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Scientists have discovered two continent-sized regions hidden deep within Earth's mantle, referred to in a recent study as "islands." Research from <a href="https://www.uu.nl/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Utrecht University</a> reveals that these regions are not only hotter than their surroundings, but are also ancient, dating back at least half a billion years or longer.



The findings challenge conventional theories about the Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-earths-mantle-shapes-surface-topography/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mantle</a> being a well-mixed and rapidly flowing system. Instead, the research suggests there is much less flow within the mantle than previously believed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-islands-inside-earth">Hidden islands inside Earth</h2>



These subterranean islands are buried 1,200 miles (2,000km) beneath our feet, and reach heights of roughly 620 miles (1,000km), dwarfing every mountain peak found on Earth's surface and every other planet in our solar system.



The regions in question, located beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean, were first identified in the late 20th century through seismic analysis.&nbsp;



When large earthquakes strike, they cause the Earth to resonate like a bell, producing oscillations that seismologists can analyze to reveal subsurface anomalies. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-large-low-seismic-velocity-provinces-llsvps">Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs)</h2>



The studies showed the presence of what scientists now call Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs).



“Nobody knows what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon or if they have been sitting there for millions or perhaps even billions of years,” explained study senior author Arwen Deuss, a seismologist at Utrecht University.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/subterranean-islands_earth-mantle_continent-size_LLSVPs_illustration_Utrecht-University_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/subterranean-islands_earth-mantle_continent-size_LLSVPs_illustration_Utrecht-University_1s.webp" alt="Schematic representation of the process of subduction of tectonic plates and of a mantle plume rising from an LLSVP. In the latter, the mineral grains are larger than those in the subducted plates. Credit: Utrecht University" class="wp-image-1957790"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Schematic representation of the process of subduction of tectonic plates and of a mantle plume rising from an LLSVP. In the latter, the mineral grains are larger than those in the subducted plates. Credit: Utrecht University</figcaption></figure>



Surrounding these “islands” is a graveyard of cold, sunken tectonic plates that have descended through Earth's mantle via subduction - the process by which one plate sinks beneath another. 



Unlike the surrounding regions, seismic waves slow down significantly in the LLSVPs due to their elevated temperatures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-mantle-is-still-a-mystery">Earth's mantle is still a mystery</h2>



To delve deeper into these structures, Deuss and her colleague Sujania Talavera-Soza incorporated a novel approach to studying seismic waves.&nbsp;



Beyond analyzing how much waves slow down, they also measured “damping,” or how much energy the waves lose as they travel through the Earth.



“Against our expectations, we found little damping in the LLSVPs, which made the tones sound very loud there. But we did find a lot of damping in the cold slab graveyard, where the tones sounded very soft,” Talavera-Soza said.



The findings revealed that the LLSVPs, despite being hot, do not significantly dampen seismic waves. This contradicted expectations based on the behavior of waves in the hotter upper mantle, where both slowing and damping are observed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grain-size-plays-a-role-in-llsvps">Grain size plays a role in LLSVPs</h2>



The unexpected results prompted the team to investigate the material properties of the LLSVPs. According to mineralogical analyses suggested by study co-author Laura Cobden, grain size plays a pivotal role.&nbsp;



In the cold slab graveyard, tectonic plates recrystallize into small grains as they sink into the mantle, leading to significant energy loss as seismic waves cross numerous grain boundaries. 



In contrast, the LLSVPs appear to consist of much larger grains, which allow waves to pass with minimal damping.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/subterranean-islands_earth-mantle_continent-size_LLSVPs_wave-speed_Utrecht-University_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/subterranean-islands_earth-mantle_continent-size_LLSVPs_wave-speed_Utrecht-University_1s.webp" alt="Location of the LLSVPs and a schematic representation of the Earth's cross-section for speed and damping of the seismic waves. Credit: Utrecht University" class="wp-image-1957792"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Location of the LLSVPs and a schematic representation of the Earth's cross-section for speed and damping of the seismic waves. Credit: Utrecht University</figcaption></figure>



Since those mineral grains do not grow fast, it means that LLSVPs are much older than the surrounding slab graveyards.



This insight suggests the LLSVPs are not part of the mantle’s convection processes and have remained largely unchanged for vast periods - which is in stark contrast to the constantly recycling material around them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



The rigidity and age of the LLSVPs challenge the notion of the mantle as a uniformly mixed system. “After all, the LLSVPs must be able to survive mantle convection one way or another,” Talavera-Soza said.



This has profound implications for understanding Earth’s evolution. The mantle drives surface phenomena such as volcanism and mountain building.&nbsp;



For instance, mantle plumes - columns of hot material rising from deep within the Earth - are believed to originate at the edges of LLSVPs. These plumes eventually cause <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-and-trees-predict-volcano-eruptions-when-viewed-from-space-satellites/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">volcanic activity</a>, such as that seen in Hawaii.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-the-hidden-islands">Studying the hidden islands</h2>



To study these deep regions, seismologists rely on oscillations caused by massive earthquakes, particularly those occurring at great depths, such as the 1994 Bolivia earthquake.



“It never made it into the newspapers because it took place at a large depth of 650 km and luckily did not result in any damage or casualties at the Earth's surface,” Deuss said.



Seismometers have been recording high-quality data since 1975, allowing researchers to revisit past earthquakes to gather valuable insights.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-llsvps-and-earth-s-mantle">LLSVPs and Earth’s mantle</h2>



This research provides a transformative view of Earth’s mantle. Instead of a uniform, well-mixed system, the mantle contains ancient, stable structures that defy conventional models.&nbsp;



Understanding these regions is crucial for interpreting surface phenomena and offers a clearer picture of Earth’s complex inner workings.



“The Earth's mantle is the engine that drives all these phenomena. Take, for example, mantle plumes, which are large bubbles of hot material that rise from the Earth's deep interior as in a lava lamp. And we think that those mantle plumes originate at the edges of the LLSVPs,” Deuss said.



The discovery of the LLSVPs’ unique properties and their role in shaping Earth’s surface processes marks a significant step forward in the study of our planet’s dynamic interior.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08322-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Continent-sized 'islands' found inside Earth are 100 times taller than Mount Everest

Scientists have discovered two continent-sized regions hidden deep within Earth's mantle, referred to in a recent study as "islands." Research from Utrecht University reveals that these regions are not only hotter than their surroundings, but are also ancient, dating back at least half a billion years or longer. The findings challenge conventional theories about the Earth’s mantle being a well-mixed and rapidly flowing system. Instead, the research suggests there is much less flow within the mantle than previously believed. Hidden islands inside Earth These subterranean islands are buried...

Fine particle pollution from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfire-smoke-could-cause-a-surge-in-coronavirus-cases/">wildfire</a> smoke may have been responsible for excess COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a>. 

The researchers found a potential link between wildfire-related PM2.5 levels and thousands of COVID-19 cases that occurred between March and December of 2020in California, Oregon, and Washington. 

The study is the first of its kind to investigate the extent to which higher levels of PM2.5 pollution during 2020 wildfires contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The year 2020 brought unimaginable challenges in public health, with the convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires across the western United States," said senior author Professor Francesca Dominici.

"In this study we are providing evidence that climate change  which increases the frequency and the intensity of wildfires  and the pandemic are a disastrous combination.”

Wildfires produce high levels of fine particle pollution, which has been linked to many adverse health conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), and other respiratory illnesses. 

In 2020, massive wildfires struck the western United States, and the researchers looked at the subsequent PM2.5 air concentrations from monitoring data. The team developed a statistical model that also accounted for the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in 92 counties that represented 95 percent of the population across California, Oregon, and Washington.

&nbsp;

 

The study revealed that when fire activity was the highest - from August 15 to October 15, 2020 - daily levels of PM2.5 were an average of five times higher compared to days without wildfire activity. There were some instances when PM2.5 levels were extraordinarily high, reaching levels that are classified as “hazardous” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the research, the effects of PM2.5 on COVID-19 cases were amplified for up to four weeks after individuals were exposed to the poor air quality.  

Ultimately, across all counties, a daily increase of 10 µg/m3 in PM2.5 each day for 28 subsequent days was associated with an 11.7 percent increase in COVID-19 cases, and an 8.4 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths. 

Some counties were hit much harder than others. In Whitman, Washington, higher PM2.5 levels were associated with a 71.6 percent increase in COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, San Bernardino, California had a 65.9 percent increase in fatal COVID-19 cases that were attributable to poor air quality from wildfire smoke. 

The experts report that across the three states studied, daily increases in PM2.5 from wildfires were linked to a total of 19,700 COVID-19 cases, and to an additional 750 fatal cases. 

“Climate change will likely bring warmer and drier conditions to the west, providing more fuel for fires to consume and further enhancing fire activity," said Dominici.

"This study provides policymakers with key information regarding how the effects of one global crisis - climate change - can have cascading effects on concurrent global crises - in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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

Thousands of COVID-19 cases linked to wildfires

Fine particle pollution from wildfire smoke may have been responsible...

From predicting the weather to analyzing medical data, artificial intelligence and various predictive computer models help us understand and anticipate the way the world works. Now, a new tool developed by ecologists at the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> will empower conservationists and land managers to help some of the world’s most important <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-carnivorous-plant-triantha-spares-friendly-pollinators/">pollinators</a> - bees.

The new decision-support tool is called BEE-STEWARD, and it simulates the behavior of bee colonies in the presence of different habitats and management strategies. “This provides a virtual safe space to test out different bee-friendly management options. It’s a free, user-friendly tool and we have worked with land managers and wildlife groups on the ground to create it together," explained study first author Dr. Grace Twiston-Davies.

Bees are intrinsically important for what they contribute to our planet’s biodiversity, but they are also of economic interest to farmers. 

“We know that pollinator decline is a really big problem for crops and also for wildflowers,” said Dr. Twiston-Davies. Because land management is so complex and bee colonies are so dynamic, testing out different conservation strategies in the real world is a practical challenge. Using BEE-STEWARD, a “virtual safe-space” is created where the only bees in danger are digital ones. 

Previously, scientists had used more technical programs to assist with this issue, such as BEESCOUT and Bumble-BEEHAVE. However, these tools were less than user-friendly. 

"We have worked with researchers and land owners who have been using the model and have given us valuable feedback so we could improve our models further," said study co-author Dr Matthias Beecher.

BEE-STEWARD has already seen a warm reception by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a United Kingdom organization dedicated to preserving bumblebees and their habitats. Dr Richard Comfort is the Trust’s science manager.

“'The Bee-Steward model will be fantastic for conservation planning - it lets us time-travel to see the long-term results of changing management and compare all the possible options to see which one will work out best for bumblebees," said Dr. Comfort.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2041210X">Methods in Ecology and Evolution</a>.

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By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

"Virtual safe space" could help save bees

From predicting the weather to analyzing medical data, artificial intelligence...

More than half of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ducks-balance-water-pressure-while-diving/">duck</a> species in Finland are endangered to varying degrees, and the results of a new study suggest that raccoon dogs and other invasive species are to blame. Researchers at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> used wildlife cameras to investigate the causes of declining waterbird species. 

In collaboration with researchers at several universities, the Helsinki team conducted field experiments over the course of three years. The experts set up wildlife cameras which captured images of invasive species preying on artificial nests. 

Researchers in Finland and Denmark had previously built more than 400 artificial nests in natural duck nesting environments. About 290 of the nests, which contained farmed mallard eggs, were located throughout southern Finland. 

While raccoon dogs were found to be the most common nest predators in Finland, red foxes were the predominant predators in Denmark.

“The raccoon dog was the most common mammalian predator in all of the environments studied in Finland. As expected, raccoon dogs destroyed nests on shorelines, but surprisingly often also in forests close to wetlands,” said study co-author Sari Holopainen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus.

The cameras revealed that many nests were visited by more than one predator, and that corvids were often the first to find a nest. If a corvid broke an egg in the nest, this attracted mammalian predators such as raccoon dogs and American minks.

“Our research shows that predators cohabiting the same area can benefit from one another. Eggs broken by corvids offer a clue to mammalian predators, which, in turn, are a threat to both eggs and female ducks. In other words, the effect of a diverse predator community can exceed the sum of its species,” said Holopainen.

The raccoon dog is a species that is native to Southeast Asia that was introduced to Europe as a fur animal beginning in the 1920s. The first raccoon dogs arrived in Finland in the 1930s. Today, they are the second or third most common prey animal.

The experts found that raccoon dogs have an advantage over native species because they are more versatile in terms of utilizing their environment. Native mammal predators are restricted by habitat type, but raccoon dogs were commonly observed on shorelines and in forests, as well as in agricultural and urban landscapes. 

“The decline of many waterbird nesting populations, especially in eutrophic lakes, matches temporally the increasing abundance of raccoon dogs and American minks. This came out as we studied long-term changes in aquatic birdlife between the periods 1951–1970 and 1996–2015 using datasets collected in the Häme region by Pentti Linkola, the late fisherman,” explained study co-author Hannu Pöysä, a principal scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland.

According to the researchers, the artificial nest experiments cannot directly prove that the raccoon dog has an effect on duck populations. 

“What the results do show, however, is that the raccoon dog is a more common nest predator than native mammalian species, and that it is abundant in a range of duck nesting environments,” concluded Holopainen.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10530">Biological Invasions</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

Raccoon dogs are a growing threat to waterbirds in Finland

More than half of the duck species in Finland are...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-understand-humans-in-ways-that-wolves-never-will/">Dogs</a> can be easily distinguished by variations in the patterns of their coat colors, which most commonly include black, brown, yellow, and white. In a new study from <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">UC Davis</a>, experts have had a breakthrough while studying a subset of dog color patterns. 

The research suggests that one particular dog color pattern emerged two million years ago, long before dogs were domesticated. 

The study pinpointed five distinctive dog color patterns that are produced by the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene. These five patterns can be found in hundreds of dog breeds and hundreds of millions of dogs around the world.

The international team of researchers discovered that the genetic combination which produces the coat pattern "dominant yellow," or DY, is shared with Arctic white wolves. A genetic analysis revealed that DY originated in an extinct canid that diverged from gray wolves more than two million years ago.

Study co-first author Professor Danika Bannasch is the Maxine Adler Endowed Chair in Genetics at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“While we think about all this variation in coat color among dogs, some of it happened long before ‘dogs’ were dogs,” said Professor Bannasch. “The genetics turn out to be a lot more interesting because they tell us something about canid evolution.”

The experts speculate that lighter coat colors would have been advantageous to a canid living in an Arctic environment. Natural selection would have allowed the coat pattern to persist in the population that eventually gave rise to dogs and wolves, explained the researchers.

“We were initially surprised to discover that white wolves and yellow dogs have an almost identical ASIP DNA configuration,” said study co-first author Chris Kaelin of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

“But we were even more surprised when it turned out that a specific DNA configuration is more than two million years old, prior to the emergence of modern wolves as a species.”

Wolves and dogs make two different types of pigments - a black one called eumelanin and a yellow one called pheomelanin. The precisely regulated production of these two pigments leads to different dog color patterns. Yellow is controlled by the agouti signaling protein, which is produced by the ASIP gene.

The experts found that no single genetic mutation was responsible for the five major color patterns. The mutations occur in two areas of the ASIP gene to produce the various patterns. 

Professor Bannasch and colleagues named the phenotypes: dominant yellow, shaded yellow, agouti, black saddle, and black back. 

Based on genetics, the team set out to identify the origin of the dog color patterns. While the dominant yellow haplotype has been around for two million years, the black back pattern was identified in a dog sample that was 9,500 years old.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Some dog color patterns existed long before dogs themselves

Dogs can be easily distinguished by variations in the patterns...

July of 2021 was the hottest month in recorded history, according to the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA). The experts have determined that July was hotter than any month that has been documented in the last 142 years. 

The scientists found that the combined land and ocean-surface temperature this July was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average. This beat out the previous record (a three-way tie in July 2016, July 2019 and July 2020) by 0.02 degrees. The experts noted that 2021 will also rank as one of Earth's hottest years.

In a statement, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that in this case, first place is the worst place to be. “This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe.”

A separate analysis from NASA, which was based on monthly surface temperatures, confirmed that the global average temperature for July was about 1.66 degrees above the 1951-1980 average.

According to NOAA, the land surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was 2.77 degrees above average in July. This is the biggest deviation that has ever been documented in July, when at least five heat domes plagued various regions of the Northern Hemisphere at one time. 

July's scorching temperatures included an extreme heatwave in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia that claimed the lives of hundreds of people and more than a billion sea creatures. Areas in Canada, Washington and Oregon - where the weather is typically mild - experienced record-breaking heat that persisted for days in late June and early July. 

The "once in 10,000 years" event was caused by a heat dome, and scientists warn that these types of intense heatwaves are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change. 

The NOAA data showed that Asia experienced its hottest July on record in 2021, while Europe experienced its second hottest July. 

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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

July was the hottest month in Earth's recorded history

July of 2021 was the hottest month in recorded history,...

Global warming has increased temperatures in some of the world’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lakes-are-losing-oxygen-much-faster-than-oceans/">oceans</a>, which is threatening the survival of corals. Heat stress disrupts the relationship between corals and the symbiotic algae that live within their tissues. Since these algae provide vital nutrients, heat exposure can result in bleaching and subsequent death.  

It is not only tiny algae that live inside corals and help them survive. Their microbiome includes viruses, fungi, archaea and bacteria, which are all considered to be beneficial microorganisms for corals (BMC). 

In a recent study by scientists from the <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/">King Abdullah University of Science and Technology</a> (KAUST), researchers hypothesised that coral-associated bacterial communities may enhance the recovery of corals after heating events. 

To test this, the researchers identified six beneficial bacterial strains and extracted them from the coral Mussismilia hispida. This probiotic mixture was cultured and used to inoculate M. hispida grown under experimental conditions. 

The corals were then exposed to heat stress treatment by increasing the water temperature to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) over 10 days, whereafter the water temperature was returned to 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit).

The researchers recorded the health of the corals and measured the microbial diversity in their tissues. The results were compared with corals that had not been inoculated or exposed to heat stress. 

Initially, it appeared that inoculation with beneficial bacteria made no difference – specimens with and without probiotics reacted similarly at the peak temperature and both bleached. 

“At that point of the experiment, I thought, well, okay, we’re seeing similar responses between the treatments,” said study lead author Erika Santoro, who is now a postdoc at KAUST. “But then after we dropped the temperature, we observed a plot twist from the group that we treated with probiotic BMC. That was a really nice surprise.”

Corals that had been treated with probiotic bacteria had a 100 percent recovery and survival rate, whereas only 60 percent of untreated corals recovered. The researchers interpreted this as the beneficial bacteria helping to mitigate the effects of heat stress on the coral and its associated microorganisms.

The experts also found that, during the recovery period, BMC-treated corals expressed fewer genes related to cell death and more genes related to thermal stress protection. The probiotic treatment altered the coral-associated microorganism communities, specifically by incorporating some of the beneficial bacteria in the tissues of the corals.  

“Using a probiotic is an effective tool to help corals deal with the heat stress, but we also have to consider other interventions,” said Santoro, such as “protection and conservation, everyone being more aware and, most importantly, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and trying to change our resource use..”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

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By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bacteria help corals survive when they get into hot water

Global warming has increased temperatures in some of the world’s...

A new study from <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard</a> has revealed that a tree’s carbohydrate reserves are crucial to surviving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-have-become-increasingly-toxic-to-insects/">insect</a> outbreaks. According to the researchers, the biology of oak trees makes them resilient to even the most severe stressors. 

“Oak trees are planners, in a way,” explained study co-author Meghan Blumstein of MIT. “Some of the food they make during the growing season is used immediately for energy and some is stored in the stems and roots for a rainy day. With stored carbs, they are able to immediately create a new flush of leaves after an insect outbreak.”

In southern New England, a recent multi-year outbreak of an invasive moth killed thousands of acres of oak trees. For the investigation, the researchers focused on the trees that didn't die. 

The experts pinpointed the exact threshold of reserves that were needed for survival : 1.5 percent carbohydrates in their dried wood, or about 20 to 25 percent of their normal storage capacity. 

The researchers found that back-to-back insect invasions from 2016 to 2018 challenged the resilience of the oak trees by defoliating them year after year.

“The trees that died were the trees that were out of reserves,” said study lead author Audrey Barker Plotkin, a Senior Scientist at the Harvard Forest. 

The location of the trees influenced survival as well. The research team found that trees growing along forest edges tended to have more reserves, even at the same level of defoliation, making them more resilient than interior forest trees. 

The Harvard study has produced some of the first direct evidence which confirms that trees can starve to death when insects invade. As new pests emerge and climate change continues, the findings from this research will help improve forest resilience models.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652435">Functional 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

Oak trees use carbohydrate reserves to survive insect invasions

A new study from Harvard has revealed that a tree’s...

There comes a point in everyone's life when it becomes harder to burn <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/calories-burn-fluctuates/">calories</a> and keep off extra pounds. A new study from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a> reveals that bottlenose dolphins have the same age-related struggle with weight as humans. 

The experts report that, as bottlenose dolphins age, they experience a drop in metabolism and an increase in fat mass. The research represents the first time that scientists have measured an age-related metabolic slowdown in another large-bodied species besides humans, explained study first author Rebecca Rimbach.

As a postdoctoral associate in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke, Rimbach has studied energy expenditure and other aspects of physiology in animals ranging from mice to monkeys. She noted that data on the inner workings of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales have been scant. This is because it is so challenging to obtain repeat measurements on sea creatures.

“It can be very tricky to get the animal back when you need it,” said Rimbach.

The study was focused on 10 bottlenose dolphins between the ages of 10 and 45 living at the Dolphin Research Center in Florida and the Dolphin Quest in Hawaii.

At these facilities, the dolphins voluntarily raise their tail fins out of the water so their caregivers can collect blood or urine as part of their regular checkups. The experts analyzed levels of heavy hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the blood and urine, which allowed them to calculate how much carbon dioxide the dolphins produced each day. This information was used to calculate how many calories the dolphins were burning during their daily activities. 

The researchers were surprised with the results of their analysis. They expected dolphins to have speedy metabolisms considering that they are warm-blooded, and keeping warm in the water requires more energy.

However, the study showed that bottlenose dolphins burn 17 percent less energy per day than what is expected for a marine mammal of their size. The researchers also found some of the signs of metabolic aging that are common in people. 

The oldest dolphins - both in their 40s - used 22 to 49 percent fewer calories each day than predicted for their body weight. Similar to humans, more of those calories ended up as fat rather than muscle, said the researchers.

The study also revealed that the body fat percentages of dolphins in their 40s were 2.5 times higher than that of dolphins in their 20s. This wasn't due to a lack of exercise, noted Rimbach.

Even in their 40s, the dolphins in the study were very active - doing flips and spins, jumping clear out of the water, and swimming fast enough to leave a wake as often as six to 18 times an hour. Regardless of their activity levels, the age-related metabolic pattern persisted. 

“And it’s not because they’re eating too much,” said Rimbach. The experts found that the older, fatter dolphins actually ate fewer calories.

According to the researchers, their work could shed light on factors besides diet and lifestyle that underlie age-related weight gain in people.

“Further studies into this commonality we share with dolphins may help us understand why human metabolism slows as we age,” said study co-author Hannah Salomons.

“We need more data, especially for younger dolphins, since we only looked at 10 individuals,” said Rimbach. “But I think it's an exciting first study.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb">Journal of Experimental Biology</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

Bottlenose dolphins struggle with weight in their 40s

There comes a point in everyone's life when it becomes...

When offered a choice between free <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/colorful-foods-can-prevent-cognitive-decline/">food</a> or food that requires some effort to obtain, most animals prefer to work for their meal. However, a new study from <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">UC Davis</a> reveals that this is not the case for domestic cats, who are more than willing to eat without putting in any effort. 

The researchers noted that foraging is a natural behavior: most animals in the wild must forage in some way to survive.

"Contrafreeloading is the willingness of animals to work for food when equivalent food is freely available. This behavior is observed in laboratory, domesticated, and captive animals," explained the study authors.

"However, previous research found that six laboratory cats failed to contrafreeload. We hypothesized that cats would contrafreeload in the home environment when given a choice between a food puzzle and a tray of similar size and shape. We also hypothesized that more active cats would be more likely to contrafreeload."

To investigate, the researchers analyzed the behavior of 17 neutered, indoor domestic cats, who were presented with a food puzzle and a tray during 30- minute trials. The experiments revealed that the animals would rather eat from a tray of easily available food than work out a simple puzzle to earn their food.

“It wasn’t that cats never used the food puzzle, but cats ate more food from the tray, spent more time at the tray and made more first choices to approach and eat from the tray rather than the puzzle,” explained study lead author Mikel Delgado, a cat behaviorist and research affiliate at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“There is an entire body of research that shows that most species including birds, rodents, wolves, primates - even giraffes - prefer to work for their food." 

“What’s surprising is out of all these species cats seem to be the only ones that showed no strong tendency to contrafreeload.”

The cats were monitored with activity trackers over the course of the research. The results show that the study subjects were not simply being lazy - even those that were more active still chose the freely available food. 

"Cats who consumed more food from the puzzle, consumed more food in general, suggesting a relationship between hunger and effort," noted the study authors.

"Further research is required to understand why domestic cats, unlike other tested species, do not show a strong preference to work for food."

The study is published in the journal journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10071">Animal Cognition</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

Most animals prefer to work for their food, but not cats

When offered a choice between free food or food that...

Scientists have discovered a new species of marmoset hidden away in the forests of the Brazilian Amazon, and the monkeys are already highly threatened by habitat loss, according to a study from the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>. 

The small monkey, which is now known as Schneider’s marmoset, has been found in the "arc of deforestation." This is a region along the southern edge of the Amazon that is rapidly being deforested and converted for agriculture. The experts report that this particular area accounts for half of the global land use change in the past 30 years.

The discovery of Schneider’s marmoset was made by a team of researchers led by Rodrigo Costa Araújo, who is currently a researcher at Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. 

The marmoset has been named after Professor Horacio Schneider, a pioneer and major contributor to the research of diversity and evolution of monkeys.

The Amazon marmosets - which belong to the genus Mico - are among the more diverse groups of monkeys. This group is found only in the threatened forests of the arc of deforestation. 

There is currently no conservation response to address the habitat losses that threaten the future of Mico monkeys, mainly because they are poorly studied, and the total number of Amazon marmoset species remains unknown. 

According to the experts, further research is needed to assess the conservation status of M. schneideri and to investigate the southern portion of its geographical distribution. The first step toward protecting the endangered monkeys of the Amazon is a better understanding of exactly how many species exist. 

"There are 146 primate species and subspecies in Amazonia, representing 20 percent of the global primate diversity and comprising the most diverse primate fauna in the world," wrote the study authors.

"Nonetheless, primate diversity remains understudied in Amazonia, as manifested by regular discoveries of new species. This incomplete taxonomic knowledge and the scarcity of basic ecological and distributional data for even well-known species is a major impediment to the design and implementation of effective conservation actions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</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

Highly threatened species of marmoset discovered in the Amazon

Scientists have discovered a new species of marmoset hidden away...

Black howler monkeys navigate the forests of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala while visiting trees in search of fruit and other food. They move in a complex environment and need to adapt their route maps depending on which trees are fruiting as well as to cope with unforeseen changes in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-create-cloud-cover-that-cools-the-climate/">forest</a>.

Humans are understood to navigate using internal maps that lay out the routes between frequently visited locations. These simple, mental maps focus on specific routes and carry little information about where each route lies in relation to others. However, humans are able to use their knowledge of distance and direction in order to link up their mental maps and take short cuts, thus adapting their maps to their navigational needs. 

In a new study published by the <a href="https://www.biologists.com/">Company of Biologists</a>, scientists Miguel de Guinea (Oxford Brookes University, UK), Sarie Van Belle (University of Texas at Austin, USA) and colleagues investigated whether howler monkeys were also able to modify their mental-based route maps in the way that humans do.

The researchers followed groups of monkeys in the forests covering the Mayan ruins in Palenque National Park, Mexico. The groups were easy to locate because they called loudly at dawn. 

"We’d arrive at the study area where our focal group was expected to be found before sunrise," said de Guinea. The team then followed the monkeys as they moved through the 50-hectare area. 

The trek was often very challenging for the researchers on foot, as the monkeys traversed the canopy, visiting their favorite fruit trees on high hills and in valleys. 

After a year of following five troops of monkeys, de Guinea and Van Belle analyzed 91 kilometers of route information and compared this with the simulated routes of randomly moving virtual primates. 

The experts found that the howler monkeys regularly travelled through the same sequence of trees and visited their favorite trees often, approaching these trees from a select few directions only. They clearly used mental maps to navigate along familiar routes through their environment. By contrast, the virtual primates seldom repeated a route. 

The howler monkeys were also able to adapt their route in the face of unforeseen changes. On one occasion, the monkeys encountered a 5m gap in one of their regular routes.

"A tree had fallen overnight," explained Van Belle. "They stopped for half an hour and then travelled along the edge to reconnect with the second half of their travel path … as if they knew this was a new obstacle and they needed to consider their options on what to do next."

Furthermore, when the researchers compared the distances traveled by monkey troops with the distances traveled by simulated primates, it was clear that the howlers used their knowledge of direction and distance to link familiar routes together in order to take short cuts and travel efficiently between locations. 

According to the researchers, the data from the study shows that howler monkeys can supplement their mental maps with knowledge of distance and direction, just as humans do. This is the first evidence which demonstrates that animals use the same cognitive skills as humans when navigating through their environment.  

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Howler monkeys use mental maps for route navigation

Black howler monkeys navigate the forests of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala...

While we are all aware that our metabolism changes with age, the results of a study published today in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> reveal unexpected trends in the timing of metabolic changes. 

“There are lots of physiological changes that come with growing up and getting older,” said study co-author Professor Herman Pontzer at <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>. “Think puberty, menopause, other phases of life. What's weird is that the timing of our ‘metabolic life stages’ doesn't seem to match those typical milestones.”

Pontzer and his team of scientists combined the results from metabolic studies in many different laboratories all over the world. In all instances, metabolic rates were measured using doubly labeled water, a type of drinking water that is marked with heavy forms (isotopes) of hydrogen and oxygen. 

The rates of elimination of these substances are used to measure metabolic rate, or the speed at which we burn calories. In total, the average calories burned were measured for more than 6,600 people from 29 different countries. The ages of the participants varied from one week to 95 years old. 

The results from this very large sample presented a few surprises. Contrary to the expectation that people in their teens and early 20s would burn calories fastest, it was infants that had the highest metabolic rates. Their energy needs increase substantially during the first year of life. 

By the time they reach a year of age, infants burn calories 50 percent faster than an adult, once body size is taken into consideration. This is partly because they are increasing in size. 

“Of course they're growing, but even once you control for that, their energy expenditures are rocketing up higher than you'd expect for their body size and composition,” said Professor Pontzer. “Something is happening inside a baby’s cells to make them more active, and we don't know what those processes are yet.” 

Another surprise in the findings was that our energy expenditure during our 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s remains pretty stable. It is only after we turn 60 that our metabolic rates begin to decrease, and then the decrease is relatively slow. This may be due to the fact that we lose muscle mass as we age, and muscle tissue burns more calories than fat. But this is not the whole explanation. “We controlled for muscle mass,” said Professor Pontzer. “It’s because their cells are slowing down.”

The researchers attribute the change in metabolic rate to more than just changes in lifestyle and body condition as we age. 

“All of this points to the conclusion that tissue metabolism, the work that the cells are doing, is changing over the course of the lifespan in ways we haven’t fully appreciated before,” said Professor Pontzer. “You really need a big data set like this to get at those questions.”

---

By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Age-related changes in metabolism don’t match our expectations

While we are all aware that our metabolism changes with...

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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

[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

[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

[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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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