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Have you ever wondered if crabs and lobsters felt pain or fear as they were being boiled alive before making it onto your dinner plate? 



Recent studies suggest that these creatures experience discomfort in ways we hadn't fully understood before.



Dr. Lynne Sneddon, a zoophysiologist at the <a href="https://www.gu.se/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Gothenburg</a>, believes it's time we reconsider how we treat these animals. 



"We need to find less painful ways to kill shellfish if we are to continue eating them. Because now we have scientific evidence that they both experience and react to pain," she says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-crustaceans-the-basics">Understanding crustaceans -- the basics</h2>



Crustaceans have been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bright-coloration-in-crayfish-does-not-serve-an-evolutionary-purpose/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">roaming the Earth</a> for an impressive span of over 500 million years. 



They first appeared during the Cambrian period, a time known for the "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grand-canyon-fossils-reveal-secrets-of-the-cambrian-explosion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cambrian Explosion</a>" when many major animal groups emerged. 



Early crustaceans already showcased the key features we recognize today, such as their hard <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shellfish-consumed-by-humans-are-ironically-more-resistant-to-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exoskeletons</a>, segmented bodies, and jointed limbs. 



This long evolutionary history has allowed them to diversify into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meet-melita-panda-the-black-and-white-crustacean-shrimp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">thousands of species</a>, adapting to a wide range of environments from the deepest parts of the oceans to freshwater rivers and even some terrestrial areas.



Crustaceans, such as crabs and lobsters, are more than just seafood delicacies. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-crabs-and-lobsters-have-emotions-and-feelings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">These fascinating creatures</a> boast a hard exoskeleton made of chitin, providing them with protection and support. 



With ten legs -- often featuring claws or pincers -- they navigate their environments with ease. 



Their bodies are segmented into the head, thorax, and abdomen, and they have specialized appendages for swimming, walking, or digging.



These <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-deep-sea-crustacean-species-discovered-in-the-bahamas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adaptable animals</a> can be found almost everywhere: from the deepest ocean trenches to freshwater rivers and even damp terrestrial spots. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crabs-pain-and-perception">Crabs, pain, and perception</h2>



Until now, the idea that crustaceans feel pain was mostly based on observational studies. 



Researchers noticed that when crabs and lobsters were exposed to potentially harmful stimuli -- like electric shocks or acids -- they would touch the affected area or try to avoid the danger in subsequent encounters. 



This behavior led many to believe they might be experiencing pain.



But the team at the University of Gothenburg took it a step further. PhD student Eleftherios Kasiouras led a study where they measured the activity in a shore crab's brain using EEG-style recordings. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/crabs_feel-pain_electrodes_shore-crab_Eleftherios-Kasiouras_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/crabs_feel-pain_electrodes_shore-crab_Eleftherios-Kasiouras_1s.webp" alt="Electrodes measuring brain activity were attached to a shore crab, which was then subjected to mechanical and chemical stimuli. Credit: Eleftherios Kasiouras" class="wp-image-1951623"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Electrodes measuring brain activity were attached to a shore crab, which was then subjected to mechanical and chemical stimuli. Credit: Eleftherios Kasiouras</figcaption></figure>



"We could see that the crab has some kind of pain receptors in its soft tissues, because we recorded an increase in brain activity when we applied a potentially painful chemical, a form of vinegar, to the crab's soft tissues. The same happened when we applied external pressure to several of the crab's body parts," he explains.



These findings suggest that shore crabs have a pain signaling system that sends messages to their brains when they experience harmful stimuli. 



Interestingly, the pain response was shorter and more intense with physical stress, while chemical stress produced a longer-lasting effect.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-crabs-feel-pain-what-about-lobsters">If crabs feel pain, what about lobsters?</h2>



Given that many crustaceans share similar structures and nervous systems, these results could extend beyond shore crabs. 



"It is a given that all animals need some kind of pain system to cope by avoiding danger. I don't think we need to test all species of crustaceans, as they have a similar structure and therefore similar nervous systems," Kasiouras explains.



"We can assume that shrimps, crayfish, and lobsters can also send external signals about painful stimuli to their brain which will process this information."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-crustaceans">Importance of crustaceans</h2>



Crustaceans play <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-did-billions-of-crabs-vanish-from-the-bering-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vital roles in their ecosystems</a>. Acting as both predators and prey, they help maintain the balance of marine and freshwater food webs.



For humans, they are a significant food source, contributing to economies worldwide. They're also valuable in scientific research, aiding studies on regeneration, development, and environmental health.



However, challenges like overfishing and habitat destruction <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crabs-are-losing-their-sense-of-smell-and-vanishing-due-to-ocean-acidification/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">threaten their populations</a>. This raises concerns about sustainability and the need for better practices to ensure these creatures thrive for future generations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reconsidering-how-we-handle-seafood">Reconsidering how we handle seafood</h2>



Currently, shellfish like prawns, lobsters, crabs, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-crayfish-atlas-offers-new-tools-for-conservation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crayfish aren't covered</a> by animal welfare legislation in the European Union. 



This means practices that might cause them pain are still legally acceptable. But with new evidence pointing to their ability to feel pain, there's a growing call to change how we treat these animals.



Dr. Sneddon emphasizes the need for change: "We need more research to find less painful ways to kill shellfish." 



If we continue to consume these creatures, it's crucial to ensure we're not causing unnecessary suffering.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-this-is-awful-but-what-can-we-do">This is awful, but what can we do?</h2>



The first step is acknowledging that these animals might experience pain similarly to how we do. 



With that understanding, industries and regulators can work towards implementing more humane methods of handling and killing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strawberry-claws-the-hermit-crab-that-sings-underwater/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crustaceans</a>. 



This could involve developing new technologies or techniques that minimize pain or distress.



Consumers also play a role. By supporting businesses that prioritize humane practices and advocating for better regulations, we can encourage a shift towards more ethical treatment of these animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crabs-pain-and-human-compassion">Crabs, pain, and human compassion</h2>



As we learn more about the creatures we share our planet with, it's essential to adapt our behaviors accordingly. 



Knowing that crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans can feel pain changes the game on how we should treat them, especially when it comes to cooking and handling. 



It's not just about following laws or guidelines -- it's about being mindful and compassionate in our everyday choices, treating sentient creatures with respect. 



By supporting humane practices and staying informed, we can help ensure that all crustaceans are treated with the respect they've earned by inhabiting our planet for over 500 million years.



As we move forward, both industries and individuals have a part to play. After all, how we treat the smallest of creatures often reflects our values as a society.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/13/11/851" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biology</a>.



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Disturbing study calls for immediate ban on boiling crabs and lobsters alive

Have you ever wondered if crabs and lobsters felt pain or fear as they were being boiled alive before making it onto your dinner plate? Recent studies suggest that these creatures experience discomfort in ways we hadn't fully understood before. Dr. Lynne Sneddon, a zoophysiologist at the University of Gothenburg, believes it's time we reconsider how we treat these animals. "We need to find less painful ways to kill shellfish if we are to continue eating them. Because now we have scientific evidence that they both experience...

Dogs get jealous at the mere thought of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-plants-face-more-competition-for-pollinators-as-temperatures-rise/">competition</a> for their owner's affection, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.psychologicalscience.org/">Association for Psychological Science</a>. 

Using a very realistic artificial dog, the researchers demonstrated that pet dogs exhibited jealous behaviors when they imagined their owner was interacting with a rival. 

In surveys, more than 80 percent of dog owners report that when when they give attention to other dogs, their pets display jealousy through vocalizations, pulling on their leash, or other agitated behaviors.

"Research has supported what many dog owners firmly believe - dogs exhibit jealous behavior when their human companion interacts with a potential rival," said study lead author Amalia Bastos of the University of Auckland. 

"We wanted to study this behavior more fully to determine if dogs could, like humans, mentally represent a situation that evoked jealousy."

Among humans, jealousy is closely linked with self-awareness. This is one reason that animal cognition scientists, who study the mental capacities of non-human animals, are interested in studying emotions such as jealousy. 

Dogs appear to display jealous behaviors similar to how a human child responds when their mother gives affection to another child. 

For the investigation, the researchers observed 18 dogs under conditions in which they could imagine a social interaction between their human companion and either a realistic fake dog or a fleece cylinder. The fake dog served as a potential rival for attention, while the fleece cylinder served as a control.

The experiment was designed so that the dogs could observe the artificial dog positioned next to their owner before a barrier was put in place to obscure their view. 

When the dogs thought their owners may be petting the artificial dogs, they forcefully pulled on their leash in an attempt to reach the other side of the barrier. The dogs had much less of a response when they observed their owners with a fleece cylinder.

"These results support claims that dogs display jealous behavior. They also provide the first evidence that dogs can mentally represent jealousy-inducing social interactions," said Bastos. 

"Previous studies confounded jealous behavior with play, interest, or aggression, because they never tested the dogs' reactions to the owner and the social rival being present in the same room but not interacting."

"There is still plenty of work to do to establish the extent of the similarities between the minds of humans and other animals, especially in terms of understanding the nature of nonhuman animals' emotional experiences."

According to Bastos, it is too early to say whether dogs experience jealousy as humans do, but it is now clear that they react to jealousy-inducing situations, even when those situations occur out of sight. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pss">Psychological Science</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs appear to get jealous over their owner's affection

Dogs get jealous at the mere thought of competition for...

The genus Homo emerged in Africa about 2.5 million years ago, but these early humans had brains that were only about half the size of brains today. For the first time, experts have determined when and where the modern human brain evolved.

"Our analyses suggest that modern human brain structures emerged only 1.5 to 1.7 million years ago in African Homo populations," said study co-lead author Christoph Zollikofer of the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a>. 

The researchers used computed tomography to examine the skulls of Homo fossils that originated in Africa and Asia one to two million years ago. The team compared the fossils to skulls of great apes and humans to reveal modern brain structures.

Beyond its size, the human brain is also different from that of great apes in the location and organization of individual brain regions. 

"The features typical to humans are primarily those regions in the frontal lobe that are responsible for planning and executing complex patterns of thought and action, and ultimately also for language," said study first author Marcia Ponce de León. 

These brain regions are significantly larger in the humans, which pushes back the adjacent brain regions.

The first Homo populations to emerge outside of Africa - in the country of Georgia - had brains that were just as primitive as their African relatives. But even though the brains of these early humans were not particularly large, they were still capable of making tools, adapting to the new environmental conditions of Eurasia, tracking down food, and caring for group members.

During the same time period, African cultures and stones tools became more complex. The researchers believe that biological and cultural evolution are probably interdependent. 

"It is likely that the earliest forms of human language also developed during this period," said Ponce de León. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Modern human brain traced to Africa 1.7 million years ago

The genus Homo emerged in Africa about 2.5 million years...

Each year, thousands of juvenile loggerhead turtles set out on a journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Baja California, where they feed on red crabs. Little is known about this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-of-peregrine-falcons-suggests-birds-have-a-migration-gene/">migration</a>, which involves thousands of miles and as much as two decades or longer. 

An international team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has discovered new details about the epic migrations of loggerhead turtles. They have found evidence that intermittent passages of warm water allow sea turtles to cross inhospitably cold ocean barriers. 

The findings could help inform conservation measures to protect sea turtles and other migratory marine animals. 

"For decades, our ability to connect the migratory dots for this endangered species has remained elusive," said study lead author Dana Briscoe.

"This work builds on the backbone of exceptional research about these 'lost years,' and for the first time ever we are excited to provide evidence of a 'thermal corridor' to explain a longstanding mystery of one of the ocean's greatest migrants."

Six of the seven sea turtle species are listed by the IUCN as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

The researchers set out to understand why some loggerhead turtles travel to the western coast of North America while others remain in the central Pacific Ocean. In addition, they wanted to know how sea turtles can cross a frigid zone called the Eastern Pacific Barrier when they are extremely sensitive to temperature.

To investigate, the experts created the largest dataset on satellite-tagged loggerhead sea turtles ever compiled. They used sophisticated remote sensing techniques and collected one of the first detailed records of sea turtle aging and stable isotope testing. The research was built upon decades of research by the team.

The researchers identified a "thermal corridor" from unusually warm sea surface temperatures that allowed the turtles to cross the Eastern Pacific Barrier to coastal foraging grounds.

The experts report that the corridor was present during the late spring and summer, and was preceded by early ocean warming in the months before it opened. Warming conditions may provide key environmental cues to sea turtles that the thermal corridor is opening. 

As global warming continues, locations that were once impassable, like the Eastern Pacific Barrier, will open up to various species. This will increasingly shift the distribution and migratory patterns of creatures ranging from sea birds to white sharks, which will present new challenges. For example, loggerhead turtles could become more frequent victims of bycatch. 

"Understanding how and why species like the North Pacific loggerhead move among habitats is crucial to helping them navigate threats," said study senior author Professor Larry Crowder. "Emerging technologies and analyses can help illuminate these journeys."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Loggerhead turtles migrate using a secret thermal corridor

Each year, thousands of juvenile loggerhead turtles set out on...

Rhesus macaques living on Cayo Santiago Island in Puerto Rico were drawn closer together by a natural disaster, according to a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>. 

After Hurricane Maria, a devastating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/storms-in-alaska-will-become-much-more-frequent-and-severe/">storm</a> that killed than 3,000 people, the macaques became more tolerant of each other and sought new social connections. 

The researchers studied social connections among the macaques before and after Hurricane Maria. 

"The macaques built new relationships rather than strengthening existing ones and tended to adopt a 'path of least resistance' to forming new connections," said study first author Camille Testard, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. 

"These findings are consistent with a strategy to gain tolerance and support from the greatest number of individuals and benefit from broader social integration rather than focusing on reinforcing relationships to key partners." 

"This increased tolerance toward others, including strangers, has also been observed in humans following catastrophic events that impact whole populations widely."

Rhesus macaques are sociable animals, but they are constantly competing for dominance and can be very aggressive to other members of their group.

The researchers were already studying macaques in the field when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. In the aftermath of the storm, the experts noticed that the animals suddenly seemed more tolerant of each other, and even of past competitors.

A social network analysis confirmed that the shift had taken place. The macaques had forged new social connections after the storm, resulting in a more tolerant society as a whole.

"We expected the monkeys would use their closest allies to cope with the ecological devastation of the hurricane and so would invest in their existing relationships," said study co-senior author Lauren Brent. "Instead, the macaques expanded their social networks and the number of individuals that they tolerated sharing limited resources, like a shady space to sit."

According to the researchers, their findings in Puerto Rico help to answer an outstanding question about what benefits social relationships provide. In future work, they plan to investigate the long-term effects of making new social connections, or failing to do so, in this extreme context. 

"Social relationships have a surprisingly large impact on human health and being in a poor social environment is a high risk factor for humans - remarkably, as high as other health risk factors such as smoking," said study co-author James Higham of New York University. 

"How variation in the social environment gets under the skin and impacts our biology remains unclear. Our work on the impacts of changes in sociality following a natural disaster adds yet another element to this complex dynamic."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rhesus macaques were drawn closer together after Hurricane Maria

Rhesus macaques living on Cayo Santiago Island in Puerto Rico...

In a new study from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a>, scientists warn that much of the Antarctic ice shelf is at risk of collapsing as the climate continues to warm. The experts report that if the global average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/temperatures-are-rising-unexpectedly-fast-on-the-tibetan-plateau/">temperature</a> reaches 4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, more than one-third of the ice sheet could lose its stability. 

The investigation into the vulnerability of the floating ice surrounding Antarctica is the most detailed of its kind. The team used high-resolution regional climate modeling to predict the impact of increased melting and water runoff on ice shelf stability.

According to the study, four degrees of warming would destabilize around half a million square kilometers of ice across Antarctic ice shelves, which is 34 percent of the total area. The area that is threatened includes 67 percent of the ice shelf area on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The researchers identified four Antarctic ice shelves that would be particularly threatened in a warmer climate, including Larsen C - the largest remaining ice shelf on the peninsula.

"Ice shelves are important buffers preventing glaciers on land from flowing freely into the ocean and contributing to sea level rise. When they collapse, it's like a giant cork being removed from a bottle, allowing unimaginable amounts of water from glaciers to pour into the sea," said Dr. Ella Gilbert.

"We know that when melted ice accumulates on the surface of ice shelves, it can make them fracture and collapse spectacularly. Previous research has given us the bigger picture in terms of predicting Antarctic ice shelf decline, but our new study uses the latest modeling techniques to fill in the finer detail and provide more precise projections."

"The findings highlight the importance of limiting global temperature increases as set out in the Paris Agreement if we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, including sea level rise."

Ice shelf vulnerability was analyzed under four conditions: 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C global warming scenarios, all of which are possible during this century.

Ice shelves are formed where glaciers flow off the land and meet the sea. The floating platforms of ice are attached to areas of the coastline. 

In the summer, ice at the surface of the shelf melts into small air gaps in the snow layer below, where it refreezes. However, during years with a lot of melting and little snowfall, the water pools on the surface or flows into cracks in the ice. The meltwater enlarges these cracks until the ice shelf fractures and collapses into the sea. 

In 2002, the Larsen B ice shelf fractured following several years of warm summer temperatures. Larsen B's collapse accelerated the flow of glaciers behind it, and billions of tons of ice were lost into the ocean. 

"If temperatures continue to rise at current rates, we may lose more Antarctic ice shelves in the coming decades," said Dr. Gilbert. "Limiting warming will not just be good for Antarctica - preserving ice shelves means less global sea level rise, and that's good for us all."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

More than a third of the Antarctic ice shelf could collapse this century

In a new study from the University of Reading, scientists...

In a new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a>, experts have discovered that bacteria in the gut of a horse communicate with cells to promote energy efficiency. The gut bacteria send chemical signals to the cells to regulate energy metabolism, ultimately improving the horse's athletic performance. 

"We are one of the first to demonstrate that certain types of equine gut bacteria produce chemical signals that communicate with the mitochondria in the horse's cells that regulate and generate energy," said study lead author Eric Barrey of the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment in France. 

"We believe that metabolites - small molecules created by breaking down bigger molecules for food or growth - produced by these bacteria have the effect of delaying low blood sugar and inflammation in the cells, which in turn extends the horse's athletic performance."

&nbsp;

Recent studies have shown that mitochondria, which generate large amounts of energy within cells, are interdependent with gut bacteria. Researchers have also linked many diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, such as Parkinson's and Crohn's, to changes in the gut microbiome.

Study first author Dr. Nuria Mach is an expert at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment in France.

"Studying horses is a good way to assess the link between gut bacteria and mitochondria, because the level of exercise, and thereby mitochondrial function, performed by a horse during an endurance race is similar to that of a human marathon runner," explained Dr. Mach.

"For this study we gained permission for veterinary doctors to take blood samples from 20 healthy horses of similar age and performance level, at the start and end of the International Endurance Competition of Fontainebleau, an 8-hour horse race in France." 

"These samples provided information about the chemical signals and expression of specific genes, which is the process by which DNA is converted into instructions for making proteins or other molecules. To understand the composition of the horse's gut bacteria metabolites, we obtained fecal samples at the start of the race."

The researchers found that certain bacteria in the gut were linked to gene expression through mitochondria, and the genes that were "turned on" were associated with metabolism.

"Interestingly, mitochondria have a bacterial origin - it is thought they formed a symbiotic relationship with other components to form the first cell," said Barrey. "This may explain why mitochondria have this line of communication with gut bacteria."

"Improving our understanding of the intercommunication between the horse and the gut microbiome could help enhance their individual performance, as well as the method by which they are trained and dietary composition intake," said Dr. Mach. 

"Manipulating the gut microbiota with probiotic supplements as well as prebiotics, to feed the good bacteria, could be a way for increasing the health and balance of the microbiome and horses, to better sustain endurance exercise."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences">Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Horse's gut bacteria "talk" to cells to regulate energy

In a new study published by Frontiers, experts have discovered...

According to a new study, the Tibetan Plateau has been warming more rapidly than the global average, and this rate will continue to exceed what has been projected by climate models.

The Tibetan Plateau contains the largest volumes of ice outside of the polar regions, and feeds dozens of major Asian rivers.

"Serving as 'the water tower of Asia,' the Tibetan Plateau supplies water resources to more than 1.4 billion people. It is warming more rapidly than the global average over the past decades, affecting regional hydrological cycle and ecosystem services," wrote the researchers.

Rapid warming across the Plateau has also caused substantial glacier retreat, as well as landslides, debris flows, and glacial lake outbursts.

Study lead author Professor Tianjun Zhou is a senior scientist at the <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">Institute of Atmospheric Physics </a>(IAP) and CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences in the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"A clear understanding of the past warming of the Tibetan Plateau, particularly the underlying human influence, can help better anticipating and interpreting future changes," said Professor Zhou.

To investigate what has driven higher temperatures across the Plateau in recent decades, Professor Zhou and his team used an archive of comprehensive climate models known as CMIP5, in which historical simulations are driven by individual external forcings. 

The experts found that the accelerated warming of the Tibetan Plateau from 1961 to 2005 can be attributed to human activities, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, which contributed approximately 1.37 degrees Celsius.

Considering that anthropogenic warming on the Tibetan Plateau is currently underestimated by global climate models, the team went further to correct future projections. The analysis confirmed that the Tibetan Plateau will continue to warm faster than previously expected.

"For example, under a medium carbon emission scenario (RCP4.5), the Tibetan Plateau is expected to warm by 2.25°C and 2.99°C in the mid-term (2041-2060) and end of 21st century (2081-2100), which are 0.24°C and 0.32°C warmer than the uncorrected projections, respectively," said study co-author Wenxia Zhang. "This implies a greater loss of glacier mass and further increased geohazard risks in the Asian water tower."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Temperatures are rising unexpectedly fast on the Tibetan Plateau

According to a new study, the Tibetan Plateau has been...

Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Eucalyptus trees can be genetically modified to prevent them from reproducing and invading native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthy-ecosystems-are-needed-to-prevent-future-pandemics/">ecosystems</a>, according to a study from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>. 

The advanced gene editing technique used by the researchers was nearly 100 percent efficient in knocking out the master gene behind flower formation, known as LEAFY.

"The flowers never developed to the point where ovules, pollen or fertile seeds were observed," said Professor Steven Strauss. "And there was no detectable negative effect on tree growth or form." 

"A field study should be the next step to take a more careful look at stability of the vegetative and floral sterility traits, but with physical gene mutation we expect high reliability over the life of the trees."

There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus, and most of them are native to Australia. The study was focused on a hybrid of two species, Eucalyptus grandis and E. urophylla, that is commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere.

"Roughly 7% of the world's forests are plantations, and 25% of that plantation area contains non-native species and hybrids," said study lead author Estefania Elorriaga. 

"Eucalyptus is one of the most widely planted genera of forest trees, particularly the 5.7 million hectares of eucalyptus in Brazil, the 4.5 million hectares in China and 3.9 million hectares in India."

According to the researchers, these plantings can lead to undesirable mingling with native ecosystems. Therefore, eliminating the ability of eucalyptus trees to sexually reproduce would be an effective way to reduce the potential for invasive spreading.

"This was the first successful application of CRISPR to solve a commercial problem in forest trees," said Elorriaga. "Research with CRISPR in forest trees to modify different traits is ongoing in many laboratories around the world. Global warming is having large impacts on forests of all kinds, and gene editing may be an important new breeding tool to supplement conventional methods."

Strauss said that despite the promising findings, trees genetically modified as they were in this research could not legally be planted in Brazil, where the cultivation of eucalyptus trees is highly profitable.

"The trait could not be used there due to laws against modifying plant reproduction with recombinant DNA methods," explained Strauss. 

"It would also be disallowed for field research or commercial use under sustainable forest management certification in many parts of the world - something scientists have come together to severely criticize in recent years."

Strauss recently joined a coalition of forestry researchers to call for a review of what they see as overly restrictive policies regarding biotech research.

"Hopefully, studies like this one, that show how precise and safe the technology can be in modifying traits, and that help to promote ecological safety, will help to change regulations and certification rules. Happily, such discussions are well underway in many nations."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14677652">Plant Biotechnology Journal</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Eucalyptus trees can be modified to prevent invasive spreading

Eucalyptus trees can be genetically modified to prevent them from...

In a new study published by the <a href="https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/">British Ecological Society</a>, experts warn that there is much uncertainty regarding how mammals will respond to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-cut-agricultural-productivity-by-21-percent/">climate</a> change, especially in regions that are the most vulnerable. 

While it is known that nearly 25 percent of mammal species are threatened with extinction, the threats associated with climate change are complex and not well understood. This is because different environmental changes have multiple effects on the lives of animals, including survival and reproduction.

The current study, conducted by an international team of researchers from 15 institutions, has found that most research on terrestrial mammals has not investigated the full range of effects brought on by climate change.

Out of the 5,728 terrestrial mammal species reviewed by the researchers, only 106 studies were found that examined both survival and reproduction at the same time. These studies involved only 87 species, or less than one percent of all terrestrial mammals.

"Researchers often publish results on the effects of climate on survival or on reproduction - and not both. But only in rare cases does a climatic variable (say, temperature) consistently negatively or positively affect all studied rates of survival and reproduction." said study lead author Dr. Maria Paniw of the University of Zurich.

For example, hotter temperatures may decrease the number of offspring, but if those offspring have less competition they also have a better chance of survival. In this case, the population size would not necessarily be affected. 

However, if higher temperatures decrease both reproduction and survival, the potential impacts on a group of mammals would be underestimated.

The study also revealed that experts have learned very little about the potential climate impacts on mammals in the most vulnerable regions of the world. 

"We were surprised by the lack of data on high-altitude (alpine) mammals. Climate change is expected to be very pronounced in higher elevations." said Dr Paniw. 

"In our review, we had a few alpine species, such as yellow-bellied marmots and plateau pikas, but I was expecting a study or two on iconic species such as snow leopards.

"To inform evidence-based conservation, we need to prioritize more holistic approaches in data collection and integration to understand the mechanisms that drive population persistence."

"There are many reasons why this data isn't being captured. An important aspect is that collecting such data requires long-term investment without immediate returns, which has not been favored by many funding agencies and is also logistically challenging. These challenges are compounded in climate-vulnerable regions, which include many countries with underfunded infrastructure for long-term ecological research."

The researchers plan to conduct similar reviews on animal groups that are not as well-studied as mammals, such insects and amphibians. 

"I would like to foster collaborations that will jumpstart new research and 'repurpose' existing data in climate-vulnerable areas of the globe to fill the knowledge gaps we identified in our work," said Dr. Paniw.

The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652656">Journal of Animal Ecology</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

It remains unclear which mammals can survive climate change

In a new study published by the British Ecological Society,...

Male baboons who achieve a high social rank do not live as long as males with lower social status, according to a new study from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>. The experts found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/epigenetic-passed-future-generations/">epigenetic</a> marks associated with a struggle for dominance that speed up aging.

Using blood samples collected from 245 wild baboons in Kenya, the researchers examined chemical genetic modifications known as DNA methylation marks.

"Environmental stressors can make the clock tick faster, so that some individuals appear biologically older than their actual age and experience a higher risk of age-related disease," explained study co-first author Jordan Anderson.

"We sought to answer what social or early life experiences contribute to accelerated aging in baboons."

Methylation marks are found throughout the entire genome. The team measured about 400,000 of these sites and then narrowed that number down to about 500 sites which best predicted age.

Surprisingly, adversity in early life did not affect the rate of aging among male baboons. The strongest relevant factor was found to be social status. 

"Male baboons who compete successfully for high social status appear to age faster," said study senior author Professor Jenny Tung. "We repeatedly sampled some of these males and were able to show that the clock can speed up or slow down as males move up or down the social ladder."

Higher body mass index, which is associated with having more lean muscle mass in baboons, was also associated with accelerated aging. This is likely because of the physical demands that come along with maintaining high social status. 

The researchers found that aging speeds up as the animals climb the social ladder. By contrast, if a male drops in social status, there is a corresponding drop in his rate of aging.

The study authors explained that the reason the baboons work so hard to achieve a high-stress social status is for the sake of having offspring.

"If male baboons are going to have babies, they need to achieve high rank," said Professor Tung. "They will have very little chance to leave offspring if they don't achieve high rank, which creates a powerful evolutionary motivation."

"While the findings reveal how social pressures can influence aging for males, we don't see the same effect of rank in female baboons, who are born into their social rank rather than having to fight for it."

"Our results have important implications for research on the social determinants of health in humans and other animals because they show that 'high status' can mean very different things in different contexts. They also highlight the importance of examining the effects of both early life and current life environments on biological aging."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</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

Male baboons age faster as they climb the social ladder

Male baboons who achieve a high social rank do not...

Over the last 50 years, annual rainfall has become less predictable and dry periods have become longer across most of the western United States, according to a new report from the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>.

"Changes in precipitation have far‐reaching consequences for socio-ecological systems, especially in water‐limited regions such as those common in the western U.S.," wrote the researchers.

"While the total amount of precipitation is important for these systems, key aspects of precipitation timing, such as the length of dry periods between precipitation events, can strongly influence ecosystem services including ecosystem carbon uptake, productivity for grazing and forage, wildfire frequency, and intensity, and water availability for societal use."

Study co-senior author Joel Biederman is a research hydrologist with the ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center in Tucson, Arizona. He explained that total yearly rainfall has decreased by an average of four inches, while the longest dry period in each year increased from 20 to 32 days across the West.

"The greatest changes in drought length have taken place in the desert Southwest. The average dry period between storms in the 1970s was about 30 days; now that has grown to 45 days," said Biederman.

"Consistency of rainfall, or the lack of it, is often more important than the total amount of rain when it comes to forage continuing to grow for livestock and wildlife, for dryland farmers to produce crops, and for the mitigation of wildfire risks."

The rate of increasing variability of rainfall appears to be accelerating. Exceptions to these drought patterns were found in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; parts of Montana and Wyoming; and the most western parts of North and South Dakota. In these regions, the researchers noted some increases in total annual rainfall and decreases in drought intervals. 

Together, these changes support what models have predicted as a consequence of climate change: a northward shift in the mid-latitude jet stream, which brings moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the western United States, explained Biederman.

For the investigation, the researchers used actual rainfall data from 337 weather stations spread across the western United States. This revealed variability that is often overlooked by the more common use of "gridded" data.  

"Fangyue Zhang, lead author of the manuscript and a post-doctoral researcher on our team, did the hard, painstaking work of compiling and analyzing data from more than 300 weather stations with complete daily records to reveal these changing drought and rainfall patterns," said Biederman.

Study co-senior author William K. Smith of the University of Arizona said the team was surprised to find widespread changes in precipitation have already occurred across large regions of the West.

"For regions such as the desert Southwest, where changes clearly indicate a trend towards longer, more erratic droughts, research is urgently needed to help mitigate detrimental impacts on ecosystem carbon uptake, forage availability, wildfire activity, and water availability for people."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical 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

Western U.S. hit by widespread changes in precipitation

Over the last 50 years, annual rainfall has become less...

Rising temperatures are signalling crops to flower too early and become less productive. Global warming is expected to reduce crop yields by as much as one third in the next three decades. 

But now, experts at <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> have identified two genes that help plants sense heat. The research may ultimately enable scientists to engineer heat-resistant crops that are able to thrive despite global warming.

"We need plants that can endure warmer temperatures, have a longer time to flower and a longer growth period," said Professor Meng Chen. "But, to be able to modify plants' temperature responses, you first have to understand how they work. So, that's why identifying this gene that enables heat response is so important."

The experts report that a shift in ambient growth temperature of only a few degrees can significantly alter the expression of hundreds of temperature-responsive genes, resulting in dramatic adaptive responses in plant development, growth, metabolism, and immunity.

"Because increases in global temperature are expected to drastically reduce crop productivity, understanding the mechanism of temperature signaling has become imminent to create a knowledge base for devising strategies to sustain crop production in a changing climate," wrote the study authors. 

Professor Chen and his colleagues identified the heat-sensing gene HEMERA two years ago. They used an experiment to search for other genes that may be involved in heat response.

The team engineered a mutant Arabidopsis plant so that it was completely insensitive to temperature, and then modified it once again to become reactive.

While examining the genes of this twice-mutated plant, the team discovered a second gene, RCB, which works closely with HEMERA to stabilize the heat-sensing function. "If you knock out either gene, your plant is no longer sensitive to temperature," said Professor Chen.

The two genes, HEMERA and RCB, are needed to control the abundance of a group of master regulatory genes that perform multiple functions, such as turning plants green and responding to light and temperature.

Going forward, Professor Chen says his laboratory will focus on understanding how these two parts of the cell communicate and work together to achieve growth, greening, flowering, and other functions.

"When you change light or temperature, genes in both the nucleus and chloroplasts change their expression. We think HEMERA and RCB are involved in coordinating gene expression between these two cell compartments," explained Professor Chen.

The ultimate goal is to achieve the ability to modify temperature response to secure the future of the global food supply.

"We were excited to find this second gene," said Professor Chen. "It's a new piece of the puzzle. Once we understand how it all works, we can modify it, and help crops cope better with climate change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study identifies genes that control heat response in crops

Rising temperatures are signalling crops to flower too early and...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[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;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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



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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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" 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.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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