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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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Solar Orbiter spacecraft sees the Sun through three different lenses

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

On July 25, scientists got a shock from space: an asteroid the size of a football field passed by Earth in a near miss. Dubbed 2019 OK, the asteroid came just over 40,000 miles from the planet – closer than the Moon.

And scientists didn’t see it coming until the day before it whizzed by.

Enter cutting edge new telescopes like <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2016/10/Flyeye_telescope">Flyeye</a>. The <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> has been developing the automated telescope to avoid situations like last month’s near miss. Flyeye would be one of a network of telescopes programmed to recognize and flag potential near-Earth objects like asteroids and large meteors. Then, scientists could review any flagged items for potential dangers to the planet’s surface.

The asteroid was first spotted by the <a href="http://www.observatorio-phoenix.org/t_proj/Sonear/sonear.htm">Southern Observatory for Near-Earth Asteroids Research</a> just a day before it passed Earth. The ESA watched 2019 OK using the <a href="http://lfvn.astronomer.ru/main/english.htm">International Scientific Optical Network</a> just before its near miss.

“With the ISON observations we were able to determine the distance of the close approach incredibly accurately,” Dr. Marco Micheli of ESA’s <a href="https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety/About_the_Near-Earth_Object_Coordination_Centre">Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre</a> said.

The scientists plan to use recordings of the asteroid’s approach in programming automated telescopes in the future.

"This 'un-recognition' of an asteroid, despite it being photographed, will be used to test the software going into ESA's upcoming asteroid-hunting telescope, the Flyeye,” said Dr. Rüdiger Jehn, ESA's Head of Planetary Defence.

This isn’t the first near miss researchers have been focused on recently. Scientists have worried that an asteroid could <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-2006-qv89-earth/">collide with the planet</a> in September – though those fears may be unfounded. Another asteroid is on course to pass by Earth with a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-pass-earth-visible/">mere 19,000 miles to spare</a>. It will be so close, it will be visible to the naked eye, researchers said.

It has people so worried that many feel an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/americans-asteroid-protection-lunar-base/">asteroid defense system</a> is more important than a planned lunar base.

The ESA hopes that its system of Flyeye telescopes will help spot dangerous asteroids in the future. The agency is also working on <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety/Hera">Hera</a>, a project that would aim to redirect dangerous near-Earth objects.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Asteroid's surprise near miss has scientists eyeing the sky

On July 25, scientists got a shock from space: an...

Human-animal chimeras were stuff of the imagination in 2006, when they unexpectedly became part of the U.S. State of the Union Address. Now, they may be reality. A Spanish scientist claims to have grown a human-monkey hybrid in a Chinese laboratory.

According to the research team, the embryo would have been viable, but they destroyed it 14 days after it was created.

“We are now trying not only to move forward and continue experimenting with human cells and rodent and pig cells, but also with non-human primates,” Dr. Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>.

The researchers modified monkey embryos, turning off the genes that are required for forming organs. They, they injected them with human stem cells. Such cells are capable of forming any kind of tissue, the researchers said. They called their project a step toward using animals for human organ transplants.

But the experiment has <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-monkey-chimeras/">raised ethical issues</a>. The scientists had to create their human-monkey hybrid in China because laws prevent such experimentation elsewhere. 

“To be honest, it just really ethically scares me,” Dr. Douglas Munoz of <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/">Queen’s University</a> told the <a href="https://nationalpost.com/">National Post</a> in July, referring to a similar experiment using genetically altered macaque embryos. “For us to start to manipulate life functions in this kind of way without fully knowing how to turn it off, or stop it if something goes awry really scares me.”

This isn’t Izpisúa’s first foray into the world of chimeras. He and his team experiments to create a human-pig hybrid in 2017, without real success. 

“The human cells did not take hold. We saw that they contributed very little [to the development of the embryo]: one human cell for ever 100,000 pig cells,” <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/">University of California</a> veterinarian Pablo Ross told the Mail.

Izpisúa’s team plans to continue to work with human, rodent, pig and non-human primate cells. They have not yet published a report on their human-monkey hybrid.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Scientists grow first human-monkey hybrid in China

Human-animal chimeras were stuff of the imagination in 2006, when...

Earth just saw the hottest June on record – <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/hot-june-summer-afternoon">by a lot</a> – but July is set to beat that. Scientists are still crunching the data, but they expect when the dust clears July will have been the hottest month ever recorded.

The European Union <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/">Copernicus Climate Change Service</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecmwf.int/">European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts</a> based the prediction on the data collected from July 1 through 29. 

This July is rivaling July 2016 for the hottest month ever, with the numbers too close to call yet. But in the wake of June’s heat and with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/european-heat-wave-greenland/">record heat waves</a> all over the world in July, this year is well on track to be one of the four hottest on record.

But researchers aren’t exactly reeling at the news.

“Months which break the global temperature record, such as July 2016 and June and July 2019, are now the expectation rather than a surprise,” Dr. Richard Allan of the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a> told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service has found a clear warming trend in Europe over the past four decades. And the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2018-fourth-hottest-year-record/">past four years</a> have, globally, been the hottest four in history.

Scientists are warning that if current warming continues, heat waves could become <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-heat-waves-kill-thousands/">more frequent and deadlier</a>.

“Just as one swallow does not make a summer, one record month does not tell us much on its own, since the fickle nature of weather systems and the slow sloshing about of the ocean can sometimes temporarily warm or cool the planet,” Allan said. 

But the recent smashing of record after record indicates that the Earth’s warming climate isn’t a fluke but a long-term trend, he said.

“It’s our fault and the way to stop this is to reduce and begin removing emissions of greenhouse gases,” he said.

Copernicus Climate Change Service will release its final report for July 2019 on Monday, August 5. 

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Paid for by Earth.com.

July may have been the world's hottest month ever

Earth just saw the hottest June on record – by...

Barn owls are nocturnal navigators of the night sky. Their ability to hunt in the dark based off just the sound of prey alone is certainly a trait that us humans lack. But a new study from a research team at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State University</a> has shed light on how barn owls make this behavior possible, and it may end up being a template for electronic directional navigation devices.

“We were already studying this type of circuitry when we stumbled across the Jeffress model of sound localization,” says Saptarshi Das, an assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State. 

The Jeffress model details how biological hearing systems are able to register and analyze small differences in the arrival time of sound to the ears, and then use this information to locate the sound’s source.

 “Owls figure out which direction the sound is coming from to within one to two degrees,” explains Das. “Humans are not that precise. Owls use this ability for hunting especially because they hunt at night and their eyesight isn’t all that good.”

To be able to locate using sound is contingent upon the distance between an organism’s ears. For barn owls, that distance is relatively small, and their brain’s circuitry has adapted to discriminating this small difference. If a sound occurs to the right of an <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/owls-humans-visual/">owl</a>, the right ear registers that sound before the left. But because the speed of sound is faster than the owl’s nerves can fire, an owl’s brain slows the electrical pulse created by the sound. 

The brain’s circuitry then uses a lattice of nerves of different lengths with inputs from two ends to determine which length is the place where two signals arrive at the same time. This information then provides the owl with the direction of the sound.

[caption id="attachment_1875992" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/barn-owls.png"><img class="wp-image-1875992" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/barn-owls.png" alt="" width="650" height="414" /></a> Image Credit: Jennifer McCann &amp; Sarbashis Das, Penn State[/caption]

Das and his team have recreated this circuitry of the owl’s brain in electronics through an electronic circuit that can slow down input signals and determine the coincidence point. Furthermore, the precision of this device is higher than that of an owl’s brain by multiple orders of magnitude.

“Millions of years of evolution in the animal kingdom have ensured that only the most efficient materials and structures have survived,” said Sarbashis Das, a graduate student in electrical engineering. “In effect, nature has done most of the work for us. All we have to do now is adapt these neurobiological architectures for our semiconductor devices.”

The team is now looking to other animals and their sensory circuitry for future research. “There are several animals that have excellent sensory processing for sight, hearing and smell,” says Saptarshi Das. “Humans are not the best at these.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Vlada Cech

Barn owls could help improve navigational devices

Barn owls are nocturnal navigators of the night sky. Their...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/mapping-temperatures-across-urban-heat-islands/">urban heat island</a> effect refers to when a city or highly populated area has higher temperatures compared to the surrounding average air temperatures. 

Vast expanses of impermeable pavement and concrete that absorb the sun’s rays are the biggest contributors to the urban heat island effect. 

Surprisingly, though, pavement could be the solution to the problem as well. 

A team of engineers from <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> has developed a new kind of permeable pavement. 

On a hot summer day, concrete or asphalt roads and sidewalks can reach temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. One recent study found that hot pavement in the southwestern United States can cause <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hot-sidewalks-second-degree-burns/">second-degree burns in a matter of minutes</a>. 

Cities with a population of one million or more can have average air temperatures that are 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit higher than surrounding rural areas, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands/learn-about-heat-islands">Environmental Protection Agency</a>. At night, the effect is especially pronounced. 

Not only does the urban heat island cause temperatures to climb, but it also poses a significant risk to public health and safety.  

To combat this effect, engineers at Rutgers created a porous concrete that doesn’t absorb as much heat. Its permeable structure means that water can filter through, cooling the pavement down in the process. 

Permeable concrete does give off more heat on sunny days, but 25 to 30 percent less after it rains. The engineers fine-tuned the porous concrete and reduced its heat output by as much as 5.2 percent. 

“Highly efficient permeable concrete pavement can be a valuable, cost-effective solution in cities to mitigate the urban heat island effect, while benefiting stormwater management and improving water quality,” said Hao Wang, a corresponding author of the study. 

Wang was also part of a team that improved the sustainability of permeable concrete by using fly ash and steel slag, which could help reduce manufacturing costs and emissions. 

The engineers are working on how to make the concrete stronger so that it can be used on streets and roads. 

The new permeable concrete was detailed in a study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Hao Wang/Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Special pavement could help combat the urban heat island effect

The urban heat island effect refers to when a city...

New method helps to predict earthquake activity from wastewater disposal. A team of geoscientists from <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> have developed a new way of predicting seismic activity via <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/underground-wastewater-disposal-earthquakes/">wastewater disposal</a>. This wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling called brine, is often disposed of by being injected into deep rock formations, which can trigger earthquakes. These quakes were hard to predict due to the amount of factors at play, however, the team has finally developed a method to do just that.

"Overall, earthquake hazards increase with background seismic activity, and that results from changes in the crustal stress," said Guang Zhai, a postdoctoral research scientist in <a href="https://sese.asu.edu/">ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration</a>. "Our focus has been to model the physics of such changes that result from wastewater injection."

"Seismic activity soared in one area for several years after wastewater injection was greatly reduced," said Manoochehr Shirzaei, associate professor in the School. "That told us that existing prediction methods were inadequate."

The study, published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</a>, first looked at how various amounts of injected brine upset crustal stresses and led to earthquakes. The team then built a model which included the rock's ability to transport injected brine and the rock's elastic response to fluid pressure.

"Fluids such as brine (and natural groundwater) can both be stored and move through rocks that are porous," said Zhai. Shirzaei continued, "Our model includes the records collected for the past 23 years of brine injected at more than 700 Oklahoma wells into the Arbuckle formation."

The model also included the mechanical properties of Oklahoman rocks. The model successfully predicted changes in crustal stress spurred by brine injection.

Finally, "We used a well-established physical model of how earthquakes begin so we could relate stress perturbations to the number and size of earthquakes,” Shirzaei said.

"An interesting finding," said Zhai, "was that a tiny change in the rocks' elastic response to changes in fluid pressure can amplify the number of earthquakes by several times. It's a very sensitive factor."

Despite the injections causing earthquakes, all oil and gas production companies must dispose of wastewater via this method.

"So to make this safer in the future," Shirzaei said, "our approach offers a way to forecast injection-caused earthquakes. This provides the industry with a tool for managing the injection of brine after fracking operations."

Having a complete understanding of the amount of brine to be injected, as well as the location of the disposal, authorities will be able to estimate an earthquake’s probability. And this method can even help oil and gas companies to manage their injections to keep earthquake probability low.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: KFOR-TV, Oklahoma City

New method helps to predict earthquake activity from wastewater disposal

New method helps to predict earthquake activity from wastewater disposal....

Canine cancer dating back thousands of years spread across the oceans. Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), a cancer commonly spread through mating in dogs, has spread to almost all corners of the globe and evolved to thrive in new environments through the years. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.tcg.vet.cam.ac.uk/">Transmissible Cancer Group at the University of Cambridge</a> were able to piece together CTVT’s extensive travel log to help pinpoint its origins, determine how it spread and mutated over time, and examine its evolutionary changes. 

The extensive genetic study was published in the journal Science. 

“This tumour has spread to almost every continent, evolving as it spreads,” said Adrian Baez-Ortega, the lead author of the study. “Changes to its DNA tell a story of where it has been and when, almost like a historical travel journal.”

The cancer is noteworthy because of its tumors. The cells in the tumor are not linked to the carrier dog that spread the disease but can be traced all the way back to the original dog in which transmissible venereal tumor first arose. Canine cancer dating back thousands of years spread across the oceans

Baez-Ortega, along with an international team of researchers, analyzed tumors collected from 546 dogs worldwide, looking for clues to how the disease spread so efficiently. 

The researchers created a phylogenetic tree showing different mutations in the tumors through generations of CTVT. This particular type of family tree allowed the researchers to trace back the origins of CTVT to between 4,000 and 8,500 years ago. 

CTVT likely first arose in one individual dog in Asia or Europe. All of the tumors analyzed in the study could be traced back to a common ancestor 1,900 years ago. 

Next, the researchers tracked CTVT’s spread across the globe. The disease first traveled to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/european-dogs-american-dogs/">Americas with European settlers</a> by boat around 500 years ago. All cases of transmissible venereal tumor in modern dogs in North, Central, and South America can be linked back to this one event. 

After first making its way through the Americas, the researchers say CTVT spread to European colonies in Africa and along the Indian subcontinent. 

The researchers were also able to take an up-close look at mutations in the tumor DNA that have occurred through CTVT’s history. 

Five biological processes that damaged the tumor DNA through the years, including UV light exposure, were identified by the researchers. 

One process called “Signature A,” stuck out to the researchers because it caused mutations thousands of years ago but hasn’t resulted in any recent changes. 

“This is really exciting - we’ve never seen anything like the pattern caused by this carcinogen before,” said Dr. Elizabeth Murchison, an author of the study. “It looks like the tumour was exposed to something thousands of years ago that caused changes to its DNA for some length of time and then disappeared. It’s a mystery what the carcinogen could be. Perhaps it was something present in the environment where the cancer first arose.” 

The good news is that the cancer is getting weaker and is on its way out, but the study sheds light on the evolutionary changes CTVT underwent to get where it is today. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Presslab

Canine cancer dating back thousands of years spread across the oceans

Canine cancer dating back thousands of years spread across the...

Paul Johns and Juan Nino, from the <a href="http://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a> and <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/">Pacific Northwest National Laboratory</a>, researched new ways to enhance global nuclear security by improving radiation detectors with the aim being to enhance the safety of trafficking of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/radioactive-carbon-from-nuclear-bomb-tests/">nuclear materials</a>.

In their study, published in the <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.5091805">Journal of Applied Physics</a>, Johns and Nino believe that identification of better sensor materials, as well as the development of smarter algorithms to process detector signals, are needed to improve radiation detectors.  

"The end users of radiation detectors don't necessarily have a background in physics that allows them to make decisions based on the signals that come in," Johns said. "The algorithms used to energy-stabilize and identify radioactive isotopes from a gamma ray spectrum are therefore key to making detectors useful and reliable.” 

“When sensors can provide better signal resolution,” he continued, “algorithms are able to more accurately inform users about the radiation sources in their environment."

Designing the perfect radiation detector is no easy feat. Specific size, signal resolution, weight, and cost are all factors in designing each detector. Johns and Nino chose a compound for a room temperature semiconductor detector, which doesn’t need to cool sensors down to cryogenic temperatures to function. They considered cost, practicality, and efficiency of each possible compound before narrowing down their search.

Johns and Nino chose hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite — a mineral consisting mainly of calcium titanate — which they say has the strongest potential among other emerging compounds. Hybrid perovskites can be synthesized and grown via solution over several hours to a couple of days, compared to conventional sensors that take weeks or months to grow. 

Furthermore, once their stability is improved, their cost efficiency, yield, and output rate will put these compounds at the forefront of room temperature semiconductor detector research.

Radiation sensors must be updated to avoid nuclear terrorism and acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction.

"Preventing radioactive materials from being used for harmful purposes is a global nuclear security challenge,” Johns said. “Equipping law enforcement and first responders with the best possible radiation detectors is key to detecting, identifying and, ultimately, prohibiting radioactive threats.”

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Rudmer Zwerver

New radiation detector updates will help improve nuclear security

Paul Johns and Juan Nino, from the University of Florida...

Bat-inspired drones could be used to monitor weather or pollinate crops. Scientists are creating a new generation of ultralight drones that are inspired by the aerodynamics of birds and insects. The tiny drones may be ultimately be used to monitor traffic, collect weather data, or even to pollinate crops.

Alireza Ramezani is an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at <a href="https://www.northeastern.edu/">Northeastern University</a> who is designing a drone that mimics the flight ability of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/migratory-bats-cruise-control/">bats</a>. According to Professor Ramezani, bats "have arguably the most sophisticated flight mechanisms of any animal."

The autonomous drone developed by Professor Ramezani and his team, known as Bat Bot, weighs just over three ounces with wings that can flap or glide. It can also make sharp turns and dives, and will be capable of accessing tight spaces that larger drones cannot access. Bat-inspired drones could be used to monitor weather or pollinate crops

Professor Ramezani explained that this type of drone will be particularly useful for surveillance, whether inside of buildings or outside hovering over streets. 

“There will be these machines that are round the clock doing monitoring and providing information,” Professor Ramezani told <a href="https://www.nbc.com/">NBC</a>. “We can think of them as the guardians of future cities.”

He pointed out that conventional drones like quadcopters are "made out of hard materials, rigid structures, fast-rotating blades and propellers, which are not really safe to operate in proximity of human beings."

On the other hand, the Bat Bot has a carbon fiber skeleton covered with a soft, super-stretchable membrane that would not be harmful if it collided with people or other objects. The bio-inspired drone is also much less intrusive. 

Next, the Northeastern team will construct an advanced version of the Bat Bot that can perch and hang upside down just like the animal itself. Cameras and sensors will be added to collect various types of data. 

"If robotic systems can hang from structures, they can harvest solar energy and once they’re fully charged they can fly around again,” said Professor Ramezani. “It sounds futuristic, but we’ll see how we can accomplish this.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://robotics.sciencemag.org/">Science Robotics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Alireza Ramezani

Bat-inspired drones could be used to monitor weather or pollinate crops

Bat-inspired drones could be used to monitor weather or pollinate...

While the earliest <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-species-crawled-two-legs/">dinosaur</a> feathers were needed for warmth, the development of feathers that were more structurally complex has remained a mystery. New research suggests that, after feathers evolved for insulation and before they were used for flight, elaborate feathers likely played a role in mate selection. 

"Over the last two decades, paleontologists have pieced together the early evolutionary history of feathers," wrote the researchers.  "Simple hair‐like feathers served as insulating pelage, but the first feathers with complex branching structures and a plainer form evolved for the purpose of sexual display."

Study lead author Dr. Scott Persons is curator of the <a href="http://geology.cofc.edu/natural-history-museum/">Mace Brown Museum of Natural History</a> at the College of Charleston. He told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a> that early dinosaur feathers were very much like hair, which makes their purpose quite clear. However, the need for stiffer feathers that provided little insulation is much less obvious. 

Dr. Persons and his colleague Philip Currie from the University of Alberta propose that it was not natural selection, but sexual selection, that drove the evolution of complex feathers. This is analogous to the brilliant tail feathers that are thought to help male peacocks catch the attention of potential mates. 

The new theory indicates that sexual selection can serve as a link between two natural selection events. 

The team speculates that after dinosaurs like tyrannosaurus evolved simple feathers for insulation, sexual selection created the need for dinosaurs like oviraptors to grow more complex feathers for display. These feathers were soon sophisticated enough for dinosaurs to glide with them and, ultimately, natural selection refined the feathers for flight. 

"Feathers illustrate how sexual selection can generate complex novel phenotypes, which are then available for natural selection to modify and direct toward novel functions," wrote the study authors. "In the longstanding metaphor of the adaptive landscape, sexual selection is a means by which lineages resting on one adaptive peak may gradually bridge a gap to another peak, without the landscape itself being first altered by environmental changes."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15585646">Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Aranami / Shutterstock

Complex feathers used for flight may have first evolved for sexual display

While the earliest dinosaur feathers were needed for warmth, the...

Working up a sweat at the gym or even just walking outside on a hot sunny day can test even the strongest deodorants and antiperspirants. For anyone who has opened a gym bag filled with day-old workout clothes, the tell-tale stench of body odor is an all too familiar scent.  

But smelly gym clothes could soon be a thing of the past with a new fragrance-releasing cotton that will have your clothes smelling lemony fresh all day long. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uminho.pt/EN">University of Minho</a> in Portugal have developed a fabric releases a scent molecule called β-citronellol derived from lemongrass after exposed to sweat. 

Scientists have developed smart fabrics that can <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fabric-self-cools-self-insulates/">self-cool</a> or self-insulate, respond to light, change color, or respond to other external stimuli. 

The potential applications for these kinds of fabrics in prosthetics and robotics are wide-reaching and show a great deal of promise. 

The researchers tested two strategies for fragrance-releasing fabric. The first strategy used a protein found in pig noses that binds to scent molecules. To bind the protein to cotton fabric, the researchers attached a carbohydrate-binding molecule to the protein.  

In the second strategy, the scent molecules were placed in liposomes, spherical sacs containing the molecules. The liposomes allowed for the release of more of the citronellol. 

Both fabrics were exposed to a solution meant to mimic human sweat with a low pH. Both methods successfully released the fragrance after coming in contact with the sweat solution. 

The first strategy, the protein attached to carbohydrate-binding molecules, released a quick burst of fragrance, whereas the second strategy with the liposomes resulted in a slow and controlled release. 

 These new methods could help create odor-fighting fabrics that can be used in all types of clothing, from activewear to business clothes. 

The fragrance-releasing fabrics were detailed in a new study published in the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> journal Applied Materials and Interfaces. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Paul Michael Hughes

New fragrance-releasing fabric could mean the end of stinky gym clothes

Working up a sweat at the gym or even just...

Human impact on nature has been immense and in some cases, irreversible. We’re driving species to extinction, shrinking habitats, and emitting greenhouse gases that are steadily warming up the planet. As a result, many species are being forced to adapt quickly to new stressors and challenges.

In a new study, researchers have discovered the underlying mechanisms that drive rapid evolutionary changes in species. 

Squid fisheries are a perfect example of how humans are impacting marine wildlife. A <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jumbo-squid-declines/">recent study</a> found that jumbo squid have gotten smaller and have shorter lifespans due to overfishing rapidly depleting squid populations over the years. 

For this research, frozen fish helped provide insights into the genetic pathways that make rapid evolution over a few generations possible. 

There are two popular theories on what causes evolutionary change. One says that DNA in a species is the result of thousands of years of careful evolutionary intervention. The other school of thought says that a few hundred genes influence evolutionary traits. 

The researchers reviewed a two-decade-old study and sequenced the genomes of frozen fish to see how intensive fishing through the years correlated with genomic changes that led to changes in body size. 

A rapid decrease in body size of the fish occurred through different genome mechanisms in the fish, showing that there wasn’t one specific pathway that led to evolutionary adaptations. 

In some of the fish, there were small genetic changes across unrelated genes, but in other fish, there were huge shifts in sections of tightly linked genes. 

Two researchers at the <a href="https://www.uib.no/en">University of Bergen</a> published a companion perspective to the study explaining how the study results fit within the two popular schools of thought that explain evolutionary adaptations. 

“Interestingly, the genes that strongly increased in one population did not change in parallel populations subject to the same treatment, supporting the view that genetically speaking there are multiple ways to Rome,” Christian Jørgensen and Katja Enberg wrote in the Perspective. 

Both the study and Perspective were published in the journal Science.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Yampics photography

Frozen fish shed light on rapid evolutionary adaptations

Human impact on nature has been immense and in some...

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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

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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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...