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 new study from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">NYU</a> has found that the earliest modern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/two-migrations-north-america/">artifacts</a> recovered in Europe were created by Homo sapiens who immigrated from Africa. The innovative tools and animal tooth pendants were initially believed to be the work of Neanderthals.

The experts analyzed bones and other artifacts unearthed in the Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria.

The research is shedding new light on the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe and their interactions with the indigenous and declining Neanderthal population.

"Our findings link the expansion of what were then advanced technologies, such as blade tools and pendants made from teeth and bone, with the spread of Homo sapiens more than 45,000 years ago," explained study co-author Professor Shara Bailey. 

"This confirms that Homo sapiens were mostly responsible for these 'modern' creations and that similarities between these and other sites in which Neanderthals made similar things are due to interaction between the populations."

According to Professor Bailey, if Neanderthals had created these tools and jewelry, it would have indicated they had more advanced cognitive abilities than previously realized. 

"Nonetheless, there are some similarities in manufacturing techniques used by Homo sapiens at Bacho Kiro and Neanderthals elsewhere, which makes clear that there was cultural transmission going on between the two groups."

An international team of researchers, led by experts at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, focused on the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic period between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago. 

At this time across Europe, local Neanderthals were being gradually replaced by Homo sapiens populations from Africa. The population shifts likely varied across regions, and many details of the transition are still a mystery.

To investigate part of this transition, the team focused on Bacho Kiro, where Europe's earliest modern technologies had been discovered. The researchers used several techniques to determine which human species occupied the region where the fossils were found. 

Professor Bailey is an expert in tooth analysis, and her team examined teeth and bones from Bacho Kiro. Using collagen peptide mass fingerprinting, the experts identified human bone fragments that were at least 45,000 years old, which coincides with the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe. 

Further DNA analysis showed that the bone fragments belonged to Homo sapiens. There was no evidence of Neanderthals present among the Bacho Kiro fossils.

"ZooMS allows us to identify previously unidentifiable bone fragments as some form of human," said Professor Bailey. "From there, we can apply more sophisticated techniques to identify the species and more accurately date human bones."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Earliest modern artifacts in Europe created by Homo sapiens

A new study from NYU has found that the earliest...

The loss of water in northern peatlands will intensify global warming and wildfires, according to new research.

An international team of 59 scientists led by <a href="https://www.mcmaster.ca/">McMaster University</a> investigated how various ecosystems lose water to the atmosphere. 

The researchers found that in response to a warming climate, forests and peatlands regulate water loss in dramatically different ways.

Experts in McMaster's School of Geography and Earth Sciences, Manuel Helbig and Mike Waddington, analyzed observational data from countries across the boreal biome. 

Most current global climate models assume the biome is all forest, an omission that could seriously compromise their projections, explained Helbig.

"We need to account for the specific behavior of peatlands if we want to understand the boreal climate, precipitation, water availability and the whole carbon cycle. Peatlands are so important for storing carbon, and they are so vulnerable."

Helbig said that until now, it had not been possible to capture such a comprehensive view of these water-cycle dynamics. With the support of the Global Water Futures Initiative and research partners across the globe, new insights are emerging.

As the climate warms, the drier air can absorb more water, yet forest ecosystems respond to the dry air by retaining more water.  

Trees, shrubs, and grasses are vascular plants that absorb carbon dioxide and release water and oxygen through pores in their leaves. These pores close in warmer and drier weather to conserve water.

Beyond the forest, the rest of the boreal landscape is comprised of peatlands and lakes.

Peatlands are made up of organic matter from decaying plant material, and store massive amounts of water and carbon. As long as they remain saturated, peatlands serve as natural firebreaks between sections of forest. 

Peatland mosses are not vascular plants, which means they do not conserve water in a warming climate and are more prone to drying out. When peat becomes dehydrated, it is transformed from a firebreak into fuel.

Helbig explained that drier peatlands mean bigger, more intense fires that can release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.

"It's crucial to consider the accelerated water loss of peatlands in a warming climate as we project what will happen to the boreal landscape in the next 100 to 200 years," said Helbig.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Peatlands become fuel for wildfires in a warming climate

The loss of water in northern peatlands will intensify global...

Higher educational status linked to healthier diet. Researchers at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> have found that higher education has a positive influence on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dietary-supplements-can-help-you-fight-off-covid-19/">diet</a>. The correlation between educational status and healthier food choices was found to be particularly pronounced in low income countries.

The study was focused on nutritional data from 27,334 individuals in 12 European countries. In collaboration with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe), the researchers analyzed the interactions between socioeconomic status, education,  and diet.

The research is the first of its kind to show that higher educational status seems to help mitigate the extent of poorer diets in low income European countries. 

Nutritional food consumption was found to increase alongside the level of education, and this was especially the case for iron and total folate intake.

According to the researchers, the findings highlight the need for strong policies supporting good nutrition, prioritizing lower education groups.

Poor diet and malnutrition are linked to major health problems across Europe, including diseases like obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. In 2018, 59 percent of adults in the WHO European Region were overweight or obese.

The current research provides the largest representative diet survey dataset across WHO Europe, providing an important reference for policy makers.

Study lead author Dr. Holly Rippin began the research while she was a postgraduate researcher in the School of Food Science and Nutrition at Leeds, and she is now a WHO consultant. 

"Our study shows that national income and diet quality appear to be linked, and education could protect against some of the long-term negative effects of poor nutrition on population health," said Dr. Rippin.

"Strategies supporting education in lower education groups and lower income countries could be effective in improving nutrition, particularly in disadvantaged groups."

Study co-author Janet Cade is a professor of Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health.

"This was a great collaborative effort between 12 European countries - we hope that policymakers across Europe will use this information to inform their nutrition policies in the future and prioritize these vulnerable groups," said Professor Cade.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Higher educational status linked to healthier diet

Higher educational status linked to healthier diet. Researchers at the...

A new study has revealed that the prolific comb jelly, an invasive marine species from North America, uses cannibalism to survive long winters. The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-kill-toxin-genes/">jellies</a> feed on blooms of their own offspring to persist in the nutrient-deprived waters. 

As non-native species are increasingly disrupting ecosystems in a changing climate, it is important to understand the strategies and traits that allow them to survive. 

Comb jellies have been very successful in expanding their ranges from the east coast of North and South America to the coast of Eurasia. 

It has been challenging for scientists to understand how the invasive jellies manage to colonize local habitats, where they cause a lot of economic and environmental damage.  

Instead of storing resources for the winter, the jellies invest seemingly unnecessary energy in massive "blooms" of offspring that do not survive long winters in nutrient-deprived waters.

Scientists assumed that comb jellies were able to persist thanks to a lack of predators, but the new study links their success to cannibalism.

The research was focused on comb jellies at their northernmost range in the Baltic Sea off of northern Germany.

"We combined a study of the population dynamics of this species with experimental feeding and geochemical tracers to show, for the first time, that adult jellies were actually consuming the blooms of their own offspring," explained study lead author Professor Jamileh Javidpour.

The discovery sheds new light on why the jellies invest so much energy in the blooms of offspring before wintering. The blooms serve as floating nutrient reservoirs that persist beyond the collapse of normal prey populations. 

The consumption of offspring was found to provide adults with an additional two to three weeks of growth, which is essentially the difference between life and death. 

"In some ways, the whole jelly population is acting as a single organism, with the younger groups supporting the adults through times of nutrient stress," said study co-author Thomas Larsen.

"Overall, it enables jellies to persist through extreme events and low food periods, colonizing further than climate systems and other conditions would usually allow."

&nbsp;

The findings may ultimately help to combat the spread of comb jellies,  which can negatively impact native species as well as local fisheries. In their non-native ranges, the comb jellies have been particularly successful in places with rapidly warming seawater, overfishing, and excessive nutrient loads.

The study also indicates that cannibalism may be much more widespread in the animal kingdom than what was previously realized. 

While cannibalism is known to occur in times of extreme shortage or disaster across many species, the new research shows that it can occur under regular conditions.

"Because comb jellies trace their ancestry back to the beginning of most animal life as we know it during the Cambrian Period, 525 Million Years Ago, it remains possible that it is a basic, unifying feature across the animal kingdom," said Professor Javidpour.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio">Communications Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Comb jellies use cannibalism to survive long winters

A new study has revealed that the prolific comb jelly,...

The effect that water vapor has on the weather is complex and not entirely understood. In a new study from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>, researchers have found that atmospheric water vapor plays a central role in the interactions between soil moisture and afternoon <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/heavy-rainfall-intensifies-soil-respiration-and-global-warming/">rainfall</a>. 

"The prevailing wisdom on the relationship between soil moisture and rainfall is that if you have wetter soil in the morning, you'll have a greater occurrence of rainfall in afternoon, but it's more complicated than that," said study lead author Josh Welty. "On a global scale, we see evidence that you can have greater chances of afternoon rainfall over both wet and dry soil conditions, depending on atmospheric moisture."

In a collaboration with experts at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the researchers analyzed satellite-based observations of soil moisture and afternoon rainfall in the northern hemisphere. 

The NASA satellite data examined for the study was obtained over the last five years for the Global Precipitation Measurement mission.

The study revealed that on days when the wind blows in little atmospheric moisture, afternoon rainfall is more likely to occur over wetter soils or higher relative humidity. 

By contrast, on days when wind carries in an abundance of atmospheric moisture, afternoon rainfall is more likely over drier soils or lower relative humidity. 

The researchers also determined that for both conditions, rainfall is more likely to occur in the afternoon on days with warmer air or soil temperatures in the morning.

The research builds on a previous study that identified the link between soil moisture and afternoon rainfall in the Southern Great Plains of Oklahoma. 

The new findings show that the relationship between soil moisture, afternoon rainfall, and atmospheric moisture in Oklahoma does not apply to the entire northern hemisphere.

"Over the Southern Great Plains, we found that when the wind brings less moisture, dry soils are associated with increases in rainfall amount; and when the wind brings greater moisture, wet soils are associated with increases in rainfall amount. In the current study, we find that, actually, in many regions, the opposite is true for the likelihood of afternoon rainfall," said Welty.

Study co-author Xubin Zeng said that understanding the role of water vapor in weather is important because its effects are felt everywhere.

"For example, for the Southern Great Plains there are many tornado activities because there is water vapor moving in from the Gulf of Mexico. Also, on the California coast you talk about severe flooding from atmospheric rivers, which are corridors of concentrated water vapor that can quickly precipitate once hitting a mountain range, causing mass flooding," said Zeng.

"Water vapor brought in by the winds is an important source to understand. In the past, people didn't pay enough attention to it in studying how land conditions affect rainfall, potentially making their results misleading. Once we consider the wind's movement of water vapor, the results become more robust."

Recognizing the interactions between water vapor, soil moisture, and afternoon rainfall has become even more important now as global warming will shift their patterns. Such changes will not only have effects on weather and natural disasters, but also on agriculture, explained Zeng.

"The results really show the complexity of the land's influence on weather and climate," said study co-author and NASA scientist Joe Santanello. "When you add in the human factor of irrigation or land use that changes the dryness or wetness of the soils, which we currently don't represent well in the models, we potentially have additional downstream effects on weather and climate that we haven't foreseen."

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

&nbsp;

Water vapor and soil moisture can predict afternoon rainfall

The effect that water vapor has on the weather is...

Large male and female fish are not only the top picks as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shark-sanctuaries-offer-little-protection/">fishing</a> targets, but are also the preferred choice for sexual selection. In a new study from the <a href="https://www.jyu.fi/en">University of Jyväskylä</a>, research fellow Silva Uusi-Heikkilä describes the potential consequences of commercial fishing on reproductive success and population viability.

Among most fish species, body size is an important part of the sexual selection process. Large fish are usually preferred over small fish because they can provide better resources and protection for the survival of the offspring.

Sexual selection depends on the advantages that certain individuals have to offer. This process is beneficial to the reproductive success of fish populations by boosting fitness and viability.

A large male can provide more intensive care for the developing offspring than a small male, and this is attractive to females. 

On the other hand, a large female salmon is more fertile than a small salmon and attracts multiple males. Sexual selection in fish has been primarily studied based on certain model species, such as zebrafish and three-spine stickleback.

"Zebrafish females prefer a large male as a mating partner and releases more eggs for him compared to a small male. In some species females also produce higher quality eggs towards large males," explained Uusi-Heikkilä.

Fisheries often remove the largest individuals from the population, which works against sexual selection. However, the effects of fisheries selection on sexual selection is an issue that has received relatively little attention.

"Studying mate choice in natural conditions can be challenging," said Uusi-Heikkilä. As a result, the mating systems of many commercially valuable fish species are poorly known, with the exception of salmon and cod. 

Experimental studies have revealed a great deal about cod mating systems, while salmon spawn in their home rivers where it is easy to observe mate choice and mate competition compared to fish who spawn in the ocean.

Uusi-Heikkilä emphasized that more research is needed to understand how size-selective fisheries affect fish mating systems, how persistent these effects are, and how population growth, viability and resilience may be impacted.

"Large females and males often have higher reproductive success than small ones. Thus, size-selective fisheries may impair population growth," said Uusi-Heikkilä.

"It is tempting to think that sexual selection could buffer the adverse effects of fishing and rescue exploited populations. This is not going to happen, if there are now large females and males left."

"Overall, if fishing reduces body size variation in a population, sexual selection cannot operate effectively." 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17524571">Evolutionary Applications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Commercial fishing may severely impact sexual selection 

Large male and female fish are not only the top...

In a new study published in the open-access journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>, researchers have found evidence that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lager-beer-garden-slugs/">beer</a> has been brewed in central Europe for more than 6,000 years. The team has developed a new technique for identifying traces of beer and malted food.

Beer has played an important social and dietary role in societies since prehistoric times. However, archaeological evidence of beer and other cereal-based alcoholic beverages is not easy to identify because their markers are not reliable or durable. 

A research team led by Andreas G. Heiss at the Austrian Academy of Sciences set out to look for microstructural alterations that may be present in brewed cereal grains. Since malting is the first step in the beer-brewing process, the team simulated archaeological preservation of malted barley. 

The researchers compared the experimental grains with ancient grains from five archaeological sites dating to the 4th millennium BCE. These sites included two known beer-brewing sites in Predynastic Egypt and three central European lakeshore settlements where cereal-based foods were found in containers.

An analysis using electron microscopy revealed that the experimental barley grains had unusually thin aleurone cell walls. Across all five prehistoric sites, the grain samples had the same aleurone cell wall thinning.

While there could be other explanations for the thinned cell wall, such as fungal decay, the study results suggest that the grain's aleurone layer can serve as a general marker for the malting process.

"For over a year, we kept checking our new feature until we were happy. However, it took us quite a while to realize that en passant we had also provided the oldest evidence for malt-based food in Neolithic central Europe," said Dr. Heiss.

"The Swiss finds, coming from one settlement at the banks of Lake Zurich, and the southwestern German finds, from two settlements at the banks of Lake Constance, were all from the 4th millennium BC and therefore they are roughly as old as the Egyptian finds."

The new diagnostic technique for confirming the presence beer works on artifacts even if no intact grains are present. The method will ultimately expand our knowledge of prehistoric malting and brewing.

"Structural changes in the germinating grain, described decades ago by plant physiologists and brewing scientists alike, have now successfully been turned into a diagnostic feature for archaeological malt, even if the grains concerned are only preserved as pulverized and burnt crusts on pottery," wrote the study authors. 

"A 'small side effect' is the confirmation of the production of malt-based drinks in central Europe as early as the 4th millennium BC."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Beer was brewed in Central Europe 6,000 years ago

In a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS...

Dangerous high-humidity heat emerging across the globe. Scientists recently predicted that a dangerous mix of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/experts-identify-the-molecular-recipe-for-heat-resistant-wheat-crops/">heat</a> and humidity will strike tropical regions by the end of this century, creating conditions that may be intolerable for humans. 

But now, researchers at the <a href="https://www.earth.columbia.edu/">Earth Institute</a> have discovered that potentially deadly extremes of high-humidity heat have already arrived in places all over the world. 

The experts have pinpointed thousands of examples where rare or unprecedented levels of heat and humidity occurred in Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and North America. 

"These measurements imply that some areas of Earth are much closer than expected to attaining sustained intolerable heat. It was previously believed we had a much larger margin of safety," said Steven Sherwood, a climatologist at the University of New South Wales.

Along the Persian Gulf, the researchers identified more than a dozen brief outbreaks that surpassed the theoretical human survivability limit. 

So far, the bouts of extreme heat and humidity have been confined to local areas and lasted only a few hours. However, the researchers found that the events are increasing in frequency and intensity.

"Previous studies projected that this would happen several decades from now, but this shows it's happening right now," said study lead author Colin Raymond. "The times these events last will increase, and the areas they affect will grow in direct correlation with global warming."

Based on weather data from 1979 to 2017, the researchers determined that extreme heat and humidity events doubled over the study period. 

The areas with repeated incidents include India, Bangladesh, Pakistan northwestern Australia, and along the coasts of the Red Sea and Mexico's Gulf of California. Parts of southeast Asia, southern China, subtropical Africa, and the Caribbean were also hit with high-humidity heat.

The southeastern United States experienced these conditions dozens of times, primarily along the Gulf Coast in east Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle, with Buloxi and New Orleans being hit the hardest. The high-humidity heat was also identified in Arkansas and along the southeastern coastal plain.

The humid heat waves are most common on the coastlines of confined seas, gulfs, and straits, where evaporating ocean water provides abundant moisture to be sucked up by hot air. Further inland, monsoon winds or wide areas of crop irrigation appear to make the same type of contribution to humidity.

Heat-related illnesses already kill more U.S. residents than any other natural hazard, including hurricanes or floods. 

Last year, the website InsideClimate News reported that cases of heat stroke or heat exhaustion among U.S. troops on domestic bases increased by 60 percent from 2008 to 2018. Most of the soldiers that died were located in the Southeast. In Russia and Europe, where far fewer people have air conditioning, high-humidity heat waves have killed tens of thousands.

"We may be closer to a real tipping point on this than we think," said study co-author Radley Horton.

Many people in the poor countries that are most at risk do not have electricity or air conditioning. Furthermore, many of these people rely on subsistence farming that requires heavy labor outdoors. According to Horton, these facts could make some of the most affected areas basically uninhabitable.

Kristina Dahl, a climatologist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the new study shows "how close communities around the world are to the limits." She added that some places may already be seeing conditions worse than the study suggests, because weather stations do not necessarily pick up hot spots in dense city neighborhoods built with heat-trapping concrete and pavement.

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

&nbsp;

Dangerous high-humidity heat emerging across the globe

Dangerous high-humidity heat emerging across the globe. Scientists recently predicted...

Studies urgently needed on the impacts of COVID-19 in animals. In a new paper published by <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/">Mary Ann Liebert, Inc</a>, experts are describing the urgent need for research to understand the potential impacts of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cancer-patients-have-a-higher-risk-of-fatal-covid-19-infection/">COVID-19</a> in animals. Cases of COVID-19 have already been confirmed in dogs, cats, lions, and tigers. 

"We are now faced with many urgent questions that can only be answered through investigative studies and surveillance," wrote the researchers. 

The experts not only want answers to the questions of what animal species can be infected with SARS-CoV-2, but also want to know if the infection can be further transmitted, what tests are currently available, and how COVID-19 is expressed among animals. 

In addition, the researchers are calling for information on the impact that COVID-19 infection could have on food security and the economy. 

The study authors explained that reliable data are needed on the SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of cattle, chickens, and other types of livestock and poultry - along with the potential for human transmission - to guide public health decisions by policy makers. 

"The susceptibility of livestock and poultry that could act as virus reservoirs, might serve as animal models for COVID-19, or are possibly in close contact with infected humans, is still understudied," wrote the study authors. 

The paper also focuses on the implications of COVID-19 infection for working dogs.

"The U.S. government spends millions of dollars to train bomb-sniffing dogs essential to federal and local law enforcement capabilities," wrote the study authors. "Dogs serve many roles in the military and as multipurpose canines as already mentioned. A fully trained bomb detection canine is likely worth over $150,000." 

"What happens if working dogs lose their sense of smell? Unfortunately, the only susceptibility study published on dogs did not include histopathologic evaluation or immunohistochemical staining of the nasal passages in the experimentally SARS-CoV-2-infected dogs that were necropsied, so this remains an important but unanswered question."

The researchers said that if infected dogs lost their sense of smell it could have a devastating impact on U.S. national security. 

"In contrast, if an effect of SARS-CoV-2 on smell is conclusively ruled out, perhaps dogs can be trained to detect people with COVID-19 and enhance surveillance for the disease. Either way, there is a critical need for studies to investigate this issue."

Dr. Stephen Higgs is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal <a href="https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/vector-borne-and-zoonotic-diseases/67/overview">Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases</a> and the Director of the Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University.

"The potential for zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 to infect companion animals has been a topic of much discussion," said Dr. Higgs. 

"With over 3 million cases of COVID-19 and over a quarter of a million deaths worldwide so far since January, it is vital that we understand the risks posed by domestic animals as a possible source for human infection. This review brings all of what we know about SARS-CoV-2, pets, and other animals to our readership."

The full article, "A Critical Needs Assessment for Research in Companion Animals and Livestock Following the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Humans," can be found <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/vbz.2020.2650">here</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Studies urgently needed on the impacts of COVID-19 in animals

Studies urgently needed on the impacts of COVID-19 in animals....

Higher <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/extreme-rainfall-triggered-the-2018-kilauea-eruption/">rainfall</a> patterns in tropical areas are accelerating the rate of soil respiration and intensifying global warming, according to a new study. 

For the investigation, the researchers analyzed sediments collected from the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta in Bangladesh.

Study lead author Dr. Christopher Hein is an expert in Coastal Geology at William &amp; Mary's <a href="https://www.vims.edu/">Virginia Institute of Marine Science</a>.

"We found that shifts toward a warmer and wetter climate in the drainage basin of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers over the last 18,000 years enhanced rates of soil respiration and decreased stocks of soil carbon," said Dr. Hein. 

"This has direct implications for Earth's future, as climate change is likely to increase rainfall in tropical regions, further accelerating respiration of soil carbon, and adding even more CO2 to the atmosphere than that directly added by humans."

Soil respiration is a measure of the carbon dioxide that is released from the soil as microbes decompose and metabolize organic materials in the ground. Plant roots contribute to soil respiration at night as they burn some of the carbohydrates that were produced during the day.

The current study was focused on three sediment cores collected from the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the world's largest river delta that contains sediments eroded from the Himalayas. 

The Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers carry more than a billion tons of sediment to the Bay of Bengal each year, and the environmental history of the last 18,000 years was recorded in the cores examined for the study. 

Radiocarbon dating allowed the researchers to identify a link between precipitation levels and soil age. The wetter epochs were associated with younger and rapidly respiring soils, while drier epochs were linked to older soils capable of storing carbon for longer periods.

The study revealed that in the 2,600 years following the end of the last Ice Age, as India's summer monsoon strengthened, the rate of soil respiration nearly doubled. 

"We found that a small increase in precipitation values corresponds to a much larger decrease in soil age," said Dr. Hein. He explained that "small changes in the amount of carbon stored in soils can moreover play an outsized role in modulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations and, therefore, global climate, as soils are a primary global reservoir of this element."

Previous studies have highlighted the threat of soil respiration in permafrost reserves across the Arctic. The widespread thawing of permafrost in this region releases up to 0.6 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year.

"We've now found a similar climate feedback in the tropics, and are concerned that enhanced soil respiration due to greater precipitation - itself a response to climate change - will further increase concentrations of CO2 in our atmosphere," said Dr. Hein. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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;

Heavy rainfall intensifies soil respiration and global warming

Higher rainfall patterns in tropical areas are accelerating the rate...

Researchers at the <a href="https://medicine.wustl.edu/">Washington University School of Medicine</a> have found that when it is time to adapt to a challenging situation, fruit flies go to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/poor-sleep-quality-linked-to-higher-blood-glucose-levels/">sleep</a>. The discovery is shedding new light on how sleep may be used as a tool to cope with difficult circumstances. 

"We know that sleep is involved in creativity and insight," said study senior author Dr. Paul Shaw. "Have you ever slept on a problem, and when you wake up you've found the answer? Anxiety keeps people up at night, but if you find yourself in a dangerous environment, or in a situation that you don't know how to deal with, sleep may be exactly what you need to respond to it effectively."

The sleeping patterns of fruit flies are very similar to those in humans. The baby flies need a lot of sleep, but require less sleep as they get older. Fruit flies become alert under the influence of caffeine, yet drowsy under the influence of antihistamines. Furthermore, if you interrupt a fruit fly's sleep one day, the fly will sleep longer the next. 

All of these similarities suggest that the sleep habits of fruit flies can be used to predict the sleep habits of humans. 

In an effort to investigate the relationship between difficult circumstances and sleep, the researchers took away flight ability in some fruit flies. 

If baby flies do not expand their wings in the first half hour after emerging from a pupal stage, their wings do not develop properly. The researchers used a couple of methods to prevent newly emerged flies from expanding their wings, which left them flightless. The team also took away flight ability in older flies by disabling their wings. 

Regardless of why or at what age the flies lost the ability to fly, they were all found to sleep more than usual when faced with the difficult circumstances.

The researchers traced the neurological circuit that alerted the brain to the issues and induced more sleep. 

"When we identified the neurons that were activated when we cut or glued the wings of adult flies, they turned out to be the same neurons involved in the normal developmental process of wing expansion after emergence," explained study first author Dr. Krishna Melnattur.

According to the researchers, the fact that wing injury and normal wing development are linked to sleep through the same neurological circuitry makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. The circuit is active in young flies because their developing brains need sleep as the animals expand their wings, learn to fly, and begin to navigate a new world.

"And then the whole circuit can get reactivated later in life when something happens that forces a fly to adapt to a new normal," said Dr. Shaw. "Suddenly, its brain needs to be as flexible as when it was young. It can no longer fly, but it still needs to get food, it needs to compete for mates, it needs to avoid dying. We think that sleep amplifies the brain plasticity the fly needs to survive."

Next, the experts will investigate whether additional sleep helps flightless flies survive. The study may provide insight into why some people sleep more than others and why certain sleep disorders arise.

"There's huge variation in sleep time among people. Some people need five hours a night; some need nine," said Dr. Shaw. "Sleep is an ancient process, and we've evolved mechanisms to change our sleep-wake balance to help us meet our needs." 

"If these mechanisms get inappropriately activated, say by a traumatic event that triggers post-traumatic stress disorder, it can create a situation in which you're sleeping too much or too little and it's no longer matching up with your needs, and then you have a sleep disorder."

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

&nbsp;

Does sleep help us adapt to difficult circumstances?

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found...

Sea-level rise could exceed one meter by the end of this century if global <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/forest-service-releases-state-by-state-details-on-carbon-emissions/">emissions</a> targets are not met, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.ntu.edu.sg/Pages/home.aspx">NTU Singapore</a>. 

Based on the findings of more than 100 international experts, high levels of emissions will swell up the oceans much faster than what was previously realized. 

The research team surveyed 106 of the world's top sea-level experts to predict how the world's oceans will rise under two conditions - low emissions and high emissions. 

The survey was led by Professor Benjamin Horton, the Chair of NTU's Asian School of the Environment. He explained that breaking through the uncertainties of sea-level rise is critical for making informed mitigation and adaptation decisions.

"The complexity of sea-level projections, and the sheer amount of relevant scientific publications, make it difficult for policymakers to get an overview of the state of the science," said Professor Horton.

"To obtain this overview, it is useful to survey leading experts on the expected sea-level rise, which provides a broader picture of future scenarios and informs policymakers so they can prepare necessary measures."

In a low-emissions scenario where global warming is limited to 2 degree Celsius, the experts estimated sea-level rise of 0.5 meters by 2100 and 0.5 to 2 meters by 2300. 

In a high-emissions scenario where global warming reaches 4.5 degree Celsius, the experts estimated sea-level rise of 0.6 to 1.3 meters by 2100 and 1.7 to 5.6 meters by 2300.

These sea-level rise projections are higher than previous estimates by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Study co-author Dr. Andra Garner is an assistant professor of Environmental Science at Rowan University.

"We know that the planet will see additional sea-level rise in the future," said Dr. Garner. "But there are stark differences in the amount of sea-level rise experts project for low emissions compared to high emissions. This provides a great deal of hope for the future, as well as a strong motivation to act now to avoid the more severe impacts of rising sea levels."

The experts who participated in the survey identified the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets as the greatest sources of uncertainty regarding sea-level rise. The latest measurements show the ice sheets are melting at an accelerating rate. 

On the other hand, the scientists emphasized that the magnitude of sea-level rise can be limited by successfully reducing emissions.

"One of the key take-aways from this study is that our actions today can make a profound difference in how much our coastlines will retreat in the future," said Dr. Andrea Dutton of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "That knowledge is empowering because it means that we can choose a better outcome through our actions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/npjclimatsci">Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Sea-level rise could exceed one meter by 2100

Sea-level rise could exceed one meter by the end of...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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