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...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> (UBC) has found that the re-entry of abandoned stages of rockets left in orbit from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-tourism-may-damage-the-climate/">space</a> launches have a six to ten percent chance of severely injuring or even killing a human being over the next decade. According to the experts, governments need to take collective action and mandate that rocket stages are guided back to Earth safely after their use. While this would increase the costs of launches, it could potentially save lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Is it permissible to regard the loss of human life as just a cost of doing business, or is it something that we should seek to protect when we can? And that’s the crucial point here: we can protect against this risk,” said study lead author Michael Byers, an expert in Political Science at UBC.



When objects such as satellites are launched into space, they use rockets, parts of which are of frequently left unattended in orbit. If these leftovers have a low enough orbit, they can re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled way, with potentially lethal pieces hurtling toward the ground.



By using over 30 years of data from a public satellite catalogue, the scientists calculated the potential risk to human life over the next decade of uncontrolled rocket body re-entries, and found that current practices have a six to ten percent chance of one or more casualties, if each re-entry spreads, on average, dangerous debris over a ten meters squared area. 



Although major space-faring nations are located in the north, this risk will be borne disproportionately by the global south, with rocket bodies being about three times more likely to land in Jakarta, Lagos, or Dhaka than New York, Moscow, or Beijing, due to the distribution of orbits used when launching satellites.



“Risks have been evaluated on a per-launch basis so far, giving people the sense that the risk is so small that it can safely be ignored,” said study co-author Aaron Boley, an associate professor of Physics and Astronomy at UBC. “But the cumulative risk is not that small. There have been no reported casualties yet, and no mass casualty event, but do we wait for that moment and then react, particularly when it involves human life, or do we try and get in front of it?”



While technology and mission designs which can largely remove these risks already exist – such as having engines that reignite, as well as extra fuel to guide the rocket parts safely to remote ocean areas - they are quite expensive. Currently, there are no multilateral agreements mandating companies to make such changes.



“Those national governments whose populations are being put at risk should demand that major spacefaring states act, together, to mandate controlled rocket re-entries, create meaningful consequences for non-compliance, and thus eliminate the risks for everyone,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01718-8">Nature Astronomy</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Space rocket debris could soon turn deadly

A new study led by the University of British Columbia...

The rise in anti-science attitudes has been amplified by modern day <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/americans-stressed-out-politics/">politics</a>, a potent force in the growing rejection of science. Three researchers who study attitudes and persuasion explain the rise in anti-science beliefs today and what can be done about it.



“The classic work on persuasion still applies to what we’re seeing today as many people reject the science of vaccines, climate change and other subjects,” said study lead author Aviva Philipp-Muller. “But there are evidence-based strategies that can work for increasing public acceptance of science.”



Anti-science beliefs are built on four foundations: the idea that scientific sources lack credibility; identifying with groups that have anti-science attitudes; a scientific message that contradicts a person’s current beliefs; and a mismatch between how a message is presented and a person’s style of thinking.



“What all four of these bases have in common is they reveal what happens when scientific information conflicts with what people already think or their style of thought,” said study co-author Richard Petty, professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>.



The researchers note that there has been a significant increase in anti-science attitudes in the past decades. Most recently, the sudden growth of anti-vaccination groups in the United States and other countries.&nbsp;



The rise of social media and a greater variety of news sources are some of the biggest influencing factors on anti-science beliefs. The experts also point to the growing importance of political ideology in the modern world.



“Politics were always around, and people had political views, but politics didn’t permeate everything. Science and scientific beliefs were separate from politics at one time, but not anymore,” said Professor Petty.



Today, politics is at the core of an individual's identity, and ideology affects how someone responds to scientific evidence that has been politicized, such as climate change. It can be easier for some to reject science rather than overturn their political beliefs. As a result, politics can trigger or amplify basic mental processes across all four bases of anti-science attitudes, Philipp-Muller said.



For example, take source credibility. Research shows that people see others with similar political views as more expert and knowledgeable. Because liberals and conservatives find different news sources credible, they expose themselves to different sources of scientific information – and misinformation.



“Social media platforms like Facebook provide customized news feeds that means conservatives and liberals can get highly varied information,” said Philipp-Muller.



To address key principles driving anti-science beliefs, research on persuasion and attitudes can help. Converting messages that understand opposing viewpoints should be considered. For example, messages on preventing the spread of COVID-19 can acknowledge that wearing masks can be uncomfortable, but this is a small discomfort that goes a long way to prevent the spread of disease.



Another key is to find common ground with people who reject science – even if what you have in common has nothing to do with science.



“People get their defenses up if they think they are being attacked or that you’re so different from them that you can’t be credible,” said Professor Petty.



The experts hope more scientists learn about the psychology of how to communicate about their work to different audiences, including those who might be skeptical.



“There’s an opportunity to counteract the anti-science attitudes and sentiment that is out there," said Philipp-Muller. "We have to use evidence-based strategies to increase public acceptance of science.”



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



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What is causing a rise in anti-science beliefs?

The rise in anti-science attitudes has been amplified by modern...

A new study published in the journal <a href="about:blank">Nature</a> has found that modern ocean <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/emerging-issues-that-may-impact-marine-biodiversity-are-poorly-understood/">biodiversity</a> - which is currently at its highest level ever – was achieved through long-term stability of “biodiversity hotspots,” or regions where an exceptionally high number of different species co-exist.&nbsp;



The experts reached this conclusion by employing a pioneering computational model which reconstructs the diversity of marine animals from their origin about 550 million years ago to the present, based on plate tectonics and environmental factors, such as ocean temperatures and food supply. Since the history of diversity in the model is numerically simulated rather than reconstructed from fossil data, this method is free from the gaps and sampling biases characterizing the fossil record.



“The question is how did we get to where we are,” said study lead author Pedro Cermeño, a postdoctoral fellow in Marine Biology at the <a href="http://www.icm.csic.es/en">Institute of Marine Sciences</a> in Barcelona, Spain. “Gaps in the fossil record require the use of a new computational approach to reconstruct the history of life. Our model is able to recreate the geographic distribution of modern ocean diversity, especially the hotspots, and reveals the mechanisms that have created them.”



This new model can also shed more light on one of the most controversial questions in Evolutionary Ecology: whether or not there is a limit to the biodiversity that our planet can support. While some scientists argue that as diversity increases and biological competition intensifies, the process of diversification slows down to a halt, so that the emergence of new species depends upon the extinction of older ones, others claim that the Earth’s ecosystems are so heterogeneous that there will always be room for more species. 



The new model helps reconciling the two views, suggesting that while most of the oceans exhibit diversity levels far below their maximum potential, regions hosting biodiversity hotspots may be close to their limit.



Although ocean biodiversity is currently at its highest level, this may not last long, since human interference in the natural functioning of Earth’s systems has prompted what scientists call “the sixth great mass extinction.” According to the United Nations, over the last century as many species have already disappeared as those that would be extinguished in 10,000 years assuming a normal, non-extinction evolutionary scenario.



“Our study emphasizes that, if current trends continue, projected diversity loss can take millions of years to recover, arguably beyond our own existence as a species,” concluded co-author Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Environmental stability helped ocean biodiversity flourish

A new study published in the journal Nature has found...

Astronomers from <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">MIT</a> report today that they have discovered a mysterious signal with a pattern akin to a heartbeat, emanating from a far-off galaxy that is billions of light-years from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-likely-contributed-to-earths-largest-mass-extinction/">Earth</a>. Exactly what the source may be of this regular pulse of radio waves remains a mystery, as it is the first time that such a signal has been recorded.&nbsp;



They have identified the signal as a fast radio burst (FRB), which is typically an intensely strong burst of radio waves of unknown astrophysical origin that lasts only a few milliseconds at most. This new signal, labelled FRB 20191221A, is unusual, because it persists for up to three seconds, which is about 1,000 times longer than the average FRB. Within this time, there are shorter bursts of radio waves that repeat every 0.2 seconds in a clear periodic pattern, similar to that of a beating heart.&nbsp;



Since the first FRB was discovered in 2007, hundreds of similar radio flashes have been detected across the universe, most recently by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME, an interferometric radio telescope that is located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia, Canada. CHIME is designed to pick up radio waves emitted by hydrogen in the very earliest stages of the universe, but the telescope is also sensitive to fast radio bursts. Since it began observing the sky in 2018, CHIME has detected hundreds of FRBs emanating from different parts of the sky.



The vast majority of FRBs observed to date are ultrabright bursts of radio waves that last for a few milliseconds only. Recently, however, researchers discovered the&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2020/astronomers-rhythm-radio-waves-0617">first periodic FRB</a>&nbsp;that appeared to emit a regular pattern of radio waves. This signal consisted of a four-day window of random bursts that then repeated every 16 days. This 16-day cycle indicated a periodic pattern of activity, although the signal of the actual radio bursts was random rather than periodic.&nbsp;



On Dec. 21, 2019, CHIME picked up the signal of a potential FRB, which immediately drew the attention of&nbsp;Daniele Michilli, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, who was scanning the incoming data.



“It was unusual,” he recalls. “Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second – boom, boom, boom – like a heartbeat. This is the first time the signal itself is periodic.”



Exactly what that source might be remains a mystery, though astronomers suspect the signal could emanate from either a radio pulsar or a magnetar, both of which are types of neutron stars – extremely dense, rapidly spinning collapsed cores of giant stars.&nbsp;



“There are not many things in the universe that emit strictly periodic signals,” says Michilli. “Examples that we know of in our own galaxy are radio pulsars and magnetars, which rotate and produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse. And we think this new signal could be a magnetar or pulsar on steroids.”



When they analyzed the pattern of FRB 20191221A’s radio bursts, Michilli and his colleagues found similarities with emissions from radio pulsars and magnetars in our own galaxy. The main difference, however, was that FRB 20191221A appears to be more than a million times brighter. Michilli says the luminous flashes may originate from a distant radio pulsar or magnetar that is normally less bright as it rotates and for some unknown reason ejected a train of brilliant bursts, in a rare three-second window that CHIME was luckily positioned to catch.



“CHIME has now detected many FRBs with different properties,” Michilli says. “We’ve seen some that live inside clouds that are very turbulent, while others look like they’re in clean environments. From the properties of this new signal, we can say that around this source, there’s a cloud of plasma that must be extremely turbulent.”



The team hopes to detect more periodic signals from this source, which could then be used as a type of astrophysical clock. For instance, the frequency of the bursts, and how they change as the source moves away from Earth, could be used to measure the rate at which the universe is expanding.



“This detection raises the question of what could cause this extreme signal that we’ve never seen before, and how can we use this signal to study the universe,” Michilli says. “Future telescopes promise to discover thousands of FRBs a month, and at that point we may find many more of these periodic signals.”



The discovery is reported today in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>, and is authored by members of the CHIME/FRB Collaboration, including MIT co-authors Calvin Leung, Juan Mena-Parra, Kaitlyn Shin, and Kiyoshi Masui at MIT, along with Michilli, who led the discovery first as a researcher at McGill University, and then as a postdoc at MIT.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mysterious radio “heartbeat” signal detected from distant galaxy

Astronomers from MIT report today that they have discovered a...

We all know rats can be taught to navigate mazes and do other tasks for food rewards, but can they teach each other to find <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/children-make-unhealthy-food-choices-based-on-their-emotions/">food</a>? A new study suggests that rats can, in fact, learn navigation through observation.&nbsp;



The research, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience">Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience</a>, looked at how animals form mental maps using lab rats as a research model. Specifically, the scientists wanted to see if rats could learn about a physical space by watching another rat explore it rather than exploring it themselves. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Learning by observation is the most common form of learning from school to daily life,” said Dr. Thomas Doublet of the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a>. “We wanted to understand whether or not a spatial representation could be acquired remotely. This is important to understand how spatial representations can be generated and stabilized.”



To explore this question, rats were put into a two part cage, with an observer rat inside an internal clear cage, watching a rat explore the outer cage. The observer rat learned the location of food by watching the demonstrator rat in the outer cage.



Rats that had the benefit of watching a friend find the food were tested against naive rats who didn’t watch another find the food. Naive rats were found to be 12 percent successful compared to the 100 percent successful observer rats. This shows that rats can create mental navigation maps with only indirect experience to guide them Doublet explained,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our study shows that the cognitive representation of a space formed by observation is stable and can be used by the animals to navigate more efficiently through the observed space,” said Dr. Doublet, “This study is a means to better understand how our brain represents the behavior of conspecifics, but also how our internal GPS works.”



The researchers say that the findings represent a step toward understanding how mental navigation works in animals but there’s still more research to be done before it’s fully understood. For one, it is still not known whether rats use the same neurons to create mental maps from observation as from their own experience.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How does mental navigation work in animals?

We all know rats can be taught to navigate mazes...

Purple sea <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-urchins-feet-see/">urchins</a> are currently munching their way through California’s kelp forests at an unprecedented speed and scale that has amazed scientists. However, since kelp forests have long been home to purple and red urchins, it is clear that the three species can get along. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a> (UCSB) has set out to investigate what prompts urchins to munch their way out of a home. They discovered that the availability of kelp scraps, or detritus, might be the deciding factor.&nbsp;



“Why is it that in some places urchins cause the demise of a kelp forest, and in other places urchins and kelp can coexist?” asked study senior author Adrian Stier, an associate professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at UCSB. “Our analysis shows what’s going on under the hood. It offers a lot more resolution in explaining when and where you might expect urchins to devour kelp.”



By combining laboratory experiments with two decades of field data, Professor Stier and his team discovered that the availability of kelp detritus alters the foraging behavior of urchins from passive feeding, when detritus is abundant, to active grazing of living kelp, when detritus is scarce. The analyses revealed that when urchin demand was greater than detrital supply, there was a stunning 50-fold decrease in the standing stock of kelp biomass.&nbsp;



Thus, the less kelp available to supply enough detritus, the more are urchins likely to venture out and forage on living kelp. This phenomenon creates a feedback loop that can push an ecosystem over a tipping point, causing a sudden shift in the composition of kelp-urchin communities.



These findings can inform how to effectively approach kelp forest management. “The study suggests that the places most likely to benefit from restoration are those with a hardy supply of detrital kelp coming from elsewhere,” Professor Stier explained. “The best place to restore kelp isn’t in the middle of an urchin barren, where there’s no kelp around. It’s actually in places that are closer to other kelp forests. So maybe we ought to try extending the leading edge of a given kelp forest nearby,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.3673">Ecology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Why are urchins sometimes feeding on living kelp?

Purple sea urchins are currently munching their way through California’s...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-air-pollution-boosts-brain-development-in-children/">Children</a> are making unhealthy food choices based on their emotions, and this is particularly the case on weekends, according to a new study published by <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/">Elsevier</a>. The research is the latest in a growing collection of studies that have linked negative emotions to excessive calorie intake and poor diet quality.



"Children are more likely to consume unhealthy foods on weekends when meals and snacks are less structured and supervised than on school days," said study lead author Christine Hotaru Naya of the University of Southern California. "We also focused on snack choices where children often make their own decisions."



The analysis was focused on nearly 200 children in third through sixth grades. The children used a mobile app to respond to questions seven times per day. They were asked if they were feeling sad, stressed, or mad.&nbsp;



The participants were also asked to report whether they had made any unhealthy eating choices from among fried foods, sweets, and sugary beverages over the previous two hours. Out of all of the food types examined, sweet food consumption was reported the most often - followed by chips, fries, and sugary beverages.



The experts identified three negative mood patterns among the children - stable low; early increasing and late decreasing; and early decreasing and late increasing.&nbsp;



"We found fried food consumption to be higher on days with more variable emotional patterns than days with consistent low negative mood," said Naya. "These results align with other studies that have found the negative mood to positively predict children's fatty food intake." Sweet food and soda consumption did not follow the same patterns in this study.



According to study co-author Daniel Chu, the research has several strengths, including that the results can be widely applied and tested in the family home. The results indicate that mornings and evenings are vulnerable periods when the change in negative emotions could influence food choices.



"More studies are needed for us to understand the relationship between a child's emotions and their food choices, but this is a good start on that path to recognizing how to approach food choices with a person's mood and emotions in mind," said Naya.&nbsp;



"We could improve our current interventions to be individually tailored to the environmental, social, emotional, and cognitive contexts in which unhealthy eating occurs."



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jneb.org/">Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior</a>.



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

Children make unhealthy food choices based on their emotions

Children are making unhealthy food choices based on their emotions,...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-will-completely-change-how-we-view-the-universe/">James Webb</a> Space Telescope has already provided us with the oldest view of our known universe, and the spacecraft was just recently launched in December. The telescope also captured this stunning image of the Carina Nebula, which is a huge cloud of gas and stars that are exploding into existence.&nbsp;



The photo reveals hundreds of new stars and numerous galaxies in the background of the nebula, as well as areas of star birth that were previously invisible. It is difficult to capture this stage of early star formation because it only lasts about 50,000 to 100,000 years for each star.&nbsp;



"What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula," reports ESA.



"Called the Cosmic Cliffs, the region is actually the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula’s wall by slowly eroding it away."



The image was captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope. ESA described several prominent features that can be found in the photo.



<ul><li>The “steam” that appears to rise from the celestial “mountains” is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars.</li></ul>



<ul><li>A “blow-out” erupts at the top-centre of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium.</li></ul>



<ul><li>An unusual “arch” appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder.</li></ul>



Located approximately 7,600 light-years from Earth, the Carina Nebula is visible from the Southern Hemisphere and can be found in the constellation Carina. The region is home to the unstable supergiant star known as Eta Carinae, which is famous for its unusual and bright outbursts.



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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

The Carina Nebula like we've never seen it before

The James Webb Space Telescope has already provided us with...

A new population of blue whales known as "Chagos" pygmy blue whales was discovered in the Indian Ocean last year. They were found incidentally while monitoring nuclear bomb tests.&nbsp;



Researchers from UNSW Sydney analyzed 18 years of recordings and found that Chango whale song frequency has increased over the years. The experts hope that this indicates the species is rebounding after near <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-likely-contributed-to-earths-largest-mass-extinction/">extinction</a> due to hunting.&nbsp;



“We discovered different seasonal patterns of the whales on the west and east side of the island. We found that first of all, the amount of whale songs is increasing over the study period at both sites," said study lead author Lyra Huang.



"Secondly, they are mainly on the south-eastern side from September to November, and they then migrate to the north-western side and stay until February.”



“Our analysis shows that these movements are related to environmental factors such as sea surface temperature and food availability.”



The researchers also discovered that Chagos migrate from the south-eastern side to the north-western side of Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean. Corresponding author,&nbsp; <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/tracey-rogers">Professor Tracey Rogers</a>, explains their migration,



“<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-88062-5">Our earlier research</a> picked up these same whale songs up as far as Sri Lanka and across as far as the Western Australian coastline. This means these whales migrate across the Indian Ocean, which is really unusual for blue whales as they generally move north and south to and from Antarctica, but these guys are going east to west, and back again.”&nbsp;



“We see high concentrations of chlorohpyll-a [an indicator of krill] on the south-eastern side of the island which corresponds with times when there are more whale songs recorded there, but no correlation at the north-western side.”&nbsp;



“This tells us that the whales are most likely feeding on that south-eastern side and then migrating past the western side of the island.”



Currently, Chago whale populations are doing well, and the researchers are interested in how climate change will affect them.&nbsp;



“Oceanic conditions in the Indian Ocean are predicted to change under future climate scenarios," said Rogers. “So, it’d be really interesting to see how this newly discovered population is going to fare into the future – is that going to be better for them or will it be not as good? But at the moment, things seem to be going really well for them.”



This study has been published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.843875/full">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shifting ocean conditions influence Chago whale migrations

A new population of blue whales known as "Chagos" pygmy...

Planet,Earth,Globe,View,From,Space,Showing,Realistic,Earth,Surface

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a> has found that the amount and location of land on a planet’s surface can have a significant impact on its habitability. By applying three-dimensional climate models to simulated Earth-like planets, the experts have identified substantial differences in surface temperature, sea-ice, and water vapor across these planets’ surfaces for different types of land configurations.



Many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-discovery-of-young-earth-like-planets-is-a-real-possibility/">planets</a> are tidally locked to their stars so that one side of the planet is always facing away – just like the “dark side of the Moon” always faces away from the Earth. This phenomenon creates permanent day- and nightsides on such planets, with all the energy received from the star directed towards the planets’ daysides. However, in order for a planet to support life, the climate must be at least to a certain extent regulated across its surface. Thus, the planet’s atmosphere and oceans need to redistribute part of the energy received from the star to the planet’s nightside.



The scientists have applied a three-dimensional climate model (<a href="https://github.com/alphaparrot/ExoPlaSim">ExoPlaSim</a>) to simulated Earth-like planets with two different dayside configurations: a circular continent in the middle of the dayside surrounded by ocean, and a circular ocean in the middle of the dayside surrounded by land everywhere else. In both cases, the size of the circle was varied in order to assess how the planet’s climate depends on the amount of land for each of the two configurations.



The results suggest that the amount of land, as well as its configuration have major effects on the surface conditions of the planet. For instance, for models with similar dayside land fractions but opposed configurations, the average surface temperature can change by up to 20 degrees Celsius. Thus, the amount of water vapor in a planet’s atmosphere – which is crucial for the planet’s habitability – strongly depends on the area of ice-free ocean on its surface. Moreover, planets with large patches of land have hotter and drier daysides with clouds and precipitation mostly confined to small central areas.&nbsp;



“Finding out whether life&nbsp;exists elsewhere in the universe&nbsp;is a key challenge of astronomy and science as a whole,” said study lead author Evelyn Macdonald, a graduate student in Planetary Physics at the University of Toronto.&nbsp;



“Our work demonstrates that the distribution of land on an Earth-like planet has a big impact on its climate, and should help astronomers looking at planets with instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to better interpret what they're seeing,” she concluded.



The study was presented on Monday, July 11 at the <a href="https://nam2022.org/">National Astronomy Meeting</a> (NAM22) in Warwick.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

The habitability of a planet is affected by the location of its land

A new study led by the University of Toronto has...

Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) are widespread and highly mobile marine mammals. They inhabit coastal and pelagic environments in temperate and subtropical waters in both the northern and southern hemisphere. In these environments they form regional subpopulations that are discernible on a genetic basis, despite the fact that individuals can migrate between populations. An understanding of the geographic locations of the regional subpopulations is important for the long-term <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rhinos-show-that-diseases-can-disrupt-conservation-efforts/">conservation</a> and management of the species.



Previous research has identified three distinct regional populations of common dolphins in Australasian waters; a single population inhabits the southern coast of Australia, a different one is found along the eastern coast while a third lives in the waters around Tasmania and New Zealand. However, there are numerous subpopulations in all these areas, and little information exists about the factors that separate them or the genetic characteristics of the groups.&nbsp;



In marine environments, it is difficult to identify the specific barriers and conditions that separate genetically distinct populations. These may include factors such as spatial distance, oceanographic features such as currents, upwellings or environmental gradients, or ecological differences that require specific feeding or behavioural strategies. The complexity of these factors makes it difficult to disentangle them in order to identify appropriate policies for conservation and management.



A new, comprehensive study from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> has now undertaken the first, widespread census of the genetic diversity of common dolphin populations living along 3000km of Australia’s southern coastline. The study, published in <a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Ecology and Evolution</a>, aims to quantify the genetic diversity of the dolphin subpopulations and to understand what oceanic conditions act as barriers between the groups. The authors hope that their results will help inform conservation and management strategies that will support long-term gene flow between the populations.



Study first author Dr. Andrea Barceló says high levels of genomic variation can play an important part in the long-term survival of these wide-ranging marine mammals and other species, particularly during the ongoing habitat changes associated with climate change and human activities.&nbsp;



“Information about how the environment affects DNA diversity of marine populations can assist with the population management and in forecasting how they may cope with climate change and other anthropogenic impacts,” said Dr. Barceló.



In addition, researchers from Flinders and Macquarie Universities stress the importance of maintaining connectivity between the different groups to promote gene flow and long-term genomic variation. This will, in turn, enhance population viability under anthropogenic impacts, including unfavorable climatic events.



“While so many breeding and feeding conditions are still unknown, it’s important for managers of our coastal environments to consider the importance of DNA diversity, particularly in the event of changes in key environmental conditions such as water temperatures, salinity, and food sources,” said study co-author<a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/luciana.moller"> Professor Luciana Möller</a>.



The genomic analysis of more than 200 dolphins from along the southern coast of Australia revealed the presence of five dolphin populations between Western Australia and Victoria. The adaptive divergence was compared with the key environmental conditions and available fish food supplies, fueled by oceanic upwellings and local seasonal circulations. &nbsp;



The results indicated that genomic variation in dolphins of the southern coast of Western Australia was associated with local currents, while genomic differentiation of common dolphins from sites along the continental shelf break was impacted by fluctuations of primary productivity and sea surface temperatures. In&nbsp;contrast, genomic differentiation of dolphin populations from protected coastal habitats and more enclosed embayment areas was associated mainly with fluctuations in salinity and local environmental temperatures.



Common dolphin subpopulations appear to show localized site fidelity and adaptations to feeding and living in environments with specific conditions. This enhances genetic variation of the species on a global scale, and is likely to enable adaptation to changing conditions as long as there is genetic exchange between subpopulations.&nbsp;



The researchers conclude that such seascape genomic assessment allows the identification of candidate genes for future comparative studies of common dolphins and potentially other delphinid species that share similar dynamic environments around the world.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dolphin DNA study reveals adaptations to local oceanography

Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) are widespread and highly mobile marine...

Hawk moths, with a wingspan of over four inches, are among the largest night fliers in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-may-be-able-to-experience-pain/">insect</a> world. Three new species from the Bahamas are breaking new records for size - but not for being large. Researchers at the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a> discovered the smallest-ever hawk moths that are about the size of a vitamin pill.&nbsp;



“By comparison, we have a few other small hawk moths like the hummingbird moth, but of all of them these new species are the smallest,” said Deborah Matthews, a biological scientist at the museum’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity.&nbsp;



There are 1,700 diverse hawk moth species worldwide. They have incredibly long proboscises, the straw-like tongues used to siphon nectar. The variation in tongue length is used to predict what local flowers the moths feed on. This method was first applied by Charles Darwin, who predicted the long proboscis after observing an orchid with unusually long nectar spurs.



The study began when Matthews and Jacqueline Miller reviewed the Florida Museum’s hawk moth collection to identify Bahamas specimens and sort survey material island by island. To differentiate closely related moths, researchers must study their anatomy. For Matthews and Miller, that meant making a detailed examination of the moths’ genitalia.



“You just can't always make out distinctive wing patterns, whereas with genitalia you can cross-compare structures,” said Matthews.



The genitalia were dissected and observed under a microscope, and the differences were striking. This led to suspicions that they had discovered three new species.&nbsp;



“In terms of moths, the giant silk moths and hawk moths are very popular and well-studied, kind of like the butterflies of the moth world. So, for us to find three new hawk moth species, that’s a really big deal,” said Matthews.



The Bahamas, with their proximity to diversity hotspots like Cuba and mainland areas of Mexico and the U.S., makes it easier for plants and animals to spread there, evolving into new species due to their isolation.



Island ecosystems are famous for organisms that far outsize their mainland relatives, like the giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands and the Komodo dragons in Indonesia. However in The Bahamas species tend to be smaller, contradicting that giganticism trend.



Experts suspect that harsh weather could be the cause, as islands in the Bahamas archipelago are affected by Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. Heavy rain and windfall pose a threat to wildlife. It is likely that butterflies and moths with smaller wings are equipped to survive the intense winds.&nbsp;



The research team believes that their work to identify these three new species will likely lead to more discoveries going forward.



The research was partially funded by the National Geographic Society. The <a href="https://centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/0937_Miller_etal_2022-reduced.pdf">study</a> is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.flvc.org/mundi">Insecta Mundi</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hawk moths in the Bahamas are the smallest ever found

Hawk moths, with a wingspan of over four inches, are...

<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=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



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



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<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.

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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.

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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...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[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;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[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...

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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 Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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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

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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