonian forest it can sometimes be difficult to tell the species apart, but during our research we were surprised to discover they also sound the same in the areas of the forest they cohabit," said study lead author Tainara Sobroza of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia.

"We found that only the red-handed tamarins change their calls to those of the pied tamarins, and this only happens in places where they occur together. Why their calls converge in this way is not certain, but it is possibly to help with identification when defending territory or competing over resources."

Study co-author Dr. Jacob Dunn is an associate professor in Evolutionary Biology at <a href="https://aru.ac.uk/">Anglia Ruskin University</a> (ARU).

"We have long known that when closely related species overlap in their geographic ranges, we are likely to see interesting evolutionary patterns. One famous example is the Galapagos finches, studied by Darwin, whose beaks evolved to specialise on different foods on the islands to avoid competition," said Dr. Dunn.

"In some cases, rather than diverging to become more different from one another, some closely related species converge to show similar traits. Our study is the first to show asymmetric call convergence in primates, with one species' call becoming the 'lingua franca' in shared territories."

"Because these tamarin species rely on similar resources, changing their 'accents' in this way is likely to help these tiny primates identify one another more easily in dense forest and potentially avoid conflict."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tamarins change their accent in shared territory to avoid conflict

Some primates can change their accent to avoid conflict with...

Wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/distinctly-different-chinook-salmon-are-part-of-the-same-population/">Chinook</a> salmon are more likely to be infected with Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) the closer they are to salmon farms. This finding indicates that farms are spreading the virus to wild salmon - a theory that is further supported by the results of a recent genomic analysis.

Dr. Gideon Mordecai is a viral ecologist at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> who led the study.

"Both our genomic and epidemiological methods independently came to the same conclusion, that salmon farms act as a source and amplifier of PRV transmission," said Dr. Mordecai. "Because separate lines of independent evidence all point to the same answer, we're confident in our finding."

In collaboration with researchers from the Strategic Salmon Health Initiative, the UBC team traced the origins of PRV to Atlantic salmon farms in Norway and found that the virus is now widespread across salmon farms in British Columbia.

After sequencing 86 PRV genomes, the researchers estimated that the lineage of the virus that is now present in the Northeast Pacific diverged from the virus in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 30 years ago. This suggests that the introduction of PRV to British Columbia, and the infection of wild Pacific salmon, is a relatively recent phenomenon.

"There is much confusion about where PRV is originally from, whether it is transmitted between farmed and wild salmon, and how different lineages of the virus cause different severities of disease," said Dr. Mordecai. "This study's genome sequencing clearly indicates PRV is not native to B.C. waters - it originated in the Atlantic Ocean and has been spread around the world through salmon aquaculture."

The genomic analysis revealed that there has been a growth in the number of PRV infections in British Columbia in recent decades. This corresponds with the expansion of salmon aquaculture and high rates of viral infection in salmon farms.

"Our finding that PRV is transmitted between farmed and wild salmon is particularly relevant given recent field and laboratory studies showing the lineage of PRV in B.C. is likely to cause disease in both Pacific and Atlantic salmon," said Dr. Mordecai. 

The virus is associated with a disease in Chinook salmon that causes blood cells to rupture, leading to kidney and liver damage that can be deadly. 

"Our study reaffirms that a more precautionary approach to managing salmon farming in BC is warranted," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Bateman of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. "The PRV findings, in particular, support calls to transition from open-net salmon farming towards farming technology that doesn't allow disease transfer between farmed and wild salmon, protecting BC's wild Pacific salmon from serious risk in the process."

Professor Jeffrey Hutchings of Dalhousie University is a leading Canadian fisheries scientist who was not involved with the research. 

"The study provides foundational information necessary to assess the risk of salmon aquaculture on wild fish, as recommended by the Auditor General of Canada's 2018 Report on Salmon Farming, which criticized DFO's ability to manage aquaculture in a precautionary manner," said Professor Hutchings. 

"The work by Mordecai, Miller, and colleagues on PRV provides the most compelling, scientifically objective evidence to date that wild salmon in BC are at increased risk of disease because of open net-pen Atlantic salmon aquaculture."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Salmon virus has spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Wild Chinook salmon are more likely to be infected with...

Eating a plant-based dinner could reduce the risk of heart disease by ten percent, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.endocrine.org/">Endocrine Society</a>. The researchers found that people who eat too many refined carbs and fatty meats at dinner have a greater chance of developing heart disease than those who eat the same type of foods for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-before-breakfast-has-a-negative-impact-on-metabolism/">breakfast</a>.

Congestive heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death. The World Health Organization reports that 17.9 million people die each year from cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 31 percent of all deaths worldwide. 

The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is higher among people who regularly consume saturated fat, processed meats, and added sugar. By contrast, eating a heart-healthy diet with more vegetables and grains and less meat can significantly offset the risk of cardiovascular disease.

"Meal timing along with food quality are important factors to consider when looking for ways to lower your risk of heart disease. Our study found people who eat a plant-based dinner with more whole carbs and unsaturated fats reduced their risk of heart disease by ten percent," said study co-author Ying Li of the Harbin Medical University. 

The researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) involving 27,911 adults in the United States. Dietary information had been collected during interviews with the participants over two non-consecutive days. 

The team compared the participants' rates of heart disease with eating various fats, carbohydrates, and proteins at breakfast or dinner. The data revealed that eating a plant-based dinner correlated with a 10 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

"It's always recommended to eat a healthy diet, especially for those at high risk for heart disease, but we found that eating meat and refined carbs for breakfast instead of dinner was associated with a lower risk," said Li.

The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcem">Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</a>.

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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

Eating a plant-based dinner reduces the risk of heart disease

Eating a plant-based dinner could reduce the risk of heart...

In a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>, researchers have discovered that the embryos of many different animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-fate-of-two-bird-species-could-help-save-others/">species</a> rely on acoustic signals during development in a phenomenon that they refer to as "acoustic developmental programming." The embryos are essentially dependent upon sound cues to prepare them for the outside world. 

"Acoustic developmental programming occurs when a sound informs embryos about the environment they'll encounter postnatally and changes their development to better suit this environment," said study lead author Mylene Mariette, a postdoctoral researcher at Deakin University.

While the scientific evidence is just now becoming established, this newly discovered phenomenon seems to be rather widespread among animals, explained the experts.

"We have found evidence of this happening in birds, where parental calls can warn embryos about heatwaves or predators," said Mariette. "Before that, there was also evidence that cricket nymphs use male songs to predict the level of competition for mates. However, what is most striking from the evidence we've gathered is how common it is for embryos across species to rely on sound information."

"For example, across all animal groups that lay eggs, such as insects, frogs, reptiles and birds, embryos use sound or vibration to know when the best time is to hatch. This suggests that acoustic developmental programming is likely to happen in many animal species and for a whole range of conditions. But, until recently, we did not know it was happening."

Mariette became interested in acoustic developmental programming while studying how zebra finch parents communicate to coordinate their parental duties. "I noticed that when a parent was alone incubating, it would sometimes produce a strange high-pitched call."

To investigate whether the calls had implications for the developing embryos, Mariette captured audio recordings in nests and played them to eggs incubated artificially in the lab. 

The study revealed that the finch parents were producing specific calls when it was very hot out. The nestlings inside of the eggs respond by adjusting their development to prepare for the heat.

"I became very curious about how just hearing a sound before hatching could alter development," said Mariette.

She started searching for documented evidence of embryos using sound in other animals. While it is not yet clear exactly how it works, the new report describes some potential mechanisms.

"In crickets, when developing nymphs hear many sexy songs, female develop quickly to make the most of the opportunity, whereas males delay metamorphosis to grow bigger and invest more in reproduction," said Mariette. 

"In zebra finches, embryos exposed to parental heat calls grow less to reduce the physiological damage of heat exposure, which then allows them to produce more babies at adulthood. But embryos cannot decide to change their development, it just happens. This is because sound directly impacts behavior and physiology, without any conscious processing." 

"This is why, for example, music triggers spontaneous emotions of sadness or happiness, without us having to remember which movie that soundtrack came from, or in fact without us even noticing our reaction to the music."

"It seems to occur on its own, because there are direct connections in the brain between the auditory pathway and the areas that control emotion, reflex learning, and hormone production, so the higher cortical areas do not need to decode the information." 

Mariette explained that sound experienced early in life could trigger the same spontaneous reactions and, in fact, have long-lasting effects, because this is when the brain is developing and consolidating connections. "For the same reason, the downstream effects on physiology and then morphology can persist for life."

The researchers will continue to study the physiological traits in zebra finches that may be affected by heat-calls. "It is quite amazing that sound alone can prepare babies for heat, particularly given the alarming rate of climate change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

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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

Sound cues help embryos prepare for the outside environment

In a new study published by Cell Press, researchers have...

Just hours after it reaches its closest point to Earth, tonight's full moon will enter our planet's shadow in a total lunar eclipse. The Super Blood Moon will appear 17 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a regular full moon. 

During the lunar eclipse, skygazers in Australia, western parts of North and South America, and in Asia along the Pacific Rim will see the moon illuminated by a deep red glow.

The moon will begin to turn red around 2:45 a.m. Pacific time. At 4:11 a.m., the moon will become completely engulfed in Earth’s inner umbral shadow, and will appear dark red for about 14 minutes.

“Folks in Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands will get to see the entirety of this eclipse - it will be quite a show for them,” said NASA expert Bill Cooke. 

According to NASA, a lunar eclipse takes place when the sun and moon occupy precise positions on opposite sides of Earth. Some of the sun’s light is blocked from reaching the full moon, and our atmosphere filters the light as it passes, causing the moon to take on a reddish color.

In the eastern part of the United States and Canada, the moon will be setting by the time the eclipse takes place. However, a partial eclipse may still be visible just before the moon sets.

Regardless of the viewing location, the Super Moon can be seen all over the world. The moon will reach its perigee - the closest point in its orbit to Earth - tonight at 9:21 p.m. Eastern Time. 

"During every 27-day orbit around Earth, the Moon reaches both its perigee, about 226,000 miles from Earth, and its farthest point, or apogee, about 251,000 miles from Earth," explains NASA.

"‘Supermoon’ isn’t an official astronomical term, but typically it’s used to describe a full Moon that comes within at least 90 percent of perigee."

"Even though 17 percent doesn’t make a big difference in detectable size, a full supermoon is a bit brighter than other moons throughout the year." 

"It might be hard to detect a supermoon visually, but it does have an effect on Earth. Because the Moon is in its closest approach to Earth, it can cause higher tides than usual."

Astronomers and observatories around the world will be livestreaming the Super Moon eclipse, and Space.com has all of the links available for viewing <a href="https://www.space.com/super-flower-blood-moon-2021-webcasts">here</a>.

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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

Tonight's Super Moon coincides with a total lunar eclipse

Just hours after it reaches its closest point to Earth,...

The ancestors of modern whales made their transition from land to sea about 53 million years ago. At one point during the middle of this transition, whales had a mouth full of both teeth and baleen, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/">San Diego State University</a>.

Modern blue whales, humpback whales and gray whales have teeth in the womb but are born toothless. Baleen replaces the teeth for filter feeding small fish and tiny shrimp-like krill. The disappearing embryonic teeth are evidence of a time when ancient whales had teeth and consumed larger prey. 

For the current investigation, the researchers used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) to scan a 25 million year-old fossilized whale skull that belonged to Aetiocetus weltoni, an evolutionary "cousin" of modern whales. The analysis revealed that Aetiocetus had both teeth and baleen at the same time in adulthood.

Baleen decomposes and is rarely preserved intact in fossils, so the scientists turned to digital reconstructions with CT imaging to search for evidence of the elastic substance in Aetiocetus. They identified grooves and holes on the roof of the mouth that were consistent with baleen in modern mysticetes.

"We have found evidence that supports a co-occurrence of teeth and baleen, indicating the tooth-to-baleen transition occurred in a stepwise manner from just teeth, to teeth and baleen, to only baleen," said Ekdale.

"Our study provides tangible fossil evidence of a major shift in feeding behavior from a raptorial carnivorous feeding mode to a bulk filter-feeding mode for obtaining food, among the largest animals that have ever lived in earth's oceans. Krill are around 1/600th the size of blue whales. That's like us humans eating nothing larger than sesame seeds floating in a pool."

Some researchers questioned how Aetiocetus managed to process its food, considering that the baleen could get in the way of teeth in the mastication process. However, the position of the holes observed in Aetiocetus suggests that the baleen was not in the "line of fire" where it would interfere with the function of the teeth.

"While the tiny holes on the palate of Aetiocetus may look similar at a superficial level to other mammals, we can clearly demonstrate that this anatomy is related to baleen in baleen whales," said study co-author Thomas Deméré.

The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean">Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society</a>.

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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

Some ancient whales had both teeth and baleen

The ancestors of modern whales made their transition from land...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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



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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



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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...