The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission is currently observing and studying the Sun with six different imaging instruments, allowing the spacecraft to peel away the Sun's many layers and reveal its diverse faces.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-resolution-views-of-the-sun">High-resolution views of the Sun</h2>



Recently, the mission released the highest-resolution full views to date of the Sun's visible surface, known as the photosphere.&nbsp;



The images were assembled from data captured by the spacecraft's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI).&nbsp;



This instrument not only photographs the Sun in visible light but also measures the direction of the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth.com%2Fnews%2Forigin-of-the-suns-magnetic-field-discovered-after-400-years%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">magnetic field</a> and maps the speed and direction in which different parts of the surface are moving.



PHI's measurements of the photosphere can be directly compared to a new image of the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.&nbsp;



This image is essentially a mosaic assembled from high-resolution images taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument on the same day in March 2023. The EUI captures images of the Sun in ultraviolet light.



<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="wWscNjX6hZ-4055472-12187" type="single"]</div>



Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter's Project Scientist, noted that the Sun's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-dynamo-sun-magnetic-field-origin-generated-near-surface/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">magnetic field</a> is key to understanding the dynamic nature of our home star from the smallest to the largest scales.&nbsp;



“These new high-resolution maps from Solar Orbiter's PHI instrument show the beauty of the Sun's surface magnetic field and flows in great detail,” said Miller.



“At the same time, they are crucial for inferring the magnetic field in the Sun's hot corona, which our EUI instrument is imaging.”&nbsp;



The image release builds upon one from two years ago when the mission shared full images of the Sun taken by the spacecraft's EUI and Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instruments on March 7, 2022.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sunspots-and-a-chaotic-magnetic-field">Sunspots and a chaotic magnetic field</h2>



Zooming into PHI's detailed visible light images reveals the Sun's “surface” for what it truly is: a constantly moving layer of glowing, hot plasma (charged gas). 



This layer emits almost all the Sun's radiation and has a temperature between 4,500 and 6,000°C. 



Beneath it lies the convection zone, where hot, dense plasma churns similarly to magma in Earth's mantle. This turbulent movement gives the Sun's surface its grainy appearance.



The most striking features in the images are the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sun-solar-cycle-25-highest-number-sunspots-activity-seen-since-2001/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sunspots</a>. In the visible light images, these appear as dark spots or holes on the otherwise smooth surface. Sunspots are cooler than their surroundings, emitting less light as a result.



PHI's magnetic map, or “magnetogram," shows that the Sun's magnetic field is concentrated in the sunspot regions, pointing either outward (red) or inward (blue) where the sunspots lie.&nbsp;



The strong magnetic field explains why plasma inside sunspots is cooler. Normally, convection moves heat from inside the Sun to its surface, but this process is disrupted as charged particles are forced to follow the dense magnetic field lines in and around the sunspots.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-movement-on-the-surface">Mapping movement on the surface</h2>



The speed and direction of material movement on the Sun's surface are displayed in PHI's velocity map, also known as a “tachogram.”&nbsp;



In this map, blue indicates movement toward the spacecraft, while red signifies movement away. The map reveals that while the plasma on the Sun's surface generally rotates with the Sun's overall spin around its axis, it is pushed outward around the sunspots.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Solar-Orbiter_3-views-of-Sun_lenses_ESA_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Solar-Orbiter_3-views-of-Sun_lenses_ESA_1s.webp" alt="The three views of the Sun's surface shown here are based on measurements taken on March 22, 2023 by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission. From left to right, you see the Sun in visible light, a magnetic map of the Sun, and a map of the line-of-sight speed and direction of movement of material at the Sun's visible surface. Credit: ESA" class="wp-image-1951400"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The three views of the Sun's surface shown here are based on measurements taken on March 22, 2023 by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission. From left to right, you see the Sun in visible light, a magnetic map of the Sun, and a map of the line-of-sight speed and direction of movement of material at the Sun's visible surface. Credit: ESA</figcaption></figure>



Finally, EUI's image of the Sun's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-is-the-suns-corona-hotter-than-its-surface/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">corona</a> shows what happens above the photosphere. Above the active sunspot regions, glowing plasma protrudes outward. 



This million-degree plasma follows magnetic field lines extending from the Sun, often connecting neighboring sunspots.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-piecing-together-the-sun-s-mosaic">Piecing together the Sun's mosaic</h2>



The images were captured when the Solar Orbiter was less than 74 million kilometers from the Sun.&nbsp;



Being so close meant that each high-resolution image taken by PHI and EUI covered only a small portion of the Sun. To image the entire face, the spacecraft had to be tilted and rotated after each individual image was taken.



To create the full-disc images presented, all individual images were stitched together like a mosaic. Both the PHI and EUI mosaics consist of 25 images each, captured over more than four hours.&nbsp;



The resulting mosaics have a diameter of nearly 8,000 pixels, revealing an astonishing amount of detail.



The image processing required to produce the PHI mosaics was new and challenging. 



Now that it has been accomplished once, future data processing and mosaic assembly will be faster. The PHI team expects to provide such high-resolution mosaics twice a year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advancing-our-understanding-of-the-sun">Advancing our understanding of the Sun</h2>



The new images not only showcase the beauty of our star but also enhance our understanding of its complex magnetic fields and dynamic processes.&nbsp;



By comparing data from different instruments, scientists can gain deeper insights into how the Sun's magnetic field influences phenomena from the smallest to the largest scales.



With continued efforts from missions like Solar Orbiter, we are peeling back the layers of the Sun to better comprehend its impact on our Solar System.



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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Solar Orbiter spacecraft sees the Sun through three different lenses

The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission is currently observing and studying the Sun with six different imaging instruments, allowing the spacecraft to peel away the Sun's many layers and reveal its diverse faces. High-resolution views of the Sun Recently, the mission released the highest-resolution full views to date of the Sun's visible surface, known as the photosphere.&nbsp; The images were assembled from data captured by the spacecraft's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI).&nbsp; This instrument not only photographs the Sun in visible light but also measures the direction of...

In a new study from the <a href="https://medicine.wustl.edu/">Washington University School of Medicine</a>, experts have demonstrated that the antidepressant fluvoxamine prevented <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-set-the-stage-for-the-rapid-spread-of-covid-19/">COVID-19</a> infections from becoming severe in some patients and kept them out of the hospital. 

The researchers conducted a trial that was designed to compare fluvoxamine with a placebo in 152 adult outpatients infected with COVID-19. Among the participants who received fluvoxamine, none had deteriorated 15 days later. On the other hand, six individuals who received placebo did experience "clinical deterioration" and were hospitalized for up to three weeks. One of the participants in the control group even ended up on a ventilator for 10 days.

The study authors acknowledge that the study size was small, but say the results are statistically significant and that fluvoxamine warrants further study as a COVID-19 treatment. The team plans to launch a larger trial in the next few weeks.

"The patients who took fluvoxamine did not develop serious breathing difficulties or require hospitalization for problems with lung function," said Dr. Eric J. Lenze. 

"Most investigational treatments for COVID-19 have been aimed at the very sickest patients, but it's also important to find therapies that prevent patients from getting sick enough to require supplemental oxygen or to have to go to the hospital. Our study suggests fluvoxamine may help fill that niche."

Last year, Dr. Alban Gaultier of UVA discovered that fluvoxamine may block deadly inflammation known as sepsis, which sends the immune system into overdrive. The study revealed that the drug can prevent dangerous "cytokine storms" that are thought to occur in severe cases of COVID-19. This prompted the Washington University team to investigate the potential protective effects of fluvoxamine for patients with COVID-19. 

"Because elevated cytokines levels have been associated with COVID-19 severity, testing fluvoxamine in a clinical trial made a lot of sense to us," said Dr. Gaultier. "We are still unclear about the mode of action of fluvoxamine against SARS-CoV-2, but research is under way to find the answer."

The experts noted that recent studies have raised questions about whether cytokines are causing COVID-19 infections to become deadly. If not, fluvoxamine may be having beneficial effects by some other mechanism that is not yet understood, said the researchers.

"There are several ways this drug might work to help COVID-19 patients, but we think it most likely may be interacting with the sigma-1 receptor to reduce the production of inflammatory molecules," explained Dr. Angela M Reiersen. "Past research has demonstrated that fluvoxamine can reduce inflammation in animal models of sepsis, and it may be doing something similar in our patients."

The researchers emphasized that their research had several limitations, which means that the results should not be treated as a measure of fluvoxamine's effectiveness against COVID-19. Even still, the findings are encouraging.

"If a larger clinical trial (phase III) confirms the results, fluvoxamine would be a perfect treatment for COVID patients newly diagnosed," said Dr. Gaultier. "Fluvoxamine is not an experimental drug, it is cheap and safe and could be available as a first line of defense to unburden the hospitals that are overwhelmed by the COVID health crisis."

The study is published in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/">Journal of the American Medical Association</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The antidepressant fluvoxamine may prevent severe COVID-19 infection

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

Mindfulness will not help you react better to stress, according to a new study from the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University at Buffalo</a>. The researchers found that being mindful, or calmly present in the moment, is largely ineffective when it comes to managing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tropical-birds-handle-heat-stress-much-better-than-expected/">stress</a>. 

The findings contradict the widely accepted theory that mindfulness offers stress relief and coping benefits.

The experts measured the cardiovascular responses of 1,001 participants as they were engaged in stressful performance tasks. While it has been suggested in previous research that mindfulness may help people manage active stressors, the researchers found the opposite to be true. 

During the stressful task, mindful participants exhibited cardiovascular responses consistent with engagement. In other words, they were actually "sweating the small stuff." 

Despite their negative stress responses, however, mindful participants reported having a positive experience after completing the task.

Study lead author Thomas Saltsman is a researcher in UB's Department of Psychology.

"What's surprising, and particularly striking about our results, is that mindfulness didn't seem to affect whether people had a more positive stress response in the moment," said Saltsman. 

"Did more mindful people actually feel confident, comfortable and capable while engaged in a stressful task? We didn't see evidence of that, despite them reporting feeling better about the task afterward."

There is no question that mindfulness has benefits, but it appears to be limited in providing relief during stressful tasks like taking a test or giving a speech. The research indicates that when it comes to managing stress, being mindful may only benefit people's perception of their stress experience after the fact.

"Although our findings seem to go against a wholesome holy grail of stress and coping benefits associated with dispositional mindfulness, we believe that they instead point to its possible limitations," explained Saltsman. "Like an alleged holy grail of anything, its fruits are likely finite."

Dispositional mindfulness is a mindset that tries to avoid ruminating on past realities or considering future possibilities or consequences, explained Saltsman. In this mindset, an individual is focused on the present without judgement or critical interpretations. 

Mindfulness can be achieved with formal training, but people can also be dispositionally higher or lower in mindfulness - which was the focus of the current study. People with high levels of dispositional mindfulness report greater well-being and do not dwell on the past.

"Although those benefits seem unambiguous, the specific ways in which mindfulness should impact people's psychological experiences during stress remain unclear," said Saltsman. "So we used cardiovascular responses to capture what people were experiencing in a moment of stress, when they're more or less dispositionally mindful."

Study co-author Professor Mark Seery said that when people care more about the task they are completing, their heart rate increases and beats harder. 

"One thing these results say to me, in terms of what the average person is expecting when they casually get into mindfulness, is that what it's actually doing for them could very well be mismatched from their expectations going in," said Professor Seery. "And this is an impressively large sample of more than a thousand participants, which makes the results particularly convincing."

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/psp">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mindfulness can literally make you "sweat the small stuff"

Mindfulness will not help you react better to stress, according...

Plastic particles have now invaded natural spaces all over the globe, including the most remote regions of Antarctica and some of the deepest parts of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-rivers-heat-up-the-ocean-and-shrink-sea-ice/">ocean</a>. A new study from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> describes how these particles move and accumulate in various types of environments worldwide. 

While it is known that microplastics are carried over long distances, the methods of transport have remained somewhat of a mystery. The researchers report that plastic particles get stuck as they travel through porous materials such as soil and sediment, and then break free and continue to travel. 

Professor Sujit Datta said that this is the first time this stop-and-restart process and the conditions that control it have been identified. Prior to this study, experts assumed that when microparticles got stuck, they generally stayed put.

According to the researchers, the microparticles are pushed free when the rate of fluid flowing through the soil, groundwater, or other repository remains persistent. The Princeton team showed that the process of deposition - the formation of clogs and their breakup - runs in cycles. Clogs are broken up by fluid pressure over time and distance, pushing particles further through the pore space until clogs reform.

"Not only did we find these cool dynamics of particles getting stuck, clogged, building up deposits and then getting pushed through, but that process enables particles to get spread out over much larger distances than we would have thought otherwise," said Professor Datta.

Polystyrene is a plastic microparticle that makes up styrofoam, which is often dumped into soils and waterways through shipping materials and fast food containers. 

The researchers pumped fluorescent polystyrene microparticles and fluid through a transparent porous media created in Professor Datta's lab. The transparency allowed them to watch the microparticles move under a microscope. 

"We figured out tricks to make the media transparent. Then, by using fluorescent microparticles, we can watch their dynamics in real time using a microscope," said Professor Datta. "The nice thing is that we can actually see what individual particles are doing under different experimental conditions."

Professor Philippe Coussot said the study authors took a remarkable approach that "opened the black box" to reveal how plastic particles move through natural environments. 

The ultimate goal is to use the findings to improve parameters for larger scale models to predict the amount and location of contamination. The research can inform mathematical models to predict the likelihood of a particle moving over a certain distance and reaching a vulnerable destination, such as a nearby farmland or river. This would help prevent the spread and accumulation of contaminants in food and water sources.

Professor Datta said this experiment is the tip of the iceberg in terms of particles and applications that researchers can now study. "Now that we found something so surprising in a system so simple, we're excited to see what the implications are for more complex systems."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New study reveals how plastic particles travel

Plastic particles have now invaded natural spaces all over the...

Experts at <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> have conducted the first comprehensive review of natural plant compounds that have antibacterial properties. The research will ultimately help in the search for new <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fda-outlines-the-drugs-that-show-potential-for-treating-covid-19/">drugs</a> to fight the growing issue of antibiotic resistance.

Study senior author Professor Cassandra Quave is an associate professor in Emory's Center for the Study of Human Health.

"We hope that chemists and pharmacology researchers will use our review as a guide to dig deeper into the promising potential of many plant compounds," said Professor Quave. "If ever there was a time to cultivate our knowledge and tap into the chemical power of plants, this is it. We're seeing a rise in antimicrobial resistance across the globe. And, at the same time, we're also losing vast amounts of plant biodiversity."

According to the CDC, at least 2.8 million people get antibiotic-resistant infections each year in the United States and more than 35,000 cases are fatal.

The review from the Quave lab identifies 459 plant compounds that have the most powerful effects on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including those found in the Brazilian peppertree, the American beautyberry, and the European chestnut. For example, triterpenoid acids from the Brazilian peppertree can block the ability of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to produce toxins.

Penicillin was discovered nearly 100 years ago as the world's first naturally occurring antibiotic drug. Since then, scientists have found other soil microbes that can kill drug-resistant pathogens. However, bacteria are now acquiring antibiotic resistance faster than new drugs can be developed.

"One obstacle to plant natural products making it into the new drug pipeline is the complexity of the discovery process," explained Professor Quave. "You have to identify a promising plant candidate, tease through the hundreds of chemicals contained within a particular plant to identify the active compound, and then isolate enough of this compound to do experiments on it. It's not nearly as easy as sequencing a soil microbe and growing up a big vat of it to conduct experiments."

Professor Quave pointed out that the knowledge of traditional plant-based medicines that have been used for centuries can provide valuable clues for where to focus research.

"In recent decades, interest has grown in investigating plants as potential drug candidates. Technologies have improved to more easily access and study bioactive molecules within plants. And more papers are being published that follow standardized procedures for evaluation of antimicrobial activities among plant compounds."

For the investigation, the team reviewed nearly 200 relevant studies published between 2012 and 2019. The 459 compounds that were identified include a diverse range of species, some of which are members of commonly known plant families such as citrus, daisies, beans, and mint. 

The researchers narrowed the results to 183 plant compounds and further examined their overall potential as antibiotics.

"These are all compounds as they appear in nature, not synthesized or derivatized by chemists," said Professor Quave. "We wanted to provide a systematic overview that brings promising drug candidates to the forefront, opening up new chemical space for discovery."

"Our review can serve as a starting point for chemists to consider whether they could possibly optimize any of these compounds to become scaffolds for antibiotics treatments."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/chreay">Chemical Reviews</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plant compounds are key to solving the problem of antibiotic resistance

Experts at Emory University have conducted the first comprehensive review...

Air pollution set the stage for the rapid spread of COVID-19. A new study suggests that air pollution and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/environmental-era-of-pandemics/">pandemics</a> are an extremely dangerous combination, as the harmful health impacts of pollution make people more susceptible to infections. Scientists at the McKelvey School of Engineering at <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University</a> found that higher levels of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) are directly linked to higher rates of the community spread of SARS-CoV-2. 

For many COVID-19 patients, the severity of infection can be traced back to pre-existing health conditions. The study shows how the health of the environment played a critical role in increasing the number of people who were exposed to the virus in the first place. 

The research was conducted in the lab of Professor Rajan Chakrabarty. The team found a correlation between the basic reproduction ratio (R0), which represents the number of people each sick person can infect, and long-term exposure to PM2.5.

Professor Chakrabarty said that the presence of secondary inorganic components in PM2.5 only makes things worse. "We checked for more than 40 confounding factors. There was a strong, linear association between long-term PM2.5 exposure and R0."

In July, a study published in the journal Science found that susceptibility to COVID-19 is a driving factor for the pandemic. Fine particle pollution can enter the lungs and cause damage to respiratory health, which increases an individual's susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.

Another previous study that was published in the Journal of Infection found that the highest number of cases of COVID-19 with severe and prolonged illness were occurring in places with higher pollution levels.

"I was thinking, why, in the majority of the U.S. states, have we had such a rapid spread of the virus?" said Professor Chakrabarty. "We wanted to confine our study to the point in time when the shutdown was in place. For the most part, people did remain confined from early March until the end of April."

The team focused on regions where R0 was greater than one - the point at which one person can spread an illness to more than one person. Using computer models that accounted for air pollution estimates in these areas, the experts discovered that an increase of 0.25 in R0 corresponded with a 10 percent increase in sulfate, nitrogen dioxide, or ammonium. The same boost in R0 also corresponded with a one-millionth of a gram per cubic meter (μg/m3) increase in PM2.5 mass concentrations.

"Annual mean PM2.5 national standards are set at or below 12 micrograms per cubic meter, below that you are supposed to be safe," said Professor Chakrabarty. "What we saw, the correlation we're seeing is well below that standard." In fact, the team found that the link between R0 and PM2.5 when exposure levels were below 6 micrograms per cubic meter.

"Although decades of strict air quality regulations in the U.S. have resulted in significant reductions of nitrogen dioxide levels, recent reversal of environmental regulations which weaken limits on gaseous emissions from power plants and vehicles threaten the country's future air quality scenario," wrote the study authors. Professor Chakrabarty said these reversals could be setting up the United States for future pandemics.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/science-of-the-total-environment">Science of the Total Environment</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Air pollution set the stage for the rapid spread of COVID-19

Air pollution set the stage for the rapid spread of...

As global warming continues at an uncertain pace, scientists have been investigating the capacity for animals all over the world to adapt to heat stress. There is concern regarding <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tropical-lizards-are-surprisingly-adaptable-to-climate-extremes/">tropical</a> species, in particular, because they are used to living in a relatively stable thermal environment.

But now, in the first study of its kind, researchers at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> report that birds in both temperate and tropical regions have a much higher tolerance for acute heat stress than what was previously realized.

"In terms of their thermal physiology, a lot of these birds, including tropical species, can tolerate temperatures that are a lot higher than what they experience in their daily lives," said study first author Henry Pollock.  

"That was surprising because tropical ectotherms, such as insects, have been shown to be extremely vulnerable to climate warming. We're just not seeing the same things in birds. It is somewhat encouraging."

While the research indicates that tropical birds can adapt and survive in a warmer world, it is too soon to tell how these species will respond to a rapidly changing environment. 

"It's not necessarily comforting news. If someone walked away from this thinking tropical birds are going to do fine because they're not going to overheat, that would be a simplistic bottom line to take away from this paper," said study co-author Professor Jeff Brawn. 

"Warming is likely to affect tropical birds indirectly, by impacting their resources, the structure of tropical forests. So they may not be flying around panting, suffering from heat exhaustion, but there may be more indirect effects."

The research was focused on 81 bird species from Panama and South Carolina who were exposed to rising temperatures in field labs. The team used tiny sensors to detect the internal body temperatures and the metabolic rates of the birds.

While the temperate birds from South Carolina were found to have a higher average heat tolerance, tropical birds from Panama handled the heat much better than expected. 

Among all of the species, doves and pigeons had the greatest resistance to heat stress by taking advantage of their unique ability to sweat. According to Pollock, these birds actually exceeded the limits of the testing equipment.

"This is the first geographic comparison ever for birds. We need more data from more sites and studies of chronic heat stress over longer periods of time. But I think at the very least, what we can say is that they're able to tolerate higher temperatures than I think anybody expected," said Pollock.

"We're just starting to scratch the surface of what we need to do to really understand how climate change is going to affect birds," concluded Professor Brawn. "But this is an important first step."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652435">Functional Ecology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tropical birds handle heat stress much better than expected

As global warming continues at an uncertain pace, scientists have...

A team of researchers at the <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a> (ELTE) has demonstrated that dogs are sensitive to the preferences of humans, but usually follow their own desires. The study was designed to investigate whether dog behavior is influenced or guided by human preferences.

The experts report that while fetching behavior remained unaffected by what humans wanted most, dogs still took the preferences of their owners into serious consideration. When a person expressed excitement over an object, the dogs were found to focus their gaze on it.

Even though the dogs still chose their own preferred objects when they had the option to fetch, they seemed to clearly perceive the preferences of their owners. It has been challenging for experts to determine whether dogs are actually aware of the human emotions that they are known to pick up on so well.   

"There is no shortage of attempts to unveil the putative mind-reading abilities of dogs, but no single study has been convincing enough on its own, so over the years we have broken down the big question into smaller, more tangible goals," said study co-author Dr. Ádám Miklósi.

One of the main goals has been to investigate how dogs respond to expressions signaling the preferences of humans. 

"We knew that dogs respond to humans signaling their preference, but in previous studies, the dogs' own priorities were not accounted for. In particular, we did not know how conflicting preferences between the dogs and the owner influence the behavior of dogs," said study lead author Eniko Kubinyi. "18-month-old children recognize that their own preference might differ from that of others and they understand how desire can be inferred from emotional expressions, but 14-month-olds do not. We wanted to test where dogs are on this scale."

Kubinyi explained that fetching was clearly not a good choice to measure dogs' sensitivity to the preferences of others - for several reasons. 

"Since their own favorite object was in reach, the dogs had little incentive to factor in the owner's choice in their responses. We assumed that if the same objects were out of reach, they would stimulate what appears to be 'showing' behavior in the dogs and they would direct more attention towards their owners' pick, thereby also weakening the affordance provided by their preferred object." 

To test out their theory, the researchers placed toys and bracelets up on a windowsill where the dogs could not reach them. A group of 51 dogs witnessed their owner displaying happy expressions toward either the toy or the bracelet, and disgusted faces at the other. The researchers measured how long the animals would gaze at their human's preferred object.

"In this case, the dogs looked at the favored toy when their owner had previously responded to it with a happy face. In the other group they looked the same amount of time at the bracelet and the toy," explained study co-author Ivaylo Iotchev. 

The findings confirm that the owner's preference affected the dog's behavior. Kubinyi said that it is not clear whether this influence is the result of inferred and shared representations.

"We have not found conclusive evidence that dogs, similarly to one and a half.year-old toddlers, understand the subjectivity of the desire, i.e., that different people can have different attitudes toward the same object," explained Kubinyi.

"If they indeed infer the owner's preference, they might not understand fetching as an act of offering an object to a human, or response inhibition, an important aspect of cognitive control, was not sufficiently strong to overwrite the animals' own preference." 

"What is certain, is that this study is the first to show that dogs are sensitive to their owners' choice even though they prefer to fetch their favorite toy when it is in reach."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://reports.frontiersin.org/reports/frontiers-in-psychology-report.html">Frontiers in Psychology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs take their owners' preferences into consideration

A team of researchers at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)...

A new study from <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/">Michigan Medicine</a> reveals the health and financial risks that people are facing after COVID-19 hospitalization. The experts report that after being released from treatment, individuals are experiencing complications ranging from mental health issues to rehospitalization and death.

The researchers analyzed records from more than 1,250 patients who had been treated for COVID-19 at 38 Michigan hospitals this past spring and summer. The team interviewed nearly 500 surviving patients by phone, who reported on an array of physical and mental health consequences, as well as financial difficulties.

The study showed that nearly seven percent of patients died within two months of leaving the hospital, and the mortality rate was even higher for patients that had been in the ICU. In addition, 15 percent of the survivors had ended up back in the hospital. 

"These data suggest that the burden of COVID-19 extends far beyond the hospital and far beyond health," said study lead author Dr. Vineet Chopra. "The mental, financial and physical tolls of this disease among survivors appear substantial."

Nearly 40 percent of the patients interviewed said they had not yet resumed their normal activities 60 days after leaving the hospital. Another 23 percent said they became short of breath just climbing a flight of stairs, while a third of the respondents had ongoing COVID-related symptoms.

Among those who had jobs before COVID-19 infection, 40 percent had either not been able to return to work due to health issues or had lost their job. A large portion of the individuals who had returned to work said they had to work fewer hours.

Overall, about half of the COVID-19 survivors were affected emotionally, and many were dealing with a heavy financial burden. Nearly 10 percent of the respondents had used up most or all of their savings.

"The sheer number of people struggling after COVID brings new urgency to developing programs to better promote and support recovery after acute illness," said study senior author Dr. Hallie Prescott.

Although hospital care for COVID-19 patients has improved since the early months of the pandemic, the researchers found that 63 percent of patients who were treated in an ICU had died either during their hospital stay or within two months of returning home. This mortality rate is nearly double that of patients who were not admitted to an intensive care unit. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/journal/aim">Annals of Internal Medicine</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

Health and financial risks persist after COVID-19 hospitalization

A new study from Michigan Medicine reveals the health and...

Researchers at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Exeter">University of Exeter</a> have investigated the dynamics of fighting among animals. The team identified various factors that groups of animals take into consideration before they decide if they are ready and willing to take on their rivals. 

When individuals get into one-on-one fights, they look at certain aspects such as the size and strength of their opponent, as well as the outcome of recent fights. At the same time,  the animals weigh the value of the potential reward against the risk that is involved.

According to the study authors, previous research has largely overlooked the complexity of group conflicts. It has been widely accepted that larger groups will win a battle, but this is not always the case.

The researchers explained that factors like the strength of individual members, group cohesion and teamwork, and the location of the conflict are factors that animals use to evaluate the situation. 

"Any potential fight - whether between humans or animals - gets more complex if there are multiple individuals on each side," said study lead author Dr.  Patrick Green. "Groups may assess both the importance of whatever they're fighting about, and a range of factors about their own group and the opponent."

"Research on dyadic (one-on-one) fights has developed an advanced framework on 'assessment' - how animals gather information and decide whether to fight, how much effort to put in, and if and when to give up."

"However, studies on group contests among social-living animals haven't generally focused on assessment. Understanding more about this can teach us not only about evolution, but also about conflict in humans."

While the larger of two social groups is often dominant in a battle, the study highlights other influential factors as well. For example, smaller groups of grey wolves that have more males can overcome larger groups. 

Motivation also plays a role. Meekrats can win fights with fewer grown individuals simply because they are so motivated to gain a better territory for raising pups.

Turtle ants, which have multiple nests, have been observed defending nests that have narrower entrances, suggesting they are willing to fight when the odds of winning are greater. 

Studies of chimpanzees show that in times when there is more conflict with other social groups, the males within a group become less aggressive toward each other. This indicates that social cohesion is useful at times when fights are likely to break out.

"Researchers have spent years wondering about the extent to which individual fighting animals use 'assessment' - effectively, sizing their opponent up," said study co-author Professor Mark Briffa. "In this paper, we explore the scope for groups of rivals to do a similar thing." 

"This could be a possibility in many examples across the animal kingdom where individuals work collectively, such as battles between rival groups of ants or even warfare between rival groups in humans."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Animals consider a range of factors before fighting

Researchers at the University of Exeter have investigated the dynamics...

Less screen time and more sleep can protect you from depression An international team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/">Western Sydney University</a> reports that less screen time and more sleep are critical for preventing depression. The study showed that depression is strongly influenced by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/a-nutritional-diet-maximizes-the-benefits-of-exercise/">diet</a>, sleep habits, screen time, physical activity, and other modifiable lifestyle factors. 

The analysis was focused on data from the UK Biobank that involved almost 85,000 people. The experts say their insight into the link between depression and lifestyle factors may ultimately help to inform public health policy.

The study revealed that physical activity, healthy diet, and seven to nine hours of regular sleep are strongly correlated with a lower risk of depressed mood. By contrast, screen time and tobacco smoking were significantly associated with more frequent depressive symptoms.

The researchers were surprised to find that higher frequency of alcohol consumption was linked with a reduced frequency of depressed mood in people with depression. According to the experts, this may be due to the self-medicating use of alcohol by those with depression to manage their mood.

Over time, individuals with or without clinical depression were most protected from depression by lower screen time and optimal sleep. Those without clinically diagnosed depression were also protected by a better-quality diet.

"The research is the first assessment of such a broad range of lifestyle factors and its effect on depression symptoms using the large UK Biobank lifestyle and mood dataset," said study lead author Professor Jerome Sarris.

"While people usually know that physical activity is important for mood, we now have additional data showing that adequate sleep and less screen time is also critical to reduce depression."

"The findings also suggest that one's dietary pattern is partly implicated in the germination or exacerbation of depressed mood."

"The results may inform public health policy by further highlighting the important relationship between people being encouraged and supported to engage in a range of health-promoting activities. In particular, maintaining optimal sleep and lessening screen time (which is often an issue in youth), while having adequate physical activity and good dietary quality, may reduce the symptoms of depression."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Medicine</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

Less screen time and more sleep can protect you from depression

Less screen time and more sleep can protect you from...

Eating chili peppers may help you live longer, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a>. The researchers found that the compound capsaicin, which gives chili peppers their spicy flavor, significantly reduces the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease or <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meat-and-dairy-consumption-linked-to-higher-risk-of-cancer/">cancer</a>.

In previous studies, experts have found that capsaicin has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help to prevent cancer. To investigate the link between chili pepper consumption and fatal cardiovascular disease, the researchers screened 4,729 studies from five leading global health databases. 

The study was ultimately focused on four large studies which revealed the health outcomes associated with eating chili peppers based on the dietary records of more than 570,000 individuals in the United States, Italy, China, and Iran.

The experts compared the outcomes of those who regularly consumed chili peppers to those who rarely or never ate them. The study showed that people who incorporated chili peppers into their diet had a 26 percent lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, a 23 percent lower risk of cancer mortality, and a 25 percent lower chance of all-cause mortality.

Study senior author Dr. Bo Xu is a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic's Heart, Vascular &amp; Thoracic Institute.

"We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk-reduction of all cause, CVD and cancer mortality. It highlights that dietary factors may play an important role in overall health," said Dr. Xu.

"The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to conclusively say that eating more chili pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer. More research, especially evidence from randomized controlled studies, is needed to confirm these preliminary findings."

While the study is in the preliminary phase, the experts will continue to analyze the data. 

The research was presented at <a href="https://professional.heart.org/es/meetings/scientific-sessions">AHA Scientific Sessions 2020</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Eating chili peppers could save your life

Eating chili peppers may help you live longer, according to...

Building development is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. A new study from <a href="https://www.aalto.fi/en">Aalto University</a> has revealed that wooden buildings in cities could store half of the cement industry's current <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-emissions-from-fire-are-controlled-by-soil-composition/">carbon</a> emissions.

In Europe alone, nearly 47,000 acres of housing space is built every year, and this rate is growing by about one percent each year. 

In collaboration with the Finnish Environment Institute, the Aalto team has determined that shifting to wood for building could substantially reduce the environmental impact of construction. 

The researchers estimated the carbon storage potential of using wood to construct residential buildings in Europe. The analysis showed that if 80 percent of these new homes were made of wood - including the structures, cladding, surfaces, and furnishings - the buildings could store 55 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. This is equivalent to 47 percent of the cement industry's annual emissions across Europe.

"This is the first time that the carbon storage potential of wooden building construction has been evaluated on the European level, in different scenarios," explained study co-author Ali Amiri. "We hope that our model could be used as roadmap to increase wooden construction in Europe."

According to the researchers, the potential carbon storage capacity is not generally related to building or wood type, or even to the size of a building. Instead, this capacity is based on the number and volume of wood used as building components, such as beams, columns, and walls.

The study also examined how Europe could reach a target of storing 55 million tons of CO2 per year. The team reports that the share of new wooden residential buildings would need to grow to 80 percent by 2040. Over time, each wooden building would need to store even more carbon dioxide by falling into a 200 CO2 kg m2-storage group, and eventually falling into the 300 CO2 kg m2-storage group.

The researchers pointed out that half of the carbon footprint of "zero-energy" houses occurs before anyone has even lived in them.

"Certificates for green buildings used around the world, such as LEED and BREEAM, could better take the climate benefits of wood construction into account. So far, they are strongly focused on how energy is consumed during use," said Amiri.

As far as wood products go, a wooden building provides longer-term storage for carbon than pulp or paper. According to the study, a wooden building of 100 m2 has the potential to store 10 to 30 tons of carbon dioxide. 

'Wood construction is sustainable only if the wood comes from forests that are grown in a sustainable manner. Shifting from short-lived products, like paper, to products with a long life-cycle, like wooden construction materials, would help minimise the impact on European forests and the crucial carbon sinks they hold," said study co-author Juudit Ottelin.

"The environmental concerns together with the increasing demand of building construction make it necessary to find building materials which not only produce less emissions during their production but also serve as carbon sequestration solution in order to mitigate climate change," concluded the study authors. "As a widely available material in Europe, wood is a considerable option."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wooden buildings could store half of the cement industry's CO2 emissions

Building development is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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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...