A new study from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> reveals what is going on inside of your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-brain-interactions-have-an-influence-on-diseases/">brain</a> when you get lost in a fictional fantasy. The experts discovered that the more immersed we become in the lives of our favorite characters of fiction, the more our brain activity reflects how much we identify with them.
&#8220;When they think about a favorite fictional character, it appears similar in one part of the brain as when they are thinking about themselves,&#8221; said study lead author Timothy Broom.
The research was focused on self-described fans of the HBO series &#8220;Game of Thrones.&#8221; The individuals were instructed to think about themselves, nine of their friends, and nine characters from the drama series. The participants also reported on which character they felt closest to and liked the most.
According to Broom, Game of Thrones was ideal for this study because it attracted a devoted fan base and the large cast presented a variety of characters that people could become attached to.
One of the key findings involved participants who scored highest on &#8220;trait identification.&#8221; These individuals agreed most strongly with statements like &#8220;I really get involved in the feelings of the characters in a novel.&#8221;
&#8220;People who are high in trait identification not only get absorbed into a story, they also are really absorbed into a particular character,&#8221; said Broom. &#8220;They report matching the thoughts of the character, they are thinking what the character is thinking, they are feeling what the character is feeling. They are inhabiting the role of that character.&#8221;
The researchers used an fMRI machine to measure activity in various parts of the brain through small changes in blood flow. As the participants&#8217; brains were scanned, they were evaluating themselves, their friends, and Game of Thrones characters. 
A part of the brain called the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is known to show increased activity when people think about themselves and, to a lesser extent, when they think about close friends.
While in the fMRI, the individuals were shown a series of names &#8211; including themselves, friends, or characters &#8211; along with a trait, such as lonely, sad, trustworthy, or smart. The participants simply said &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221; to imply whether the trait fit the person.
As expected, the vMPFC was most active when people were evaluating themselves, less active when they evaluated friends, and least active when they evaluated characters from Game of Thrones.
However, among those who were high in trait identification, the vMPFC was more active when they thought about the fictional characters than it was for participants who identified less with the characters. This region of the brain was particularly active when the individuals evaluated the character they identified with the most.
Study co-author Dylan Wanger said the findings help explain how fiction can have such a big impact on some people.
&#8220;For some people, fiction is a chance to take on new identities, to see worlds though others&#8217; eyes and return from those experiences changed,&#8221; said Wagner.
&#8220;What previous studies have found is that when people experience stories as if they were one of the characters, a connection is made with that character, and the character becomes intwined with the self. In our study, we see evidence of that in their brains.&#8221;
The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan">Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience</a>.
&#8211;&#8212;
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What happens in your brain while you're lost in fiction

One of the advantages of electric vehicles is that they make less noise and thus decrease levels of noise <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-is-changing-which-birds-visit-your-backyard/">pollution</a> in cities. However, this may make electric vehicles a safety concern as pedestrians are less likely to hear them advancing. In order to address this risk, particularly for visually impaired pedestrians, many governments have mandated that artificial sounds be added to electric vehicles.



In the United States, for example, regulations require vehicle sounds to be detectable at certain distances for various vehicle speeds. A vehicle that is traveling faster has to make more noise so that it can be detected while still relatively far from a pedestrian.&nbsp;



A recent study led by Michael Roan of Penn State University tested how well people detect electric vehicle sounds in terms of these requirements.



Participants in the study had to sit next to a lane of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's Smart Road facility and press a button when they heard an approaching electric vehicle. This allowed the researchers to measure the probability of detection of vehicles at different distances, rather than calculating mean detection distance, which has been the accepted measurement standard in the past.



"All of the cases had mean detection ranges that exceeded the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration minimum detection distances. However, there were cases where probability of detection, even at close ranges, never reached 100%," said Roan. "While the additive sounds greatly improve detection distances over the no sound condition, there are cases where pedestrians still missed detections."



The sounds produced by electric vehicles are typically quieter than the sounds of vehicles with standard, internal combustion engines. Even after adding sounds, as required by government regulations, electric vehicles remain relatively quiet.&nbsp;



Roan said further studies are still needed to investigate detection success when all vehicles at an intersection are electric. Additive sounds could create a complex interference pattern that may result in some loud locations and other locations with very little sound, as the sound waves add to, or cancel out each other.



Roan will discuss the methods and results in the talk,"Electric Vehicle Additive Sounds: Detection results from an outdoor test for 16 participants," as part of the 181st Meeting of the <a href="https://acousticalsociety.org/">Acoustical Society of America</a>.



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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

Electric vehicles are too quiet for pedestrian safety

One of the advantages of electric vehicles is that they...

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse habitats on our planet, sheltering thousands of species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-monkeys-go-fishing-to-survive-during-the-winter/">fish</a>. Despite their importance, however, reefs are increasingly suffering from rising temperatures and severe plastic pollution - with plastic bags, bottles, and packaging present in nearly every existent reef. 



Although often ignored by scientists and environmentalists, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-mediterranean-sea-is-a-hotspot-for-plastic-pollution/">microplastics</a> – tiny plastic fragments measuring less than five millimeters - are just as prevalent in coral reefs all over the globe, and pose significant dangers.&nbsp;



In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15920">Global Change Biology</a>, a research team led by Jessica Reichert, a postdoctoral fellow at the <a href="https://www.uni-giessen.de/welcome">Justus Liebig University Giessen</a> (JLU),&nbsp;has found that over four million pounds of microplastics are stored in coral reefs all over the world each year, causing bleaching and tissue necrosis in these marine animals.



In a previous study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749117329536">Environmental Pollution</a>, Reichert and her team investigated the effects of microplastics on six different coral species. They looked at how the reefs responded to the presence of microplastic particles in their environment, and how exposure to these materials affected their health.



The scientists exposed corals to increasing concentrations of microplastics under laboratory conditions. They discovered that while some corals confused the microplastics with food, eagerly ingesting them, others showed various forms of rejection, such as producing mucus in response to them.&nbsp;



After four weeks, regardless of their attitude toward the pollutants and whether they consumed them or not, five of the six species of corals under investigation displayed significant signs of ill health, such as bleaching and tissue necrosis.



“Our study clearly indicates that microplastics are yet another human-made stress factor for corals and that they are very likely to contribute to further deterioration of coral reefs on our planet,” said Dr. Reichert.



The new study shows that corals all over the world are now serving as a long-term sink for microplastic. After 18 months of exposure, most of the pollutants ended up inside the corals’ skeleton rather than tissues.&nbsp;



“In our study, particles were found 15 times more frequently in coral skeletons than in tissues,” wrote the study authors. “This shows that the coral tissue is likely only a temporary sink before particles are egested&nbsp;or permanently translocated to the skeleton.”



According to Reichert, it is not yet clear what consequences this type of storage might have for the corals and for reef stability and integrity. However, it might definitely pose “an additional threat to coral reefs worldwide.”&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

Millions of pounds of microplastics are stored in coral reefs

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse habitats on...

White nose syndrome is a fungal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deadly-honey-bee-diseases-are-influenced-by-the-weather/">disease</a> which infects bats. The fungus arrived in the US from Europe, possibly on the boot of a caver. In Europe, bats have evolved some sort of immunity to the disease, but in the US, it’s been devastating.&nbsp;



The disease interrupts normal hibernation, putting the bats at risk in cold environments devoid of food. Now, researchers at the University of Waterloo are looking at hibernation patterns as a way to understand the impact of white nose syndrome on bats in the western US.&nbsp;



“Understanding the differences, hibernation patterns and physiology of bats in the West is key to predicting the impact that climate change and diseases such as white-nose syndrome will have on these bats," said lead researcher Professor Liam McGuire.



"White-nose syndrome has devastated bat populations in Eastern North America in recent years but many regions of the West remain unaffected. Understanding bat hibernation patterns can inform prevention and conservation efforts as this disease spreads west.”



Some of the bats studied have large ranges, so the scientists surveyed populations from Canada into the western US. They found that despite different environments, the bats found similar parameters for hibernation wherever they were within their range. Because of this, hibernation physiology was the same throughout the different populations surveyed.&nbsp;



With these early results in hand, the scientists expanded their efforts to look at 13 species of bats and found some differences in hibernation temperatures. Even at different temperatures, all of the bats slowed their metabolisms during hibernation to save energy. One major difference among bat populations was how much water was lost during hibernation.&nbsp;



“Water is a crucial resource for survival. Bats that lose high amounts of water through their skin or in their breath may need to arouse more frequently to drink water, impacting their hibernation cycles and requiring more energy overall," explained Professor McGuire.



Water loss may be an important factor in understanding the impact of white nose syndrome. The scientists point out that the bat populations most impacted in the eastern US lose more water during hibernation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Understanding bat hibernation may be key to their survival

White nose syndrome is a fungal disease which infects bats....

New research led by the <a href="https://www.abdn.ac.uk/">University of Aberdeen</a> in Scotland has found that an unprecedented abundance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/major-ocean-current-is-accelerating-alongside-global-warming/">ocean</a> life played a fundamental role in the creation of Earth’s mountains approximately two billion years ago.&nbsp;



While the formation of mountains is generally linked to the collision of tectonic plates causing large stabs of rock to be thrust skywards, this new study has identified another possible trigger. The abundance of nutrients in the oceans two billion years ago caused an unprecedented explosion in planktonic life.&nbsp;



When the plankton died, they fell to the bottom of the ocean, eventually forming graphite that played an important role in enabling rocks to stack on top of each other, ultimately forming mountains. 



“Mountains are an essential part of the landscape, but big mountain chains only formed half-way through Earth’s history, about two billion years ago,” said study lead author John Parnell, a geoscientist at the University of Aberdeen.&nbsp;



“The geological record for this period includes evidence of an abundance of organic matter in the oceans, which when they died were preserved as graphite in shale. While it has long been known that tectonic processes were lubricated, our research shows that it was the sheer abundance of carbon in the ocean that played a crucial role in the crustal thickening that built the Earth’s mountain ranges.”



According to Parnell, clear evidence of these processes can be found in the northwest of Scotland, in places such as Harris, Gairlock, or Tiree, where the roots of ancient mountains, together with the graphite that helped build them, show the strong plausibility of this hypothesis.



“Graphite buried in Earth’s crust is in high demand for future green technology, for use in items such as fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries,” added study co-author Dr. Connor Brolly, a technician in the <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/">School of Geographical and Earth Sciences</a> at the University of Glasgow.



“It’s interesting to think that this two-billion-year-old event which was responsible for shaping our natural world now has the potential to play a key role in its preservation for future generations.”



According to Professor Parnell, this study, recently published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-021-00313-5">Nature Communications: Earth &amp; Environment</a>, has revealed that the key to the formation of mountains was life, proving that the Earth and its biosphere are linked in ways not previously understood.&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

Explosion in ocean life triggered mountain formation

New research led by the University of Aberdeen in Scotland...

Common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-light-at-night-interferes-with-firefly-mating/">courtship</a> behaviors in the animal kingdom, such as the display of a peacock’s luxurious tail, or the melody of a songbird’s tune, are relatively constant and rely upon high levels of repetition. Until recently, scientists thought that the songs of humpback whales are also employed in courtship rituals, in order to attract mates.&nbsp;



However, a new study led by Eduardo Mercado III, a professor of Psychology at the <a href="https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/">Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences</a>, argues that the constantly varying acoustic qualities of their songs are largely counterproductive to courtship, and they may in fact be used as echolocation devices, thus for finding rather than attracting other whales.



“My original intent to describe how individual whales vary their songs was motivated in part because the reproductive hypothesis suggests singers should be as elaborate as possible since doing anything less wouldn’t be attractive to potential mates,” said Mercado. “But I was struck by the variety within songs looking at the statistics. Things weren’t uniform.”



“The dynamic changes that individual whales make to songs within song sessions are counterproductive if songs serve mainly to provide conspecifics with indications of a singer’s fitness.”



While courtship displays and mating rituals can be compared to catchy but highly repetitive commercials appearing on television, humpback whales’ songs are more like jazz improvisation in terms of their diversity and unpredictability.



By recording and studying humpback whale songs off the coast of Hawaii, Mercado realized that, although reproduction may play a potential role in the whales’ behavior, the intricate mechanisms within songs can be better compared to hose at work in the eyes of land animals when they examine their environment.



“Analyses of variations in the amount of time singers spent producing the four themes suggest that the mechanisms that determine when singers transition between themes may be comparable to those that control when terrestrial animals move their eyes to fixate on different positions as they examine visual scenes,” Mercado explained.



Humpback whales produce both narrowband (singing vowels, for instance) and broadband sequences (e.g. clicking the tongue against the roof of the mouth), since each type of signal affords specific echolocation advantages.&nbsp;



“Neither of these distinctions is important in terms of the reproductive display hypothesis, because it makes no predictions about why a whale should use either one,” he says. “But for the sonar hypothesis, it is significant since the acoustic information returned to the sender from clicks is very different from the information obtained through vowels.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13420-021-00495-0">Learning &amp; Behavior</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

Humpback whale songs are used to locate, not attract, other whales

Common courtship behaviors in the animal kingdom, such as the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> has found that snow monkeys, or Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), are very adaptable creatures. The researchers discovered that snow monkeys are capable of “fishing” from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">rivers</a> in the winter, when snow cover limits the availability of their preferred summer foods, such as terrestrial insects.



The strategy helps the monkeys survive in one of the Earth’s coldest regions - the Kamikochi area of Chubu Sangaku National Park of the Japanese Alps.



“Japanese macaques have a wider winter home range when food resources are scarce, but Kamikochi lies in a deep valley where they cannot cross the mountains. Population density is exceptionally high and macaques must overwinter in an extremely harsh environment,” explained study lead author Professor Alexander Milner.



“These larger populations create additional stress for surviving winter, but an abundance of groundwater upwellings and hot spring inputs from active volcanoes ensures many streams flow without ice cover allowing easy access to the monkeys.”



During the summer, snow monkeys generally feed upon terrestrial insects. In the winter, when these food sources become unavailable, the macaques are able to significantly change their behavior and diets in order to survive. Groundwater-fed streams flow through the entire winter with a constant water temperature of about five degrees Celsius and are easily accessible for Japanese macaques to search for alternative food sources.



Professor Milner and his colleagues used metabarcoding of fecal samples to determine the monkeys’ winter diets. They found that during the winter, the animals often feed on brown trout, riverine insects and mollusks, aquatic insect larvae, and nymphs.&nbsp;



“With high numbers of freshwater animals in its rivers and streams, the Kamikochi area may be the only environment in Japan where the topographical, geological, and meteorological conditions allow Japanese macaques to supplement their winter diet in this way,” concluded Professor Milner.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</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

Snow monkeys go fishing to survive during the winter

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

Tropical cyclones, with their associated strong winds, heavy rainfall and sea surges, cause severe destruction to property and endanger the lives of people. Over the past 50 years, these natural disasters have caused almost&nbsp;<a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/focus-areas/natural-hazards-and-disaster-risk-reduction/tropical-cyclones">780,000</a>&nbsp;human fatalities and US$ 1,408bn in economic losses.&nbsp;



New research has now shown that, in the past four decades, the inland impacts of tropical cyclones in the eastern and south-eastern regions of Asia have increased steadily.&nbsp;



The research, conducted by Dr Chi-Yung Tam at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues, involved analyzing historical data on tropical cyclone impacts on inland areas during the past four decades (between 1979 and 2016). The researchers then projected future changes in cyclone-related impacts in these regions under the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-the-high-emissions-rcp8-5-global-warming-scenario">Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5</a>.&nbsp;



The findings, published today in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>, show that there has been a dramatic increase in the inland impacts of western north Pacific cyclones since 1979. Cyclones are now stronger when they make landfall, they last for longer periods and penetrate further inland.&nbsp;



More specifically, the landfalling cyclones have lasted between two and nine hours longer and have gone an average of 100km further inland. The most significant increase in tropical cyclone inland impacts occurred over Hanoi in Vietnam, and the south China region.



“The extreme precipitation (&gt;150mm/hr)&nbsp;in June 2021 in Zhengzhou, China, was caused by the Typhoon In-fa and Typhoon Cempaka which transported abundant water vapor to Henan Province, China. The remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021 caused torrential rain in New York. Both disasters caused huge economic and human losses,” explained Dr Tam.



“Tropical storm-related hazards can definitely affect inland regions, and we should pay more attention to this, especially under the climate crisis,” continued Tam.



Current climate models suggest that the climate crisis could exacerbate tropical cyclones. Other research has also shown that heating oceans could intensify their strength. The stronger a cyclone is at landfall, the greater the distance it will travel inland, and the more destruction it will cause.&nbsp;



The researchers predict that, compared to the present-day period (between 1979 and 2003), by the end of the 21st century (2075-2099), the average landfall intensity of tropical cyclone winds will increase by two meters per second (6%), while they will last for 4,9 hours longer (56%), and go 92,4km further inland (50%). These results show that tropical cyclones will almost double in destructive power over Asian inland regions.



“The climate crisis will likely continue the increasing trend in landfalling typhoons and their impacts on inland regions, based on high-resolution climate model projections. More Asian inland regions may be exposed to more severe storm-related disasters in the future as a result of the climate crisis,” said Tam.



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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

Tropical cyclones are set to become twice as destructive

Tropical cyclones, with their associated strong winds, heavy rainfall and...

The improper disposal of plastic is commonly known to pose huge environmental risks, but another more overlooked issue is that of electronic waste. In an era where humans buy more electronic products than ever before, e-waste is on the rise.



The extent of electronic waste is the subject of a new collaborative study between the Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) Programme, the UN institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the UN Environment Programmer (UNEP).



The research specifically targeted electronic waste within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in addition to the country of Georgia. The study found that between 2010 and 2019, e-waste grew within the region by 50 percent, which is approximately the worldwide average.&nbsp;



However, only 3.2 percent of this waste was safely disposed of and recycled, significantly lower than the worldwide average of 17.4 percent.



This data represents an electronic waste contribution of around 8.7kg per citizen across the decade, with Russia being the highest contributor. The electronic waste was varied and included signs of the digital era such as smartphones, but almost 80 percent of the overall waste consisted of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and kitchen equipment.&nbsp;



“E-waste constitutes one of the fastest growing waste streams in today’s global environment and poses a significant threat to both health and sustainable development,” said Ruediger Kuehr, Director of the Sustainable Cycles Programme (SCYCLE).



“However, few countries collect internationally comparable e-waste statistics, and many countries lack the capacity to collect e-waste data at both the regional and national level. We need this data to track changes over time, establish national and international policies, limit e-waste generation, prevent illegal dumping, and promote recycling.”



The debut of <a href="https://ewastemonitor.info/regional-e-waste-monitor-cisgeorgia-2021/">Regional E-waste Monitor for the CIS and Georgia</a> is the first project that focuses on understanding the digital waste management trends within the region. Ultimately, the aim of the campaign is to progress toward better electronic waste disposal, management and recycling infrastructure.



In addition to contributing to environmental protection, sufficient management of digital waste has the potential to reward the economy greatly. In 2019 alone, electronic waste within the region equated to approximately ten tons of gold, 85,000 tons of copper, and many other valuable materials that contributed to an overall valuation of $2.6 billion.



While this presents a lucrative incentive for the CIS and Georgia, the focus is still undeniably the environment. Within the same 2019 electronic waste sample, 2.4 tons of mercury and 8,100 tons of lead contributed to environmental dangers, among others.



“E-waste collection rates need to increase across countries in the region, just as they need to increase elsewhere across the world,” said Dr. Balde. “This improvement can be realised through mandatory handover of e-waste to licenced facilities. Also needed are mandatory reporting obligations for all actors collecting e-waste.”



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study highlights desperate need for electronic waste management

The improper disposal of plastic is commonly known to pose...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/index.html">University of Alberta</a> has investigated why the eight worst wildfire years on record have occurred in the last decade. The experts propose that extreme fire seasons are being driven by the combination of rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-are-harming-bumblebee-diet/">temperatures</a> and a decrease in atmospheric humidity.



“Extreme conditions drive the world’s fire activity,” said former U of A wildfire expert Michael Flannigan. “For example, in Canada, just three per cent of fires are responsible for 97 per cent of the area burned.”



The researchers analyzed extreme fire weather trends from 1979 to 2020. They considered fire intensity and rate of fire spread, as well as changes in vapor pressure or humidity.&nbsp;



The results of the analysis indicate that rising global temperatures and lower levels of humidity have promoted (and will continue to promote) devastating wildfire years. In addition, fire activity will spread to new areas and will become more intense than what has ever been seen in recorded history.



According to the research, a decrease in relative humidity was the driving force behind more than 75 percent of the increase in fire spread and severity. Rising temperatures contributed to 40 percent of the most significant increases.&nbsp;



The researchers also identified significant increases in extreme weather, which can cause major fires, in close to half of the Earth’s burnable land mass. Regions around the world have almost universally witnessed an increase in extreme weather in the past 40 years, with marked increases in the last two decades, said Flannigan.



“It's not a big surprise, but with climate change, we expect warmer conditions to continue and this trend to continue, expand and get worse.”



Flannigan noted that in British Columbia, for example, three of the last five fire seasons are the worst in history. Record wildfire years have other consequences as well, such as the recent flooding in B.C.’s lower mainland.



“It is not all attributable to fires, but fires do play a role. When you remove the vegetation, the rain is not being intercepted by the trees, the roots aren't picking up the moisture, there is nothing to give the soil stability - you're much more likely to see land- and mudslides in burnt areas. This has been documented in California for years.”



Flannigan said that even if global warming stopped tomorrow, the wildfire threat would persist for decades, so communities need to prepare for all possible wildfire scenarios.



“We're on this path of a new reality. It's not normal because there's nothing normal about what's going on.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</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

Record-breaking wildfire years are just getting started

A new study from the University of Alberta has investigated...

Reports of very rare episodes of myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – have been reported after the use of mRNA vaccines such as those produced by Pfizer or Moderna. However, according to a new study presented on 29 November 2021 at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.rsna.org/">Radiological Society of North America</a> (RSNA), infection with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/latest-coronavirus-variant-may-be-500-more-infectious-than-delta/">SARS-CoV-2</a> poses a higher risk of developing this heart condition.



Myocarditis, a disease generally occurring after bacterial of viral infections, can affect the heart’s rhythm and ability to pump properly, often leaving behind lasting damage such as scarring of the heart muscle. Furthermore, it is linked to 20 percent of sudden deaths in young athletes. The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns regarding an increasing incidence of this condition among young college athletes.



By collecting data from 13 participating schools on the frequency of myocarditis in young athletes recovering from COVID-19, scientists found that 37 out of 1,597 (2.3 percent) developed post-COVID-19 myocarditis. Twenty of these students had no clinical symptoms and the condition could only be identified through cardiac MRI.



“Testing patients for clinical symptoms of myocarditis only captured a small percentage of all patients who had myocardial inflammation,” said study co-author Dr. Jean Jeudy, a professor of Radiology at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>. “Cardiac MRI for all athletes yielded a 7.4-fold increase in detection.”



Dr. Jeudy and his colleagues are gathering data regarding the incidence of post-COVID myocarditis in the Big Ten Cardiac Registry, a large database aiming to document the prevalence of this condition among young athletes.



“We still don’t know the long-term effects,” Dr. Jeudy said. “Some athletes had issues that resolved within a month, but we also have athletes with continued abnormalities on their MRI as a result of their initial injury and scarring. There are a lot of chronic issues with COVID-19 that we need to know more about, and hopefully this registry can be one of the major parts of getting that information.”



The researchers hope that further data collection will shed more light on the frequency and severity of such cardiac events, and offer a better understanding of the effects of COVID-19 as well as assist in developing new diagnostic tools and therapeutic pathways.



An initial report was published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2780548">JAMA Cardiology</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

COVID-19 increases heart inflammation risk in young athletes

Reports of very rare episodes of myocarditis – inflammation of...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01212-5">Nature Climate Change</a> has found that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the only ocean current that circumnavigates the entire planet, is flowing faster due to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-debate-is-over-humans-caused-climate-change/">climate change</a>. By using satellite measurements of sea-surface height, and data collected by <a href="https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/argo/">Argo</a>, a global network of ocean floats, an international team of researchers managed to detect a previously hidden trend in Southern Ocean upper layer velocity.



The ACC surrounds Antarctica and separates cold water in the south from warmer subtropical water in the north. Recently, this warm part of the Southern Ocean is getting even warmer due to human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Since this ocean warming pattern can influence the climate all over the globe, it is highly important to understand its dynamics.



By collecting data from satellite instruments as well as from the Argo network, which consists of 3,000 free drifting profiling floats distributed all over the world’s oceans in order to measure water temperature and salinity, scientists discovered that ACC is currently accelerating due to changes in ocean temperatures.



“From both observations and models, we find that the ocean heat change is causing the significant ocean current acceleration detected during recent decades,” said study lead author Jia-Rui Shi, a postdoctoral researcher at <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a>.



“This speedup of the ACC, especially its jet centered on the Subantarctic Front, facilitates property exchange, such as of heat or carbon, between ocean basins and creates the opportunity for these properties to increase in subsurface subtropical regions.”



“The ACC is mostly driven by wind, but we show that changes in its speed are surprisingly mostly due to changes in the heat gradient,” added study co-author Lynne Talley, a physical oceanographer at the <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/">Scripps Institution of Oceanography</a>.



According to the researchers, it is very likely that the speed of the current will increase even more as the Southern Ocean continues to warm up due to human-induced climate change. Urgent measures need to be taken in order to curb this process and thus protect a large variety of marine ecosystems.



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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

Major ocean current is accelerating alongside global warming

A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/">University of Glasgow</a> and <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/">Curtin University</a> has found that the Sun may be the initial source of the Earth’s water. The researchers discovered that solar wind, comprised of charged particles from the Sun largely made of hydrogen ions, created water on dust grains that were carried on asteroids smashing into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/near-earth-asteroid-may-actually-be-a-miniature-moon/">Earth</a> in the early days of our Solar system.



The emergence of water on Earth remained a scientific mystery for decades. “An existing theory is that water was carried to Earth in the final stages of its formation on C-type <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/metal-rich-asteroids-could-be-mined-for-precious-resources/">asteroids</a>, however previous testing of the isotopic ‘fingerprint’ of these asteroids found they, on average, didn’t match with the water found on Earth, meaning there was at least one other unaccounted for source,” explained study co-author Phil Bland, the director of University of Curtin’s <a href="https://sstc.curtin.edu.au/">Space Science and Technology Center</a> (SSTC).



Through a meticulous atom-by-atom analysis of tiny fragments of an S-type asteroid called Itokawa, samples of which were collected by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa and brought to Earth in 2010, Professor Bland and his colleagues discovered that solar wind created water on the surface of the minuscule dust grains collected on this asteroid.&nbsp;



“Our world-class atom probe tomography system here at Curtin University allowed us to take an incredibly detailed look inside the first 50 nanometers or so of the surface of Itokawa dust grains, which we found contained enough water that, if scaled up, would amount to about 20 liters for every cubic meter of rock,” explained Professor Bland.



Thus, millions of years ago, similar asteroids could have carried water when they collided with the surface of the Earth, initiating the development of seas and oceans.



According to the scientists, this study not only gives scientists new insights into the past sources of Earth’s waters, but could also help future space missions.



“How astronauts would get sufficient water, without carrying supplies, is one of the barriers of future space exploration,” explained study co-author Dr. Luke Daly, a lecturer in Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow.



“Our research shows that the same space weathering process which created water on Itokawa likely occurred on other airless planets, meaning astronauts may be able to process fresh supplies of water straight from the dust on a planet’s surface, such as the Moon.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/935922">Nature Astronomy</a>.



---



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

The Sun may be the original source of Earth’s water

New research led by the University of Glasgow and Curtin...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a> and Liverpool John Moores University, it is possible that all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-and-cats-test-positive-for-alpha-variant-of-sars-cov-2/">cats</a> may possess at least some psychopathic tendencies. However, just as in humans, psychopathy in animals comes in varying degrees. 



In order to build a tool to assess the degree of feline psychopathy, the scientists studied the relationship between 2,042 cat owners and their pets. They constructed a questionnaire called CAT-Tri+, with 46 statements that require cat owners to rate how well each of them describes their pet.



“In our study, we developed a questionnaire measure of psychopathy in domestic cats,” said study lead author Rebecca Evans, a doctoral student at the University of Liverpool. “The questionnaire was developed using owner-provided examples of their cat’s behavior in the context of the triarchic model of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition).”



“The final questionnaire measures five factors of feline psychopathy: boldness, meanness, disinhibition, pet-unfriendliness and human-unfriendliness."



Some of the statements the owners had to rate included: “my cat torments their prey rather than killing it straight away,” “my cat vocalizes loudly for no apparent reason,” or “my cat is very excitable.” These ratings helped researchers score the cat’s level of meanness (traits such as lack of empathy and callous aggression), boldness (a measure of social dominance and lack of fear), disinhibition (lack of behavioral restraint), and unfriendliness towards humans and other pets.



“it is likely that all cats have an element of psychopathy as it would have once been helpful for their ancestors in terms of acquiring resources, for example food, territory and mating opportunities," explained Evans. 



The scientists hope that this tool could help improve cat-owner relationship and thus reduce the number of cats that end up in shelters or that are put down. The questionnaire can be used to identify undesirable behaviors and make improvements in the cats’ environments in order to better suit their character.



“A cat that has a high score on the boldness scale may benefit from large cat trees and tall scratching posts, as the Cat-Tri+ items suggest that a bold cat enjoys exploring and climbing,” said Evans. “Providing environmental enrichment for bold cats may reduce agonistic behaviors towards people, other pets, and possessions.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656621000982#!">Journal of Research in Personality</a>.&nbsp;



&nbsp;---



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

How to tell whether your cat is a psychopath

According to a new study led by the University of...

Every year, hundreds of thousands of wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-in-the-mediterranean-are-moving-to-deeper-water-to-survive/">animals</a> are taken into captivity, to be cared for while they recover from injury or illness, or mature to the point that they can be released back into their natural habitats. Rehabilitation represents an increasingly important aspect of conservation efforts as animal numbers decline around the world. While in captivity, however, these animals are often fed soft food diets that differ substantially from what they would eat in the wild.



Although nutritionally balanced, captive diets often consist of soft or processed foods that lack the structural and textural diversity of the natural diet. For example, carnivores may be fed minced meat, and herbivores may receive pellets. These types of diets do not require the biting or chewing involved in a natural diet and may have a negative impact on an animal’s skull morphology and strength.



An international team of researchers led by Dr Rex Mitchell at <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a>&nbsp; has now shed light on the potentially harmful effects that soft food diets can have on the skulls of captive animals, particularly young animals that are still growing.&nbsp;



“Some scientists have suggested that captive diets may have unintended, negative effects on skull development that could impact the successful reintroduction of animals into the wild,” said Dr. Mitchell. “We wanted to know how much growing up on a diet that doesn’t need much biting can impact the ability of an animal to bite effectively in adulthood.”



The scientists used a 40 captive laboratory rats and fed them different diets from weaning until adulthood. Four different diet regimens were used, with ten rats in each group. One group was fed hard pellets throughout the study, and another was fed the same pellets but ground up in the form of meal. The third group received pellets initially, but then switched diet and were fed meal, while the fourth group received meal to begin with but subsequently switched diet to hard pellets.



Dr Mitchell and colleagues then used computed-tomography (CT) scans of the skulls of the rats that were fed different diets. CT scans were taken at different ages, from when the rats finished suckling right up until adulthood. The scans were used to create three-dimensional digital models of each rat skull and then the models were used in computer-based 3D bite simulations to test the levels of stress at the muzzle, palate and zygomatic arch.



Bone is a dynamic, living tissue that responds to the demands placed on it. Each time a bone is used, it bends a bit and the bone cells in that area lay down more layers of bone for additional strength. The researchers hypothesized that rats with softer diets would have less work for their skulls to do and so the skull bones would become thinner and weaker at the points tested.&nbsp;



“The simulations showed that the rats fed the softest diet indeed grew up to have the weakest skulls, but our research also found something unexpected,” explained study co-author Professor Stephen Wroe from the University of New England in Armidale, Australia.



Although rats fed soft food diets had the weakest muzzles and palates, their skulls were not the weakest in the region of the zygomatic arch. Instead, the group that was switched from hard to soft food as juveniles had the weakest skulls in this region.



“This certainly surprised us. So, we had to do some digging in the literature to explain it,” said Mitchell.



In previous research, rats that were sent to space and experienced a sudden and prolonged disuse of bone responded by producing fewer bone cells, the cells that are responsible for depositing new layers of bone. The researchers in the current study attribute the weakening of the zygomatic arch in rats that switched diet to a similar loss of bone cells.



“We often think of bones as simple, hard objects,” said study co-author Dr. Rachel Menegaz. “But bone is actually a complex living tissue that is constantly adapting.”



The findings suggest that if an animal suddenly stops needing to bite its food during development, it might then lose many of the cells needed for depositing bone while it is still growing, which could impact on normal bone growth and result in a weaker adult skull. Skull weaknesses such as these may result in injury to animals reintroduced into the wild, or may limit the kinds of natural foods they can utilize.



The authors suggest that captive diet plans consider not just nutritional requirements but also the mechanical properties of food, when rearing wildlife to adulthood for reintroduction. Thus, food offered to animals in captivity should not be overly processed, deboned, cut, peeled or portioned but should simulate, as far as possible, the mechanical and structural properties of their wild diets.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/iob">Integrative Organismal Biology</a>.



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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

Soft food diet weakens skull strength in captive animals

Every year, hundreds of thousands of wild animals are taken...

When planning the conservation and management of threatened species, it is important to know how the individuals are distributed in their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterflies-habitat-influences-their-flight-behavior/">habitat</a> and how they make use of it spatially. This can be challenging when the species of interest is a far-ranging seabird.&nbsp;



Northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are related to albatrosses, and are an endangered species in European waters. In pursuit of a meal, they can travel hundreds of kilometers in a matter of days before returning home.&nbsp;



Sampling the behavior and population numbers of fulmars is generally impossible because of the expanse, remoteness and variability of their habitat, not to mention the fact that they are extremely mobile. Instead, conservation biologists have to resort to other methods to assess the management needs of this pelagic species.



An international team, led by scientists at the Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) research center at <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/">University College Cork</a>, has now found that following the routes taken by fishing vessels in the waters off Ireland, can give information about where the birds go to feed. The researchers equipped fulmars with the latest tracking technology and recorded their movements while, at the same time, monitoring the positions of fishing boats in the area.&nbsp;



The experts found that over half of the individual birds associated with fishing vessels while out foraging, and that the favored vessels were mostly trawlers. Fulmars are known to feed on fishing waste that is thrown overboard by vessels after they process fish from their nets. The researchers found that the areas of the sea where fishing vessels spent most of their time were also the areas that fulmars visited in order to forage.&nbsp;



The authors of the study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/">Marine Ecology Progress Series</a>, state that this new understanding of the fulmar feeding grounds is vitally important for protecting them from the hazards they may face at sea at a time when most of the world’s seabird populations are threatened. Fulmars are often accidentally caught by vessels and, because the birds can live to 50 years of age, even occasional bycatch in fishing gear can have big implications for their population.&nbsp;



The study highlights the need for best practice when fishing, including the use of bird scaring lines when setting nets or trailing longlines.



“Information about where seabirds go at sea is vital for making sure that new offshore developments, including windfarms, can be designed to do the least amount of harm. That’s why studies such as this one are so important," said study lead author Jamie Darby.



“Humans have given seabirds a lot to contend with. They are sensitive to oil and plastic pollution; we accidentally catch them in commercial fishing gears; we’ve brought rats and other invasive species onto many of their breeding colonies over the last few centuries.”



Ireland has a huge expanse of marine territory and attracts fishing vessels from overseas because these fishing grounds are so productive. Ireland’s commitment to renewable energy means that windfarms will soon be a common fixture along the coasts. However, given that the islands and cliffs of Ireland are home to 24 species of seabirds, proper planning for these energy generators is essential if these birds are to be protected.



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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

When hunting for food, fulmars follow the fishing vessels

When planning the conservation and management of threatened species, it...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.sorbonne-universite.fr/">University of Sorbonne</a> has found that natural selection imposed by different microhabitats across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coordinated-efforts-needed-to-slow-deforestation/">forest</a> strata can drive adaptive codivergence in wing shapes, flight behaviors, and aerodynamic efficiency among closely related species of Morpho butterflies. These are brightly colored and iconic butterflies that live in tropical Amazon forests. 



“The diversity of flying animals suggests that countless combinations of flight morphologies and behaviors have evolved with specific lifestyles, thereby exploiting diverse aerodynamic mechanisms,” wrote the study authors. “How morphology, flight behavior, and aerodynamic properties together diversify with contrasting ecology remains to be elucidated.”



Although insect flight has been studied in great detail in a variety of species, the evolution of flight among closely related species adapted to different habitats is not yet well understood.&nbsp;



Using high-speed videography to observe freely flying butterflies, combined with morphometric analyses and aerodynamic modelling, an international team of scientists investigated codivergences in wing shape, flight behavior, and aerodynamic efficiency among 12 Morpho species living in different forest strata.



The researchers discovered that these species have evolved a diverse set of morphological and behavioral characteristics which differ depending on whether they live in the forests’ understories or canopies. While butterflies occupying cluttered understory habitats displayed more powerful wing-flapping phases that resulted in agile and fast flight, those adapted to open canopy habitats evolved improved and more efficient gliding capacities.



“By comparing canopy and understory species, we show that adaptation to an open canopy environment resulted in increased glide efficiency,” the study authors explained. “Moreover, this enhanced glide efficiency was achieved by different canopy species through distinct combinations of flight behavior, wing shape, and aerodynamic mechanisms, highlighting the multiple pathways of adaptive evolution.”



These findings underline the crucial importance of the habitats that different animal species occupy in shaping their morphology, behavior, and lifestyles.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh2620">Science</a>.



---



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

Butterflies’ habitat influences their flight behavior

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

Teen,Wild,Orangutan,Climbing,Down,The,Tree,In,The,Forest

An international team of researchers from 16 different institutions published a paper in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">e-life</a> on a two million year old primate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-linking-snakes-and-lizards-was-wrongly-identified/">fossil</a>. The research combined the discovery of a vertebrae from a human relative, Australopithecus sediba, along with previously discovered vertebrae fossils. The study revealed that not only could A. sediba walk upright like a human, she could also climb like an ape.



The fossils were discovered in 2015 during a mining excavation in South Africa next to the “cradle of humanity” near the site of the first A. sediba fossil that was found in 2008. The fossil vertebrae were discovered in a hard matrix, nearly perfectly articulated. Rather than removing the fossils in dangerous and laborious preparation, they were analyzed with a Micro-CT scanner. 



Once the fossils were imaged, it was clear that these vertebrae articulated well with type specimens of the same fossil - a female nicknamed “Issa” which means “protector” in Swahili. The ancient fossils of human relatives showed that A. sebida had, like modern humans, only five lumbar vertebrae.



“The lumbar region is critical to understanding the nature of bipedalism in our earliest ancestors, and to understanding how well adapted they were to walking on two legs," said study lead author Professor Scott Williams of New York University and <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/">Wits University</a>.



"Associated series of lumbar vertebrae are extraordinarily rare in the hominin fossil record, with really only three comparable lower spines being known from the whole of the early African record.”



The discovery of Issa makes her one of only two hominin fossils with well preserved backs, especially lower backs. 



“While Issa was already one of the most complete skeletons of an ancient hominin ever discovered, these vertebrae practically complete the lower back and make Issa’s lumbar region a contender for not only the best-preserved hominin lower back ever discovered, but also probably the best preserved," said Professor Lee Berger, original discoverer of A. sebida and leader of the Malapa project.



This relatively complete lower back allowed the scientists to see that Issa had a curved spine similar to modern humans, something seen as an adaptation for bipedalism.&nbsp;



Other adaptations suggest that Issa had strong trunk muscles, an adaptation for climbing. All together this shows Issa to be a transitional fossil, somewhere between an animal that spent all her time walking and one that spent all her time climbing. “Issa walked somewhat like a human but could climb like an ape,” said Berger.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ancient relative climbed like an ape, walked like a human

An international team of researchers from 16 different institutions published...

Over 90 percent of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dopamine-plays-a-central-role-in-songbird-mating/">bird</a> species are monogamous, often mating for life, and albatrosses are some of the most loyal. Albatrosses have a rather awkward growing-up phase. They try out relationships with several partners, but they generally stick together for life.&nbsp;



However, a new study published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2021.2112">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a> has found that, due to climate change, albatrosses start “divorcing” more. “In many socially monogamous species, divorce is a strategy used to correct for sub-optimal partnerships and is informed by measures of previous breeding performance,” wrote the study authors.



“The environment affects the productivity and survival of populations, thus indirectly affecting divorce via changes in demographic rates. However, whether environmental fluctuations directly modulate the prevalence of divorce in a population remains poorly understood.”



By using a longitudinal dataset on the long-lived black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/en">University of Lisbon</a> investigated how environmental variability affected divorce rates among albatrosses. They found that in recent years, in which water temperatures gradually rose, up to eight percent of albatross couples split up.



Normally, albatross divorce is triggered by a failure to breed. However, the new findings showed that albatross pairs were even divorcing after a successful breeding season. According to the researchers, this might be caused by the problems long-distance relationships entail. Since warming waters force the birds to hunt for longer and fly further away, often failing to return for the next breeding season, their partners may move on with another bird.



Furthermore, albatross stress hormones increase in harsher environments, such as when sea waters are warmer. With tougher breeding conditions and food scarcity, albatrosses can start “blaming” each other for their difficulties in proper sustenance and breeding, ultimately leading to divorce.



“For the first time, to our knowledge, we document the disruptive effects of challenging environmental conditions on the breeding processes of a monogamous population, potentially mediated by higher reproductive costs, changes in phenology and physiological stress. Environmentally driven divorce may therefore represent an overlooked consequence of global change,” concluded the researchers.



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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

Albatrosses are divorcing more due to climate change

Over 90 percent of bird species are monogamous, often mating...

An international team of researchers from <a href="https://english.jiangnan.edu.cn/">Jiangnan University</a>, China, <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a>, and the <a href="https://www.oulu.fi/en">University of Oulu</a>, Finland, have recently discovered that a specific type of gut bacteria (Lactobacillus apis) is linked to enhanced memory in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-are-attracted-to-the-humidity-of-flowers/">bumblebees</a>. This study adds to the growing scientific evidence that the gut microbiome, consisting of trillions of microbes living in our intestines, can affect animal cognition and behavior.



Since bees have a relatively small community of gut microbes compared to mammals, they are ideal models to explore the role of specific gut bacteria on differences in cognition and behavior between individuals.



In order to test bees’ memory and learning abilities, the researchers created different colored artificial flowers, some of them associated with a sweet sucrose solution, and others with a bitter tasting solution containing quinine, which is a repellent for bees. Afterwards, they assessed how quickly the bees managed to learn which colors are associated with a sugar reward, and whether they were able to remember this information three days later.



By sequencing gut samples from the bees, the scientists compared individual differences in learning and memory abilities with the levels of different gut microorganisms. They found that bumblebees with more Lactobacillus apis in their microbiome had a better memory and stronger learning abilities than those with fewer bacteria.&nbsp;



Furthermore, to confirm that the numbers of Lactobacillus apis were directly responsible for the differences in learning and memory, the researchers added these bacteria to the bumblebees’ diet and measured their responses to the same task.&nbsp;



“Our results suggest not only that the natural variation in the amount of a specific gut bacterium effects memory, but also show a causal link – that by adding the same bacterial species to a bee’s diet can enhance their memories,” said study lead author Dr. Li Li, a postdoctoral fellow at Jiangnan University.



“This is a fascinating finding that could apply to humans as well as to bees. Our findings add to growing evidence of the importance of gut-brain interactions in animals and provide insights into the cause of cognitive differences in natural bumblebee populations,” added study co-author Lars Chittka, a professor of Zoology at Queen Mary University.



This study, published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26833-4">Nature Communications</a>, shows that we can improve our cognitive abilities by regulating gut microbiota.&nbsp;&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

Gut bacteria enhances memory in bees

An international team of researchers from Jiangnan University, China, Queen...

Although bees are related to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wasps-are-undervalued-as-predators-and-pollinators/">wasps</a>, they gave up being predatory long ago. While most species of wasps catch and kill prey, largely other insects, bees have evolved to depend on pollen and nectar from flowers. Some people view bees as vegetarian wasps. However, a group of stingless bee species in the tropics has developed an interest in eating meat in the form of carrion, and some of these "vulture bees" have even become entirely dependent on this source of protein. 



“These are the only bees in the world that have evolved to use food sources not produced by plants, which is a pretty remarkable change in dietary habits,” said <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> entomologist Doug Yanega.



Given this rather extreme dietary shift, a team of scientists from UC Riverside wondered what the gut microbiome of the carrion-eating bees might look like. They traveled to Costa Rica to study closely related species of stingless bees living in the same area, that fed on different diets. Some had a traditional diet of nectar and pollen, some ate exclusively carrion from carcasses, and a third group foraged on both flower products and carrion. The experts compared the microbiomes of bees from the three groups.



Honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless bees have guts that are colonized by the same five core microbes. “Unlike humans, whose guts change with every meal, most bee species have retained these same bacteria over roughly 80 million years of evolution,” said Jessica Maccaro, a UCR entomology doctoral student.



The researchers hypothesized that either the core microbes would persist in the carrion-eating bees and would have evolved to digest meat protein instead of pollen, or that the diet shift would have resulted in the extinction of core microbes and their replacement by different microbe species that can break down carrion.&nbsp;



To test this theory, the researchers set up baits composed of pieces of raw chicken suspended from branches in the tropical forest trees. These attracted carrion-eating species, that they refer to appropriately as vulture bees, as well as related bee species that feed opportunistically but not exclusively on carrion for their protein. For comparison, the team also collected bees from species that feed only on pollen and nectar.



Normally, stingless bees have baskets on their hind legs for collecting pollen. However, the team observed carrion-feeding bees using those same structures to collect the bait. “They had little chicken baskets,” said Quinn McFrederick, a UCR entomologist.



On analyzing the microbiomes of all three bee types, they found the most extreme changes among exclusive meat-eaters.&nbsp;These vulture bees had lost some of the ancestral core microbes, retained others, and made use of new, acid-loving microbes that are usually found in the environment and on carrion. The abundance of acid-loving bacteria suggests that an acidic gut is important for vulture bee nutrition and health, as has been found in other carrion-feeding animals.&nbsp;



“The vulture bee microbiome is enriched in acid-loving bacteria, which are novel bacteria that their relatives don’t have,” McFrederick said. “These bacteria are similar to ones found in actual vultures, as well as hyenas and other carrion-feeders, presumably to help protect them from pathogens that show up on carrion.”



For example, Lactobacillus bacteria were found in vulture bee guts; this is the bacterium used by humans to culture milk into yogurt and make sourdough bread. The researchers also found Carnobacterium present as part of the gut biome; this bacterium is associated with the digestion of flesh. &nbsp;



“It’s crazy to me that a bee can eat dead bodies. We could get sick from that because of all the microbes on meat competing with each other and releasing toxins that are very bad for us,” Maccaro said.&nbsp;



The researchers noted that these bees are unusual in a number of ways. “Even though they can’t sting, they’re not all defenseless, and many species are thoroughly unpleasant,” Yanega said. “They range from species that are genuinely innocuous to many that bite, to a few that produce blister-causing secretions in their jaws, causing the skin to erupt in painful sores.”



In addition, the carrion-eating bees still produce honey that is sweet and edible. “They store the meat in special chambers that are sealed off for two weeks before they access it, and these chambers are separate from where the honey is stored,” Maccaro said.



The research team is now planning to investigate vulture bee microbiomes further, hoping to learn about the genomes of all the bacteria as well as the fungi and viruses in their bodies.&nbsp;They hope to learn more about the larger role that microbes play in overall bee health.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.asm.org/journal/mbio">mBio</a>.



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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

Vulture bees have acquired a taste for dead bodies

Although bees are related to wasps, they gave up being...

Knowledge of the origin of the coronavirus that caused the ongoing COVID-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-one-third-of-americans-had-covid-19-by-the-end-of-2020/">pandemic</a> is still fragmentary. Recently, a team of scientists discovered coronaviruses that are closely related to SARS-CoV-2 from two bats sampled in Cambodia over a decade ago.&nbsp;



These findings, together with the recent finding of the closest ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 in cave-dwelling bats in Laos, indicate that coronaviruses have a wider geographical distribution than previously thought, and supports the theory that the pandemic originated through spillover from bats.



By using metagenomic sequencing, the researchers identified viruses nearly identical to SARS-CoV-2 in two Shamel’s horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus shameli) that were originally sampled in 2010. These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses likely circulate via a diversity of Rhinolophus species.



According to the study authors, the current knowledge of the geographical distribution of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 lineages probably reflect a lack of sampling in countries from Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as several Chinese provinces, such as Yunnan and Guanxi.



Besides bats, pangolins and several species of cats, civets, and weasels found in these areas are highly susceptible to coronavirus infections, and might represent intermediary hosts for transmission to humans. During anti-smuggling operations from China in 2020, SARS-CoV-2-related viruses were discovered in distinct groups of pangolins, further strengthening this hypothesis.



“These findings underscore the importance of increased region-wide investment in bridging capacity for sustainable surveillance of pathogens in wildlife, through initiatives such as&nbsp;<a href="https://oneworldonehealth.wcs.org/Initiatives/WildHealthNet.aspx">WildHealthNet</a>,” said study co-author Lucy Keatts, a health advisor at the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Southeast Asia hosts a high diversity of wildlife and an extensive wildlife trade that puts humans in direct contact with wild hosts of SARS-like coronaviruses. The region is undergoing dramatic land-use changes such as infrastructure development, urban development, and agricultural expansion that can increase contacts between bats, other wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Continued and expanded surveillance of bats and other key wild animals in Southeast Asia is a crucial component of future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/investing-in-nature-is-needed-to-avoid-the-next-pandemic/">pandemic preparedness</a> and prevention.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26809-4">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

Cambodian bats have coronaviruses related to SARS-COV-2

Knowledge of the origin of the coronavirus that caused the...

Dopamine is used by the human nervous system to send messages between nerve cells. It plays a role in how we perceive pleasure. Dopamine has also been linked to learning and memory.&nbsp;



In a recent study from <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a>, experts have found that dopamine may also play a key role in shaping what songs bring the most pleasure to female <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-and-humans-use-similar-speech-patterns/">songbirds</a>. This means that dopamine may ultimately have a big influence on which males the females choose to be their mates. 



Zebra finches form lasting bonds with their mates. They remain faithful and monogamous throughout their lives. The male performs a song and dance that can lead to sex, depending on the reaction of the female that is being pursued.&nbsp;



“But female songbirds are very selective about which songs they like,” explained lead researcher Professor Sarah Woolley. “And, while different birds prefer different songs, each female remains consistent in her preferences over time.”



According to the study, multiple parts of the brain that produce dopamine connect to the auditory cortex. Furthermore, cells in some of these regions showed more activity when female songbirds listened to the songs they preferred.&nbsp;



Through a series of experiments, the researchers discovered that by giving female songbirds dopamine, they could manipulate their song preferences.



“I find it fascinating that the way that each of us perceive communication signals, like speech, or other sounds, like music, is not static,” said Woolley. 



“Rather, our perceptions of these sounds depend on experiences that we have throughout our lives. Studying how experiences can gain access to and shape the neural circuits for perception can not only expand our general understanding of how we process and perceive sounds, it can also help us to understand why we like or enjoy particular sounds.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



---



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

Dopamine plays a central role in songbird mating

Dopamine is used by the human nervous system to send...

Ants are well known for their communal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carnivores-modify-their-behavior-to-avoid-each-other/">behaviors</a>, such as building complex nest tunnels and gathering food for their colony. A surprising new study from the University of Fribourg has discovered yet another way that ants work together – passing fluids from mouth to mouth to create a colony-wide metabolism.



While passing fluids from mouth to mouth was already recognized as common behavior among ants, the purpose of it was unclear. The results of the new study suggest that ants are behaving similarly to how organisms thrive on communal metabolisms.



“Individual ants have two stomachs – one for digesting their own food and another one that comes first, a ‘social stomach’ for storing fluids that they share with other ants in their colony. These fluid exchanges allow ants to share food and other important proteins that the ants themselves produce,” explained senior author Adria LeBoeuf.



“To help us understand why ants share these fluids, we explored whether the proteins they exchange are linked to an individual’s role in the colony or the colony’s life-cycle," added study lead author Sanja Hakala.



The researchers analyzed the proteins found within the ‘social stomachs’ of individual ants, comparing the contents between forager ants and nurse ants that care for the youth of the colony. The age of each colony was also investigated.



Nurse ants were discovered to have more anti-aging proteins in their social stomachs, suggesting that these proteins are passed on through mouth-to-mouth transfer to ensure the survival of offspring.&nbsp;



“These findings show that some colony members can do metabolic labour for the benefit of others,” said Hakala.



Furthermore, it was also discovered that ants found in mature colonies had the most sufficient nutrient storage proteins for survival and growth, as opposed to the insufficiencies of newly founded colonies. 



However, more studies will be necessary if scientists are going to understand the purpose of each shared protein within a colony.&nbsp;



“It is hard to measure how metabolic work is shared between cells," explained LeBoeuf. "Here, the ants pass things around in a way that we can easily access what they are sharing. Having a better understanding of how ants share metabolic labor may help us learn more about the ways that other creatures, like humans, distribute metabolic tasks between different tissues or different cells in their bodies.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;

Ants swap spit to share food and special fluids

Ants are well known for their communal behaviors, such as...

Two,Monarch,Butterflies,With,Wings,Spread,On,A,Pink,Cone

Monarch <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blue-butterflies-are-set-to-become-widespread-across-canada/">butterflies</a> and some of their close relatives thrive on poisonous milkweed, due to genetic mutations that block the effects of the toxins on their organisms while allowing them to accumulate in the caterpillar or adult insects as deterrents to some of their predators. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> and <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> has found that some of these predators have evolved similar mutations in order to be able to feast on the butterflies.



The research team discovered monarch-like mutations in the genomes of four organisms that are known to feed upon monarchs: the black-headed grosbeak, a migratory bird that eats monarch butterflies while spending the winter season in Mexico; the eastern deer mouse, which feeds on butterflies that fall on the ground; a tiny wasp that parasitizes monarch eggs; and a nematode which parasitizes larvae that eat poisonous milkweed.



According to the scientists, these predators evolved mutations in one or several copies of a gene for the sodium-potassium pump, which has a role in regulating heartbeats and nerve firings. These seem to be the same mutations that make monarch butterflies capable of eating milkweed without succumbing to its cardiac glycosides - toxins that interfere with the sodium-potassium pump and can provoke cardiac arrest in organisms that are not adapted to tolerate them.



"The toxins move up the food chain from plants - what biologists call the first trophic level - to insect herbivores, the second, and then to predators and parasitoids - a third trophic level," said study lead author Noah Whiteman, a professor of Integrative Biology and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley.&nbsp;



"In response, the predators and parasitoids have evolved resistance to the toxins at the same sites that we discovered were changing in the monarch, and sometimes to the same amino acids. This might be the first time that the same resistance mutations have been found in the third and second trophic levels that evolved in response to the latter feeding on toxic plants."



"It’s remarkable that convergent evolution occurred at the molecular level in all these animals,” added study co-author Simon “Niels” Groen, an assistant professor of Evolutionary Systems Biology at UC Riverside. “Plant toxins caused evolutionary changes across at least three levels of the food chain.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



---



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

How predators have outsmarted monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies and some of their close relatives thrive on...

A team of experts at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> set out to investigate whether the boldness of city bats is a trait that is genetically inherited or if it is a behavior that is learned. During a project in which urban fruit bats were adopted by rural mothers and vice versa, the researchers found that the pups behave like their adoptive mothers rather than their biological moms.&nbsp;



The experiment revealed that pups born in the country and adopted by urban mothers were bolder, taking more risks than those adopted by rural mothers.



"We wanted to find out whether boldness is transferred genetically or learned somehow from the mother," said study co-author Professor Yossi Yovel. "Our findings suggest that this trait is passed on to pups by the mothers that nurse and raise them, even when they are not their biological mothers."



Study lead author Dr. Lee Harten explained that while most animals do not live in an urban environment, some species thrive in it. "We are trying to understand how they do this."



"Fruit bats are an excellent example of a species that has adapted well to the human environment of the city. Bat colonies thrive in Tel Aviv and other cities, while other colonies still live in rural areas."



"Research has shown that city-adapted fruit-bats tend to be bolder and take more risks than those living in the wild. We wanted to examine, under laboratory conditions, whether this trait is genetic or acquired."



The research involved 86 mother-pup pairs of fruit bats: 61 pairs from four urban colonies and three rural colonies. The experts conducted experiments that were designed to investigate the behavioral differences between the two groups, with a central focus on their boldness, or willingness to take risks.&nbsp;



Prior to the experiments, the team demonstrated that urban bats could immediately complete a task that involved entering an unknown box to find food. The urban bats, on the other hand, were much more intimidated by the scenario and took several hours to enter the box. 



"Similar results were observed in past experiments with birds: birds living in the city take more risks than birds of the same species residing in rural areas. Our study was the first to test this issue in bats," said Professor Yovel.



Next, the researchers wanted to determine whether pups inherit or learn to take risks. They presented the same box experiment to the young pups who had never searched for food on their own. The study revealed that the urban pups, just like their parents, were bolder and learn faster than rural pups.



"These findings first led us to think that boldness is hereditary - passed on genetically from the urban parents to their pups. However, we know that young pups are still exposed to their mothers after birth. We decided to check whether pups learn from their mothers or are influenced by them in some other way."



The researchers introduced a cross-adoption method where pups born to urban mothers were raised by rural mothers, and vice versa. The team noted that this is the first "nature vs. nurture" study for boldness in urban animals.



"We found that the pups behaved like their adoptive mothers, not like their biological mothers. This means that boldness is an acquired rather than hereditary trait, passed on in some way from mother to young pup. We hypothesize that the agent may be some substance in the mother's milk," explained Dr. Harten.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-021-01131-z">BMC Biology</a>.



---



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

Fruit bat pups take after their adoptive mothers

A team of experts at Tel Aviv University set out...

It is usually challenging to identify the exact proportions of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossils-reveal-a-previously-unknown-mass-extinction-event/">fossil</a> animals that are excavated out of the rock. Seldom is a fossilized skeleton discovered in its entirety. Instead, the component bones tend to be disarticulated, jumbled up, and commonly dispersed by factors such as weather, water movement and scavenger activity.



This was the case when the first specimen of a Supersaurus&nbsp;was uncovered in 1972 in a bonebed at Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry in Colorado. Brian Curtice, currently a paleontologist at the Arizona Museum of Natural History, describes the accumulation of tightly-packed fossils originally found in the bonebed as a "bone salad" that made it very difficult to know which bones to allocate to the newly discovered Supersaurus.&nbsp;



Field worker Jim Jensen, who collected and prepared fossils for Brigham Young University in Utah, excavated that bone salad and published his findings some years later. Among the bones that he discovered was an 8-foot-long scapulocoracoid – two fused bones that make up the shoulder girdle in adult dinosaurs and other reptiles. The size of this bone identified Supersaurus as being potentially one of the longest dinosaurs ever discovered. The public was intrigued at the time that a dinosaur larger than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.livescience.com/25024-brachiosaurus.html">Brachiosaurus</a>, then considered the longest dinosaur, could have existed.



Jensen also excavated other large bones that he thought belonged to two other species of sauropod dinosaurs. When he published his findings, in 1985, &nbsp;in the journal <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol45/iss4/7/">Great Basin Naturalist</a>, he announced the discovery of three new sauropod dinosaurs from the quarry – apart from Supersaurus (that had been named by a journalist in the initial post-discovery media frenzy), he named Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus from the bone evidence found in the bonebed.&nbsp;



However, Jensen wasn't a trained paleontologist, and he made some mistakes with his analysis. This has led to much debate between paleontologists over the years, who have questioned the validity of the two other new genera. Some, such as Curtice, believe that the bones were misidentified and actually all belong to a single Supersaurus skeleton.&nbsp;



Curtice said Jensen's theory that the bones belonged to three different dinosaurs never checked out. "He was caught up in the moment," Curtice said. "He wasn't classically trained."&nbsp;



Now, some 50 years after the initial discovery, Curtice has re-evaluated some of the original bones, as well as looking at bones that have been excavated subsequently from the large blocks of rocks and fossils that were transferred at the time from the quarry to the laboratory. He has also compared all the bones with those of two other fossilized skeletons of Supersaurus (nicknamed Jimbo and Goliath) that have subsequently been discovered in Wyoming.



He feels there is a good case for reclassifying Jensen’s three species as a single one, namely Supersaurus.



Among the as yet unstudied bones from the rock blocks, Curtice identified five new neck vertebrae, one new back vertebra, two new tail vertebrae and a left pubis bone. This gave him a more complete picture of the skeleton of Supersaurus and helped him estimate the overall length of the beast more accurately.&nbsp;



However, many of the bones have still not been excavated, or are missing from the deposit, so determining the overall length is still a challenge.&nbsp;



"It should have 15 or 16 neck bones and we have six of them," Curtice said. "So the big challenge is 'Wait, which six do we have?' They don't come with numbers on them."



Curtice found that the vertebrae became smaller by a certain percentage the further they were from the body, and this allowed him to estimate the lengths of the missing bones.&nbsp;He calculated that, depending on the placement of one nearly 4.5-foot-long (1.3 m) neck vertebra,&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;measured either 128 feet or 137 feet in overall length.&nbsp;



"That is a crazy length – longer than three yellow school buses, nose to tail," Curtice said. "And considering we never find the largest individual in the fossil record, how much longer could these animals have gotten?"



The other, more recent fossil Supersaurus discoveries, Jimbo and Goliath, supported Curtice’s estimates of length. "What's shocking to me is how close in length Goliath and Jimbo are," said Curtice. "If you get three animals that are within a few feet of one another, now we know, 'OK, that's the average.'"



Unfortunately, researchers have yet to formally identify Goliath as a&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;in a peer-reviewed journal and, until that time, including its measurements for comparison can only be tentative.&nbsp;



The conclusions drawn from the new research "seem reasonable," said Matt Lamanna, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who was not involved with the research. "I can't really weigh in on the exact length estimate, but it's clear that there is a very, very large diplodocid sauropod in that quarry."



The research would be strengthened if the dinosaur nicknamed Goliath were to be formally identified as a&nbsp;Supersaurus, especially because Curtice is using it to inform his analysis, Lamanna said. "I think the final verdict will come when this Goliath specimen is published, when this additional material from Dry Mesa is published. I want to see it go through formal peer review."



"I think it will be pretty exciting when he does [publish]," Lamanna added. "I think he's very probably correct."



While he awaits the publication of the identity of Goliath, and the peer review of his own research, Curtice presented his findings at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://vertpaleo.org/">Society of Vertebrate Paleontology</a> earlier this month. Even the "shorter" size estimate of Supersaurus is record-breaking; at 128 feet (39 m), the dinosaur would have been longer&nbsp;than other contenders for this record. And with a neck of at least 50 feet long (15 m), Supersaurus already holds the record for the dinosaur with the longest neck. One thing is for sure though, when Supersaurus wandered the plains of Colorado and Wyoming, some 150 million years ago, it was an exceptionally large animal.



In conclusion, Curtice states that Supersaurus&nbsp;may be the longest dinosaur on record, but it's not the heaviest. That honor likely goes to the superheavy titanosaur&nbsp;Argentinosaurus, which weighed upward of 90 tons (82 metric tons) and came close to being twice as heavy as&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;was.



---



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

Supersaurus may be the longest dinosaur ever discovered

It is usually challenging to identify the exact proportions of...

Guinea,Pig,Friends

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0451-21.2021">eNeuro</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-process-speech-in-the-same-way-as-humans/">speech</a> sounds elicit similar neural responses and stimulate the same brain areas in humans, macaques, and guinea pigs. These findings may help better understand and diagnose auditory processing deficits.



The brain’s responses to sounds (“frequency following responses,” or FFRs) can be recorded by small electrodes placed on the scalp, and are generally used by clinicians to quickly asses infants’ hearing capacities in order to find out whether they may develop disorders such as dyslexia or autism.&nbsp;



If the infants’ brains produce electrical responses to sounds played through tiny headphones, their neural pathways connecting the ears to the high-level information processing areas of the brain are functional. However, until recently, this method lacked specificity.



“These tests can only tell us that something is off – but we don’t know what that ‘off’ is,” said study co-author Bharath Chandrasekaran, a professor of Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburg’s <a href="https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/">School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



“Understanding the source and mechanism of FFR generation would allow for the development of specific markers of speech impairments, which would be instrumental in improving clinical diagnostics of auditory processing deficits.”



Until recently, scientists thought that FFRs arise deep inside the brain stem. However, by combining electroencephalographic recordings from the scalp with recordings from electrodes placed inside the skull, the researchers found that FFRs are generated also in the auditory cortex of the brain, only a few centimeters away from the skull surface. Moreover, they appeared to be similar across mammals such as humans, monkeys, and guinea pigs.



“Recognizing the similarities between animal and human FFRs will allow us to study neural circuitry of sound processing in much greater detail,” said study lead author Nike Gnanateja Gurindapalli, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. “These explorations will further pave the way for new models of auditory processing in both typical and impaired auditory systems, which can eventually be used to infer auditory deficits using simple and effective non-invasive tools in the clinic.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Since FFRs were traditionally thought to be passively generated outside the cortex, scientists did not typically account for a person’s attention and alertness during FFR recordings. This new discovery will change the way FFRs are collected and interpreted and will open pathways for the development of better biomarkers of auditory processing deficits, leading to faster, more accurate, and non-invasive diagnostics.



---



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

Speech sounds elicit similar brain responses in humans and guinea pigs

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

Prior to the massive 2019-20 wildfires in Australia, a species of assassin <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spiders-can-track-the-scent-of-killer-ants-to-avoid-them/">spider</a> known as the “pelican spider” was found only in the Western River Wilderness Protection Area on Kangaroo Island (KI). Unfortunately the area burned severely, leaving scientists to suspect that pelican spiders had been completely wiped out by the fires.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Recently, two pelican spiders were discovered alive in northern Kangaroo Island. The discovery of the surviving spiders was the result of research carried out under a grant acquired by the <a href="https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/">Southern Australia Museum</a> (SAM) to survey the bushfire damage.&nbsp;



“This is the first time the species has been found since high severity fires burnt their only known collecting locality. We have been surveying for the spiders since the fires, so it was an amazing feeling to finally find one,” said Dr. Jessica Marsh, an honorary research associate at SAM.



Pelican spiders are especially vulnerable to fire as they inhabit highly flammable environments.



“The spider lives in leaf litter that is suspended at around knee height in low lying vegetation – a habitat which is highly flammable, even in low severity fire. It is found near creeklines in open eucalypt vegetation communities,” explained Dr. Marsh.



Assassin spider populations were previously impacted by prescribed burns on Kangaroo Island, which highlights the vulnerability of the spiders to fire. The pelican spider was always rare and limited in range, so any threat is likely to be severe.



“A section of the Western River Wilderness Protection Area was burnt in a prescribed burn in 2015 and was not impacted by the 2019/20 bushfires. Post-fire surveys of the area have revealed that the elevated litter layer has still not yet formed in the vegetation and no habitat for assassin spiders was found, illustrating how even lower severity and planned burns can be a threat to this species. This also highlights its vulnerability, due to the length of time taken for suitable habitat to re-establish post-fire," said Dr. Marsh.



“Like other species of assassin spiders, the Kangaroo Island species has a very small distributional range and restricted dispersal abilities making it particularly susceptible to major threats, such as prescribed and wild bushfires, feral pigs and increased fragmentation of native vegetation.”



As of now though, there’s still some hope that pelican spiders will survive for a while longer.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spiders found on Kangaroo Island were thought to be extinct

Prior to the massive 2019-20 wildfires in Australia, a species...

A new study of the small but charismatic White Crowned Manakin indicates that it may actually be more than one species of tropical bird. The research also suggests this unexpected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enormous-loss-of-crop-diversity-found-in-recent-decades/">diversity</a> is inherent in the landscape of South America itself.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Jacob Berv conducted the research while a Ph.D. student in the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, and is currently a Life Sciences Fellow at the University of Michigan.



“We found that the White-crowned Manakin probably originated in the highland forests of the Andes Mountains in northern Peru," explained Dr. Berv.



"Today, this bird is also found across the Amazon Basin, in the lowland rainforests of Brazil, Peru, and many other countries, including parts of Central America.”



The wide and varied landscape of South and Central America, ranging from mountains to lowland forest, is the driver behind speciation.&nbsp;



"This study shows that there is a lot of evolutionary history embedded in what is commonly referred to as a 'single widespread' species in Amazonia," said study co-author Camila Ribas of Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research.



"The White-crowned Manakin is an example of a phenomenon that is probably more the rule than the exception in Amazonia—diversity is vastly underestimated by the current taxonomy."



At roughly 2.5 million years, manakins spread into the Andes, where many remain today. The remaining populations became isolated from the other tropical birds in insulated pockets of habitat created by mountains and rivers.&nbsp;



Over time, these separate populations drifted apart from each other in terms of evolution, becoming different species with different mating rituals, songs and plumage. The differences in mating behavior are especially important for their definitions as different species.&nbsp;



"In order to understand evolutionary processes in Amazonia we need many more studies like this one, with dense geographical sampling," said Ribas. "For this we need to support biological collections that are able to accumulate samples through time."



Dr. Bev echoed this sentiment and emphasized the need for more research. "We’ve basically just scratched the surface."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/molecular-phylogenetics-and-evolution">Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution</a>. 



Image Credit: White-crowned Manakin by Phillip Edwards, Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Isolated tropical birds may represent new species

A new study of the small but charismatic White Crowned...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258712">PLoS ONE</a> has found an innovative, animal-friendly manner to study venom genes. This technique makes it possible to determine the specific venom production of a variety of animals that have scarcely been studied before.



&nbsp;“Every venom contains tens to more than hundreds of different venomous substances, also called toxins, which are produced by the venom gland,” explained study co-author Freek Vonk, a professor of Biology at the <a href="https://vu.nl/en">Free University of Amsterdam</a> (VU) and researcher at the <a href="https://www.naturalis.nl/">Naturalis Biodiversity Center</a>. “After a bite or sting, these can have a toxic effect on various systems, such as the nerve endings or blood circulation.”&nbsp;



The scientists used a method called transcriptomics, through which patterns of gene expression can be examined. This method is easier, purer, and more specific than previously used techniques, allowing researchers to study the actual venom instead of venom gland tissue. Due to this, animals no longer need to be sacrificed in order to investigate the gene expression of their venom glands.



“Thanks to this technique, we can very precisely see which genes are active at various moments during the venom production,” said Vonk. “This snapshot offers the very first possibility to study how various influences, such as nutrition, season, and age, influence the venom production in a single individual.”



Venom is produced by animals in different ways. While some animals such as snakes or centipedes have venom-producing cells that issue the venom to the storage space in the venom gland in small vesicles, producing a relatively clean venom, other animals, like scorpions, allow their venom gland cells to be cut in small pieces, thus producing a venom that contains many cell remains.



“Those cell remains contain the substances on which we can perform transcriptomics: mapping which genes are activated to produce which proteins,” said study co-author Mátyás Bittenbinder, a doctoral student at Naturalis and the VU.



“The manner of venom production probably explains why the new technique does not work on snakes,” added Arie van der Meijden, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.up.pt/">University of Porto</a> and inventor of this innovative technique. “Conversely, the technique now makes it possible to study the venom variations in a large number of venomous animals that have scarcely ever, if at all, been studied, such as scorpions, fish, and even the platypus.”



Since the toxins in the venom are important sources for manufacturing new drugs, this study can have a significant impact in medicine.&nbsp;



---



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

Scientists find a new way to study venom production

A new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has...

New research suggests that what appeared to be a four-legged <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snakes-had-an-evolutionary-explosion-after-dinosaur-extinction/">snake</a>, a missing evolutionary link connecting lizards and snakes, is nothing of the sort. The study has revealed that the specimen is simply a long-bodied marine lizard.



The study, which is published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tjsp20/current">Journal of Systematic Paleontology</a>, was led by Michael Caldwell of the University of Alberta.&nbsp;



“It has long been understood that snakes are members of a lineage of four-legged vertebrates that, as a result of evolutionary specializations, lost their limbs," said Caldwell.&nbsp;



"Somewhere in the fossil record of ancient snakes is an ancestral form that still had four legs. It has thus long been predicted that a snake with four legs would be found as a fossil.”



An earlier study published in the journal Science in 2015, suggested that paleontologists had found the first of these snakes with legs, naming it Tetrapodophis amplectus.&nbsp;



“If correctly interpreted based on the preserved anatomy, this would be a very important discovery,” said Caldwell. However, he disputes the veracity of the study, claiming that T. amplectus was mischaracterized as a snake.&nbsp;



“There are many evolutionary questions that could be answered by finding a four-legged snake fossil, but only if it is the real deal. The major conclusion of our team is that Tetrapodophis amplectus is not in fact a snake and was misclassified."



"Rather, all aspects of its anatomy are consistent with the anatomy observed in a group of extinct marine lizards from the Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs.”



Caldwell explained how evidence from the surrounding rock matrix was overlooked in the description of the fossil.



“When the rock containing the specimen was split and it was discovered, the skeleton and skull ended up on opposite sides of the slab, with a natural mould preserving the shape of each on the opposite side."



"The original study only described the skull and overlooked the natural mould, which preserved several features that make it clear that Tetrapodophis did not have the skull of a snake - not even of a primitive one.”



Despite T. amplectus not being a “missing link” between lizards and snakes, it’s still an interesting fossil to scientists.



“One of the greatest challenges of studying Tetrapodophis is that it is one of the smallest fossil squamates ever found," said study co-author and Brazilian paleontologist Dr. Tiago Simões. "It is comparable to the smallest squamates alive today that also have reduced limbs.”



Dr. Simões pointed out that the fossil was removed from Brazil without appropriate permits and has since been housed in a private collection, limiting access by researchers. He asks that international treaties be honored and the fossil repatriated to Brazil.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fossil linking snakes and lizards was falsely identified

New research suggests that what appeared to be a four-legged...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www5.usp.br/english/institutional/">University of São Paulo</a> (USP) in Brazil has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-household-sounds-trigger-anxiety-in-dogs/">dogs</a> communicate with humans in ways that are dependent upon their particular life experiences. Thus, dogs living inside homes tend to exchange more gazes with their caregivers than dogs living outside or in shelters.



“Dogs are particularly skillful in communicating with humans, and growing evidence points towards the importance of both species intertwined evolutionary history and intense daily partnership,” wrote the study authors.



One of the communication behaviors used by dogs is gaze alternation, which can be defined as first staring at humans to get their attention, then flicking the eyes to where an unattainable and desired object is located, and then gazing back at the humans.



The scientists compared 60 pet dogs of various ages and breeds and found that 95.7 percent of those living inside homes used gaze alternation at least once, while only 80 percent of those living outside homes used it. In the case of shelter dogs, only 58.8 percent used this communication strategy.



“The findings point to strong influence of life experience on development and use of communicative behavior. Dogs that spent longer time near people were more disposed to use communication as a strategy to obtain a desired objective,” said study lead author&nbsp;Juliana Wallner Werneck Mendes, who conducted the experiment at the Canine Laboratory at USP during her master’s research.&nbsp;



“Another important aspect we observed was that all groups communicated,” she added. “Shelter dogs used to be considered unable to communicate with humans. In fact, they do, but less so. This shows that the experiences of a lifetime result in different kinds of behavior.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Mendes and her colleagues, the low level of interaction characterizing shelter dogs should not be interpreted as incapacity. On the contrary, they seem quite capable of communicating, even with little exposure to humans, but they don’t need to do it for much of their lives.



These findings shed more light on the relationship between nature and nurture in canine development and behavior. “Canine behavior is largely inherited, of course, and they were domesticated a very long time ago, but this aspect should never be abstracted from the context in which they live. Nurture and the environment are also very important,” Mendes concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635721001716?via%3Dihub">Behavioural Processes</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

Life experience shapes the way dogs communicate with humans

A new study led by the University of São Paulo...

An endangered population of Ethiopian elephants is under serious threat from tens of thousands of illegal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-drove-woolly-mammoths-to-extinction/">human</a> settlements, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>.



The Babile Elephant Sanctuary is one of the largest protected areas in Ethiopia. It is home to the northeastern-most population of African Savannah Elephants, which is one of only six populations recognized in Ethiopia.



The sanctuary was established to protect the resident elephant population from poaching and habitat loss. The new research suggests that human-elephant conflict is a bigger threat to Ethiopian elephants than previously realized.&nbsp;



In collaboration with the Born Free Foundation, the experts analyzed satellite data and found that the number of illegal houses in the sanctuary soared from 18,000 to more than 50,000 over the decade leading up to 2017. Furthermore,&nbsp; 32,000 of these houses are within elephants' range.



According to the researchers, unless the integrity of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary can be restored, and security and poverty issues resolved, this population of elephants will be lost within a short matter of time.&nbsp;



The experts noted that the human population in Ethiopia has now reached more than 110 million people. As a result, there is an extremely high demand for limited natural resources, along with a severe shortage of land, which intensifies the conflict between humans and elephants. 



‘The situation in the Babile Elephant Sanctuary is critical. There are now only around 250 elephants left," said Emily Neil, a postgraduate researcher with Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment.



"Without the rapid resolution of the many human issues putting pressure on the elephants it is difficult to foresee a future in which this population of elephants survives."



The study is published in the latest edition of <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0030-6053&amp;lang=fr">Oryx -The International Journal of Conservation</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

Humans threaten the survival of Ethiopian elephants

An endangered population of Ethiopian elephants is under serious threat...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> has found that feeding a dog only once a day reduces the risk of nine types of age-related canine health problems, including cancer, dental issues, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/moderate-sleep-reduces-the-risk-of-cognitive-decline/">cognitive</a> decline, and gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, or urinary disorders.



Researchers analyzed data on 24,238 dogs collected in the context of the <a href="https://dogagingproject.org/">Dog Aging Project</a> in order to find links between feeding frequency and health outcomes. After controlling for factors such as age, breed, or sex, the scientists found that dogs that were given only a single meal per day appeared to have lower odds of developing dental, gastrointestinal, orthopedic, kidney/urinary, and liver/pancreatic disorders.



“For nearly a century, caloric restriction has been known to extend lifespan and delay age-associated pathology in laboratory animals,” the study authors wrote. “Companion dogs provide a potentially powerful animal model in which to better understand the relationship between diet and age-related health outcomes.”&nbsp;



“Once-daily feeding in dogs serves as a natural model for the intermittent fasting/time-restricted feeding protocols currently being studied both in preclinical rodent models and in human trials.”



According to the researchers, dogs may benefit from less frequent feeding due to evolutionary reasons. Since their wolf ancestors were often going for days without food, such eating frequencies may still be ingrained in modern dogs’ genomes.



“The strength of the study is that numbers are large and the statistical methods are sound,” said Alex German, a researcher in Veterinary Sciences at the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a>. However, as study co-author and biologist at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> Matt Kaeberlein admits, it also has many weaknesses. For instance, the study did not establish a clear causal link between feeding frequency and health outcomes, and other factors, such as the amount that dogs eat during a day, may also be important.&nbsp;



Thus, until further research is done in order to assess the impact of how much (in addition to how often) dogs eat per day, as well as the role that obesity plays in the development of age-related canine health conditions, people should not yet change the way they feed their pets.



A pre-print version of the study is published in the <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.08.467616v1">bioRxiv repository</a>.&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

Feeding your dog once a day may improve its health

New research led by the University of Arizona has found...

species in Sternophoridae