The morning ritual of walking the dog might be more than just a daily chore for older adults. New research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin has revealed the significant benefits of regular dog walking for older adults.



The researchers found that walking a dog frequently can improve mobility, reduce the risk of falls, and lower the fear of falling - an important factor in maintaining independence and quality of life as people age.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-falls-major-concern-for-older-adults">Falls: Major concern for older adults</h2>



Falls are a leading cause of hospital admissions among <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/not-all-aging-cells-are-bad-some-help-to-heal-the-body/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">older people</a> and the most common cause of accidental death in later life. 



They often lead to fractures, including hip fractures, which can result in a loss of independence, increased reliance on healthcare services, admission to nursing homes, and even premature death. 



In Ireland, <a href="https://tilda.tcd.ie" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TILDA</a> data shows that around 30% of people over the age of 70 experience a fall every year, and one in eight require emergency care due to a fall.



With an aging population, the number of older adults experiencing falls will only increase in the coming decades. 



This makes fall prevention a critical issue. Identifying simple, cost-effective strategies to reduce the risk of falls is essential for improving public health and reducing the burden on healthcare systems. 



Regular physical activity is one of the most effective ways to maintain strength, balance, and mobility, but finding enjoyable and sustainable ways to stay active is key.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dog-walks-benefit-older-adults">Dog walks benefit older adults</h2>



The study analyzed data from over 4,100 adults aged 60 and older who participated in TILDA Wave 5. 



The team categorized participants into two groups: those who walked their dogs at least four times a week and those who either did not own a dog or owned a dog but did not walk it regularly.



By using self-reported data on falls and fear of falling, combined with objective mobility assessments through the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) test, the researchers were able to determine whether regular dog walking had a measurable impact on fall risk and mobility.



The TUG test is a well-established method used to assess mobility and fall risk in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-bodies-undergo-very-rapid-change-aging-at-two-very-specific-times/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">older adults</a>. Participants are timed as they stand up from a chair, walk three meters, turn around, walk back, and sit down again. 



The time taken to complete the task is a strong predictor of fall risk, with slower times indicating reduced mobility and a higher likelihood of falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-regular-dog-walks-and-improved-mobility">Regular dog walks and improved mobility </h2>



The results of the study showed a clear link between regular dog walking and improved mobility. Participants who walked their dogs frequently completed the TUG test significantly faster than those who did not, with an average time of 10.3 seconds compared to 11.7 seconds for the group that did not walk a dog regularly.



This suggests that regular dog walking helps maintain agility and physical function, both of which are critical for preventing falls.



In addition to better mobility, regular dog walkers were also found to be 40% less likely to experience unexplained falls. 



This is a significant finding, as falls often lead to serious injuries and long-term disability. By engaging in regular walking with a dog, older adults may improve their balance and coordination, making them less prone to sudden falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reduced-fear-of-falling">Reduced fear of falling</h2>



Another important outcome of the study was the reduction in fear of falling among dog walkers. Fear of falling is a major concern for many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/muscles-defy-aging-with-remarkable-resilience/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">older adu</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/muscles-defy-aging-with-remarkable-resilience/">lts</a> and can lead to a cycle of inactivity, reduced confidence, and further mobility decline. 



The study found that participants who walked their dogs regularly were 20% less likely to report fear of falling. This suggests that dog walking not only has physical benefits but also plays a crucial role in maintaining psychological well-being and confidence in mobility.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dog-walking-is-more-than-just-exercise">Dog walking is more than just exercise</h2>



While physical activity in general is known to have numerous health <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-25-years-of-research-revealed-about-brain-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">benefits</a>, this study suggests that the specific activity of dog walking provides unique advantages. 



Unlike structured exercise programs, which some older adults may find difficult to maintain, walking a dog is an enjoyable and routine-based activity that provides both motivation and companionship.



"While this may be partly due to increased physical activity, it is also likely that increased social interaction, companionship, and purpose derived from having a dog also plays an important role,"&nbsp;said Professor Robert Briggs, consultant geriatrician at St James’s Hospital and Trinity College, and co-author of the study.&nbsp;



"We see how important pets are in the lives of older people we encounter both in St James's Hospital and the TILDA study, and it is therefore heartening to see the benefits borne out in this study."



"Our findings highlight the value of regular dog walking as a simple and accessible activity that not only improves physical health but also has benefits for mental well-being and confidence among older adults," said study lead author Dr. Eleanor Gallagher, Specialist Registrar in Geriatric Medicine from <a href="https://www.tcd.ie" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trinity College Dublin</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-encouraging-healthy-aging">Encouraging healthy aging</h2>



The study reinforces the idea that health-promoting activities should be both enjoyable and easy to incorporate into daily life. 



Walking a dog provides structure, companionship, and motivation - elements that help older adults stay consistent with their physical activity. Unlike other forms of exercise, which may feel like a chore, dog walking offers a sense of purpose and social connection, making it more sustainable over the long term.



For older adults looking to improve their mobility, reduce their risk of falls, and maintain their independence, adopting or regularly walking a dog may be a simple yet highly effective solution. 



The benefits extend beyond just physical health, contributing to overall <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discrimination-speeds-up-aging-molecular-level/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">well-being</a> and a higher quality of life in later years. 



As research continues to highlight the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle, studies like this one offer practical and accessible strategies to help older adults age healthily and confidently.



The study is published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gerona/glaf010/7951863?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences</a>. 



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Dog walking improves mobility and prevents falls in older adults

The morning ritual of walking the dog might be more than just a daily chore for older adults. New research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin has revealed the significant benefits of regular dog walking for older adults. The researchers found that walking a dog frequently can improve mobility, reduce the risk of falls, and lower the fear of falling - an important factor in maintaining independence and quality of life as people age. Falls: Major concern for older adults Falls are a leading...

Few places in the world showcase the overgrowth of the human population like China does. A new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain/">Nature Sustainability</a> looks at the environmental impact of the populous China's increasing need for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nutrient-profiling-system-ranks-healthy-foods/">food</a>.&nbsp;



Study lead author Hao Zhao is associated with the Integrated Biosphere Futures Research Group in the <a href="https://iiasa.ac.at/">IIASA</a> Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program.



“Assessing the impacts of future food demand requires comprehensive analyses of the agricultural sector, while tracking global environmental impacts calls for models representing trade with other regions individually. We focused on China in the global context, projecting the dynamic global future compared with other local models,”



The research predicts that demand for food in China will continue to steadily increase, especially the demand for livestock and livestock feed. To meet this demand, more land will be used for grazing and greenhouse gas emissions will increase. This also means an increasing reliance on food imports. By 2050, the paper predicts, as much as twice the agricultural land abroad will be needed to feed the growing nation.&nbsp;



By feeding China’s demand for food, the rest of the world will pay some of the environmental cost as well. On average, as much as 30 percent of a given country’s environmental challenges will be related to exports to China. In New Zealand for instance, 48 percent of agricultural land use and 33 percent of related greenhouse gases will be caused by China.&nbsp;



Various trade possibilities and greenhouse gas emissions will influence the extent of the environmental impacts associated with China’s food production. How those impacts are distributed will also depend on trade routes.&nbsp;



The researchers say that the focus should be on increasing the sustainability of agriculture at home in China. Livestock especially has a lot of room for improvement toward becoming truly sustainable.&nbsp;



“China’s rising demand for agricultural products is one of the greatest challenges on the way to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals, not only domestically, but also in China’s trading partners," said study co-author Peter Havlik.



"To reduce the global impacts, policies promoting both sustainable consumption and production need to be further pursued in China, and promoted globally, also through appropriate trade agreements."



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

How China’s population boom will impact the environment

Few places in the world showcase the overgrowth of the...

Being able to distinguish one genetic population of plants from another is crucial for scientists working to preserve threatened populations. Until recently, lengthy and complex processes of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/junk-dna-may-set-humans-apart-from-chimpanzees/">DNA</a> laboratory analyses were needed to be able to do this.&nbsp;



A research team from Chicago’s <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> has found a must faster method of identifying different plant populations, by using spectroradiometers - handheld devices that can record how plant leaves reflect light. As it turns out, different populations of plants reflect light differently, in ways that echo their genetic variation from each other.



“While trained biologists can usually walk into the field and identify species with their eyes, it takes expensive genetic analyses to reveal the populations - groups of individuals of the same species within a gene pool - that are so important for conservation and evolutionary research,” explained study co-lead author Dawson White, a postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum.



“In this new study, we’ve shown that you can use light instead of DNA to define plant populations, at a similar level of detail. This new method is a lot faster and cheaper than genetic testing, which could dramatically increase our efficiency at mapping and monitoring biodiversity.”



Genetic research has shown that DNA variations among different populations of plants appear at a very fine scale. For instance, plants from one species from a mountaintop often form groups with slightly different DNA than plants from the same species located just a few miles away. When populations split, they usually don’t share pollen or seeds with each other and become genetically isolated.



Scientists generally use complex genetic analyses to distinguish such populations. However, this is an arduous task, which often takes weeks or even months. With the use of spectroradiometers - instruments that measure how much light reflects off a surface and what wavelengths the light contains – researchers can distinguish plants populations much faster.



“Leaves have evolved to interact with light, and these machines are recording differences in the light after photons have entered the leaves and been absorbed or bounced around based on different chemistry and structure,” explained White. “This instrument reads the visible and infrared light that bounces back off of the leaf, and that information can give you a tremendous amount of knowledge about the chemistry and structure of the leaf.”



According to the study, published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.17731">New Phytologist</a>, the new method could prove revolutionary for attempts of conserving endangered plant populations.



“Now that we understand that each one of these mountaintops is genetically unique, that means that there are implications for conservation,” said study co-author Rick Ree. “If we want to try and maintain genetic diversity through time, especially given the shrinking habitats of alpine ecosystems due to climate change, then the implication that we should be sampling from every mountaintop.”



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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

Using light to identify plant populations

Being able to distinguish one genetic population of plants from...

The diet of land-based <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-explain-longevity-in-mammals/">mammals</a> is generally considered to be carnivorous, with creatures preying on other mammals within their territory. However, this is not always the case. Some mammals, such as the Brazilian jaguar, survive together harmoniously under unusual circumstances.



Researchers from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> have been investigating the diet, population density, and social interactions of jaguars in a remote wetland area of Brazil.&nbsp;



Jaguars are expected to be solitary mammals, but the results of the study contradict the idea that social interactions among these animals are limited to mating and defending their territory. For example, the researchers documented adult males playing together.&nbsp;



The Brazilian population was also found to feed minimally on mammals, instead thriving on a diet of fish and aquatic reptiles.



The study was conducted by lead author Charlotte Eriksson, Professor Taal Leviwithin, and Professor Carlos Peres within a seasonally flooded area of the Northern portion of the Brazilian Pantanal, the largest freshwater wetland worldwide.



The researchers tracked a pack of the mammals in the region through motion-triggered video cameras and GPS collars. They collected samples of jaguar feces and observed the behavior of the animals while they played, fished and traveled.



Throughout the feces samples, the researchers identified nine prey items. The jaguars had diets that consisted of 55 percent aquatic reptiles, 46 percent fish,&nbsp; and only 11 percent mammals.&nbsp;



The jaguars demonstrated unusual social behaviors, moving liberally within the study area, and even playing with each other. The area of study presented a jaguar density of 12.4 per 100 square kilometers, a density which is around three times higher than the average found for other Jaguars in South American regions.&nbsp;



Across 59 camera stations that were operational for 8,065 days between 2014 and 2018, jaguars were detected on 95 percent of the cameras. Overall, the cameras captured 1,594 videos of 69 individual animals.



“Typically you see an apex predator very infrequently on camera because they move over really large areas,” said Eriksson. “Jaguars were the most frequently seen mammal on camera – which is really unusual.”



Throughout the study period, 80 social interactions were documented between adult jaguars, with 85 percent being between males and females and 12 being between same-sex jaguars. Nearly all of the same-sex interactions were male-to-male, with two males spending half an hour in front of a camera playing together.



The researchers believe that the abundance of fish and reptiles in the area is key to explaining this behavior: “If there is a lot of food around, there is less of a need to fight over it,” explained Eriksson.



The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19399170">Ecology</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Brazilian jaguars have an unexpected diet and social life

The diet of land-based mammals is generally considered to be...

According to a review of 88,125 climate-related studies, 99.9 percent of peer-reviewed articles agree that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-could-make-earth-inhospitable-by-2500/">climate change</a> is caused by humans. The literature was published from 2012 to November 2020.



In 2013, a similar analysis found that 97 percent of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are the driving force behind climate change.



The findings are a stark contrast with public representatives and opinion polls which falsely suggest that a significant debate still exists among scientists over the causes of climate change. In 2016, for instance, the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/">Pew Research Center</a> found that less than 27 percent of U.S. adults believed that scientists agreed that climate change is caused by human activity.



A research team led by <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> began by examining a random sample of 3,000 studies from the larger dataset and found that only four of them were skeptical about the role that human activities play in promoting global warming.&nbsp;



“We knew that [climate skeptical papers] were vanishingly small in terms of their occurrence, but we thought there still must be more in the 88,000,” said study lead author Mark Lynas,&nbsp;a visiting fellow at the <a href="https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/">Alliance for Science</a> at Cornell University.



“To understand where a consensus exists, you have to be able to quantify it. That means surveying the literature in a coherent and non-arbitrary way in order to avoid trading cherry-picked papers, which is often how these arguments are carried out in the public sphere."



With the assistance of Simon Perry, a software engineer and volunteer at the Alliance for Science, the researchers created an algorithm that searched keywords from articles the team knew they were skeptical, such as “natural cycles,” “cosmic rays,” or “solar.” After applying the algorithm to the entire dataset, they found only 28 implicitly or explicitly skeptical papers, all published in minor journals.



“We are virtually certain that the consensus is well over 99 percent now and that it’s pretty much case closed for any meaningful public conversation about the reality of human-caused climate change,” said Lynas.&nbsp;



“It's critical to acknowledge the principal role of greenhouse gas emissions so that we can rapidly mobilize new solutions, since we are already witnessing in real time the devastating impacts of climate related disasters on businesses, people and the economy,” concluded study co-author Benjamin Houlton, Dean of the <a href="https://cals.cornell.edu/">College of Agriculture and Life Sciences</a> at Cornell.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/">Environmental Research Letters</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

The debate is over: humans caused climate change

According to a review of 88,125 climate-related studies, 99.9 percent...

A new study from the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University of Buffalo</a> has gone underground to investigate how forests will respond to the pressures of climate change. The experts report that what happens beneath the forest - particularly when it comes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/groundwater-has-a-larger-impact-on-ocean-chemistry-than-expected/">groundwater</a> availability - is very important in determining its fate.



According to the researchers, models used in forest mortality projections do not account for the sideways flow of water through soil. This is a strong indicator of the resilience of riparian forests in a warming climate.&nbsp;



“There hasn’t been a lot of attention on groundwater and how the movement of water from one location to another below ground can impact plants’ survival prospects, making some locations drier, and others wetter,” explained study lead author Dr. Xiaonan Tai.



“Groundwater is a hidden water source for ecosystems that people have neglected over the years: It is very hard to observe and quantify, just because we can’t see it. The contribution of our new research is to begin characterizing lateral groundwater processes and quantifying how much of a role they can have in terms of influencing the future of forests.”



The researchers incorporated information about groundwater into computational models that predict the future outcomes of forests.



“Our research will fundamentally change the way the Earth systems modeling community will think about the impacts of future climate change droughts on forests,” said Professor Scott Mackay.&nbsp;



“In essence, the various vegetation models out there today assume the world is flat. Our model changes the story by allowing for water to be moved laterally below the surface, while simultaneously modeling the physiological responses of trees on the landscape.”



The study examined the potential outcomes for a riparian cottonwood forest in Alberta, Canada, with a particular focus on the last 20 years of this century.



The results of the study suggests that the amount of water saved for future use may not be as great as expected.&nbsp;



“Once you introduce subsurface lateral water flow, there is still extra saved water, but that saved water won’t all stay local,” explained Dr. Tai. “Some of it will move away, and once it’s gone, plants won’t be able to use it in future droughts.”



In addition, models that fail to consider horizontal water flow may overestimate other mortality risks, noted Professor Mackay.



“Within the soil, water can move in all directions from areas of high water content to areas of low water content. This is pronounced in mountainous landscapes because water moves from high to low elevation, and in close proximity to water bodies, such as one finds in river floodplains."



“By moving the water around horizontally, locations that would otherwise be very dry when the rain stops are made wetter, while areas that are typically wet can afford to give up some water without harming the plants," explained Professor Mackay.



The study authors concluded that if scientists and policymakers want to understand whether riparian forests will survive future warming, they must think more about hydrology and the hard-to-see processes that occur beneath the forest floor.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</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

Secrets of forest mortality can be found underground

A new study from the University of Buffalo has gone...

A new study published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.aps.org/prfluids/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.6.100502">Physical Review - Fluids</a> has found that marshes, which are ubiquitous along the world’s shorelines, could play a significant role in mitigating the damage caused by storms and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-levels-are-rising-at-an-alarming-rate/">sea level rise</a>.&nbsp;



By combining laboratory experiments that use simulated marsh plants in a large, 24-meter-long wave tank with mathematical modeling, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) discovered that marsh plants provide a positive feedback cycle that helps not only to stabilize but also build up delicate coastal lands, making them more resilient to extreme events caused by climate change.



“When you go to a marsh, you often will see that the plants are arranged in zones,” explained study senior author Heidi Nepf, a professor of Fluid Mechanics at MIT. “Along the edge, you tend to have plants that are more flexible, because they are using their flexibility to reduce the wave forces they feel. In the next zone, the plants are a little more rigid and have a bit more leaves.” As the zones progress, the plants will gradually become leafier, stiffer, and more effective at absorbing wave energy.



Although the protective capacities of marsh plants against inclement weather have already been well-understood, this study is the first to incorporate details of plant morphology, such as the number and spacing of flexible leaves and stiffer stems, as well as the complex interactions of currents and waves coming from various directions, to find out how much marshland with what types of plants would be needed to provide optimal levels of protection. Furthermore, it can also provide a quantitative way to estimate the value provided by marshes.



&nbsp;“It could allow you to more accurately say, ‘40 meters of marsh will reduce waves this much and therefore will reduce overtopping of your levee by this much,’” said Nepf. “Someone could use that to say, ‘I’m going to save this much money over the next 10 years if I reduce flooding by maintaining this marsh.’ It might help generate some political motivation for restoration efforts.”



Professor Nepf is already trying to include some of these findings in coastal planning processes, by working on a practitioner panel at the <a href="https://thewaterinstitute.org/">Water Institute of the Gulf</a>, which serves the storm-ridden Louisiana coastline. “We’d like to get this work into the coastal simulations that are used for large-scale restoration and coastal planning,” she concluded.



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

Marshes protect shorelines against inclement weather

A new study published in the journal&nbsp;Physical Review - Fluids...

As human activities alter the environment at an accelerating rate, scientists are scrambling to understand how animals will respond. A new study from the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> has investigated which human-induced environmental changes that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/islands-are-not-evolutionary-dead-ends-for-animals/">animals</a> are the most sensitive to, and how these changes will alter their behavioral patterns.



"Currently, human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) is exposing organisms to novel selection pressures that are vastly different from those experienced previously," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Whilst evolutionary responses to environmental change can occur quickly and buffer the ability of species to persist in a changing environment, behavioral responses are often the initial response of organisms to change."



The researchers noted that understanding how an animal's behavior will be modified by environmental change is critically important.&nbsp;



"In response to environmental change, organisms can adapt, relocate and/or acclimatise. First, populations can respond to changing environments at a genetic level, through evolutionary adaptation resulting from selection," said the researchers.



"Secondly, organisms can relocate via dispersal into habitats in different geographic spaces in response to environmental factors such as temperature and resource availability."&nbsp;



"Finally, organisms can acclimate through phenotypic plasticity, which may be physiological, morphological or behavioral."



According to the experts, behavioral plasticity allows organisms to respond to environmental changes very quickly by modifying their behavior to better suit the new conditions.



The study was focused on data from more than one hundred animal species, including fish, birds, insects, amphibians and mammals. The experts found that all of the behavioral traits examined - such as aggression, boldness, sociability and activity - were significantly changed by environmental changes.



“The biggest change was seen in the animals’ activity in exploring their environment. Animals have a strong response to all forms of environmental change, but climate change engendered the greatest change in animal behavior,” explained study co-author Petri Niemelä.



Beyond climate change, the researchers considered changes in carbon dioxide concentration, fluctuations in nutrient levels, and invasive species. Direct human impacts like urbanization were also modeled.&nbsp;



Overall, the experts concluded that modifications in activity or other behavior are often the initial response to climate change. They determined that more research is needed on individual populations to gain a better understanding of how animals respond to environmental changes.&nbsp;



“Behavioral change can serve as a buffer with which animals avoid the immediate negative effects of environmental change," said Niemelä.&nbsp;



"For instance, such change can compensate for low reproductive success or increased mortality caused by environmental change. By changing their behavior, animals can also gain more information on the altered environment.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/16000706">Oikos&nbsp;</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

Environmental change makes animals alter their behavior

As human activities alter the environment at an accelerating rate,...

Spread throughout the upper 100 meters of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dragonflies-may-migrate-across-the-indian-ocean/">ocean</a>, microscopic phytoplankton are known to be as important in modifying the planet’s carbon cycle as all the land plants combined. With this in mind, a team of scientists from <a href="https://www.sun.ac.za/">Stellenbosch University</a> set out to establish whether phytoplanktonic organisms are active in the Southern Ocean during the Antarctic winter months.



Until their study, not much was known about the conditions that characterize the Southern Ocean during the winter, or whether phytoplankton become dormant during this time. The conditions turned out to be very challenging, with sub-zero temperatures and freezing, gale force winds - not to mention the enormous waves that sometimes towered as high as 20 meters.&nbsp;



Under these conditions, oceanic sampling is rarely conducted. Therefore, knowledge about the wintertime activity of the phytoplanktonic organisms has been very limited.&nbsp;



During July and August 2017, a research team from Stellenbosch University’s Center for Trace and Experimental Biogeochemistry (TracEx) conducted the most comprehensive winter study in the Southern Ocean to date.



Sampling was conducted from the South African polar research vessel SA Agulhas II and the trip was funded by the South African National Antarctic Program (SANAP), the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), and the National Research Foundation (NRF).&nbsp;



The scientists found that phytoplankton are indeed active during the icy cold, dark winter months. Dr Ryan Cloete, a postdoctoral fellow in SU’s Department of Earth Sciences and first author of two recent publications on the topic, says their findings are contrary to the general view that the Southern Ocean is biologically dormant during winter.



“Akin to leaves falling off trees during autumn because of unfavourable growth conditions, the assumption was that phytoplankton would also not be active during the winter. One of our major findings is that phytoplankton are indeed active during winter in the Southern Ocean, although not to the levels we see in summer. How phytoplankton are able to adapt to winter conditions is not well understood, and our research on trace nutrients is the first step in figuring out these adaption strategies,” he explains.



Apart from photosynthesizing, which results in a net intake of carbon dioxide and the production of oxygen into the atmosphere as a by-product, phytoplankton are critical producers in the oceanic food chain. They form food for zooplankton, such as krill, which are then eaten by fish, seals, penguins, whales and other consumers.



Dr. Cloete explained that the winter season in the Southern Ocean is extremely important for setting the biological stage for the spring and summer seasons.



“In winter, strong storms and winds serve to create a more unstable surface layer which penetrates beneath the stable summer surface waters, which are now depleted in nutrients after the growing season. This allows mixing with the nutrient rich waters found in the sub-surface waters," said Dr. Cloete.



"With the help of increased sunlight hours and calmer seas, this winter pulse of nutrients to the surface helps catalyze and sustain spring and summer phytoplankton blooms which, in turn, attracts whales, dolphins and penguins to the Southern Ocean."



“Observing winter systems is helping us understand various adaptation and survival strategies of phytoplankton under adverse growth conditions as well as nutrient recharge processes in extreme nutrient depleted surface waters at the end of the summer season. This is extremely important as the Southern Ocean circulation hub dictates that these waters are transported northwards, influencing ocean productivity throughout much of the global low-latitude ocean."



This global process involves the movement of large volumes of water, via the ocean’s current systems. At the poles, the cold and dense surface seawater sinks to the deep ocean, from where it flows in large ocean currents to eventually return to the surface through mixing and wind-driven upwelling in the warmer latitudes. Scientists call this the great ocean conveyor belt, and it can take water almost a thousand years to complete the journey. The Southern Ocean acts as a central hub whereby inflowing waters are modified and redistributed throughout the global ocean.



In addition, the Southern Ocean plays a fundamentally important role in regulating Earth’s climate. “It is estimated to store about 75 percent of the global oceanic uptake of excess heat and 35 percent of the global uptake of excess carbon from the atmosphere," said Dr. Cloete. "The Southern Ocean is also the only ocean that directly connects the three major ocean basins; the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In other words, what happens in the Southern Ocean has an impact on the global ocean.”



The findings are important because they give a more complete picture of the atmosphere-to-ocean carbon transfer cycle over all seasons. Global climate models are currently based predominantly on data from spring and summer seasons, so the addition of data from winter will make models more representative. For scientists, this is a step forward in analysing the sensitivity of this transfer to climate change.



Professor Alakendra Roychoudhury is a specialist in environmental and marine biogeochemistry at SU and head of the TracEx research group. He said that the findings reaffirm the&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-ocean-like-no-other-the-southern-oceans-ecological-richness-and-significance-for-global-climate-151084">Southern Ocean’s global influence</a>&nbsp;in regulating the climate and the marine food web.



“The earth system is intricately coupled through physical, chemical and biological processes with self-correcting feedback loops to modulate variability and negate climate change," said Professor Roychoudhury. "Our research is a prime example of this coupling where biochemical processes happening at microscopic level at the interface of water and microorganisms, is influenced by large scale ocean circulation and mixing."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/marine-chemistry">Marine Chemistry</a>.



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

The Southern Ocean has a strong influence on the carbon cycle

Spread throughout the upper 100 meters of the ocean, microscopic...

Nearly half a million deaths each year are caused by mosquito-borne diseases. Recently, the Swedish startup <a href="https://www.molecular-attraction.com/">Molecular Attraction</a> developed a way of tricking mosquitoes into drinking poisoned beet juice that contains a molecule isolated from malaria-infected blood, and thus mimics the human blood that mosquitoes are so highly attracted to.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-malaria-colder-areas/">Malaria</a> is an infectious disease caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that commonly infects Anopheles mosquitoes, which in turn transmit it to humans. Victims develop fevers, headaches, chills, nausea, and vomiting, symptoms that often lead to severe organ damage and even death. Out of millions of people infected with malaria each year, almost 400,000 die, including a large number of children under the age of five.&nbsp;



Startup cofounder Noushin Emami, a professor of Molecular Biosciences at <a href="https://www.su.se/cmlink/stockholm-university">Stockholm University</a> was the first to discover that blood which contains the malaria parasite is more attractive to mosquitoes than regular blood. This appeared to be caused by the presence of a molecule called HMBPP which releases a smell that attracts mosquitoes and stimulates them to drink more blood.



“It turns out that HMBPP can force mosquitoes to drink almost anything, as long as the pH is right,” said Lech Ignatowicz, co-founder and CEO of Molecular Attraction. “The big advantage is that HMBPP doesn’t attract other insects or other species. So you can use it as a passive way of convincing mosquitoes to eat toxins.”



Unlike the harmful pesticides that have been sprayed on extended areas throughout history in order to eradicate mosquitoes, the new substance containing the HMBPP molecule is not damaging to the environment and is designed specifically for attracting the Anopheles mosquitoes that are responsible for spreading malaria. Moreover, it is not designed to eliminate mosquitoes completely – an important aspect, considering that they have fundamental roles in various ecosystems, regardless of their disease-carrying ability.



“We want to eliminate diseases they carry,” said Professor Ignatowicz. “And also limit the amount of mosquitoes in proximity to people. So we can create, let’s say, a mosquito-free zone around your house, but we shouldn’t eliminate them completely from your state.”



The company’s aim is to make this product, which “showed potential as an effector in environmentally friendly vector-control strategies,” accessible and affordable to a large number of people from the most vulnerable countries.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=55199X1584066&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.2.0-stackpath&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsciencetech%2Farticle-10097095%2FScientists-trick-malaria-carrying-mosquitoes-drinking-toxic-beet-juice-think-blood.html&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs42003-021-02689-8&amp;xguid=&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=-180&amp;xuuid=8008718213b68f3ccd40c0307a12e72b&amp;xjsf=other_click__auxclick%20%5B2%5D">Communications Biology</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

Mosquitoes can be tricked into drinking toxic substances

Nearly half a million deaths each year are caused by...

While restrictions are eased and borders are opened across the globe, new research shows that the emergence of the Delta and "Delta Plus" variants of SARS-CoV-2 could result in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-pandemic-has-had-an-enormous-impact-on-public-health-services/">pandemic</a> being prolonged further if strategic "heterologous vaccination" is not put in action.



The researchers studied the mutations present in Delta and Delta Plus, concluding that the Delta was immune to one-in-four antibody groups produced by natural immunity and vaccines, with Delta Plus being resistant to one out of two.



"It is conceivable that by fusing cells in the respiratory tract, the Delta variant may spread more efficiently and induce more damage. This could contribute to a more severe course of COVID-19," explained study lead author Arora Prerna.



However, it was discovered that individuals vaccinated with a single dose of both Oxford-AstraZeneca and BioNTech-Pfizer showed significantly higher immunity than those with two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca.



The research team used cell culture experiments to come to this conclusion, finding that Delta is most resistant against the monoclonal antibody balmlanivimab, with Delta Plus being resisting to both balmlanivimab and etesimab. As a result, Delta and Delta Plus were less well inhibited by antibodies from vaccinated and infected individuals when compared to the original COVID-19 virus, resulting in the rapid spread of the variants.



"This means that vaccination likely confers comparable protection against Delta and Delta Plus and that Delta Plus is not significantly more dangerous than Delta," explained Stefan Pöhlmann.



Across Europe, BioNTech-Pfizer is the most commonly used vaccine, followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca. In Germany, rare side effects associated with Oxford-AstraZeneca have resulted in the recommendation that BioNTech-Pfizer is used as the second vaccination dose to anyone who has already received a dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca, a strategy known as ‘heterologous vaccination’



"Our results are consistent with the observation that vaccination efficiently protects against the development of severe disease after infection with the Delta variant, but frequently fails to completely suppress infection," said Stefan Pöhlmann.



"In light of the efficient protection against severe disease, the goal continues to be a high vaccination rate. This can prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed in case of increased spread of Delta and closely related viruses during the winter months."&nbsp;



"Our studies show that heterologous vaccination induces significantly more neutralizing antibodies to Delta than two vaccination shots with Oxford-AstraZeneca. Individuals who have received such a heterologous vaccination may have a very good immune protection against Delta and Delta Plus," said Markus Hoffmann.



The study was conducted through a collaboration between the <a href="http://goettingen-campus.de/dpz">German Primate Center’s Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen</a>, the Hannover Medical School, The University of Göttingen Medical Center, and the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>.&nbsp;



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

Delta variants could further prolong the Covid pandemic

While restrictions are eased and borders are opened across the...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590921003842?via%3Dihub">Cell Stem Cell</a> has found a variation in human DNA that could reveal what sets us apart from our primate relatives. Although our DNA is highly similar to that of the chimpanzee and other higher apes, a previously overlooked part of our DNA - the so-called non-coded DNA - may explain why our brains work in fact so differently.&nbsp;



In evolutionary terms, the chimpanzee is our closest living relative. About five to six million ago, our evolutionary path diverged from a common ancestor. Using stem cells, a research team from <a href="https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a> cultivated brain cells from humans and chimpanzees and compared them.



"Instead of studying living humans and chimpanzees, we used stem cells grown in a lab. The stem cells were reprogrammed from skin cells by our partners in Germany, the USA, and Japan. Then we examined the stem cells that we had developed into brain cells," explained study leader Professor Johan Jakobsson.



The scientists found that the differences between the human and the chimpanzee brain appears to lie outside the protein-coding genes, in what has been called “junk DNA,” a major part of our DNA that researchers previously thought to have no function.



"The part of our DNA identified as different was unexpected. It was a so-called structural variant of DNA that were previously called 'junk DNA,' a long repetitive DNA string which has long been deemed to have no function,” said Professor Jakobsson.



“Previously, researchers have looked for answers in the part of the DNA where the protein-producing genes are - which only makes up about two per cent of our entire DNA - and examined the proteins themselves to find examples of differences. Our results indicate that what has been significant for the brain's development is instead perhaps hidden in the overlooked 98 percent, which appears to be important. This is a surprising finding."



Professor Jakobsson believes that, in the future, these findings will contribute to the discovery of genetic explanations of uniquely human psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, and thus have crucial applications in fields such as psychopathology and psychiatry.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Junk DNA may set humans apart from chimpanzees

A new study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell...

While many plants are able to produce <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plants-disperse-their-seeds/">seeds</a> through "auto-fertility" pollination, around 175,000 plant species completely rely on animal pollination for their future survival. A new study from <a href="https://www.sun.ac.za/">Stellenbosch University</a> is investigating how the biodiversity of Earth's natural ecosystems will be impacted by the loss of animal pollinators.



The study was initiated after a global pollination assessment outlined a gap in our understanding of how much plants rely on animals for pollination. “Our synthetic research addresses this gap, and enables us to link trends in pollinator biodiversity and abundance to consequences for plants at a global level,” explained study senior author Professor Tiffany Knight.



By comparing the production of auto-fertilized seeds to those that are dependant on pollinators, the researchers were able to gain insights into the importance of these plants, with existing data lacking a concise structure for usability.



This was achieved by consolidating this data across three databases: the Stellenbosch Breeding System Database developed by Dr. James Rodger; the GloPL database produced by the sPLAT working group; and the Konstanz Breeding System Database.



The consolidated data represents 1,528 experiments, with data collected from 1,392 plant populations and 1,174 species across every continent except Antarctica. The data ultimately reveals that around 33 percent of plants would produce no seeds without animal pollinators, with over 80 percent facing reduced fertility levels.



“Recent studies show that many pollinator species have gone down in numbers, with some even having gone extinct. Our finding that large numbers of wild plant species rely on pollinators shows that declines in pollinators could cause major disruptions in natural ecosystems,” warned Dr. Rodger.



Despite the prevalence of auto-fertility, pollinators would not need to completely disappear for these detrimental effects to occur.&nbsp;



“If there are fewer pollinators to go around or even just a change in which pollinator species are most numerous, we can expect knock-on effects on plants, with affected plant species potentially declining, further harming animal species and human populations depending on those plants. Pollinators aren’t only important for crop production, but also for biodiversity," explained study co-author Professor Mark Van Kleunen.



The research also highlights other knock-on effects. Dr. Rodger noted that problematic weeds (which do not rely on pollinators) could spread excessively as pollinators decline.&nbsp;



According to study co-author Dr. Joanne Bennet, the extinction of pollinator-dependent plants could result in a detrimental feedback loop. “If auto-fertile plants come to dominate the landscape, then even more pollinators will be negatively affected because auto-fertile plants tend to produce less nectar and pollen."



However, the research team hopes their study may help prevent the further decline of animal pollinators and the plants that depend on them.&nbsp;



“We lack high quality long-term monitoring data on pollinators in Africa for example, including South Africa, although some work has been started in this regard. We hope that our findings will stimulate more of this kind of research, so that we can detect pollinator declines and mitigate their impacts on biodiversity,” said Dr. Rodger.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



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

One-third of plants are completely reliant on animal pollinators

While many plants are able to produce seeds through "auto-fertility"...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[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?

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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

[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



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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



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

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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

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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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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



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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...