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...

Millions of birds set out on a migratory journey each year in the fall, and many birds molt their feathers before they head out. A team of scientists at <a href="https://www.mtu.edu/">Michigan Technological University</a> (MTU) has investigated the connection between feather color changes and migrations.

Molt is important for replacing worn feathers to prepare for flight, and also serves as the catalyst for feather changes that could ultimately determine whether birds find mates and reproduce.

Study co-author Jared Wolfe is an assistant professor in MTU's College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science and is one of the founders of the Biodiversity Initiative.

"We're really blessed here, as nature lovers and birdwatchers, that we have lots of species of warblers here, which come in blues, greens, red and yellows," said Professor Wolfe. "These brightly colored birds migrate and nest here and then leave for the winter. Everyone is so focused on the coloration, but the mechanism of the change of coloration is the process of molt, of replacing feathers."

The researchers analyzed birds species to compare the distances they travel to the extent of molt. 

"Birds that go farther distances replace more feathers," said Professor Wolfe. "Sun is the primary reason feathers degrade, and harsh environments. In northerly latitudes in the summer, it's sunny all day. As the birds move south, tracking the sun, they are maximally exposing themselves to sun all year."

Birds need bright, beautiful feathers to attract others. Plumage reveals the health and age of birds to their potential mates.

"Bright plumages are signals of habitat quality in the tropics," said Professor Wolfe. "Acquiring mates is based on a signal of habitat quality from the wintering grounds. Undergoing a second molt on the wintering grounds before migrating north allows the birds to become colorful. Color is a signal to potential mates in places like the Midwest what jungle wintering habitats are like."

What the birds experience during the winter months has an influence on how colorful they become, which ultimately affects how successful they are at breeding.

Growing bright feathers is energetically costly, and a bird that has a better quality wintering habitat with an abundance of food and shelter will be able to produce brilliant plumage. Just like humans seeking out houses to live in, birds seek out the best possible habitats.

"The best habitats offer resource stability over time, versus poorer quality habitats which are variable month-to-month, year-to-year."

The researchers found that adjusting the time it takes Amazonian birds to complete their annual molt affects how they forage. For example, the white-plumed antbird in Brazil eats insects that are trying to outrun army ants. "Its molt is crazy slow; it takes an entire year," said Professor Wolfe. He noted that the bird essentially lives in a constant state of molt, dropping one feather at a time.

The antbirds have huge home ranges that overlap with multiple army ant colonies. They spend a lot of time flying around the jungle in search of the ants. When they molt wing feathers, it creates gaps in their wings and compromises their ability to fly, which is why they have a very slow molt. 

"A single feather at a time to minimize gaps thereby improving their ability to fly and maintain large home ranges," said Professor Wolfe. "This unique adaptation has made the white-plumed antbird the slowest-molting songbird on Earth."

The study showed that not all birds return to the same molting grounds every year. This contradicts the assumption that birds benefit from completing their annual molt in a familiar location. Professor Wolfe said that it appears there isn't much of a relationship between molting activity and what he calls "site fidelity."

"Until our research, it had remained a mystery whether or not migratory songbirds return to the same site to molt," said Professor Wolfe. "This is an important question because there is growing evidence that mortalities accrued after the breeding season - during molt, migration and overwintering periods - is responsible for the continued loss of migratory songbirds. In fact, bird abundance has decreased by 29% since 1970. Understanding where and why birds molt is an important step towards protecting vulnerable populations of songbirds."

The experts analyzed 31 years of bird banding data from northern California and southern Oregon to measure the site fidelity of 16 species of songbird during molt. While the researchers did find that breeding activity strongly correlated with site fidelity, molt did not appear to influence a bird's decision to return to a particular place or not. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/auk">The Auk: Ornithological Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists explore why and where birds molt their feathers

Millions of birds set out on a migratory journey each...

Some of the largest floods on Earth are glacial outburst floods known as jokulhlaups, which emerge with no warning. These floods occur when the water that is accumulated in lakes underneath glaciers is suddenly released.

Scientists have long investigated jokulhlaups, and a recent study from the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii Manoa</a> is providing new details about their development.

"These floods may affect the motion of some glaciers and are a significant hazard in Iceland," said study lead author Eric Gaidos. "But the mechanism and timing of the initiation of these floods has not been understood."

In 2015, the researchers were drilling a hole to an Icelandic lake to study its microbial life. As the experts collected samples, they noticed a downwards current in the hole like a bathtub drain.

"The flow was so strong we nearly lost our sensors and sampling equipment into the hole," said Professor Gaidos. "We surmised that we had accidentally connected a water mass inside the glacier to the lake beneath. That water mass was rapidly draining into the lake."

After the team left a few days later, the lake drained in a glacial outburst flood. Professor Gaidos noted that fortunately, Icelanders have an elaborate early-warning system on their rivers and no one was injured.

The researchers used a computer model to simulate the draining of the flow and its effect on the lake to show that this could have triggered the flood.

"We discovered that the glacier can contain smaller bodies of water above the lakes fed by summer melting," said Professor Gaidos. "If this water body is hydraulically connected to the lake then the pressure in the lake rises and that allows water to start draining out underneath the glacier."

Connections can form when water from rain or melting snow builds up in crevasses. The pressure eventually forces a crack through the glacier to the lake. 

The research provides brand new insight into how glacial outburst floods can start and how this depends on the weather and the season. Scientists in Iceland are continuing to study this phenomenon using radio echo-sounding to search for water bodies within the ice and to study the larger lake below it.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists have solved the mystery of glacial outburst floods

Some of the largest floods on Earth are glacial outburst...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.uaf.edu/">University of Alaska Fairbanks</a>, researchers have found that rivers are dumping heat into the Arctic Ocean that is melting sea ice and warming the atmosphere. The study has revealed that Arctic rivers are contributing much more to the warming Ocean than they did in 1980.

The researchers report that the heat from Arctic rivers is responsible for up to 10 percent of the total sea ice loss that occurred from 1980 to 2015 over the shelf region of the Arctic Ocean. This loss is equivalent to about 120,000 square miles of ice with a thickness of one meter.

"If Alaska were covered by one-meter thick ice, 20% of Alaska would be gone," explained study co-author Igor Polyakov.

When sea ice breaks up in the spring, rivers have the greatest impact. The warm water pours into the ice-covered Arctic Ocean and deteriorates the ice as it spreads underneath. After the sea ice melts, the warm water heats up the atmosphere.

"The increasing ice-free area in the shelf seas results in a warmer ocean in summer, enhancing ocean-atmosphere energy exchange and atmospheric warming. Our findings suggest that a positive river heat-sea ice feedback nearly doubles the river heat effects," wrote the study authors.

The heat energy that enters the atmosphere is mobile, which means it can affect areas of the Arctic far from river deltas. According to the researchers, the most pronounced impacts were found in the Siberian Arctic, where several large rivers flow onto a shallow shelf region extending nearly 1,000 miles offshore. 

The only river that is large enough to significantly influence sea ice retreat near Alaska is the Mackenzie River in Canada, but smaller rivers also contribute.

Polyakov said that rising global air temperatures will continue to warm Arctic rivers in the future. In a reinforcing feedback loop, the rivers and the Arctic Ocean will heat up, followed by accelerated sea ice retreat and atmospheric warming.

"It's very alarming because all these changes are accelerating," said Polyakov. "The rapid changes are just incredible in the last decade or so."

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

Arctic rivers heat up the ocean and shrink sea ice

In a new study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks,...

Plant biodiversity can serve as a natural method to control herbivores and reduce the need for harmful pesticides. A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.idiv.de/en/index.html">German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research</a> (iDiv) has found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/parasitic-plants-depend-on-the-hormone-ethylene-to-launch-an-attack/">plant</a> communities that are rich in species support predators while depriving pests of their main food sources. 

Biological diversity is critically important for maintaining the balance of ecosystems and preserving the valuable services provided by planted and natural grasslands. 

The world's growing population and the demand for agriculture are placing enormous pressure on planted grasslands. Meanwhile, insect herbivores are causing an estimated 18-26 percent reduction in global crop production. As a result, the use of environmentally damaging pesticides is increasing.

To investigate the potential for plant biodiversity to serve as a natural weapon against destructive herbivores, the researchers conducted two long-running grassland biodiversity experiments - the Jena Experiment in Germany and the Cedar Creek Biodiversity Experiment in the United States. The scientists collected data from the two field studies over the course of two years.

"These two long-term experiments have generated invaluable insight, for both fundamental and applied research, that has brought to light the importance of maintaining biodiversity," said study senior author Professor Nico Eisenhauer.

The analysis of the data showed that plants in more diverse communities lost significantly less energy to herbivorous insects. In grasslands with high biodiversity, the feeding rate of herbivores was 44 percent lower per gram of plant biomass. Essentially, for every gram of plant biomass produced, plants lost just under half as much energy to pests when they were growing in species-rich communities. 

"That ultimately means that where multiple species are planted together, this will yield more plant biomass per square meter, and each individual plant in diverse mixtures will receive lower damage from herbivores," said study first author Andrew Barnes.

In patches with higher plant diversity, arthropod herbivores are less likely to be able to find their preferred plant species, and more likely to just give up and move on to new areas. Previous studies have found lower levels of tissue protein in the more biodiverse grasslands, and the plants are less nutritious and less appealing to herbivores.

Furthermore, compared to monocultures, high-diversity plant communities produce more total biomass, attracting the natural enemies of herbivorous pests. 

"In other words, more diverse plant communities pose a double-edged problem for herbivores - that is, more predators and less preferred food - that could help to naturally reduce herbivore impacts," said Barnes.

"Our experiments show that conserving plant diversity provides multiple benefits for controlling herbivore pests, which could play a key role in reducing inputs of agrochemicals and enhancing plant productivity."

By contrast, pesticides can lead to detrimental rebounds of herbivores considering that they may destabilize the communities of natural enemies. 

"Ultimately, this study demonstrates that supporting biodiversity can leverage the sustainable management of ecosystems and the benefits to people," concluded Professor Eisenhauer. 

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

Increasing plant biodiversity reduces the need for pesticides

Plant biodiversity can serve as a natural method to control...

Global warming could have dire consequences for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-pterosaur-had-a-long-skinny-beak-for-hunting/">species</a> that depend on a stable food supply at specific times of the year. If warming takes place too quickly, these species may not have enough time to adapt. This could be precisely the case for great tits as the larvae they depend on for survival are hatching earlier, according to a new study. 

"If the changes happen too fast, species can become extinct," said study first author Emily Simmonds, an associate professor in the Department of Biology at <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a> (NTNU).

The researchers investigated how great tits may be affected if the availability of larvae changes in the spring. These birds depend on an abundant supply of larvae to feed their young. If this supply peaks earlier in the spring than usual, there may be a lack of food for the hatchlings.

Spring is arriving earlier and winters are becoming warmer. This causes some trees to sprout their leaves early, which prompts the larvae that feed on the plants to hatch out earlier. "When the climate changes, the interactions between different species changes too," said Professor Simmonds.

In collaboration with experts at the University of Oxford, the researchers used population models to estimate the consequences of different climate scenarios for great tits. The team wanted to identify the tipping point at which the changes would happen too fast for the great tit to modify its behavior and keep pace with the hatching larvae.

Due to genetics, great tits have varying abilities to adapt to different conditions. For example, an earlier supply of larvae can be advantageous for great tits that hatch their young earlier in the spring. This advantage can be transferred to the next generation of birds and they will hatch their young earlier in the season as well. 

For this strategy to work, however, the great tits have to evolve fast enough and be flexible enough to keep up with the behavior of their prey.

"Given conditions with big greenhouse gas emissions, the great tits won't always be able to keep up with the changes in the larvae supply," said Professor Simmonds.

In the worst case scenario, the researchers found that entire populations of great tits will simply disappear by the end of this century because they cannot find enough food for their young.

"This could happen even if the great tits are also modifying their behavior faster in a rapidly changing environment. The larvae might be changing even faster than the great tits," said Professor Simmonds. 

The tipping point for populations of great tits, or the point at which they will not have a chance of survival, will be reached if larvae begin hatching 24 days earlier compared to when they hatch now. According to the researchers, this threshold even applies to populations that appear to be completely stable today.

"It could be that the apparent stability today is hiding a future collapse," said Professor Simmonds. "The good news is that the populations will be able to survive scenarios with lower or medium warming trends."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14610248">Ecology Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Great tits can adapt to climate change, but only to a point

Global warming could have dire consequences for species that depend...

When spending time in nature is "prescribed," the mental health benefits are diminished, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. The experts determined that the great outdoors can help with issues such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/psilocybin-treatment-rapidly-relieves-symptoms-of-major-depression/">depression</a>, but only when individuals choose to experience nature on their town free will. 

Dr. Ann Ojala said the findings should encourage further research in clinical settings. "We need more information on this delicate balance between the intrinsic motivation and sometimes necessary encouragement from outside, as well as how nature visits could be integrated to mental health treatment."

The researchers analyzed the potential for exposure to green space to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. The team collected data from more than 18,000 people in 18 different countries. 

The data was obtained from the EU Horizons BlueHealth project. The goal of this study was to understand why people feel motivated to spend time in nature, how often they visit, and how social pressure influences their emotional experiences during visits.

The analysis showed that while external pressure may promote more time spent outdoors, the internal response is not the same.

A growing collection of research confirms that experiencing nature has a positive impact on well-being, but it has remained unclear how "green prescriptions" may help to manage or alleviate the complex symptoms of mental health disorders.

The researchers were surprised to find that people suffering from depression were already visiting nature as often as people without mental health issues, and that individuals with anxiety were visiting significantly more often.

Overall, the benefits of nature were found to be consistent regardless of medical status. However, the benefits were undermined when people were not getting outside by choice. The more pressure people felt to visit nature, the more anxious they felt. 

"These findings are consistent with wider research that suggests that urban natural environments provide spaces for people to relax and recover from stress," said study lead author Dr. Michelle Tester-Jones.

"However, they also demonstrate that healthcare practitioners and loved ones should be sensitive when recommending time in nature for people who have depression and anxiety. It could be helpful to encourage them to spend more time in places that people already enjoy visiting; so they feel comfortable and can make the most of the experience."

According to the experts, the research provides evidence that integrative techniques should be used to prescribe nature as a treatment for mental health issues.

"We had no idea just how much people with depression and anxiety were already using natural settings to help alleviate symptoms and manage their conditions," said Dr. Matthew White. 

"Our results provide even greater clarity about the value of these places to communities around the world, but also remind us that nature is no silver bullet and needs to be carefully integrated with existing treatment options."

Professor Matilda van den Bosch concluded that with green prescriptions, just like any intervention, it is important to avoid using pressure. "Nature cannot be forced on anyone, but must be provided at the individual's own pace and will."

The study is the published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mental health benefits of nature cannot be prescribed

When spending time in nature is "prescribed," the mental health...

A naturally occurring psychedelic compound that is found in more than 200 species of fungus, including magic mushrooms, may be a powerful new weapon against <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meditation-and-yoga-reduce-chronic-pain-and-depression/">depression</a>. Experts at <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/">Johns Hopkins Medicine</a> found that two doses of psilocybin combined with supportive psychotherapy provided rapid and extensive relief for patients suffering from major depression. 

Psilocybin causes hallucinations and a profoundly altered state of consciousness for several hours after ingestion. In 2016, researchers at Johns Hopkins reported that supervised psilocybin treatment substantially reduced anxiety and depression among patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.

The results of the current study indicate that psilocybin may be effective for a much broader range of patients than what was previously realized.

"The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market," said study co-author Dr. Alan Davis. "Because most other depression treatments take weeks or months to work and may have undesirable effects, this could be a game changer if these findings hold up in future 'gold-standard' placebo-controlled clinical trials." 

The investigation was focused on 24 participants who had a history of major depression. Most of the patients had suffered from persistent symptoms for approximately two years before enrolling in the study. 

Thirteen participants received the psilocybin treatment immediately after recruitment and preparation, while the remaining 11 participants received the same preparation and treatment eight weeks later. After supervising two five-hour psilocybin sessions, the researchers followed up with the individuals over four weeks. 

Across the entire group of participants, 67 percent had their depressive symptoms reduced by at least half at the one-week follow-up and by 71 percent at the four-week follow-up. 

Remarkably, four weeks after the psilocybin treatment, half of the participants were considered in remission and were no longer classified as depressed.

"I believe this study to be a critically important proof of concept for the medical approval of psilocybin for treatment of depression, a condition I have personally struggled with for decades," said philanthropist Tim Ferriss, who supported the funding campaign for this study. 

"How do we explain the incredible magnitude and durability of effects? Treatment research with moderate to high doses of psychedelics may uncover entirely new paradigms for understanding and improving mood and mind. This is a taste of things to come from Johns Hopkins."

The researchers will continue to follow up with the participants until a year after treatment to investigate how long the antidepressant effects of psilocybin last.

"Because there are several types of major depressive disorders that may result in variation in how people respond to treatment, I was surprised that most of our study participants found the psilocybin treatment to be effective," said Dr. Roland Griffiths. He began studying psilocybin in the early 2000s, and his research was initially met with skepticism and concern. 

Dr.. Griffiths said he is gratified by the support from Johns Hopkins and by the dozens of startups and labs that have initiated their own research. He noted that numerous companies are now actively working to develop marketable forms of psilocybin and related psychedelic substances.

The study is the published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry">JAMA Psychiatry</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Psilocybin treatment relieves symptoms of major depression

A naturally occurring psychedelic compound that is found in more...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a>, experts have identified a specific <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/music-can-flood-your-brain-with-feelings-of-pleasure/">brain</a> region that influences what we decide to eat. The researchers discovered that this part of the brain monitors our food preferences as they change across various states. 

"A key function of the nervous system is producing adaptive behavior across changing conditions, like physiological state," explained the study authors. 

"Although states like thirst and hunger are known to impact decision-making, the neurobiology of this phenomenon has been studied minimally. Here, we tracked evolving preference for sucrose and water as rats proceeded from a thirsty to sated state."

In previous work, the research team discovered that neural activity in a brain region called the ventral pallidum is related to the preference for different food options.

Using a mouse model, the researchers have now demonstrated that the same brain region tracks and updates food preferences in correlation with physiological states as they progress from extremely thirsty to satisfied.

Furthermore, when the experts targeted neurons in the ventral pallidum, they were able to manipulate food preferences.

"Your brain has to weigh different possible outcomes or options in order to make good decisions that are necessary for survival," said study senior author Professor Patricia Janak. "We knew the ventral pallidum is involved in that process. Exactly how the neurons there do that was still a bit of a mystery, especially in real time when the best decision for you to make right now can change based on your state."

Study lead author David Ottenheimer said he designed the research to investigate the relationship between the neurons in the ventral pallidum and the food choices made by the animals as their physiological state and preferences shifted. 

The researchers gave thirsty rats two options they could choose from by selecting one of two levers. One lever gave them access to plain water, and the other gave them a more popular type of water with sugar in it.

"At the beginning they picked the water when they were thirsty," said Ottenheimer. "At the end of the test when they were no longer thirsty they picked the sugar water, which tastes sweeter."

Meanwhile, brain scans revealed that neurons in the ventral pallidum reflected the animals' choices for each reward.

"We saw that the neural activity when tasting the sucrose gradually increased over time while the neural activity when tasting the water decreased, which gave us evidence that the brain signal is closely related to the change in preference as the subjects became less thirsty and were less interested in the water," explained Ottenheimer.

In a separate trial, the researchers discovered that the ventral pallidum neurons could be artificially manipulated to shift a rat's preference from the sugar water to the less desirable drink.

"We hypothesize that the ventral pallidum neurons that are tracking our preferences may actually be involved in forming the choices we make when faced with food decisions," said Ottenheimer. "In the future, ventral pallidum may be a good therapeutic target to change our decision-making processes."

According to Professor Janak, these same brain circuits are responsible for choices made in addiction. "So the knowledge we gain here can help in understanding how we prioritize drugs over other rewards."

The study is the 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

Brain region that influences our food preferences can be manipulated

In a new study from Johns Hopkins University, experts have...

Greenhouse gas <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/china-captures-nearly-half-of-its-annual-co2-emissions/">emissions</a> associated with global food production would make it difficult to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement even if all other fossil fuel emissions were immediately halted, according to a study from a new study from <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">AAAS</a>.

"To have any hope of meeting the central goal of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit global warming to 2°C or less, our carbon emissions must be reduced considerably, including those coming from agriculture," wrote the study authors.

"Meeting the 1.5°C target requires rapid and ambitious changes to food systems as well as to all nonfood sectors. The 2°C target could be achieved with less-ambitious changes to food systems, but only if fossil fuel and other nonfood emissions are eliminated soon." While most mitigation efforts have been focused on reducing transportation, power, and industrial emissions, the new research reveals the magnitude of the emissions that are tied to global food production.

The researchers found that the food system is responsible for nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The major sources of emissions include deforestation for agriculture and livestock production, the widespread use of fertilizers, and the burning of fossil fuels involved in food production and supply chains. 

From 2012 to 2017, global food production released an average of 16 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, according to the report. 

To investigate how these emissions could impact the feasibility of meeting the targets outlined by the Paris Agreement, a team led by Michael Clark of the University of Oxford estimated future food systems emissions. The researchers found that reducing food-related emissions is critical for reaching the targets established in Paris.

In a business-as-usual scenario, food system emissions could reach as high as 1,356 gigatons from now until the end of the century. The experts calculated that this amount would exceed the 1.5°C limit between 2051 and 2063, and approximately match the 2 ° C limit by 2100. 

The team has proposed several strategies to change this trajectory, including large-scale dietary changes, reduction of food waste, and improved agricultural efficiency. These strategies combined have the potential to create a carbon neutral, or even slightly carbon negative, food production system.

"Our work shows that food is a much greater contributor to climate change than is widely known," said study co-author Professor Jason Hill. "Fortunately, we can fix this problem by using fertilizer more efficiently, by eating less meat and more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts and by making other important changes to our food system," said Jason Hill

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</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

Food production linked to one-third of global emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with global food production would make...

Animals in the Arctic are shifting their behavior to keep pace with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-officially-arrived-in-the-black-forest/">climate</a> change. The research is based on data collected from more than 200 studies which tracked the movements of thousands of Arctic animals over the last three decades. 

The database combines the work of ecologists from all over the world. Study co-lead author Gil Bohrer is a professor of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>.

"What we ended up with is this massive dataset that can tell us how the behavior of animals is evolving in the face of climate change," said Professor Bohrer.

In the Arctic, the average temperatures have increased about 2.3 degrees Celsius since the 1970s. The researchers found that the cumulative effects of earlier springs, warmer winters, melting sea ice, and human development have transformed the behavior of native Arctic animals. 

Professor Bohrer said that collecting the data in one place was important. Without the database, it would be difficult for scientists to quantify the long-term effects of climate change and human activities on Arctic animals.

"Ecologists are doing the best they can, but often, movement track data would be lost - researchers retire or move to other positions, the hard drive ends up getting lost, the research notebook is misplaced or thrown away, and then that data is gone," said Professor Bohrer. "And animal tracking is very hard to do, so a research project might cover a handful of animals, maybe 10s at the most. Each animal-movement tag costs hundreds -- and sometimes thousands - of dollars, and you need to catch the animal and follow it. It's a lot of work and a lot of money."

Three separate analyses of the data show large-scale shifts in the movement of golden eagles, bears, caribou, moose, and wolves. The behavioral changes could impact the ability for these species to eat, mate, and survive.

The first study compared the movements of more than 100 golden eagles from 1993 to 2017. The experts found that immature birds migrating north in the spring arrived to the region earlier after a mild winter, which suggests that warmer temperatures are prompting the eagles to migrate sooner. On the other hand, adult golden eagles did not change their migration patterns. According to the study authors, this could have consequences for nesting and chick survival.

The second analysis tracked more than 900 female caribou from 2000 to 2017. The study revealed that northern herds are giving birth earlier in the spring, while the calving dates of southern populations have not changed. The early spring is associated with more extreme variation in weather patterns, posing some serious risks. For example, heavy snowfall events in the late spring snow could be fatal for calves born earlier in the season.

The third study monitored the speed of bear, caribou, moose, and wolf movement from 1998 to 2019. These species were found to move at different speeds depending on seasonal temperatures and precipitation. The investigation revealed that moose and caribou moved more in days with higher temperatures, while their predators moved less. The findings suggest that it will be more difficult for herbivores to avoid predators as temperatures continue to rise.

"I'm really excited about how this work shows what you can learn from comparing data across populations on a very large scale," said study co-author Elie Gurarie of the University of Maryland. "I would say this is an early example of what we might call global animal movement ecology. We're increasing our ability to monitor the pulse of animal populations across the Earth and ask big picture questions about what it means."

"This work has given us a baseline to understand the large-scale picture so we can get a sense of how animals and environments are really interacting across species and across space as the environment changes."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Arctic animals are changing their behavior in a warming climate

Animals in the Arctic are shifting their behavior to keep...

In a new study, researchers have observed that crown-of-thorns starfish can actually find their way home after a long night of feasting on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals-in-two-decades/">corals</a>. The research suggests that healthy tropical reefs with an abundance of Acropora corals encourage the overindulgent behavior of crown-of-thorns starfish. 

The study is the first of its kind to show that  crown-of-thorns starfish have the ability to find their way home, but only when their surrounding community is well-stocked with corals. 

The experts documented this behavior on the Great Barrier Reef, where the starfish were seen emerging from their shelters in the afternoon, feeding on coral throughout the night, and returning home at dawn.

Study lead author Dr. Scott Ling is a senior lecturer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.

"The crown-of-thorns starfish often partied all night, slept-in and only those with a well-stocked larder found their way home - so it's very much a teenager model of behavior," said Dr. Ling.

"Their preferred prey is Acropora corals," said study co-author Professor Morgan Pratchett from the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a>. "When populations of Acropora dropped, the starfish didn't return home. Their behavior is directly linked to the local abundance of Acropora."

Acropora corals have served as an important reef-building species for the past two million years. These fast-growing corals are the building blocks of reefs across the world.

The study findings indicate that healthy reefs with a high cover of Acropora corals are the target of crown-of-thorns aggregations and outbreaks. The starfish are known for preying on large swaths of coral reefs, and these outbreaks have caused widespread and sustained coral loss throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

Using time-lapse photography, the researchers tracked the movements of 58 starfish in the northern and southern Great Barrier Reef during an outbreak in 2015. When Acropora corals were unavailable, the starfish were typically homeless and roamed up to 20 meters per day.

"Unlike sea urchins that can switch diet once they overgraze kelp forests, results of the time-lapse monitoring indicate that the starfish will consume available Acropora and ultimately eat themselves out of house and home before dispersing in search of new feeding grounds," said Dr. Ling.

Previous crown-of-thorns outbreaks were documented on the Great Barrier Reef in 1962, 1979, 1993, and 2009. The combined threat of mass-bleaching and crown-of-thorns outbreaks could have catastrophic consequences for coral reefs.

"By better understanding the behavior of these starfish we can help prevent and control their outbreaks, which will help alleviate the pressures on coral reefs," said Professor Pratchett.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</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

Crown-of-thorns starfish stay up all night to overindulge

In a new study, researchers have observed that crown-of-thorns starfish...

A new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a> confirms that larger, older trees have an enormous carbon storage capacity. The analysis of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-from-ancient-rainforests-can-be-identified-in-fossil-teeth/">forests</a> in the Pacific Northwest has revealed that despite making up only three percent of the total number of trees across the study sites, large-diameter trees store 42 percent of the total above-ground carbon in these ecosystems.

In the Pacific Northwest, a 21-inch diameter rule was enacted in 1994 to protect large trees in national forests. However, legislative amendments have been proposed that could potentially allow the harvesting of trees up to 30 inches in diameter. The current study was focused specifically on trees with a diameter of at least 21 inches across national forests in Oregon and Washington.

The research is among the first of its kind to investigate how a proposed policy could affect carbon storage in forest ecosystems. If passed, the legislation would contribute to huge releases of carbon dioxide and would disrupt entire ecosystems.

"Large trees represent a small proportion of trees in the forest, but they play an exceptionally important role in the entire forest community - the many unique functions they provide would take hundreds of years to replace," said study lead author Dr. David Mildrexler.

To analyze the relationship between tree diameter and above-ground carbon storage, the researchers used species-specific mathematical equations to represent biomass in the tree stems and branches. The team examined the overall proportion of large trees and their contributions to carbon storage in order to estimate the potential consequences of losing them. 

The study revealed that large-diameter trees made up 3 percent of total stems, but accounted for 42 percent of total carbon storage. The researchers also found that the largest trees with a diameter of more than 30 inches made up only 0.6 percent of total stems, but accounted for more than 16 percent of the total above-ground carbon stored across the forests that were surveyed.

The experts determined that once the trees had reached a large size, each additional increment in diameter significantly increased the carbon storage capacity.

"If you think of adding a ring of new growth to the circumference of a large tree and its branches every year, that ring adds up to a lot more carbon than the ring of a small tree," said Dr. Mildrexler. "This is why specifically letting large trees grow larger is so important for climate change because it maintains the carbon stores in the trees and accumulates more carbon out of the atmosphere at a very low cost."

The study highlights the importance of keeping the 21-inch rule to not only protect large trees, but also to allow them to grow to their full potential. A sufficient number of smaller trees must be protected as well. Dr. Mildrexler argues that this is among the most effective short-term options that we have for slowing climate change and preserving valuable ecosystem services.

"Large trees are the cornerstones of diversity and resilience for the entire forest community. They support rich communities of plants, birds, mammals, insects, and micro-organisms, as well as act as giant water towers that tap into groundwater resources and cool our planet through evaporation," said Dr. Mildrexler.

"There is a real need for monitoring forest conditions beyond what the forest service does on their inventory plots, and so local communities can also play their part to provide citizen science data and learn about the living forests on their lands, contributing to community income and mitigating climate change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change">Frontiers in Forests and Global Change</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study highlights the value of old, large trees

A new study published by Frontiers confirms that larger, older...

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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

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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