Do you recall those childhood days when you eagerly anticipated bedtime stories about Peter Rabbit, Toad or Ratty from The Wind in the Willows? Or the excitement that washed over you every time you opened a children's book teeming with playful, animated animals? 



Well, a new study is giving us a fresh perspective on the role of these furry, iconic characters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-children-s-books-animal-characters">Children's books animal characters</h2>



The research has shed light on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toddlers-learn-faster-after-witnessing-impossible-events/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potential influence</a> of non-human characters in children's books.



The researchers aimed to gauge how these animal characters affected children's theory of mind skills - crucial abilities which include deciphering social changes in the environment based on voice tone, word choice, or facial expressions.



They worked with over 100 children aged five to 10, each of whom were tested on their theory of mind skills after hearing stories featuring animal characters, as well as those highlighting human characters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-vs-animal-characters-in-books">Human vs. animal characters in books</h2>



The study unveiled an interesting pattern. When exposed to stories centered around human characters, an age-related progression was observed. 



Older children were consistently outperforming their younger counterparts, with 3rd grade children surpassing the researchers' expectations in tests featuring human characters.



But the revelations didn't stop there. The tests that involved animal characters threw up another surprise. 



The younger participants were able to match the scores achieved by pupils in 3rd grade, who were two years their senior. That's quite a feat for our young champions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-insight-into-children-s-development">New insight into children's development</h2>



These findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, highlight the importance of both human and non-human characters in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/outdoor-classes-improve-childrens-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">children's developmental stages</a>.



The research was led by Dr. Gray Atherton and Dr. Liam Cross from the University of Plymouth’s <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools/psychology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">School of Psychology</a>.



"Animals play a huge part of children’s stories, whether that is in books and comics or through TV and film. We wanted to test if that is down to more than simply liking the characters, and whether there are actual benefits of children learning through by watching or reading about animals and if this changes over time," said Dr. Atherton.



"Our findings showed that both human and non-human characters are important in helping children interpret the world around them, and that they play differing roles at different stages in their development. Adapting activities and lessons in nurseries and the early school years to take that into account could be hugely effective in helping to support their development."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-educators-and-parents">Implications for educators and parents</h2>



The insights gained from this study have substantial implications for educators and parents aiming to support children's cognitive and social development.



By incorporating both human and animal characters into books, educators can craft a more balanced learning environment that caters to the diverse needs of children across age groups. 



Parents, too, can enrich their children's home learning experiences by selecting a variety of stories that include both human and animal protagonists. 



This approach not only makes reading sessions more engaging but also aids in developing empathy and understanding of complex social scenarios.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



While this study provides valuable insights, it also opens avenues for further exploration. 



Future research could go deeper into the types of animal characteristics that are most effective in nurturing children's theory of mind. For instance, exploring whether anthropomorphized animals or more realistic portrayals have differing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-who-use-humor-have-better-relationships-with-their-children/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">impacts</a>. 



Similarly, cross-cultural studies could investigate whether the affinity towards animal characters holds true in diverse cultural contexts. These inquiries could refine understanding and application in educational strategies, enhancing the efficacy of storytelling as a developmental tool.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animal-characters-and-autism-treatment">Animal characters and autism treatment</h2>



In previous studies, Dr. Atherton and Dr. Cross examined the factors influencing the educational and social development of individuals with autism and learning difficulties.



The experts launched initiatives proving how board and online games can bolster confidence among people with autism. 



Borrowing insights from this research, the scholars now plan to dig deeper to explore if their findings could provide specific benefits to children with such conditions.



Dr. Cross envisions a significant impact of this study on individuals with autism or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kids-with-behavioral-issues-have-high-cortisol-levels-in-their-hair/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">other conditions</a> affecting their learning. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-way-of-looking-at-animal-characters">A new way of looking at animal characters</h2>



The researchers have observed how tasks involving animal characters can result in autistic individuals performing on par with non-autistic children. 



The plan is to replicate this study with autistic children in an effort to unveil more effective ways to support them at a critical stage in their development.



In a nutshell, this study has unraveled an entirely new dimension of how we view animals in children's books. 



Those delightful animal characters do more than simply entertain; they help shape our children's minds and understanding of the world around them in their formative years.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002209652400256X?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Experimental Child Psychology</a>. 



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Animal characters boost social and emotional skills in children

Do you recall those childhood days when you eagerly anticipated bedtime stories about Peter Rabbit, Toad or Ratty from The Wind in the Willows? Or the excitement that washed over you every time you opened a children's book teeming with playful, animated animals? Well, a new study is giving us a fresh perspective on the role of these furry, iconic characters. Children's books animal characters The research has shed light on the potential influence of non-human characters in children's books. The researchers aimed to gauge how these...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.csiro.au/">CSIRO</a> has developed <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/corals-help-their-offspring-adapt-to-climate-change/">corals</a> that have improved heat tolerance. The breakthrough could help reduce the impact of coral bleaching that is associated with marine heat waves. 

Coral reefs are believed to have the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem, supporting thousands of species of fish. In addition, more than 500 million people depend on corals for food and income.

The biggest threat to the world’s coral reefs is climate change, which is causing an increasing number of coral bleaching events. It can take decades for coral reefs to fully recover from mass bleaching, and the chances of recovery are dwindling as bleaching events become more frequent.

"Coral reefs are in decline worldwide," said Dr. Patrick Buerger. "Climate change has reduced coral cover, and surviving corals are under increasing pressure as water temperatures rise and the frequency and severity of coral bleaching events increase."

The researchers enhanced tiny cells of algae that live inside the coral tissue known as microalgal symbionts.

"Our novel approach strengthens the heat resistance of coral by manipulating its microalgae, which is a key factor in the coral's heat tolerance," said Dr. Buerger.

The team isolated microalgae and cultured them in the lab. Next, the microalgae were exposed to rising temperatures over a period of four years to gradually boost their heat tolerance.

"Once the microalgae were reintroduced into coral larvae, the newly established coral-algal symbiosis was more heat tolerant compared to the original one," explained Dr. Buerger.

The temperatures used in the lab are comparable to the marine heat waves that caused coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef.

"We found that the heat tolerant microalgae are better at photosynthesis and improve the heat response of the coral animal," said Professor Madeleine van Oppen.

"These exciting findings show that the microalgae and the coral are in direct communication with each other. "

"This breakthrough provides a promising and novel tool to increase the heat tolerance of corals and is a great win for Australian science," said Professor Claudia Vickers.

Next, the researchers will test the algal strains in adult colonies across a range of coral species.

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

&nbsp;

Scientists have created corals with a higher heat tolerance

A research team led by CSIRO has developed corals that...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-brain-structure-dogs/">Dogs</a> are a bit rebellious in their teenage years and struggle with adolescence just as humans do, according to research led by Dr. Lucy Asher of <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a>.

The study is the first of its kind to find evidence of adolescent behavior in dogs. 

At the age of eight months, when they were going through puberty, dogs were found to be more likely to ignore commands given by their owner. 

The researchers determined that disobedient behavior was even more noticeable in dogs who had an insecure attachment to their owner, which is characterized by higher levels of attention seeking and separation anxiety.

Dr. Asher said that adolescence can be a vulnerable time for dogs as many are taken to shelters for rehoming at this age.

"This is a very important time in a dog's life," said Dr. Asher. "This is when dogs are often rehomed because they are no longer a cute little puppy and suddenly, their owners find they are more challenging and they can no longer control them or train them." 

"But as with human teenage children, owners need to be aware that their dog is going through a phase and it will pass."

The study was focused on 69 dogs, including labradors and golden retrievers. The researchers monitored obedience in the dogs at the ages of five and eight months, which was before and during adolescence. 

When it came to listening to their caregivers, the dogs took much longer to respond to the sit command at the age of eight months compared to five months.

However, when it came to obeying a stranger, the dogs improved their response to the sit command at eight months.

In a separate trial, the team examined "trainability" in a group of 285 dogs. The researchers surveyed both owners and trainers, who rated statements such as: "Refuses to obey commands, which in the past it was proven it has learned" and "Responds immediately to the recall command when off lead."

The study revealed that dogs were more difficult and less trainable for their caregivers during adolescence. Meanwhile, the dogs were less difficult and more trainable for their trainers at the same age. 

Another significant finding was that female dogs with insecure attachments were more likely to reach puberty early. This is the very first evidence that the relationship quality of two separate species can have an impact on reproductive timing. 

Study co-author Dr. Naomi Harvey said that while the results of the study may not come as a surprise to many dog owners, the research has important implications. 

"Many dog owners and professionals have long known or suspected that dog behaviour can become more difficult when they go through puberty," said Dr. Harvey. "But until now there has been no empirical record of this. Our results show that the behavior changes seen in dogs closely parallel that of parent-child relationships, as dog-owner conflict is specific to the dog's primary caregiver and just as with human teenagers, this is a passing phase."

"It's very important that owners don't punish their dogs for disobedience or start to pull away from them emotionally at this time" added Dr Asher. "This would be likely to make any problem behaviour worse, as it does in human teens."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsbl">Biology Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

Dogs struggle with adolescence just like teenagers

Dogs are a bit rebellious in their teenage years and...

Moths play a more important role in supporting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/best-conditions-for-growing-crops-in-the-midwest-are-moving-north/">crop</a> yields than what was previously known, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>. 

The research suggests that moths are important nighttime pollinators with networks that are larger and more complex than daytime pollinators.

The experts found that moths transport pollen from many of the same plants as bees, butterflies, and hoverflies, yet also interact with plants that are not commonly visited by daytime pollinators.

The study revealed that pollen is usually carried on the moth's ventral thorax, or chest, rather than on the proboscis. This allows for easier pollen transfer.

"Nocturnal moths have an important but overlooked ecological role. They complement the work of daytime pollinators, helping to keep plant populations diverse and abundant," explained study lead author Dr. Richard Walton.

"They also provide natural biodiversity back-up, and without them many more plant species and animals, such as birds and bats that rely on them for food, would be at risk."

"Previous studies of pollen transport among settling moths have focused on their proboscis. However, settling moths sit on the flower while feeding, with their often distinctly hairy bodies touching the flower's reproductive organs. This happy accident helps pollen to be easily transported during subsequent flower visits."

The breakthrough research comes at a time when moth populations are declining across the globe. 

"In recent decades, there has been a lot of science focus on solitary and social bees driven by concerns about their dramatic decline and the strong negative effect this has had on insect-pollinated crop yields," said Dr. Jan Axmacher. "In contrast, nocturnal settling moths - which have many more species than bees - have been neglected by pollination research."

"Our study highlights an urgent need for them to be included in future agricultural management and conservation strategies to help stem declines, and for more research to understand their unique and vital role as pollinators, including their currently unknown role in crop pollination."

The study was focused on agricultural fields in eastern England during the growing seasons of 2016 and 2017. Moth communities and daytime pollinators were monitored once a month.

Of the 838 moths examined for the study, 381 were found to transport pollen. The team found traces of pollen from 47 different plant species, including at least seven that were rarely visited by daytime pollinators. 

Overall, 57 percent of the pollen transported was found on the ventral thorax of the moths.

"While bumblebees and honeybees are known to be super pollinators they also preferentially target the most prolific nectar and pollen sources," said Dr. Walton.

"Moths may appear to be less effective pollinators by comparison, but their high diversity and abundance may make them critical to pollination in ways that we still need to understand." 

"Our research sheds light on a little known world of nocturnal plant-insect interactions that might be vital to the look and smell of our precious countryside and to the crops that we grow."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsbl">Biology Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

Moths found to be critically important pollinators 

Moths play a more important role in supporting crop yields...

The butterfly effect is the idea that small localized changes in a complex system can create larger impacts elsewhere. 

According to a new study from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/index.html">University of Alberta</a>, this is precisely what is happening in the alpine regions of North America, where the effects of climate change are bearing down on the butterflies themselves. 

Study lead author Alessandro Filazzola is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biological Sciences.

"We often frame the effects of climate change directly onto a species as the future becoming either too hot, too dry, or too wet," explained. Filazzola.

"However, climate change can have indirect effects such as through the food resources of a species. These effects are more likely to affect butterflies, because as caterpillars they often feed on one or a few plant species."

The researchers used climate change models to investigate how alpine butterflies are affected by shifting ecosystems in North America. 

The study revealed that alpine butterflies with specialized diets are the most vulnerable to climate change. This is because they are limited to a few plants whose availability is now fluctuating.

Butterflies that feed on a wider variety of plants are less likely to be affected.

"The main outcome from this study is our improved ability to quantify the complex effects of climate change on ecosystems," said Filazzola.

"Understanding the effects of climate change on a species through its food items is very important for biological conservation--climate change is likely going to have complex effects that extend beyond single species mortality."

Climate models like the one used in this study provide a more comprehensive view of how entire ecosystems are impacted by climate change. 

"Using an approach that looks at the ecosystem level would improve our ability to mitigate biodiversity loss and maintain the delivery of ecosystem services such as pollination."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

Alpine butterflies threatened by ecosystem changes

The butterfly effect is the idea that small localized changes...

A new study from <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a> has found strong evidence to suggest that the Earth's inner core is rotating. The research is shedding new light on the systems that control our planet's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-earths-magnetic-fields/">magnetic field</a>.

According to the study authors, geologists do not fully understand how the Earth's magnetic field generator works, but it seems to be closely linked to dynamic processes near the inner core-outer core boundary area.

Irregular seismic data, movement of the magnetic poles, and changes in the strength of the magnetic field are all mysterious clues as to what is actually going on in Earth's inner core.

"In 1996, a small but systematic change of seismic waves passing through the inner core was first detected by our group, which we interpreted as evidence for differential rotation of the inner core relative to the Earth's surface," said study co-author Professor Xiaodong Song. 

"However, some studies believe that what we interpret as movement is instead the result of seismic waves reflecting off an alternately enlarging and shrinking inner core boundary, like growing mountains and cutting canyons."

The researchers analyzed seismic data from various geographic locations and investigated a phenomenon called doublets, or earthquakes that repeat in the same spot over time. 

"Having data from the same location but different times allows us to differentiate between seismic signals that change due to localized variation in relief from those that change due to movement and rotation," said study lead author Yi Yang.

The study revealed that some of the earthquake-generated seismic waves penetrate through the iron body below the inner core boundary and change over time. This would not happen if the inner core were stationary, the researchers explained. 

"Importantly, we are seeing that these refracted waves change before the reflected waves bounce off the inner core boundary, implying that the changes are coming from inside the inner core," said Professor Song.

Previous studies were focused on a small, ambiguous dataset that was obtained using a method that is highly dependent on accurate clock time, said the study authors.

"What makes our analysis different is our precise method for determining exactly when the changes in seismic signals occur and arrive at the various seismic stations across the globe," said Yang.

"We use a seismic wave that did not reach the inner core as a reference wave in our calculations, which eliminates a lot of the ambiguity."

Professor Song noted that the precise arrival time analysis, an extensive collection of the best quality data, and careful statistical analysis performed by Yang are what give this study its power. 

"This work confirms that the temporal changes come mostly, if not all, from the body of the inner core, and the idea that inner core surface changes are the sole source of the signal changes can now be ruled out."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/earth-and-planetary-science-letters">Earth and Planetary Science Letters</a>

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

New evidence suggests Earth's inner core is rotating

A new study from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> have developed a simple technique for creating <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-can-help-lower-the-cost-of-biofuel-production/">biofuel</a> and fertilizer from seaweed. 

Beyond producing sustainable fuels and chemicals, the new strategy could clean up beaches in the Caribbean and Central America.

Every year, millions of tons of rotting seaweed washes up on beaches throughout Mexico and surrounding regions.

The foul-smelling Sargassum seaweed that clogs up white sand beaches is partially fueled by fertilizer runoff. The annual invasion is devastating to ocean ecosystems and to the tourism and fisheries industries. 

In the current study, the researchers developed an inexpensive way to pre-process seaweed before converting it into bulk chemicals and biofuels.

Study co-author Mike Allen is a professor at the University of Exeter.

"Ultimately, for this to work it has to make financial sense," said Professor Allen. "Processing marine biomass like seaweed usually requires removing it from the salt water, washing it in fresh water and drying it."

"The costs of these processes can be prohibitively high. We needed to find a process that would pay for and sustain itself - something both economically and environmentally viable."

"This work provides a crucial missing step towards a true salt-based Marine Biorefinery by establishing the initial fractionation step."

The new process releases sugars that can be used to produce a palm oil substitute and prepares the leftover seaweed for hydrothermal liquefaction. This is a type of depolymerization process that converts wet biomass into bio-oil, which can be further processed to make fuel and fertilizer. 

Study first author Ed Jones is a PhD student at the Center for Sustainable Circular Technologies at the University of Bath.

"In contrast with existing pre-treatment strategies, we show that an entirely salt-based biochemical conversion route can work," said Jones.

"For the first time this study demonstrates that, rather than a hindrance, the presence of saltwater can be helpful."

Professor Christopher Chuck,  Director of the Center for Integrated Bioprocessing Research at the University of Bath, said the variety of products created by this process is a major strength. 

"The oil industry creates a variety of products including liquid fuel, plastics and fertilisers - and we can benefit from a similar flexibility," said Professor Chuck. 

"We can simply alter the process conditions to produce larger or smaller amounts of specific by-products, allowing us to meet variable demand."

Another major advantage of the strategy is the elimination of invasive seaweed. 

"Many countries in the Caribbean and Central America rely heavily on tourism, so the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Sargassum problem have put them on their knees," said Professor Allen. "Last month more than 4 million tonnes of problematic seaweed washed up on their shores."

The study is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10974660">Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

Groundbreaking technique turns rotting seaweed into biofuels 

Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a simple...

Identifying the distinguishing traits among male and female <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-dna-blueprint-success/">dinosaurs</a> has been a persistent challenge for scientists. Despite previous assertions, a new study led by <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> suggests that it is too difficult to positively recognize the sex of a dinosaur based on a skeleton alone.

The researchers analyzed the skulls of modern-day gharials, large crocodiles with narrow snouts that widen at the nostrils, to gauge whether their sex can be determined using only fossil records.

Male gharials are larger than females and have a fleshy growth on the end of their snout, known as a ghara. Although the ghara is comprised of soft tissue, it is supported by a bony hollow near the nostrils that is visible in the skull.

The study was focused on 106 gharial specimens stored in museums all over the world. The experts found that aside from the presence of the bony hollow, the narial fossa, the males and females were strikingly similar.

"Like dinosaurs, gharials are large, slow growing reptiles that lay eggs, which makes them a good model for studying extinct dinosaur species," explained study co-author Dr. David Hone. 

"Our research shows that even with prior knowledge of the sex of the specimen, it can still be difficult to tell male and female gharials apart. With most dinosaurs we don't have anywhere near that size of the dataset used for this study, and we don't know the sex of the animals, so we'd expect this task to be much harder."

Across many species, males and females have extremely different appearances, which is known as sexual dimorphism. For example, with the exception of reindeer, antlers are only found in male deer. 

Sexual dimorphism is very common throughout the animal kingdom and is likely present in dinosaurs, but the gender differences may be too difficult to spot on skeletal remains. 

"Some animals show extraordinarily high levels of sexual dimorphism, for example huge size differences between males and females," said Dr. Hone.

"Gharials sit somewhere in the middle as they do possess these large narial fossa that can help with identification. Our study suggests that unless the differences between the dinosaurs are really striking, or there is a clear feature like the fossa, we will struggle to tell a male and female dinosaur apart using our existing dinosaur skeletons."

The findings challenge previous studies that have proposed specific gender differences in popular dinosaur species, such as the Tyrannosaurus rex.

"Many years ago, a scientific paper suggested that female T. rex are bigger than males. However, this was based on records from 25 broken specimens and our results show this level of data just isn't good enough to be able to make this conclusion," said Dr. Hone.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Dinosaur gender remains a mystery

Identifying the distinguishing traits among male and female dinosaurs has...

A new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a> has revealed that the first signs of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/studies-urgently-needed-on-the-impacts-of-covid-19-in-animals/">COVID-19</a> in children are not always respiratory symptoms. The researchers are reporting that gastrointestinal symptoms are often early indications of COVID-19 infection among younger people.

The gastrointestinal symptoms observed in some children suggest that they are infected through the digestive tract. The same type of cell receptors that SARS-CoV-2 targets in the lungs can also be found in the intestines.

Study lead author Dr. Wenbin Li is an expert in the Department of Pediatrics at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China.

"Most children are only mildly affected by COVID-19 and the few severe cases often have underlying health issues," said Dr. Li. "It is easy to miss its diagnosis in the early stage, when a child has non-respiratory symptoms or suffers from another illness." 

"Based on our experience of dealing with COVID-19, in regions where this virus is epidemic, children suffering from digestive tract symptoms, especially with fever and/or a history of exposure to this disease, should be suspected of being infected with this virus."

Dr. Li and his team are describing the clinical features of children that were admitted to the hospital with non-respiratory symptoms, but were subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia and COVID-19.

"These children were seeking medical advice in the emergency department for unrelated problems. For example, one had a kidney stone, another a head trauma. All had pneumonia confirmed by chest CT scan before or soon after admission and then confirmed to have COVID-19," said Dr. Li.

"While their initial symptoms may have been unrelated, or their COVID-19 symptoms were initially mild or relatively hidden before their admission to hospital, importantly, 4 of the 5 cases had digestive tract symptoms as the first manifestation of this disease."

Dr. Li hopes that doctors will use this information to quickly diagnose and isolate patients with similar symptoms, which will facilitate early treatment and reduce transmission.

Gastrointestinal symptoms have also been documented in adult COVID-19 patients. The researchers propose that this signifies another potential route of infection.

"The gastrointestinal symptoms experienced by these children may be related to the distribution of receptors and the transmission pathway associated with COVID-19 infection in humans," said Dr. Li.

"The virus infects people via the ACE2 receptor, which can be found in certain cells in the lungs as well as the intestines. This suggests that COVID-19 might infect patients not only through the respiratory tract in the form of air droplets, but also through the digestive tract by contact or fecal-oral transmission."

Dr. Li cautions that more research is needed to confirm the findings.

"We report five cases of COVID-19 in children showing non-respiratory symptoms as the first manifestation after admission to hospital. The incidence and clinical features of similar cases needs further study in more patients."

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/pediatrics#archive">Frontiers in Pediatrics</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Children with COVID-19 may have gastrointestinal symptoms

A new study published by Frontiers has revealed that the...

Since prehistoric times, medicinal plants have been important resources for fighting disease and infection. One of the greatest challenges of natural drug development is finding new <a href="http://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/15-healing-herbs-you-can-grow-at-home/">herbs</a> with protective health effects.

In a study led by the <a href="https://www.idiv.de/en/index.html">German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research</a>, scientists have developed an entirely new approach that will simplify the search for bioactive natural compounds.

Using data analyses on the phylogenetic relationships, spatial distribution, and secondary metabolites of plants, the experts can now predict which groups of plants are likely to have a large number of species with medicinal compounds. This method will also help to narrow the search by pinpointing where these plant groups are located. 

Humans are particularly dependent on drugs from natural sources because pathogens are constantly evolving and producing new strains. 

More than 70 percent of antibiotics used today were originally sourced from natural compounds found in plants, fungi, bacteria, and marine organisms, and there are still an enormous number of infection-fighting substances yet to be discovered in nature. 

For example, only about ten percent of all vascular plants have been screened for medicinal compounds. 

Furthermore, the plants that have been identified as sources of active compounds have not been documented consistently. Both the plants and their metabolites are given names that vary from region to region.

In the current study, the experts have taken an important first step in collecting and standardizing the existing knowledge of medicinal plants. 

The researchers collected information on the known secondary metabolites, phylogenetic relationships, and the distribution of plants on the Indonesian island of Java. They recorded around 7,500 seed plant species, which contained more than 16,500 metabolites listed in substance databases. 

Based on the recorded data, almost 2,900 of these metabolites were identified as infection-fighting substances.

The 2,900 active compounds were found to be produced by 1,600 of the 7,500 plant species examined for the study. This means that not all plant species produce active compounds in the same way. 

"Rather, there tends to be a concentration of species that produce active compounds in individual plant families, with those species being usually closely related," said study co-author Professor Alexandra Muellner-Riehl. 

To pinpoint which groups of plants were rich in active compounds, the scientists combined the genetic data and the metabolite information. They were able to identify the types of plants that are known to produce the most or the least anti-infective substances.

"This information allows us to identify specific plant groups that very likely possess anti-infective substances but have not yet been examined for them," said study co-author Dr. Jan Schnitzler.

In Java, the most promising region for bioactive compounds was in the mountains, where there is the highest diversity of plant species. 

According to the study authors, their new approach for finding medicinal compounds could easily be transferred to other geographical areas.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</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

&nbsp;

Narrowing the search for new medicinal plants

Since prehistoric times, medicinal plants have been important resources for...

Plant scientists at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">NYU</a> have discovered how plants perceive nitrogen availability and adjust their growth accordingly. The breakthrough may ultimately lead to ways to enhance <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-use-a-molecular-alarm-system-to-respond-to-insect-pests/">plant</a> growth while reducing the need for harmful and costly fertilizers.

Crop yield can be increased with fertilizer, but the molecular link between a higher dose of nitrogen and greater plant biomass has been a mystery. 

A team of experts at the NYU Center for Genomics &amp; Systems Biology examined plants to investigate how increasing doses of nitrogen may trigger changes in genetic expression over time. Next, the researchers used mathematical models to analyze the rate of change in messenger RNA (mRNA) for thousands of genes.

The study revealed that the dynamics of mRNA responses to nitrogen dose were regulated by enzyme kinetics, or enzyme reaction rates, principles that were first described by Michaelis-Menten in 1913.

The researchers discovered that the Michaelis-Menten kinetics model could accurately represent the rate of changes in gene expression among 30 percent of nitrogen-dose responsive genes.

"According to the classic Michaelis-Menten kinetic model, changing enzyme abundance will impact the maximum rate of reaction possible. Because transcription factors establish the rates at which gene transcription from DNA into RNA takes place, they can be directly compared to the catalytic enzymes in the Michaelis-Menten model," explained study senior author Professor Gloria Coruzzi.

"This means that increasing the abundance of key transcription factors should be able to boost the rate of nitrogen-dose dependent gene expression and, as a consequence, the rate of plant growth."

Experiments showed that increasing the level of the transcription factor TGA1 accelerated the rates of nitrogen-dose responsive gene expression and the rate of plant growth. In response to nitrogen, the plants that overexpressed TGA1 achieved a plant biomass three times greater than wild plants.

"By modeling the transcriptome kinetics underlying nitrogen-dose sensing using a classic principle of Michaelis-Menten kinetics, we discovered a regulatory gene whose increased expression may boost crop growth within low-nitrogen soils," said Professor Coruzzi. 

"Because TGA1 is conserved in plants, including crops such as rice, tomatoes, and wheat, our findings have implications for improving nitrogen use efficiency in crops, which can benefit agriculture and sustainability."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Scientists identify molecular link between nitrogen and plant growth

Plant scientists at NYU have discovered how plants perceive nitrogen...

Rows of plants known as flowering strips are designed to be pollinator-friendly, but a new study suggests they have some drawbacks. 

Researchers at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">NC State University</a> have found that while flowering strips can help boost bumble bee reproduction, they also facilitate higher rates of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deadly-honey-bee-disease-is-accelerating-across-the-uk/">disease</a>. 

The team demonstrated that flowering strip plants supported bee colony reproduction by adding floral resources for common eastern bumble bees. 

On the other hand, bumble bees exposed to certain plants showed higher rates of infection by a bee pathogen, Crithidia bombi, which is associated with reduced foraging abilities and can be fatal.

The study revealed that certain "high-infection" plants doubled C. bombi infection when compared with "low-infection" plant species. A control group of bees that only had access to canola was found to have infection rates that fell somewhere in between.

Regardless of their level of infection, bee colonies that foraged on flowering strips were more reproductively successful than bees in the control group.

"We wanted to know the effects of flowering strip plant species on the health and reproduction of bumble bees," said study co-author Professor Rebecca E. Irwin. "Flowering strips are becoming more common as people look for ways to mitigate pollinator declines."

The low-infection plants used for the study included sunflower and thyme, and the high-infection plants included swamp milkweed and purple loosestrife.

"In a prior study, we evaluated 15 plant species by putting the same amount of C. bombi on each, letting a bee forage, and then seeing whether and how bad of an infection it developed," said study co-author Professor Lynn S. Adler of UMass Amherst. "We used that to designate plant species as 'high/low infection' for this study."

"The bees were all infected with the same amount of pathogen and then allowed to forage, so the plants could increase or decrease infection."

Professor Adler explained that the tradeoff of higher pathogen infection in exchange for better reproductive rates may be acceptable.

"It depends on how critical food versus the pathogen is for pollinators. Crithidia is somewhat benign, but if these patterns hold for other pathogens like Nosema, a common honey bee disease, it may be more of a concern. Right now I would not recommend stopping our investment in flowering strips."

The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</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

&nbsp;

Conservation strategy found to increase disease in bumble bees

Rows of plants known as flowering strips are designed to...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>, researchers have identified a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/human-monkey-hybrid-china/">hybrid</a> lobster species with both American and European genes. 

According to study co-author Dr. Charlie Ellis, the discovery has potentially concerning implications for the lobster industry and conservation efforts, and further research is needed to assess the extent of the threat.

Lobsters imported from North America have been washing up on European shores in recent years. Experts have feared that the American lobsters may establish themselves as a native species or spread disease. 

There have also been concerns about the negative effects of hybridization, but lab studies suggested that the European and American lobsters were not likely to mate.

Now, the offspring of a female American lobster found in a fjord in Sweden have been genetically identified as being "clearly distinct” from both European and American lobsters.

“We had just developed a genetic test for seafood traceability that could separate any American lobsters mislabeled as more expensive European equivalents once they’ve been cooked and shell coloration is no longer a useful indicator of the species,” said Dr. Ellis.

“What we found when we tested these offspring is that they came out exactly in the middle of this separation – half American and half European – so these lobsters were hybrids.”

“Until recently, it was thought that American and European lobsters would avoid crossbreeding, but this introduced American female has mated with a native European male, probably because she was unable to find an American male."

“We now need to check whether any mature adult hybrids are fertile, because if they are then they have the ability to spread these unwanted American genes far and wide across our native lobster stocks.”

According to the researchers, the study highlights the vital use of genetics to distinguish hybrid lobsters which might look almost identical to a pure strain.

“It is particularly concerning that we seem to have found American lobster genes in one of our lobster reserves,” said study co-author Linda Svanberg.

“The better news is we now have this genetic tool to test lobsters or their eggs for hybridisation, so we can use it to track the spread of these ‘alien’ genes to assess how big a threat this presents to our native lobster species," said study lead author Dr. Jamie Stevens.

For a range of conservation reasons, including potential contact with American lobsters, the researchers advise that the general public should never release a marketed lobster back into the wild.

"Although we appreciate that all animal-lovers have concern for the fate of individual animals, in this case the rescue of one animal might endanger the health of the entire wild population, so once a lobster has entered the seafood supply chain that’s where it should stay," said Dr. Tom Jenkins. 

The study is 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

&nbsp;

Hybrid lobster species discovered with new genetic test

In a new study from the University of Exeter, researchers...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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

[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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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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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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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