A team of scientists has recreated the face of an ancient human ancestor that might offer a fresh glimpse of our distant past. This reconstructed visage of "Dragon Man" is linked to a group of early humans called the Denisovans, who roamed parts of Asia for thousands of years. 



Researchers believe these individuals may have handed down bits of genetic material that shaped the course of modern human evolution by helping our ancestors to adjust to different landscapes and climates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragon-man-and-the-denisovans">Dragon Man and the Denisovans</h2>



<a href="https://gurche.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Gurche</a>, working with National Geographic, is the paleoartist behind this striking portrait. Denisovans are known mainly from a sparse record of fossils and DNA first extracted in 2010 from a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0455-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">finger bone</a> in Siberia.



Scientists say these ancient humans lived between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/115000-year-old-human-footprints-found-alathar-lake-arabian-peninsula/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">200,000 and 25,000 years ago</a>, crossed paths with Homo sapiens, and left us with genetic traces seen today in populations across Southeast Asia and Oceania. 



Neanderthals and these early humans are our closest extinct relatives, and they likely contributed to our ability to move into and adapt to new areas of the globe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-harbin-skull-matters">Why the Harbin skull matters</h2>



A laborer in northeastern China uncovered a remarkably complete fossil many years ago, which became known as the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/stunning-dragon-man-skull-may-be-elusive-denisovan-or-new-species-human" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harbin skull</a>. 



Some experts suspect it could have belonged to a Denisovan because it bears certain resemblances to a 160,000-year-old <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/science/denisovans-tibet-jawbone-dna.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">jawbone</a> that was discovered on the Tibetan Plateau.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-photo_credit-CAS_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-photo_credit-CAS_1s.webp" alt="The Harbin Skull is the cranium of a Denisovan nicknamed Dragon Man. Credit: CAS" class="wp-image-1957356"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Harbin Skull is the cranium of a Denisovan nicknamed Dragon Man. Credit: CAS</figcaption></figure>



That jawbone, found in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/denisovan-jawbone-roof-world/588442/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Xiahe Cave</a>, could not be used to extract DNA evidence, but researchers used a method called paleoproteomics to determine its lineage.



Because the Harbin fossil dates back roughly 150,000 years and was located in the same broad region where Denisovans once roamed, many scientists think it may be the most complete example of these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-tools-ever-made-on-earth-hominins-3-million-years-ago-cradle-of-humankind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elusive people</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clues-from-denisovan-s-face">Clues from Denisovan's face</h2>



Gurche built his <a href="https://youtu.be/eatqu7hWw5g?si=1Nav7LXrwy-Z98qU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">model</a> by starting with a plastic replica of the Harbin skull, which he studied to gauge features like overall jaw breadth and prominent brow.&nbsp;



His aim was “To get as close as I could to looking into the eyes of these extinct species,” he told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/other-human-species-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Geographic</a>. He estimated eye size by referencing the ratio of eyeball diameter to eye socket size that African apes and modern humans share, then used markings on the fossil to place chewing muscles in the right spots.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragon-man-s-head-and-nose-shape">Dragon Man's head and nose shape</h2>



Studying the bone structure gave Gurche clues about the nose’s width and protrusion. 



Scientists often rely on similar methods for ancient reconstructions, since cartilage does not survive in fossils. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_human-ancestor_illustration_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_human-ancestor_illustration_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1s.webp" alt="Illustration of a Denisovan named Dragon Man in his natural habitat. His large head could be an adaptation to the harsh environment in which he likely lived. Chuang Zhao" class="wp-image-1957360"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Illustration of a Denisovan named Dragon Man in his natural habitat. His large head could be an adaptation to the harsh environment in which he likely lived. Chuang Zhao</figcaption></figure>



Their logic stems from comparing multiple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-wooden-structure-completely-rewrites-early-human-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hominin species</a> and applying standard patterns of human and ape anatomy. 



By layering muscle over the replicated skull, Gurche produced a model with a wide mouth, a robust brow, and a braincase in the ballpark of a modern human’s - traits that underscore both our shared lineage and the intriguing diversity of this lost group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evidence-of-travel-and-interbreeding">Evidence of travel and interbreeding</h2>



Denisovans likely ventured far, with fossils and DNA traces turning up from Siberia to Southeast Asia. 



Some experts point to strong signs that they interbred with Homo sapiens, possibly boosting our ancestors’ ability to cope with unfamiliar altitudes and diseases.



The story goes that our forebears met these other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stone-tool-flint-discovery-challenges-theory-of-human-cultural-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">humans</a>, passed along genes that improved survival, and then forged onward to inhabit new territories. 



However, we still do not know why Denisovans themselves vanished, or how they managed to cover such large distances in eras when travel was slow and difficult.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-dragon-man-and-denisovans">Next steps for Dragon Man and Denisovans</h2>



Experts say that solving the mystery of how these people journeyed across thousands of miles - and figuring out why they vanished - requires more fossils. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-recreation_portrait_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dragon-man_Denisovan_Harbin-skull-recreation_portrait_credit-Chuang-Zhao_1s.webp" alt="Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin named Denisovans. Credit: Chuang Zhao/CAS" class="wp-image-1957358"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin named Denisovans. Credit: Chuang Zhao/CAS</figcaption></figure>



Compared to Neanderthals, Denisovan remains are exceptionally scarce, which is why the Harbin skull’s possible Denisovan link has excited many anthropologists. 



Any additional finds, such as teeth or skull fragments, can help refine our picture of these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/homo-juluensis-new-human-species-vanished-just-fifty-thousand-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ancient relatives</a> and fill in details about their environment, social behavior, and diet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-glimpse-into-the-past">A glimpse into the past</h2>



In February 2025, National Geographic featured Gurche’s Denisovan model, marking a milestone in our understanding of who these people were. Some see this lifelike creation as a vital leap for anyone curious about human origins.&nbsp;



The crossbreeding evidence, the scattered remains, and now this reconstructed face provide a chance to reflect on how many human groups once shared our planet. 



The Denisovans’ disappearance still mystifies scientists, but every new bit of data reveals more about their place in our lineage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-dragon-man-and-denisovans">Understanding Dragon Man and Denisovans</h2>



While we might never get every answer about the Denisovans, the puzzle pieces we do have hint at a world filled with varied human populations. 



Each group may have contributed to the genetic tapestry that makes our species what it is today. 



The Harbin skull’s similarities to that jawbone in Xiahe Cave underscore how a single fossil find can reshape our thinking on early humans. 



As more studies zero in on these and other artifacts, a fuller narrative of the Denisovans’ story may surface - one that reminds us of our interwoven past.



A version of this story will appear in the February 2025 issue of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/other-human-species-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Geographic magazine</a>.



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Recreating the face of 'Dragon Man,' an ancient human cousin

A team of scientists has recreated the face of an ancient human ancestor that might offer a fresh glimpse of our distant past. This reconstructed visage of "Dragon Man" is linked to a group of early humans called the Denisovans, who roamed parts of Asia for thousands of years.  Researchers believe these individuals may have handed down bits of genetic material that shaped the course of modern human evolution by helping our ancestors to adjust to different landscapes and climates. Dragon Man and the Denisovans John Gurche,...

Woolly,Mammoth,,Prehistoric,Animal,In,Frozen,Ice,Age,Landscape,(3d

An international team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a> and the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> have found that humans had a significant role in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-half-of-indian-crop-varieties-are-close-to-extinction/">extinction</a> of woolly mammoths in Eurasia. Moreover, the study also shows that the extinction of mammoths occurred thousands of years later than previously thought.



“Our analyses strengthen and better resolves the case for human impacts as a driver of population declines and range collapses of megafauna in Eurasia during the late Pleistocene,” said study co-author David Nogues-Bravo, a professor of Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.



“It also refutes a prevalent theory that climate change alone decimated woolly mammoth populations and that the role of humans was limited to hunters delivering the&nbsp;coup de grâce. And shows that species extinctions are usually the result of complex interactions between threatening processes.”



By using computer models, fossils, and ancient DNA, the scientists identified signatures of past changes in the distribution and demography of woolly mammoths, which provided clear evidence that humans hastened the extinction of mammoths by up to 4,000 years in some regions in Eurasia.&nbsp;



“We know that humans exploited woolly mammoths for meat, skins, bones, and ivory. However, until now it has been difficult to disentangle the exact roles that climate warming and human hunting had on its extinction,” said study lead author Damien Fordham, an associate professor of Global Ecology at the University of Adelaide.



“Our research shows that humans were a crucial and chronic driver of population declines of woolly mammoths, having an essential role in the timing and location of their extinction.”



Furthermore, the researchers discovered that mammoths are likely to have survived in Arctic regions with suitable climates and low densities of humans for thousands of years longer than initially thought.&nbsp;



“Our finding of long-term persistence in Eurasia independently confirms recently published environmental DNA evidence that shows that woolly mammoths were roaming around Siberia 5,000 years ago,” said study co-author Jeremy Austin, an associate professor at the University of Adelaide’s <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/acad/">Australian Centre for Ancient DNA</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.13911">Ecology Letters</a>.



---



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

Humans drove woolly mammoths to extinction

An international team of scientists led by the University of...

Beautiful,Star,Trail,Image,During,The,Night,Of,The,Perseid

According to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, the Leonids are some of the fastest meteors, traveling at speeds of 44 miles per second. Every year in November, these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meteors-may-transfer-life-from-earth-to-other-planets/">meteors</a> fall towards the Earth after breaking off from a comet called Tempel-Tuttle. This year’s Leoninds Meteor Shower is set to peak on Wednesday night (November 17 to 18), with up to 15 shooting stars each hour until Thursday dawn.



Meteors, or shooting stars, come from leftover comet particles and bits of broken asteroids. When comets travel around the Sun, the dust they emit gradually spreads into dusty trails around their orbits, and while the Earth passes through these debris trails, they disintegrate while colliding with our planet’s atmosphere, creating fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.



The Leonids acquired their name due to the path they take through the sky, appearing to originate in the Leo constellation. They are debris from the small Tempel-Tuttle comet, whose nucleus measures only 2.24 miles - approximately the same size as the island of Manhattan.



Every 33 years or so, viewers from Earth can experience a massive Leonid "storm," with thousands of meteors falling each minute through our planet’s atmosphere during a 15 minutes period. 



“Viewers in 1966 experienced a spectacular Leonid storm – thousands of meteors per minute fell through Earth's atmosphere during a 15 minute period,” NASA reported. “There were so many meteors seen that they appeared to fall like rain. The last Leonid meteor storm took place in 2002.”



Although next week’s Leonid shower will not be so spectacular as those from 1966 and 2002, it will nonetheless be a beautiful event, definitely worthwhile to see. According to the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory">Royal Observatory Greenwich</a>, meteor showers are best seen on nights without clouds, from a place with an unobstructed horizon and very little light pollution. There is no advantage to using binoculars or a telescope while watching a meteor shower: the shooting stars will be clearly visible by naked eye if the sky is not cloudy.&nbsp;



According to meteorologists, the best time to see the Leonid shower next week will be in the early hours of Thursday, November 18, when the Leo constellation is up in the sky.



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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

The annual Leonids meteor show will peak this week

According to NASA, the Leonids are some of the fastest...

Extreme climate events such as heatwaves, floods, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crops-have-a-drought-memory-that-prepares-them-for-tough-times/">droughts</a> often occur with little or no warning, making effective short-term response to them almost impossible. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) has recently developed a new network-based framework which allows more accurate predictions of weather events.



“Currently, for instance, there is no reliable prediction of heavy rainfall in the Easter Central Andes leading to floods and landslides with devastating impacts for the inhabitants in that part of South America,” said study co-author Jürgen Kurths, a climate expert at PIK. “Our network-based approach can predict those events up to two days in advance – that is crucial time for the people to prepare, save lives and limit damages.”



Traditional weather and climate forecasting rely on numerical methods imitating atmospheric and oceanic processes, and can’t always accurately and timely predict phenomena such as monsoon offsets, floods, or droughts. By contrast, the new network-based forecasting, which instead of simulating the entire Earth system, analyses large-scale connectivity patterns in observational data, is much more efficient in predicting the onset of extreme weather events.



“As opposed to looking at a huge number of local interactions, which represent physical processes like heat or humidity exchange, we look directly at the connectivity between different geographical locations, which can span continents or oceans,” explained study lead author Josef Ludescher, a senior scientist at PIK. “This connectivity is detected by measuring the similarity in the evolution of physical quantities like air temperatures at these locations. For instance, in the case of El Niño, a strong connectivity in the tropical Pacific tends to build up in the calendar year before the onset of the event.”



“The new forecasting approach has, in several instances over the past years, proven to be highly efficient in predicting different climate phenomena much earlier than before. El Niño for instance could be predicted up to one full year early, compared to about six months with the standard prediction methods. The onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon in central India, vital for the economy in this region, was predicted more than a month in advance, much earlier than the forecast currently used, thanks to the new approach,” he added.



This new weather prediction tool, which could potentially save millions of lives and help avoiding billions of economic costs, is described in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922872118">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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

New tool can predict extreme weather events

Extreme climate events such as heatwaves, floods, or droughts often...

Milano,,Italy,October,1,,2021:,Young,People,Display,Placards,During

The annual UN climate change conference (<a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26</a>) has concluded after nearly 200 countries signed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/14/glasgow-climate-pact-leaders-welcome-cop26-deal-despite-coal-compromise">Glasgow Climate Pact</a> on Saturday.&nbsp;



This year's COP meeting took an unprecedented step in the right direction by making specific decisions on coal and fossil fuels. In the aftermath of the conference, however, many people are expressing frustration and disappointment that India and China pushed for (and were granted) lighter restrictions on coal.&nbsp;



Both countries, which are heavily dependent on coal, refused to commit to phasing it out entirely, but agreed to "phase down" coal use. 



The pact also mentions moving away from fossil fuels, but critics say that even with accelerated action, the new climate agreement fails to protect the nations and people who are already greatly suffering from the climate crisis.&nbsp;



Seve Paeniu is the Minister of Finance and Climate Change of Tuvalu, an island nation in the South Pacific that is severely threatened by sea level rise. According to a report from Popular Science, the low-lying island nation of Tuvalu is "literally sinking" in Pacific waters that have already risen by up to a foot.



Paeniu was disappointed that there was no clear establishment of a loss and damage fund, in which wealthy nations would pay for the consequences of climate change on Tuvalu and other smaller nations.&nbsp;



"First of all, little countries made our voices heard, but in a negotiation room like this, you've got the big countries. So it's a case of take-it-or-leave-it kind of deal," said Paeniu.&nbsp;



"So there was no other option left for us. We just want to work with this and are hopeful that some outcome would come out of this dialogue."



US climate envoy John Kerry said that while there is support for loss and damage, "we have to work through what is this all about," such as how much money is needed and what the money would be used for.&nbsp;



Teresa Anderson, climate policy coordinator for ActionAid International, also addressed the issue.&nbsp;



"This outcome is an insult to the millions of people whose lives are being torn apart by the climate crisis," said Andersen. She pointed out that "the wealthy countries most responsible for our warming world - particularly the United States - have blocked their ears and hung those most impacted out to dry."



Meanwhile, Minister Paeniu remains hopeful that actions will speak as loudly as the pledges that have been made at COP26.



"There's a lot of commitment to take action. So between now the next COP, countries just need to deliver on those commitments. I think Glasgow has provided a platform for ambition. The challenge now is for countries to actually deliver on those."



Overall, the Glasgow pledges fall short of their global warming goal. According to projections by the <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/">Climate Action Tracker</a>, the world needs to cut the rate of greenhouse gas emissions by almost 27 billion metric tons a year in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2030. The current pledges will only eliminate 25 percent of the target rate of emissions.&nbsp;



Sir David King, Chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory group, reacted to the Glasgow Climate Pact. He noted that the scientific community has a critical role to play in managing a safe future for humanity by monitoring the year-by-year actions and accountability of each country.



“There were real advances made in the Agreement, following on from COP21 in Paris 2015. Adaptation, mitigation and finance were all strengthened. Rules on carbon markets were approved. The importance of the protection, conservation and restoration of nature and ecosystems was recognized - although the phrase 'critical importance' was removed. And the 'phase down' - not 'phase out' - of coal was approved, at the last minute," said King.



“But there was no real understanding in the agreement of the extreme nature of the crisis. How do we, the current generation, ensure a manageable future for humanity?"&nbsp;



"The threat to all of us from the loss of polar summer sea ice over the Arctic Ocean is a clear signal of the disaster from rising sea level, severe extreme weather events and high temperatures; but it was not addressed in any way."&nbsp;



"This was the meeting when the end of coal, oil and gas should have been set in place, in an orderly, efficient and fair way. The power of the USA oil and gas lobby meant that the USA was unable, once again, to show clear leadership on this critical issue."



COP26 President Alok Sharma referred to the Glasgow Climate Pact as a "fragile win." He said that China and India will have to explain themselves to climate-vulnerable nations to somehow&nbsp;justify their actions.



"I am going to be calling on everyone to do more," Sharma told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show. "But as I said, in relation to what happened yesterday, China and India will have to explain themselves and what they did to the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world."



"I wouldn't describe what we did yesterday as a failure - it is a historic achievement."



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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

COP26 deal: failure or historic achievement?

The annual UN climate change conference (COP26) has concluded after...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.essex.ac.uk/">University of Essex</a> in cooperation with the <a href="https://www.ucalgary.ca/">University of Calgary</a> and the <a href="https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/institutes/leibniz-institutes-all-lists/leibniz-institute-for-resilience-research">Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research</a>, dads who are willing to have an active involvement in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-improved-mental-health-of-children-during-lockdown/">childcare</a> have a larger hypothalamus (an almond-sized region of the brain that is crucial for emotional attachment) than more distant fathers.



“Most studies on mammalian caregiving and attachment have focused on the mother-child relationship, particularly in humans. Yet, changing societal roles of male caregivers have highlighted the necessity for research with fathers,” wrote the study authors.



“In many societies, dads’ involvement in parenting has dramatically increased,” said study co-author Pascal Vrtička, an assistant professor of Psychology at the University of Essex. “Men wish to spend more time and more closely bond with their children. They want to become more involved and confident fathers. We have now shown that these caregiving beliefs can be traced deep within dads’ brains.”



By scanning the brains of 50 fathers, who previously filled a questionnaire aiming to assess their caregiving beliefs and how much they enjoyed spending time with their children, the scientists found that the fathers with larger hypothalamus considered their role as caregivers to be highly important for their children’s development. However, no correlation was found between hypothalamus size and self-reported enjoyment of spending time with children.



In a previous <a href="https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.13510">study</a>, the research team also found that the brains of fathers and children who solve puzzles together are synchronized. &nbsp;



“Dads - like mums - are biologically wired to be parents.&nbsp;Our data revealed that this can be seen in dads' brain anatomy as well as brain-to-brain synchrony with their kids, and especially so for more confident and involved fathers,” explained Professor Vrtička.



“It therefore seems very relevant and justified to promote the importance of dads' involvement in childcare in a broader societal context and to support them as much as possible,” he concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17470919.2021.1997799">Social Neuroscience</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

Dads who spend more time with their kids have different brain structures

According to a new study led by the University of...

Scientists have discovered a new species of beaked whale that is 17 feet long, weighs over 2,000 pounds, and lives 6,000 feet below the sea surface. Ramari’s beaked whale - named after Māori whale specialist Ramari Stewart, who helped discover the first member of the species in November 2011 in New Zealand - appears to have a distinctly different bodily and genetic structure than other beaked whales.



“Beaked whales (ziphiids) are among the most visible inhabitants of the deep sea, due to their large size and worldwide distribution, and their taxonomic diversity and much about their natural history remain poorly understood,” explained the study authors.&nbsp;



Until now, only a few species of beaked whales have been discovered. Some of these species are only known by a handful of incomplete skeletons, and, since they tend to spend very brief periods of time at the sea surface, they are difficult to distinguish.&nbsp;



In this new study though, the scientists used genomic tools to analyze genetic information from museum and archival specimens of various ages in order to distinguish between different whale species. These investigations revealed that Ramari’s beaked whale was genetically different from other beaked whales and should be thus classified as a new species.&nbsp;



According to the scientists, discovering a new animal species requires important decisions around the naming of the new taxon. In order to honor the significant role indigenous Māori population has in studying the local ecosystems, the researchers decided to name this beaked whale after one of the indigenous whale experts who participated in the discovery of the first specimen. 



“We sought to recognize Indigenous peoples’ deep connection with, and knowledge of, the natural environment by consulting with them on potential species and common names,” explained the study authors. 



"This is part of a critical shift in the global science community, which strives to collaborate with Indigenous knowledge holders in ecology and conservation biology. Here, this has resulted in one of the first cetaceans named after an Indigenous woman.”



“It is not only rare to discover new whale species but even more rare to name them after women and honor the indigenous peoples whose coastlines are visited by these amazing creatures,” added Regina Asmutis-Silvia, the Executive Director of the <a href="https://uk.whales.org/">Whale and Dolphin Conservation</a> initiative.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.1213#d1e1428">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.&nbsp;



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

New beaked whale discovered in New Zealand

Scientists have discovered a new species of beaked whale that...

Besides affecting the physical health of millions of Americans, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-one-third-of-americans-had-covid-19-by-the-end-of-2020/">COVID-19</a> pandemic had a significant toll on mental health too, increasing depression and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extended-sitting-time-increases-risk-of-depression-anxiety/">anxiety</a> in a large number of people. 



According to new research led by <a href="https://intermountainhealthcare.org/">Intermountain Healthcare</a> in Salt Lake City, almost 40 percent of the patients studied reported new or continuing symptoms of depression during the first year of the pandemic. In the long-term, such symptoms can increase the risk of developing heart disease.



“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of daily life. The interpersonal loss due to quarantining and social distancing, compounded with societal disruption has negatively affected mental health,” wrote the study authors. “Once established, mental health conditions can become chronic with having subsequent effects on additional risk factors and disease incidence, such as cardiovascular disease.”



The researchers studied 4,633 Intermountain Healthcare patients who completed a screening for depression both before and during the pandemic. The participants were separated into two groups: those with no depression or who were no longer depressed, and those who became or remained depressed.



The scientists found that among depressed patients, depression scores were higher during the pandemic than before it, and that depression was also associated with more ER visits for acute anxiety episodes, the odds of reaching ER for anxiety being 2.8 greater for people with depression than for those without.



“These findings are significant. In looking at the first year of the pandemic, we are already seeing the mental health effects on our patients,” said study lead author Heidi T. May, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at the <a href="https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/heart-care/heart-institute/">Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute</a>.



“We already know that depression raises a person’s risk for developing cardiovascular disease and other chronic health problems, so this is very concerning and highlights the importance of screening patients and providing mental health resources that they need,” she added.



A longer follow-up is needed to better understand the potential long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health and associated cardiovascular risks. “If people are becoming more depressed because of the pandemic, in a few years, we could see a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease,” Dr. May warned.



The study will be presented at the American Heart Association’s virtual 2021 <a href="https://professional.heart.org/en/meetings/scientific-sessions">Scientific Session</a> on Saturday, November 13.



---



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

Pandemic-related depression increases heart disease risk

Besides affecting the physical health of millions of Americans, the...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/13/11/514/htm">Diversity</a> has found that over half of the surveyed crop varieties across seven Indian states covering five agro-ecological regions are under threat of extinction. By developing a Varietal Threat Index, which draws upon farmer knowledge to assess changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-impact-of-fire-on-amazon-biodiversity/">biodiversity</a>, scientists discovered that many of the Indian crops and varieties are being lost at an alarming rate.



Crop and varietal diversity are highly important for global nutrition security, and for the livelihood of millions of people. Each of these crop species and farmer varieties (also called “landraces”), that have been cultivated by farmers for millennia, contains unique genetic traits that could help breeders and farmers adapt food systems to global stressors such as climate change.&nbsp;



While it is clear that this agrobiodiversity is diminishing, large data gaps remain regarding how many are lost, and how many are currently under threat of extinction.&nbsp;



“Our knowledge about the status of agrobiodiversity on farms is still very limited. While several studies to assess the crop genetic diversity on farms have been undertaken, there are no systematic documentation and monitoring practices for varietal diversity in space and time,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



Researchers from&nbsp;<a href="https://alliancebioversityciat.org/">Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT</a> have recently developed the Variety Threat Index, a tool to systematically monitor changes in varietal diversity on farms, between areas, and over time.&nbsp;



By using a rapid assessment technique to gather knowledge from 600 farmers about local agrobiodiversity, combined with a four-cell assessment method to calculate the level of threat for each crop and variety, the scientists found that over 50 percent of the landraces studied were under threat.



The findings suggest that Indian crops and varieties used for consumption are the ones most threatened, while those with multiple uses such as sales, fodder, or household food, are less likely to be classified as under threat.



The study could help inform global conservation efforts by offering reliable methods of developing tangible targets and indicators in order to monitor the global status of plant genetic resources for agriculture and food. Knowing which crops and varieties are most threatened can help inform urgent priority conservation actions to sustainably and inclusively improve people’s lives worldwide.



---



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

Over half of Indian crop varieties are close to extinction

A new study published in the journal Diversity has found...

Cheetah,In,The,African,Bush,And,Game,Reserves

Every year about 300 cheetah cubs are snatched from their mothers and trafficked through Somaliland to wealthy buyers in the Middle East who seek exotic pets and are willing to pay up to $15,000 for a cub. Although it is a less known business than <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elephants-can-be-very-cooperative-until-the-food-gets-scarce/">elephant</a> ivory or rhino horn trafficking, the illegal cheetah trade is equally devastating for Africa’s most endangered large cat species.



A century ago, there were an estimated 100,000 cheetahs worldwide. Today, barely 7,000 remain, and this number is dangerously diminishing due to human encroachment and habitat destruction. The cub trade significantly contributed to this decline. During the past decade, over 3,600 live cheetahs were illegally traded. 



Moreover, the smuggled cubs suffer terrible mistreatment along the trafficking routes, being fed improperly and confined to small cages, often with their legs tied up.



"If this keeps going... that kind of offtake causes the population to go extinct in a very short time," said Laurie Marker, founder of the <a href="https://cheetah.org/">Cheetah Conservation Fund</a> (CCF). "The next generation may never see a cheetah if this illicit trade continues," added Edna Adan Ismail, Somaliland's former foreign minister.



Combating this criminal trade is challenging since it revolves around Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic with no international recognition and one of the world’s poorest regions. Although a small coast guard unit is continuously patrolling for cheetahs, they also need to contend with other pressing issues such as human trafficking or gun runners.



In recent years, however, organizations such as Marker’s CCF have helped to rescue an increasingly large number of cheetahs. The organization is now sheltering 67 cubs across three safe houses in Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa. 



Additionally, laws criminalizing the trade of cheetahs have been enforced. A high-profile trafficker was prosecuted in October 2020, and his smuggling ring was shattered.



Yet, such measures might not be enough to safeguard this endangered species. Urgent local and global efforts are needed to completely halt illegal cheetah trafficking, and to mitigate other factors that threaten cheetah populations, such as human industrial expansion through habitat destruction.



---



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

Illegal trade pushes cheetahs to the brink of extinction

Every year about 300 cheetah cubs are snatched from their...

Chickadees are active, social <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazonian-birds-are-changing-shape-in-response-to-global-warming/">birds</a> that live in flocks and inhabit deciduous and mixed forests, open woods and parks. They feed on insects and seeds but prefer to cache their food away and eat it later, rather than consume it on the spot. In fact, chickadees hide thousands of food items every fall and rely on these hidden stores to get through the harsh winter times in the mountains of the western U.S. 



For a chickadee, a highly developed spatial memory is clearly essential for survival. This fact led researchers to wonder whether spatial memory has a genetic basis in chickadees. If so, the ability to memorize the location of cached food would be under the influence of natural selection. The genetic basis for spatial memory has been demonstrated for humans and other mammals, but has not been identified in birds.



In a new study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, researchers investigated the genetic basis of individual variation in spatial cognition used by chickadees to recover food stores.&nbsp;The research involved a collaboration between scientists from the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Oklahoma.



"We all use spatial memory to navigate our environment,"&nbsp;said study lead author Carrie Branch. "Without memory there’s no learning and an organism would have to start from scratch for every task. So, it really is life and death for these birds to be able to remember where they stashed their food. We've been able to show that natural selection is shaping their ability to remember locations."



In order to quantify spatial memory ability in a population of wild Mountain Chickadees in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, senior author Vladimir Pravosudov and his team at the University of Nevada, Reno, designed clusters of "smart"&nbsp;feeders that the birds could visit. Each feeder was equipped with a radio frequency identification sensor, and each of the 42 birds in the study was fitted with a leg tag, the size of a grain of rice, that gave off a unique identifying signal.



Birds were assigned to different feeders in the clusters. When a bird visited a feeder, the feedes sensor read the bird's ID tag and, if it matched the feeder for that individual, a mechanism would open the door, and the bird could access a seed. The scientists recorded the number of attempts each bird made before it consistently went to the correct feeder.&nbsp;



"This is an effective system to test spatial learning and memory in hundreds of wild chickadees in their natural environment,"&nbsp;said Pravosudov. "We have previously shown that even very small variations in performance are associated with differences in survival."



The researchers found that some chickadees took fewer attempts than others to learn the location of the feeder that delivered food to them. In other words, there was natural variation in the spatial memories of the birds. If natural selection is shaping chickadee memory, then one would expect to find variation in the trait: some chickadees are certainly better than others at remembering where their food is.&nbsp;



Furthermore, if there is a genetic basis to spatial memory then birds that perform the task better would have a survival advantage and would be more likely to produce offspring. This certainly appeared to be the case, with very small variations in performance being associated with differences in survival.



"Environment does still matter a lot in terms of shaping behavior, but our work here suggests that genes may create the brain structures, and then experience and learning can build on top of that,"&nbsp;explained Branch.



The study confirms that spatial memory in chickadees has a genetic basis and is selected for during the process of natural selection.



---



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

Chickadees are genetically inclined to have a remarkable memory

Chickadees are active, social birds that live in flocks and...

Sea urchins look like spikey outgrowths of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/large-whales-make-a-major-contribution-to-ocean-health/">ocean</a> floor, but they are in fact living organisms, part of a group of animals called echinoderms (the same family that sea stars and sand dollars belong to). While to a casual observer they may seem sedentary, movement is an important part of this animal’s ecology, and thus an important part of nearshore ecosystems.&nbsp;



A new study from the <a href="https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/">University of Barcelona</a> quantifies just how important the predator-prey relationships of these spiny sea-creatures are.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Jordi Pagès and colleagues subjected captive sea urchins to the smell of one of their chief predators, the sea snail Hexaplex trunculus, and then observed their reactions for up to several hours.&nbsp;



When they caught the scent of danger, the sea urchins took off at a speed of 15 centimeters per minute (nearly twice their typical leisurely pace of 8 centimeters a minute). Rather than meandering and wandering, the sea urchins also moved in a straight line.



“In short, sea urchins can perceive the chemistry of their predators and react instantly by changing their movement patterns. That is, they fear the predators and react accordingly. This response, coherent and consistent in all individuals, has an adaptive sense," explained Dr. Pagès.



"This makes us think that, just like there are optimal movement patterns for finding food, there are optimized movements for escaping the predators.” This isn’t a new phenomenon, Dr. Pagès notes, as “there are fossil traces of echinoids in marine sediments that suggest that these urchins’ complex movements took place more than 50 million years ago.”&nbsp;



Even in the slow lane, the complex dance of predator and prey is important to understand for ecologists as they attempt to gain a better understanding of how ocean ecosystems function.&nbsp;



“Our study shows that if such a simple species like the sea urchin is able to react in such a clear way in front of a predator, it is worth to add this complexity to the predator-prey models," concluded Dr. Pagès.



"Only by doing so will we be able to predict the coexistence capacity of predator and prey populations and understand the populational dynamics in nature.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://movementecologyjournal.biomedcentral.com/">Movement Ecology</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Sluggish sea urchins double their pace when they smell danger

Sea urchins look like spikey outgrowths of the ocean floor,...

Lazy,Young,Man,Playing,Video,Game,While,Lying,On,Sofa

The start of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/thousands-of-tons-of-covid-related-plastic-could-end-up-in-the-ocean/">COVID-19</a> pandemic brought drastic changes to our lifestyle. People had to stay at home, isolate and restrict social contact. Exercise sessions consisted of walking between the study and the bathroom, gym time was erased, and sitting and screen time increased dramatically.



Overall, our lives became more sedentary and we found ourselves sitting rather than being physically active. After initial lockdowns passed, however, those who continued to spend more time sitting during the months between April and June 2020 were more likely to suffer symptoms of depression. This is the finding of a study, recently published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry">Frontiers in Psychiatry</a>.



“Sitting is a sneaky behavior,” said study lead author Jacob Meyer, assistant professor of Kinesiology at Iowa State University. “It’s something we do all the time without thinking about it.”



As the director of the Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory at ISU, Professor Meyer and his team look at how physical activity and sedentary behaviors are related to mental health, and how changes to those influence the way people think, feel and perceive the world.



“In March 2020, we knew COVID was going to affect our behavior and what we could do in lots of weird, funky ways that we couldn't predict,” said Professor Meyer.



Meyer and a team of researchers recruited more than 3,000 participants from all 50 states and the District of Colombia, to take part in a survey of activity levels and mental health. The participants self-reported how much time they spent doing activities, like sitting, looking at screens and exercising, and how those behaviors compared to pre-pandemic times. Using standard clinical scales, they also indicated changes to their mental wellbeing (e.g., levels of depression, anxiety, feeling stressed and feeling lonely).



“We know when people's physical activity and screen time changes, that's related to their mental health in general, but we haven't really seen large population data like this in response to an abrupt change before,” said Professor Meyer.



Previous analysis of the data set showed that participants who were meeting the&nbsp;<a href="https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf">U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines</a>&nbsp;(i.e., 2.5-5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week) before the pandemic, decreased their physical activity by 32%, on average, shortly after COVID-19-related restrictions first went into effect. The same participants reported feeling more depressed, anxious and lonely.&nbsp;



The current study aimed to find out whether the participants’ behaviors and mental health changed after the initial lockdowns ended and they were allowed to return to more active lifestyles. Participants filled out the same survey each week between April and June, 2020.



“In the second study, we found that, on average, people saw their mental health improve over the eight-week period,” said Professor Meyer. “People adjusted to life in the pandemic. But for people whose sitting times stayed high, their depressive symptoms, on average, didn't recover in the same way as everyone else’s.”



People who still spent a large portion of their day sitting experienced less improvement in their mental health. Meyer emphasized that this was a correlational study and that finding an “association” between sitting and mental health does not necessarily imply causality.&nbsp;



“It’s certainly worthy of more investigation,” said Professor Meyer, adding that monthly survey data from June 2020 to June 2021 are intended to become publicly available soon. “I think being aware of some of the subtle changes we’ve made during the pandemic and how they might be beneficial or detrimental is really important as we look to the other side of pandemic life.”



Professor Meyer hopes that the results of the study will help people recognize that even a little bit of physical exercise or movement can improve mood and mental health. He encourages people to take breaks and walk around when sitting for a long time, or to take walks around the block to replace the pre-pandemic commute to work.&nbsp;



“If you’re no longer walking down the hall for in-person meetings, you can still incorporate that break from sitting by taking a short walk before and after your Zoom call,” said Professor Meyer. He stressed that even a short period of activity can benefit people physically and mentally, and help add structure to the day.



---



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

Extended sitting time increases risk of depression, anxiety

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic brought drastic changes to...

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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;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" 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.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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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 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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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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

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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

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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



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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"

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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...