Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy. This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns. Yellowstone, aspens, and elk In the 1920s, people eliminated wolves in Yellowstone. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right...

Adult honeybees often carry viruses without any obvious signs, yet new research shows those infections are not harmless. A recent study reports that one common virus slows flight while another speeds it up, reshaping what a normal day in the air looks like for a forager.



The findings are important because flight is the most energetically costly activity for a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-bees-arrive-late-flowers-may-vanish/">bee</a> and is essential for transporting food back to the colony.



The work comes from a research team led by Michelle L. Flenniken at <a href="https://www.montana.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Montana State University</a>, in collaboration with lead author Naomi G. Kaku. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-bee-flight-matters">Why bee flight matters</h2>



Researchers used flight performance as a clean readout of health, not because it is flashy, but because it is fundamental. 



The study followed adult Apis mellifera three days after controlled infection to capture effects before other stressors muddy the waters.



Flight mills recorded distance, duration, and speed for 240 bees from multiple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heat-and-pollution-are-changing-the-buzz-of-bees/">colonies</a>. Tested individuals flew up to about 3.46 miles before exhaustion, offering a robust window into how infection changes real work capacity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-common-bee-viruses">Testing common bee viruses</h2>



The team focused on two iflaviruses that many beekeepers already know by name, deformed wing virus and sacbrood virus. Both belong to a family of positive strand RNA viruses that are widespread in bees and other insects.



Each <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-have-unique-personalities-that-determine-whether-they-sting/">bee</a> was either mock treated or inoculated, then flown on a miniaturized tether system that allowed accurate speed and distance tracking. 



The setup minimized confounders and produced directly comparable flight metrics across groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-bee-viruses-change-flight">How bee viruses change flight</h2>



The pattern was clear. Bees with high deformed wing virus loads flew 49 percent shorter distances than uninfected bees, while those with high sacbrood virus loads flew 53 percent farther.



Average and peak speeds shifted too. Peak speeds dropped with heavy deformed wing virus, and rose with heavier sacbrood virus, even though total flight time did not change in a meaningful way.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-co-infections-play-out">How co-infections play out</h2>



When both viruses were present at moderate levels, their opposing effects nearly canceled out, leaving flight distance close to baseline. 



The canceling effect hides trouble because sacbrood virus is lethal to larvae and does not become a net positive at the colony scale.



The authors kept the analysis tight with linear mixed models that explained a large share of variation by accounting for virus load, bee weight, and equipment <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/native-bee-species-face-extinction-due-to-honey-bee-competition/">effects</a>. That modeling choice matters when the goal is to separate signal from noise in behavior data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bee-brain-chemistry-link">Bee brain chemistry link</h2>



One line of evidence points to octopamine, a core invertebrate neuromodulator often described as the insect fight or flight signal. 



It ramps metabolic activity and neuromuscular transmission through the octopamine beta 2 receptor, and that receptor’s biology has been mapped for decades.



Sacbrood virus was associated with higher expression of the octopamine beta 2 receptor, and adding octopamine to bees infected with deformed wing virus countered the flight deficit.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-other-factors-in-bee-viruses">Other factors in bee viruses</h2>



Viruses do not act alone. The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor amplifies and transmits deformed wing virus and alters its population dynamics, which can raise virulence in managed colonies.



Across the United States, beekeeper surveys continue to report heavy losses that stress pollination services and business survival, with annual losses often near 40 percent over recent years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-infections-cause-behavior-changes">Infections cause behavior changes </h2>



A related virus influences behavior through a different mechanism. Kakugo virus, a close relative of deformed wing virus, has been associated with aggressive guard behavior in worker bees, as shown in peer-reviewed studies examining infected brains.



The new flight results extend this theme, showing that covert infections can reshape core tasks without visible symptoms. That makes detection and interpretation harder in the field.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bee-viruses-and-crops">Bee viruses and crops</h2>



Flight sets the radius for collecting nectar and pollen, and it governs how many trips a forager can complete on a good day. If many foragers fly shorter ranges or at lower peak speeds, colonies risk falling behind on calories even when flowers are available.



That risk scales up to farms that rely on pollination, so subtle changes at the level of an individual bee can nudge crop outcomes. It is a classic case where biology and economics share the same line in the ledger.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-practical-takeaways-for-now">Practical takeaways for now</h2>



The study does not argue that sacbrood virus is beneficial because its larval toll remains severe. It does show that looking only for dead brood or deformed wings misses important adult performance costs that trace back to infection chemistry.



Better virus monitoring, steady mite control, and realistic expectations about “asymptomatic” adults will help align management with what the data say today. The mechanistic octopamine link gives physiology a seat at the table for future interventions.



“This study has organismal, colony, and ecosystem level implications,” wrote Kaku. The next wave of research will test how different diets, temperatures, and co-stressors interact with virus loads to shape flight and foraging. 



Future studies will also investigate how frequently co-infections obscure risk in real-world apiaries, where multiple pathogens coexist.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw8382" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Hidden bee viruses change how far and fast they fly

Adult honeybees often carry viruses without any obvious signs, yet...

In the frozen expanse of the Arctic, a quiet force has shaped life for millennia. Reindeer have grazed the tundra since the Ice Age, enduring blizzards, migrations that span thousands of kilometers, and dramatic swings in climate. 



Reindeer are more than just a species of the far north; they are cultural pillars, ecological engineers, and an irreplaceable part of human history in these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-climate-will-permanently-change-by-2050-scientists-warn/">regions</a>.



From sustaining Indigenous communities to maintaining the delicate balance of Arctic plant life, reindeer have long been a thread connecting people, wildlife, and the land. Yet today, that thread is fraying. 



Modern climate change is accelerating faster than anything they have faced before, and the question is no longer whether they will be affected - but how severely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-reindeer-face-major-decline">Arctic reindeer face major decline</h2>



Researchers warn that climate change could trigger reindeer population declines at a rate unmatched in 21,000 years. 



Known as caribou in North America, these Ice Age survivors have adapted to the Arctic’s extreme <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/metallic-beads-in-arctic-mud-suggest-a-comet-slammed-into-earth-relatively-recently/">conditions</a>, shaping ecosystems and sustaining Indigenous communities.



Yet, despite their resilience, climate change and other human pressures have reduced global numbers by nearly two-thirds in just three decades.



An international team from the University of Adelaide and <a href="https://www.ku.dk/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a> analyzed reindeer population and range changes over 21 millennia. 



The team combined fossil evidence, ancient DNA, and advanced computer models to uncover how reindeer responded to past rapid warming events and what the future might hold.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-past-survival-may-not-work-now">Past survival may not work now</h2>



“Using fossils, ancient DNA and computer models, we reconstructed changes in the abundance and distribution of reindeer over the past 21,000 years at resolutions never done before, and we directly compared these to future predictions,” said lead investigator Dr. Elisabetta Canteri from the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Adelaide</a>.



The results showed that reindeer survived earlier abrupt warming periods thanks to ecological versatility, high mobility, strong population densities, and the ability to persist in small refuges when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-fjords-show-signs-of-struggle-in-a-warming-world/">conditions</a> worsened. 



However, these traits will likely not protect reindeer in the Arctic against the pace and scale of current and future warming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biggest-losses-in-north-america">Biggest losses in North America</h2>



“Our forecasts show that these North American caribou populations are most at risk from climate warming, with declines of up to 80 percent likely by 2100 unless there are major cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and increased investment in wildlife management and conservation,” said Professor Damien Fordham.



In fact, the study projects an 84% population drop and a 71% range loss in North America by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario. Even with moderate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-meltdown-is-accelerating-global-warming-already-changing-earth-in-unimaginable-ways/">emissions</a> cuts, populations could shrink by 42% and ranges by 21 percent. 



Some herds have already suffered extreme losses - the George River herd declined by 99% in under 30 years, while the Mulchatna herd fell by 95% over a similar period.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-reindeer-loss-will-harm-nature">Arctic reindeer loss will harm nature</h2>



Reindeer and caribou maintain Arctic plant diversity by grazing selectively, preventing certain plants from dominating. 



“A reduction in tundra plant diversity resulting from the loss of reindeer and caribou will have many cascading effects, including reduction of carbon storage in Arctic soils,” noted Professor Eric Post.



Losing these herbivores could also speed up Arctic warming by releasing stored carbon, altering soil nutrients, and changing surface reflectivity. 



This may open the door for invasive species and increase the risk of diseases spreading in the far north.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-regional-differences-in-vulnerability">Regional differences in vulnerability</h2>



While Asia may see local declines - especially at the southern edges of current ranges - some northern regions such as the Taimyr Peninsula might experience population increases due to newly available habitats. 



Greenland could also see range expansions as melting ice exposes suitable land. In contrast, Europe has historically hosted smaller reindeer populations, which have fluctuated sharply during past climate swings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-well-being-of-arctic-reindeer">Well-being of Arctic reindeer</h2>



The research shows that without urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and greater investment in conservation, current declines will likely accelerate. 



Protecting these herds is critical not only for biodiversity and climate stability, but also for the cultural, economic, and emotional well-being of Arctic communities that depend on them.



“For thousands of years, the well-being of our own species has benefitted directly from healthy reindeer and caribou populations. Now more than ever we need to ensure their well-being in turn," said Professor Post.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu0175" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Arctic reindeer populations are declining faster than ever before

In the frozen expanse of the Arctic, a quiet force...

Sea levels in the Indian Ocean started rising faster much earlier than scientists had assumed. And the proof isn’t buried in computer models or satellite data - it’s recorded in the skeletons of living coral.



Marine scientists have pieced together a 100-year record of ocean change by studying coral samples from the Maldives. 



The team behind the research comes from the <a href="https://nus.edu.sg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National University of Singapore</a> (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Their work sheds new light on how quickly the ocean has responded to global warming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-time-machine-in-the-indian-ocean">A time machine in the Indian Ocean</h2>



By analyzing coral cores - essentially cross-sections of coral that grow year by year like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-rings-show-amazon-rainfall-is-getting-more-extreme/">tree rings</a> - the team was able to push the sea-level timeline for the Indian Ocean back by another 60 years, reaching all the way to the early 1900s.



This extended record doesn’t just fill in historical blanks. It changes our understanding of how quickly human-driven climate change has impacted the sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clear-fingerprint-of-human-activity">Clear fingerprint of human activity</h2>



The research produced two key findings. First, sea-level rise in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/destructive-weather-pattern-may-return-to-the-indian-ocean/">Indian Ocean</a> began accelerating around 1959. That’s decades earlier than satellite data or tide gauge records suggested. 



The timing tracks closely with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-temperature-in-2023-expected-to-be-among-highest-on-record/">global temperature</a> increases and rapid glacial melt - both driven by human activity.



“What we’re seeing is a clear fingerprint of human-driven climate change etched into the skeletons of corals. The early acceleration in sea-level rise is a warning sign that the ocean has been responding to global warming far earlier and more strongly than we thought,” said Professor Paul Kench.



The second key finding is that since the mid-20th century, the Indian Ocean has risen about 30 centimeters. That’s a dramatic shift in a body of water that covers nearly 30% of the world's ocean area and supports around 30% of the global population.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rising-sea-levels-in-the-indian-ocean">Rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean </h2>



This rise isn’t just a number - it’s a direct threat. For millions living in low-lying coastal areas, higher seas mean more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seeking-ways-to-prevent-flooding-caused-by-climate-change/">flooding</a>, more erosion, more saltwater creeping into freshwater supplies, and more damage to critical ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs.



The Indian Ocean’s changes also affect regions far beyond Asia. Shifts in sea level here influence weather, water resources, food security, and disaster risk around the world.



For Singapore and its Southeast Asian neighbors, this kind of long-term record is a game-changer. It gives climate scientists more accurate data to feed into models. That means better predictions - and better preparation.



The findings can support existing efforts like Singapore’s Coastal-Inland Flood Model and Climate Impact Science Research Programme. With more precise projections, planners can build smarter defenses against <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-seas-are-already-toppling-coastal-cities/">rising seas</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-corals-are-reliable-record-keepers">Corals are reliable record-keepers</h2>



What makes this study especially powerful is how clearly it confirms that corals are reliable record-keepers.



As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-single-celled-microbe-is-protecting-corals-from-heat-and-helping-them-survive-climate-change/">corals</a> grow, they build up layers that capture the chemical and physical traits of the surrounding water - temperature, salinity, and sea level. To confirm the accuracy of the records, the team compared coral data with readings from tide gauges and satellites. They found a close match.



Looking ahead, this validation positions coral as a powerful tool for climate science - not only for measuring sea-level change, but also for tracking extreme events such as heatwaves, cooling periods, and droughts.



“These findings have far-reaching implications for climate adaptation planning globally, especially for low-lying and densely populated coastal regions. We hope this work contributes meaningfully to the global dialogue on resilience and preparedness,” said Professor Kench.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-vulnerable-coastal-communities">Protecting vulnerable coastal communities </h2>



This research gives us more than numbers. It offers perspective. Sea levels have been rising longer and faster than we realized. That knowledge gives us a better shot at facing what’s coming next.



For the scientists behind this work, corals aren’t just marine life. They’re storytellers - quietly recording history one layer at a time. 



In this case, corals have compensated for the absence of extended historical records of sea level changes in the central Indian Ocean.



"Such data is critical in the region given the abundance of low-lying coastal areas, and islands, and heightened vulnerability of coastal communities and coastal ecosystems in the Indian Ocean," wrote the researchers.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60972-2">Nature Communications</a>.



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Sea levels have been rising longer and faster than we realized

Sea levels in the Indian Ocean started rising faster much...

Cats that develop dementia may play an important role in helping scientists better understand Alzheimer’s disease in humans. 



According to new research from the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Edinburgh,</a> the brains of these cats show many of the same <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dementia-is-a-growing-global-health-crisis-with-a-staggering-cost/">changes</a> seen in people living with Alzheimer’s.



One of the most significant similarities is the build-up of harmful proteins, such as amyloid-beta, inside the brain. These proteins can collect around and within synapses - the tiny structures that carry signals between nerve cells - and interfere with their function. 



Over time, this damage disrupts communication between brain cells, which can lead to problems with memory, thinking, and behavior, just as it does in human patients.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-dementia-appears-in-cats">How dementia appears in cats</h2>



Older cats that develop cognitive dysfunction often begin to show noticeable changes in their behaviour. One common sign is that they start meowing more frequently, and this increase in vocalisation is often most pronounced at night. 



They may also appear disoriented or confused, sometimes seeming unsure of familiar surroundings.



Many cats alter the way they interact with their owners, either becoming unusually needy or, in some cases, more withdrawn. Some may even forget long-established litter box habits, leading to accidents around the home. 



Their normal sleep-wake patterns can also become disrupted, with restlessness at night and increased sleeping during the day. These behavioral changes strongly resemble the symptoms observed in people with Alzheimer’s disease.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cognitive-decline-in-cats">Cognitive decline in cats </h2>



To investigate what might be happening in the brain, researchers examined samples from three groups of cats - young animals, older animals without dementia, and older animals diagnosed with dementia. 



When they compared these brains, the experts found that the older and dementia-affected cats both had deposits of amyloid-beta within their synapses.



Synapses are the critical junctions that allow nerve cells to pass electrical and chemical messages to one another, enabling normal thought, memory, and learning. 



When amyloid-beta builds up in these areas, it can interfere with signal transmission. This kind of disruption can quickly impair memory and thinking abilities, contributing to the cognitive decline seen in both cats and humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-inside-the-brain">What happens inside the brain</h2>



The study revealed more than just protein build-up. In areas with amyloid-beta, the brain’s support cells - microglia and astrocytes - became more active. These cells help maintain the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/risk-of-dementia-is-much-higher-than-previously-thought/">brain</a>, but in this case, they were swallowing synapses. 



This process, called synaptic pruning, is normal when the brain is still developing. Later in life, too much pruning can cause lasting memory loss.



Microglia were especially aggressive near amyloid-beta plaques. They often took in synapses already containing the protein. 



Astrocytes did this too, though less often. In cats with dementia, the amount of amyloid-beta was closely linked to how many synapses were being removed. That link wasn’t as clear in healthy older cats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-matters-for-people">Why this matters for people</h2>



Most Alzheimer’s research uses rodents, but rodents don’t naturally get dementia. Cats do. That makes them a more realistic model for testing new treatments and understanding the disease’s progression in real life.



“Dementia is a devastating disease - whether it affects humans, cats, or dogs. Our findings highlight the striking similarities between feline dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in people,” noted Dr. Robert McGeachan from the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. 



"This opens the door to exploring whether promising new treatments for human Alzheimer’s disease could also help our aging pets." 



"Because cats naturally develop these brain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-particular-sleep-stage-slow-wave-deep-is-most-important-for-preventing-dementia/">changes</a>, they may also offer a more accurate model of the disease than traditional laboratory animals, ultimately benefiting both species and their caregivers.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-benefits-of-cat-dementia-research">Benefits of cat dementia research</h2>



Professor Danièlle Gunn-Moore, Personal Chair of Feline Medicine at the <a href="https://vet.ed.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies</a>, noted that feline dementia is very distressing for the cat and for its person. 



"It is by undertaking studies like this that we will understand how best to treat them. This will be wonderful for the cats, their owners, people with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-you-live-may-affect-your-dementia-risk/">Alzheimer’s</a> and their loved ones," said Gunn-Moore. "Feline dementia is the perfect natural model for Alzheimer’s, everyone benefits."



The study strengthens the idea that the same harmful processes in humans can appear in cats - and that both species could benefit from the same future treatments.



The research is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejn.70180" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">European Journal of Neuroscience</a>.



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Cats with dementia have brain changes strikingly similar to humans

Cats that develop dementia may play an important role in...

Tropical bird populations have fallen hard in recent decades. A new analysis reports that human-driven heat extremes cut tropical bird abundance by 25 to 38 percent between 1950 and 2020 when compared to a world without warming.



The effects ripple far beyond any single forest. Tropical forests hold the largest share of the world’s bird diversity, with research indicating that about 72 percent of bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-are-struggling-to-keep-pace-with-a-warming-climate/">species</a> live in these ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tropical-bird-declining-numbers">Tropical bird declining numbers</h2>



To investigate, Maximilian Kotz worked with colleagues at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (<a href="https://www.bsc.es/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BSC</a>) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (<a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PIK</a>), alongside James E. M. Watson and Tatsuya Amano at the University of Queensland (<a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UQ</a>).



The team coupled long term bird population records from the <a href="https://www.livingplanetindex.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Living Planet Index</a> with daily weather records to test how temperature spikes and rainfall shifts affect annual changes in abundance. 



The researchers used ERA5, a global reanalysis that blends observations and models to reconstruct historical weather, to ensure consistent daily data across decades.



They analyzed the data to determine how much of the extreme heat exposure could be traced directly to human-driven warming. "As far as we are aware, this is the first animal climate attribution study,” said Kotz. 



Across the tropics, the frequency of dangerously hot days has surged. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-may-be-using-quantum-physics-for-migration/">Birds</a> there now experience roughly ten times as many extreme heat days as they did several decades ago - a shift that lines up with the observed declines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-kills-tropical-birds">Heat kills tropical birds</h2>



Birds maintain high body temperatures and have tight thermal limits. When air temperatures spike, the path to hyperthermia is short, and the main emergency response is evaporative cooling through rapid breathing and related behaviors that trade water for heat loss.



That trade-off gets riskier as hot periods lengthen. Evidence shows that humidity pushes bodies toward lethal overheating faster, shrinking the margin for survival during hot spells in warm climates.



Heat stress also carries delayed costs. Birds that avoid immediate mortality can leave the breeding season lighter and less fit, which reduces nesting success and the number of young that reach independence.



These mechanisms line up with the new estimates. The analysis found that short bursts of extreme heat, not just small changes in seasonal averages, were the strongest predictors of reduced annual growth in tropical bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hundreds-of-bird-species-could-vanish-in-the-next-century/">populations</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tropical-birds-in-protected-areas">Tropical birds in protected areas</h2>



For years, biologists reported declines in seemingly intact tropical forests without a clear culprit. In central Amazonia, long term sampling reveals large falls in ground and near ground birds since the early 1980s, even in undisturbed sites.



In Panama’s protected Barro Colorado Island, a century of data shows a persistent erosion of tropical bird diversity. This trend cannot be chalked up to recent habitat destruction within the reserve.



These records are consistent with the new study’s estimates. The magnitude of decline in some intact sites resembles the size of the heat-attributed reductions reported for tropical populations overall.



The link does not claim a single cause for every place. It shows that the intensification of heat extremes is a powerful driver in regions where most birds already live near their thermal limits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-damage-beats-other-threats">Heat damage beats other threats</h2>



Disentangling climate from direct human pressures has been hard. Here, the attribution framework indicates that in the observed tropical populations, the cumulative impact of heat extremes driven by climate change has been larger than direct human pressures across the same time window.



That does not minimize the damage from land clearing, logging, or mining. It highlights a second, already active threat that operates even when forests still stand.



The method distinguishes between average warming and extremes. The signal points to spikes of heat as the primary stressor for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-are-declining-fastest-where-they-were-once-common/">bird</a> abundance in lower latitude regions.



This finding matters for planning and forecasting. Management that only tracks mean temperatures will understate the risk posed by a cluster of very hot days to small, localized populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-tropical-birds-from-heat">Protecting tropical birds from heat</h2>



The IPCC’s latest assessment demonstrates that climate change is already a major risk to ecosystems and biodiversity, with escalating losses expected without rapid emissions cuts and stronger adaptation.



Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will blunt the rise in extreme heat that the new analysis identifies as the main driver of tropical bird declines. That is the foundation for any long term recovery of abundance in the hottest regions.



Ultimately, protecting tropical birds means preserving the forests they depend on and reducing the heat they cannot escape.



“On the conservation side, this work tells us that in addition to protected areas and stopping deforestation, we urgently need to look into strategies for species who are more vulnerable to heat extremes to maximize their adaptation potential," said Amano. 



"That might mean ex-situ conservation work, so working with some populations in other locations."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02811-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.



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Tropical bird populations are rapidly shrinking - and now scientists know why

Tropical bird populations have fallen hard in recent decades. A...

A single living tree can host about one trillion microbes in its wood, with distinct communities in the inner and outer layers. That is not a rounding error - it forces a rethink of what tree health and forest function really mean.



Researchers sampled 150 living trees spanning 16 species across the northeastern United States and found that these internal microbe communities are not random. They split cleanly between the inner heartwood and the outer sapwood. There is little overlap with microbes found in leaves, roots, or soil.



Jonathan Gewirtzman, a doctoral candidate at the <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale School of the Environment</a>, led the study with support from collaborators across multiple disciplines at Yale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-worlds-beneath-the-bark">Hidden worlds beneath the bark</h2>



Most research on trees has focused on what we can see, like leaves, roots, and bark. Yet forests store vast amounts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/slow-and-steady-tree-growth-wins-the-race-for-carbon-capture/">carbon</a> across living biomass, dead wood, litter, and soils, with global stocks estimated at roughly 861 gigatons of carbon across all pools. 



What happens inside wood is not a footnote for the planet. The inner trunk is not uniform. Heartwood is older, drier, and typically more sealed off, while sapwood is younger tissue that moves water and nutrients upward.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-reveals-microbial-residents">DNA reveals microbial residents</h2>



The researchers extracted high-quality DNA from woody tissues and profiled <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-bacteria-breathe-by-creating-electricity/">bacteria</a> and archaea across both layers to map who lives where. 



The team paired the genetic snapshots with measurements indicating microbial activity in the wood, so this was not just a catalog of dormant passengers.



Those choices matter because a microbiome is more than a roster. It is a structured community whose metabolism can change the chemistry of its home. That is exactly what the patterns in wood suggest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-neighborhoods-in-every-trunk">Two neighborhoods in every trunk</h2>



The inner wood favored anaerobic life that does not require oxygen, a pattern seen before in studies of heartwood that reported methanogenic communities thriving in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-are-threatened-by-low-oxygen-levels/">low-oxygen conditions</a>. 



The outer wood favored oxygen-using microbes suited to the sapwood’s role in water transport and air exposure. This split tracks with basic physiology and chemistry.



These communities include archaea alongside bacteria, and they do work that affects trees and ecosystems. That work includes biogeochemical processes tied to gases and nutrients that, when scaled across forests, can influence larger cycles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-signatures-that-stick">Species signatures that stick</h2>



The communities were not just layered - they were species-specific. Profiles inside sugar maple differed consistently from those inside <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-altitudes-no-longer-protect-pine-trees-from-disease/">pines</a>, and those differences held across individual trees of the same species. 



This pattern is consistent with long-term host filtering and even coevolutionary pressures discussed in plant-microbe research.



“One of the things I found most interesting was how these microbiomes varied across different species," said Wyatt Arnold, a chemical and environmental engineer and study co-lead.



"For example, sugar maples hosted a very different community than the one within pines, and these differences were consistent and conserved.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-as-tree-partners">Microbes as tree partners</h2>



Calling plants holobionts treats the organism and its associated microbes as one integrated unit. That framing is not semantics, it changes how we think about tree health, stress, disease, and even growth in the field and in cities.



These wood-dwelling partners appear to help cycle <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-soil-bacteria-contribute-to-atmospheric-co2/">nutrients</a> inside trunks and produce gases that may vent to the atmosphere or feed other microbes. 



Scaling that up matters because forests act as a major carbon sink each year. Small changes in internal processes can add up across billions of stems worldwide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-in-the-carbon-equation">Microbes in the carbon equation</h2>



Global assessments suggest forests hold on the order of hundreds of gigatons of carbon and continue to remove carbon dioxide from the air annually. 



Knowing how much of that storage and flux depends on microbes living in wood is key for realistic models and practical management.



This is not a call to overpromise - it is a step toward tighter estimates of what forest recovery and protection can deliver.



These estimates are informed by a better handle on internal microbial metabolism. They also draw on how it changes with drought, heat, pests, and age structure across regions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-life-across-forests">Mapping life across forests</h2>



Cataloging these communities beyond the northeastern United States will show how climate, species pools, and land use shape internal wood life.



That includes dry forests, wet tropics, plantations, and urban trees that experience pruning, compaction, and pollution in different ways.



“There is a massive reservoir of unexplored biodiversity, countless microbial species living inside the world’s trees that we’ve never documented," said Gewirtzman. "We need to catalog and understand these communities before climate change potentially shifts them.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-matter-for-tree-management">Microbes matter for tree management</h2>



Internal microbiomes can influence decay resistance, wound healing, and interactions with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-pandemic-looms-as-pathogens-move-from-wild-plants-to-crops/">pathogens</a>. They may also shape a tree’s response to drought or flooding by altering internal chemistry and gas transport.



If certain microbe groups boost resistance or growth, they could lead to new diagnostics and treatments alongside breeding and silviculture.



That prospect aligns with a growing literature on shared governance between hosts and microbes in plants. This research stresses that outcomes reflect both partners.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09316-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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One trillion microbes can live in a single tree

A single living tree can host about one trillion microbes...

Slowing down aging is no longer just science fiction. A growing collection of research confirms that lifestyle choices can shape how fast we age on the inside. Among these choices, exercise stands out. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-reduces-the-risk-of-brain-diseases-by-up-to-54-percent/">Exercise</a> is accessible, low-cost, and can trigger changes deep within our cells. A new study explains how it may help reverse certain aspects of aging.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-exercise-slows-aging">How exercise slows aging</h2>



The study comes from a team led by Takuji Kawamura at <a href="https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tohoku University</a>. The researchers reviewed evidence linking regular physical activity, planned exercise, and overall fitness to slower “epigenetic aging.” 



This type of aging looks at changes in DNA that reveal how well our body’s cells are functioning. Epigenetic clocks measure these changes. They track DNA methylation patterns, which can switch genes on or off. 



Unlike the age on your ID card, these clocks reveal the biological wear and tear happening inside your tissues. Lifestyle habits, including how much and how intensely you move, can speed up or slow down this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-feels-better-when-its-matched-to-your-personality/">process</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planned-exercise-works-best">Planned exercise works best</h2>



Physical activity means any movement that burns energy - walking to the store, cleaning, climbing stairs. 



Exercise is different. It is structured, repetitive, and done with a goal, like improving endurance or strength. The result is fitness - your ability to perform physical tasks, shaped by both your genes and training.



These differences matter. Light movement supports health but may not trigger the deeper cellular changes linked to slowing aging. Structured <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/move-more-sleep-better-exercise-helps-fight-insomnia/">exercise</a>, especially at moderate to vigorous levels, seems to make the biggest difference. 



It can improve mitochondrial function, insulin sensitivity, and even molecular markers tied to aging.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exercise-slows-aging">Exercise slows aging</h2>



Research on general physical activity shows mixed results. Some studies find weak links to slower aging. Others show that leisure-time activity and less sitting relate to a younger biological profile. 



Interestingly, work-related physical activity does not consistently produce anti-aging benefits.



Controlled exercise trials tell a clearer story. In mice, endurance and resistance training slowed age-related DNA changes in muscle tissue. In humans, multi-week training programs reduced biological age markers in blood and muscle. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turning-back-the-epigenetic-clock">Turning back the epigenetic clock</h2>



One trial found that sedentary middle-aged women cut two years off their epigenetic age after eight weeks of combined aerobic and strength training. 



Older men with higher oxygen uptake - a sign of strong cardiovascular fitness - also aged more slowly at the molecular level.



“These findings suggest that maintaining physical fitness delays epigenetic aging in multiple organs and supports the notion that exercise as a geroprotector confers benefits to various organs,” noted the researchers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fitness-levels-matter">Fitness levels matter</h2>



People who maintain high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness often experience a slower pace of epigenetic aging compared to those with lower <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-in-a-pill-is-now-closer-to-reality/">fitness</a> levels. This means their cells and tissues show fewer molecular signs of aging, even if they are the same chronological age as others. 



Research has found that Olympic athletes, who train intensively for many years, typically have a lower biological age than non-athletes of the same age. 



The difference suggests that long-term, high-level training may have lasting effects on slowing the body’s internal aging process. Interestingly, this trend is not limited to elite athletes or completely healthy individuals.



Even among people living with chronic health conditions, those who achieve and maintain better fitness levels tend to display younger biological profiles when measured through DNA methylation and other aging markers. 



This pattern reinforces the idea that improving and maintaining fitness can offer measurable anti-aging benefits across different health backgrounds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-benefits-beyond-muscles">Benefits beyond muscles</h2>



Exercise doesn’t just benefit muscles. Studies in animals show slower aging in the heart, liver, and fat tissue in high-fitness groups. 



There is also growing evidence that the gut microbiome plays a role in both fitness and aging speed, hinting at a broader network of effects.



The researchers point out several limitations of the research. Studies need consistent methods for measuring activity, fitness, and aging. More diverse groups should be included. 



People with higher biological age before starting exercise seem to benefit more - but why remains unclear. New tools, called causal epigenetic clocks, might help confirm if exercise directly changes DNA in ways that affect health.



In the end, the message is simple. Moving regularly, training with purpose, and building fitness does not just keep you strong today - it might also keep your cells younger for years to come.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.aging-us.com/article/206278/text" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aging-US</a>.



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Exercise can slow aging - right down to your DNA

Slowing down aging is no longer just science fiction. A...

As plant roots develop, they flip a fundamental switch in how they move water and nutrients. What starts as a free-flowing, two-way exchange between cells becomes a one-way inward stream - an efficient delivery route toward the plant’s central pipelines.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.unige.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Geneva</a> (UNIGE) have mapped this switch in living roots and tied it to the behavior of plasmodesmata, the microscopic pores that connect neighboring cells. 



The work points to a developmental program that locks directionality into place and may be harnessed to boost <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-a-humble-plant-may-help-us-save-crops-from-drought/">drought</a> resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-direction-matters"><a></a>Why direction matters</h2>



Roots are layered like an onion. Soil-facing epidermal cells do the first capture. Cargo then must traverse the cortex and endodermis to reach the vascular tissues in the core, where xylem and phloem distribute resources through the sap. 



Efficient delivery depends not just on how much the root absorbs, but on how reliably that load moves inward.



For decades, textbooks have pictured plasmodesmata as conduits that let water and small solutes cross those layers. The idea was persuasive, but evidence in intact, developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-roots-could-be-key-to-fighting-climate-change/">roots</a> was thin.



“Although this has been widely taught, it has never been directly proven. We wanted to test this assumption experimentally,” said senior author Marie Barberon, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Science.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proving-the-root-flow-switch">Proving the root flow switch</h2>



The team turned to Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant, and to fluorescent tracers. They expressed green fluorescent protein in specific tissues and watched how the signal spread across layers at different stages of development. 



In the youngest regions, before the vascular system fully develops, the dye flowed freely both inward and outward. That matched the old picture: open channels and two-way exchange. Then the pattern flipped.



As plant roots matured, movement stopped being bidirectional. The fluorescence traveled only from the periphery toward the center. It never flowed back out from inner <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-plant-tissue-discovered-that-increases-seed-size-by-up-to-16-percent/">tissues</a> to the outer layers.



“But in mature roots, we found that transport becomes unidirectional - strictly from the periphery toward the central vessels,” said lead author Léa Jacquier, a scientist at UNIGE.



“This was unexpected, but it likely reflects an optimized system that ensures essential resources efficiently reach the vascular tissues,” added co-author Celeste Fiorenza, a researcher at the same university.



The finding suggests that development doesn’t just add barriers like the endodermal Casparian strip. It also refines the intercellular network itself and biases the plasmodesmatal routes to funnel valuable cargo inward.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-root-pores-as-traffic-controllers">Root pores as traffic controllers</h2>



What makes a pore behave like a valve? To probe the mechanism, the researchers screened for plants in which the fluorescence could still run both ways.



The team identified a mutant they call sesame. In sesame, plasmodesmata appeared abnormally wide. That detail mattered: enlarged channels loosened the inward-only rule and let tracers leak outward again. The result points to pore geometry as a control knob for directionality.



Under ideal growth conditions, sesame showed only mild changes in nutrient handling. The mutant’s most striking trait emerged under stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drought-resilience-in-a-mutant"><a></a>Drought resilience in a mutant</h2>



When water ran short, sesame plants bounced back better than their wild-type counterparts. After two weeks without irrigation, few normal plants resumed growth once rewatered. 



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-make-incredibly-fast-decisions-with-a-brain-smaller-than-a-sesame-seed/">sesame plants</a> recovered robustly. The team cannot yet say exactly why a pore-size change translates into superior drought performance.



“We don’t yet know exactly how these plants cope better with drought, but our findings show that understanding intercellular transport mechanisms could lead to crops that absorb nutrients more efficiently or withstand water stress - a crucial issue for agriculture in the face of climate change," said Barberon.



The observation hints that tuning the intercellular network may help roots retain and route water during dry spells, or maintain nutrient flow when soil availability fluctuates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adapting-plants-to-harsh-climates">Adapting plants to harsh climates</h2>



Directionality is a simple idea with big implications. If mature plant roots hardwire an inward bias, breeders and biotechnologists might modulate that bias to suit harsh environments. 



Narrowing or widening plasmodesmata, or adjusting their density and gating, could optimize how plants partition limited water and minerals toward essential organs.



The work also reframes how we think about root maturation. The shift from two-way to one-way traffic is not just a passive consequence of new barriers. 



It is an active, tissue-wide reconfiguration of the living channels that couple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plant-stem-cells-could-support-human-growth/">plant cells</a>. That makes plasmodesmata prime targets for improving resource use efficiency.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-plant-innovation">Next steps for plant innovation</h2>



The study raises several questions. What molecular players set pore size and polarity as cells differentiate? 



How does the endodermal barrier interact with plasmodesmatal gating to produce the net inward stream? Do plant roots show similar switches, and can those switches be nudged without trade-offs in growth or yield?



Answering those questions could turn a basic developmental insight into practical tools. A root that is better at channeling scarce resources inward is a root that buys time against drought.



With climate stress mounting, the ability to fine-tune those microscopic “one-way streets” may prove invaluable.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/fulltext/S1674-2052(25)00233-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Plant</a>.



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Plant roots rewire themselves to fight drought

As plant roots develop, they flip a fundamental switch in...

A new study finds that even kids as young as three can tell whether a short, wordless music tune sounds happy, sad, calm, or scary - and they get better at it as they grow.



The researchers also looked at how certain personality traits, like low empathy or limited emotional expression, might affect this skill. 



The findings reveal that, while most preschoolers have a natural ear for musical emotions, some patterns make certain feelings harder to recognize.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kids-match-music-to-moods">Kids match music to moods</h2>



Rebecca Waller and colleagues at the <a href="https://psychology.sas.upenn.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Pennsylvania’s</a> School of Arts and Sciences tested 144 preschoolers using five-second instrumental clips and a forced-choice task that asked them to match each clip to one of four emotion faces.



The design let the team separate two basic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-humans-felt-emotions-in-unusual-body-parts/">emotion dimensions</a>, valence and arousal. Valence ranges from positive to negative, while arousal reflects low to high energy in the music.



Performance was better than chance: overall accuracy was 36 percent compared with a 25 percent chance level on the four-option task, and the age trend favored older preschoolers.



High-energy emotions were easier to recognize. Recognition was higher for clips conveying high-arousal states, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-does-happiness-come-from-it-depends-on-who-you-are/">happiness</a> and fear, than for low-arousal states, such as calmness and sadness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kids-with-emotion-reading-difficulties">Kids with emotion-reading difficulties </h2>



Children rated higher on callous-unemotional traits showed poorer recognition overall, with the clearest drop in positive, low-arousal music. Fear recognition, by contrast, did not differ in these children.



This pattern aligns with previous work which links callous traits to broader emotion-reading difficulties. These include problems recognizing distress in faces, as well as a higher risk for aggression and rule-breaking in youth.



In Western tonal music, mode and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-doesnt-just-hear-music-it-becomes-the-rhythm/">harmony </a>often carry affective color. A major key is usually judged as brighter or happier, while minor often lands as darker, though cultural context shapes these mappings.



In the new data, children were more accurate when clips were in a major key, while tempo showed no main effect on accuracy in this sample, consistent with the broader finding that high-arousal cues drive performance at these ages.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-musical-emotion-is-important">Musical emotion is important</h2>



By the early school years, kids typically get better at mapping music to emotion categories - a trend documented across ages five, eight, and eleven in earlier lab studies using unfamiliar excerpts.



Because callous-unemotional traits carry elevated risk for externalizing problems, any channel that strengthens emotion knowledge could be useful in prevention or early support.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-family-and-culture-shape-listening">Family and culture shape listening</h2>



Early exposure to varied musical styles could help strengthen a kid’s ability to recognize emotions in music. Familiarity with a range of tempos, keys, and cultural traditions may broaden the cues they can pick up on, potentially improving accuracy beyond what age alone predicts.



Environmental factors such as family listening habits, preschool <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-music-education-helps-young-people-thrive/">music programs</a>, or even background music in public spaces might contribute to these abilities. 



This opens the possibility that targeted musical activities in early childhood settings could have lasting effects on social-emotional learning.



Even very short, lyric-free clips can communicate basic feelings to preschoolers, which suggests simple listening tasks may be informative in classrooms and clinics.



Other recent work finds that five-year-olds can sort musical feelings along valence and intensity, hinting at a fast-maturing sense for emotional contours in sound.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-empathy-and-musical-connections">Empathy and musical connections</h2>



Music does not only communicate emotion, it can elicit it. In one study of five- to six-year-olds, above-chance recognition coexisted with stronger felt responses among kids whose parents reported higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/empathy-can-be-taught-through-simple-reward-training/">empathy</a>, especially for sad music.



Beyond individuals, coordinated musical activity has been tied to social bonding through interpersonal synchrony and endorphin release in group contexts such as singing or dancing.



“We show that children are good at matching emotion faces to the ‘correct’ emotion music, even at age three,” said Waller.



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



The present work used a community sample with low overall levels of callous-unemotional traits, so a logical next step is testing clinic-referred children who score higher on these traits. 



Longer music excerpts and a wider set of emotions could also clarify how specific musical features, beyond valence, arousal, key, and tempo, shape recognition in early childhood.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.70024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Child Development</a>.



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Kids pick up emotions in music long before they can read

A new study finds that even kids as young as...

What was once pruned and burned in vineyards could soon wrap your groceries - then vanish without a trace. Scientists have developed a biodegradable film from grapevine prunings that mimics plastic but breaks down in just over two weeks.



The breakthrough comes from <a href="https://www.sdstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">South Dakota State University</a> (SDSU), led by Associate Professor Srinivas Janaswamy, in collaboration with grapevine expert Anne Fennell. 



The latest results show that films cast from cellulose extracted out of grapevine canes are transparent, tough, and fast to biodegrade. The team harvested canes from SDSU’s research vineyard and followed a protocol to turn them into packaging-grade films.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-plastic-problem">The plastic problem</h2>



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whats-the-most-sustainable-packaging-the-answer-will-surprise-you/">packaging</a> is used once and tossed, and it is made from petroleum. It lingers in landfills and oceans for centuries. Only a sliver is recycled. Micro- and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nanoplastic-particles-have-infiltrated-the-oceans-food-web-at-the-most-important-levels/">nanoplastics</a> break off and spread.



People and wildlife inhale and ingest them, and they have recently turned up everywhere, including inside the human body. The long-term health effects are still unclear. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is the emblem of that crisis.



Perhaps the worst offender in daily life is the thin retail bag. It is light, cheap, and convenient. It is also hard to recycle and easy to litter. Replacing that bag with a material that behaves like plastic but rapidly decomposes could change the waste stream.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cellulose-packaging-vision">The cellulose packaging vision</h2>



Janaswamy’s lab targets that problem using agricultural byproducts. He has extracted cellulose from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cave-discovery-of-ancient-avocados-could-rescue-a-global-crop/">avocado</a> peels, soy hulls, alfalfa, switchgrass, spent coffee grounds, corncobs, and banana peels. 



The recovered polymer is then used for films that mimic familiar wraps and liners. "By extracting cellulose from agricultural products, value-added products can be created,” Janaswamy said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grapevines-transformed-into-packaging">Grapevines transformed into packaging</h2>



The grapevine idea began after a campus talk. Fennell, a professor of agronomy, horticulture, and plant science, knew canes are cellulose-rich and produced in bulk each winter. However, most are mulched, composted, or burned.



“Every year we prune the majority of the yearly biomass off the vine. The pruned canes are either mowed over, composted and reapplied to the soil, or burned in some areas,” Fennell said. “My thought was, why not use this for value-added films?”



“Several of the materials that Janaswamy previously used had a high water content. In contrast, the winter pruning yields a cellulose-dense material with low water content, making it an abundant and ideal material to work with.”



The team dried and milled the canes. Afterwards, they extracted a cotton-like cellulose residue, solubilized it, and cast it onto glass plates to form thin, uniform sheets. The result looked like clear packaging film.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-built-strong-breaks-down-fast">Built strong, breaks down fast</h2>



Tests showed a standout mix of traits. The grapevine films were transparent, which matters on store shelves.



“High transmittance in packaging films enhances product visibility, making them more attractive to consumers and facilitating easy quality inspection without the need for unsealing,” Janaswamy said. “These films demonstrate outstanding potential for food packaging applications.”



They were strong, too. In tensile tests, they outperformed common plastic bags. Moreover, in soil, the films <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-future-of-plastic-biodegradable-durable-and-even-edible/">biodegraded</a> within 17 days and left no harmful residue. 



That is the kind of decay window that makes sense for single-use packaging. It gives an item enough life to do its job, then it returns to the earth.



Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on the planet. It is the load-bearing material in plant cell walls, reinforced by hydrogen bonds in chains of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glucose-the-sweet-secret-to-a-younger-brain/">glucose</a>. 



Since cotton is mostly cellulose and wood is rich in it, such feedstock is common, renewable, and often wasted. Using byproducts adds value without claiming more land or water.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-packaging-designed-to-biodegrade">Packaging designed to biodegrade</h2>



The films bring Janaswamy closer to a retail bag that will not persist in the environment. They also point to a flexible platform. 



By choosing different plant sources, the lab can tune clarity, strength, and handling. Grapevine canes - dry, cellulose-dense, and plentiful - hit a sweet spot for performance and processing.



“Using underutilized grapevine prunings as a cellulose source for packaging films enhances waste management in the field and addresses the global issue of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-harming-our-health-not-just-the-planet/">plastic pollution</a>,” Janaswamy explained.



“Developing eco-friendly films from grapevine cellulose represents a practical approach to sustainability, helping to conserve the environment and its resources and contributing to the circular bioeconomy.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-grapevine-packaging">Next steps for grapevine packaging</h2>



Scaling up will require a steady feedstock, efficient extraction, and film lines that meet food-contact standards. Retailers will want consistency, while consumers will want price parity and a familiar feel. Luckily, the early data is encouraging.



Since packaging still leans on fossil inputs, recycling rates remain low, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/airborne-microplastics-where-they-come-from-and-where-they-go/">microplastic</a> concerns are growing, the need for alternatives is high. 



Packaging film made from grapevines that vanishes in 17 days is not a cure-all, but it is a concrete step toward cleaner shelves, cleaner bins, and cleaner oceans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/fb/d5fb00211g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sustainable Food Technology</a>.



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Grapevines could offer a breakthrough alternative to plastic packaging

What was once pruned and burned in vineyards could soon...

A new analysis explains why common cuff-based blood pressure checks can be wrong. It shows that the artery beneath the cuff stays closed longer than expected, which makes systolic pressure appear lower than it is.



The study also points to simple tweaks that could sharpen readings and detect more cases of hypertension.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Cambridge</a> built a physical model to test the mechanics behind the error. Their findings suggest protocol changes could improve accuracy without replacing standard cuffs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cuff-readings-hidden-flaw">Cuff readings’ hidden flaw</h2>



Most blood pressure measurements use the auscultatory method. A cuff inflates around the upper arm until it blocks <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-increases-blood-flow-to-the-brain/">blood flow</a>. 



As the cuff deflates, a clinician listens for tapping sounds while watching the gauge. The first taps mark systolic pressure, and the last taps indicate diastolic pressure.



“The auscultatory method is the gold standard, but it overestimates diastolic pressure, while systolic pressure is underestimated,” said co-author Kate Bassil from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.



“We have a good understanding of why diastolic pressure is overestimated, but why systolic pressure is underestimated has been a bit of a mystery.”



“Pretty much every clinician knows blood pressure readings are sometimes wrong, but no one could explain why they are being underestimated - there’s a real gap in understanding,” said co-author Anurag Agarwal, a professor at Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solving-the-systolic-mystery"><a></a>Solving the systolic mystery</h2>



Earlier bench setups used rubber tubes to mimic arteries. Those tubes did not fully collapse under cuff pressure, which masked the source of the systolic error.



The team designed a simplified rig to recreate what happens in the arm below the cuff. Inflate the cuff, and the downstream segment becomes very low pressure. 



That drop keeps the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/poor-diet-can-damage-our-blood-vessels/">blood vessel</a> walls pressed together for longer as the cuff pressure falls. Reopening is delayed, and the tapping begins later than it should. At that moment, the gauge reads too low for systolic pressure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reproducing-real-blood-flow">Reproducing real blood flow</h2>



Instead of round rubber tubes, the researchers used flat-laying tubes that close completely under load. That substitution was key. It reproduced the low downstream pressures seen in the body. 



The experimental method also revealed how cuff deflation timing interacts with vessel collapse and reopening.



In this setup, the delayed reopening showed up clearly. The physical mechanism matched what clinicians observe. Systolic pressure is biased down, while diastolic skews up. Together, those shifts can hide disease, especially when true systolic pressure is high.



“We are currently not adjusting for this error when diagnosing or prescribing treatments, which has been estimated to lead to as many as 30 percent of cases of systolic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-link-between-insomnia-and-hypertension-in-women/">hypertension</a> being missed,” Bassil said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-the-cuff-work-better">Making the cuff work better</h2>



The study points to low-cost changes. One idea is to raise the arm before measuring. That could set a more predictable downstream pressure. If the underestimation then becomes predictable, clinicians can account for it.



“You might not even need new devices, just changing how the measurement is done could make it more accurate,” Agarwal said.



If new monitors are developed, they could ask for added inputs. Age, BMI, or tissue characteristics may correlate with downstream pressure.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lasers-and-light-replace-the-cuff-in-blood-pressure-breakthrough-scos/">Devices</a> could use those signals to tailor the correction for each person. The goal is the same: reduce bias at the moment when the taps first appear.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blood-pressure-accuracy-saves-lives">Blood pressure accuracy saves lives</h2>



Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk for early death worldwide. Missed systolic disease delays treatment, raising the odds of heart attack, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stroke-risk-is-elevated-by-air-pollution-and-traffic-noise/">stroke</a>, and heart failure. Even small gains in accuracy can shift outcomes at the population scale.



More reliable readings also protect patients from the opposite error: overestimation, which can lead to unnecessary medications and side effects.



Getting both numbers right helps clinicians set appropriate treatment targets and helps patients trust the plan.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-improving-blood-pressure-readings">Improving blood pressure readings </h2>



The Cambridge team is preparing for clinical trials to test the correction in real-world settings and across diverse populations.



Partnerships with clinicians and industry will be essential. Better calibration models will require broad validation, and training and workflow updates will also be important.



The promise is practical: keep the cuff, change the protocol, and understand the physics in the artery beneath the fabric. With these changes, routine checks could flag true risk more often, and the path from diagnosis to prevention could become much clearer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/8/pgaf222/8222934" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PNAS Nexus</a>.



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Why your blood pressure reading might be wrong

A new analysis explains why common cuff-based blood pressure checks...

For decades, the search for life beyond Earth has centered on one key ingredient: water. If a planet didn’t have it, scientists tended to cross it off the list of potentially habitable worlds.



But that assumption may be far too narrow. A new study suggests that life might not need water at all. 



Instead, an entirely different type of liquid - one that behaves very differently from water - could provide a safe haven for living chemistry on planets where water can barely exist.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-habitability-without-water">Rethinking habitability without water</h2>



Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (<a href="http://mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIT</a>) have been exploring the possibilities of ionic liquids - fluids made of salts that remain liquid below 100 degrees Celsius. 



The team's experiments show that these liquids could form naturally from chemicals already expected on some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rocky-planets-a-new-target-in-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-life/">rocky planets</a> and moons.



In the lab, the researchers found that mixing sulfuric acid with certain nitrogen-containing organic compounds produced an ionic liquid. 



Sulfuric acid is a common byproduct of volcanic activity, while nitrogen-based organics have been detected on asteroids and planets in our solar system - suggesting they may also exist elsewhere in the galaxy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-hosts-for-simple-life-forms">Potential hosts for simple life forms</h2>



Unlike water, ionic liquids don’t evaporate easily. They can remain stable in hotter, lower-pressure conditions - the kinds of environments that would destroy liquid water. 



Even more intriguing, some proteins can remain stable in these liquids, making them potential hosts for simple forms of life.



Rachana Agrawal led the study as a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.



“We consider water to be required for life because that is what’s needed for Earth life. But if we look at a more general definition, we see that what we need is a liquid in which metabolism for life can take place,” said Agrawal. 



“Now if we include ionic liquid as a possibility, this can dramatically increase the habitability zone for all rocky worlds.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-accidental-discovery-in-the-lab">Accidental discovery in the lab</h2>



The discovery came by accident. The team had been studying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-there-life-on-venus-the-possibility-cant-be-ruled-out/">Venus</a> - a planet shrouded in clouds of sulfuric acid - as part of ongoing efforts to search for life in its atmosphere. 



If a spacecraft collects samples from these clouds, scientists would need to evaporate the acid to search for any leftover organic compounds.



Agrawal and fellow researcher Sara Seager were testing ways to do this when they stumbled on something unexpected. They mixed sulfuric acid with glycine, an organic compound, and tried to evaporate it under low pressure. 



Most of the sulfuric acid disappeared - but a stubborn layer of liquid stayed behind. The team soon realized this was no ordinary residue. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ionic-liquids-on-exoplanets">Ionic liquids on exoplanets </h2>



The acid had reacted with glycine, swapping hydrogen atoms and producing a liquid mixture of salts, or an ionic liquid, that stayed stable over a wide range of temperatures and pressures.



“From there, we took the leap of imagination of what this could mean,” said Agrawal. “Sulfuric acid is found on Earth from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-are-volcanoes-in-indonesia-so-dangerous/">volcanoes</a>, and organic compounds have been found on asteroids and other planetary bodies." 



"So, this led us to wonder if ionic liquids could potentially form and exist naturally on exoplanets.”



On Earth, ionic liquids are mostly made in industrial settings. Naturally occurring examples are rare. One exception is when the venoms of two rival ant species mix. But could they form elsewhere in space?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-in-non-water-liquids">Life in non-water liquids</h2>



The team tested over 30 nitrogen-containing organics with sulfuric acid under different temperatures and pressures. They even mixed the ingredients on basalt rock, a common type of planetary crust.



“In high school, you learn that an acid wants to donate a proton. And oddly enough, we knew from our past work with sulfuric acid (the main component of Venus’ clouds) and nitrogen-containing compounds, that a nitrogen wants to receive a hydrogen," noted Seager. "It’s like one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”



The results were surprising. Ionic liquids formed at temperatures up to 180 degrees Celsius and under pressures far lower than Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-shrinking-earths-atmosphere-and-thats-bad-for-satellites/">atmosphere</a>. Even when excess acid seeped into the rock, a droplet of ionic liquid remained.



“We were just astonished that the ionic liquid forms under so many different conditions,” said Seager. 



“If you put the sulfuric acid and the organic on a rock, the excess sulfuric acid seeps into the rock pores, but you’re still left with a drop of ionic liquid on the rock. Whatever we tried, ionic liquid still formed.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiny-oases-for-alien-life">Tiny oases for alien life?</h2>



The findings open the door to a striking possibility: planets that are too hot and dry for water could still have patches of liquid - small “oases” where life might emerge.



“We’re envisioning a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/planet-identified-that-is-more-suitable-for-life-than-earth/">planet</a> warmer than Earth, that doesn’t have water, and at some point in its past or currently, it has to have had sulfuric acid, formed from volcanic outgassing,” explained Seager. 



“This sulfuric acid has to flow over a little pocket of organics. And organic deposits are extremely common in the solar system.”



Those pockets could last for years or even millennia, providing stable environments where ionic-liquid-based life might survive.



“We just opened up a Pandora’s box of new research,” Seager said. “It’s been a real journey.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2425520122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.



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Rocky planets may not need water to host alien life

For decades, the search for life beyond Earth has centered...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" 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.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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&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> Staff Writer 



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.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 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://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.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...

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