A team in central China has done something simple and bold, they directly dated dinosaur eggs instead of the rocks around them. The eggshell calcite from the Qinglongshan site yielded an age of 85.91 ± 1.74 million years.



This matters because it turns eggs from interesting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-did-dinosaurs-come-from-missing-fossils-hold-the-secret/">fossils</a> into reliable timestamps for life on land during the Late Cretaceous, a time of shifting climates and ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dinosaur-eggshells-dated">Dinosaur eggshells dated</h2>



The fossils come from Qinglongshan in the Yunyang Basin of Hubei Province, where thousands of intact eggs rest in stacked layers with little distortion.&nbsp;



“We show that these dinosaur eggs were deposited roughly 85 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period,” said <a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/3140051/overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Bi Zhao</a>, from the Hubei Institute of Geosciences (<a href="https://en.cug.edu.cn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HIG</a>).



The group used carbonate <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/zircon-u-pb-dating" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U-Pb dating</a> on eggshell material, measuring uranium and lead atoms to calculate time since the shell formed. 



In their tests, the radiogenic signal sits in biogenic calcite, the carbonate built by the egg-laying animal, which behaved as a semi-closed system for uranium uptake after burial.



The <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1638838/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> relied on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/laser-ablation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">laser ablation</a>, a micro laser that vaporizes pinpoint spots of carbonate which are then analyzed by a mass spectrometer for uranium and lead ratios.&nbsp;



The resulting age is not from ash fall or nearby minerals, it is from the eggshell itself, which frees researchers from indirect age constraints that can mislead if volcanic layers formed earlier or later than the nest horizon.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-carbonate-u-pb-works">How carbonate U-Pb works</h2>



Uranium isotopes in carbonates decay into lead at known, constant rates, and the proportion of parent to daughter isotopes reveals elapsed time. 



Cross checks, like repeated spots in different shell areas and agreement between fragments, keep the numbers honest, and the reported uncertainty of ± 1.74 million years reflects instrument precision and sample scatter, not guesswork.



Indirect <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1367912012005019" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">approaches</a> have anchored many Asian egg sites by dating interbedded tuffs, for example zircon based SIMS ages from the Tiantai Basin that bracket egg layers in the Laijia and Chichengshan formations at roughly 96 to 99 million years and 91 to 94 million years. 



That prior dating set a framework that eggshell ages can now refine where ash is missing.



Carbonate geochronology has matured fast, with careful comparisons between uranium thorium and U-Pb techniques on the same samples showing strong consistency over wide timescales. 



That broader look at geochronology <a href="https://gchron.copernicus.org/articles/7/335/2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">methods</a> helps explain why a tiny eggshell can carry a credible age.



The study team also separated signals, finding consistent ages from biogenic carbonates, and noisy or unusable signals from late pore filling calcite, a reminder that not all carbonates are equal for keeping time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dinosaur-eggshell-site">Dinosaur eggshell site</h2>



The Qinglongshan reserve preserves egg clutches in red siltstones and sandstones, with many eggs still three dimensional and minimally deformed, a rare condition that helps both taphonomy and dating. 



The sampled clutch belonged to an oblate style of egg typical of the family <a href="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dendrobatidae/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dendroolithidae</a>, which is known for highly porous shells.



Those Yunyang eggs have been assigned to Placoolithus tumiaolingensis by <a href="https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app63/app005232018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> that cleaned up the taxonomy and emphasized the diagnostic shell microstructure. That classification anchors the site in a broader Chinese record of dendroolithid eggs.



Porous eggshell architecture affects gas exchange and incubation, and the microstructure varies in ways that may reflect nesting style in a semi arid fluvial landscape. 



The new age puts those choices in a tight slice of time, late Coniacian to early Santonian, rather than a vague Late Cretaceous window.



Thousands of eggs across stacked horizons also open the door to building a basin scale timeline where shell ages from different levels track local ecological change, sedimentation rates, and any shifts in the nesting fauna.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dinosaur-eggs_dating-method_china_credit-Bi-Zhao_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dinosaur-eggs_dating-method_china_credit-Bi-Zhao_1s.webp" alt="Egg clutch sampled for chronological studies. Credit Dr. Bi Zhao" class="wp-image-1985991"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Egg clutch sampled for chronological studies. Click image to enlarge. Credit Dr. Bi Zhao</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dinosaur-climate-context">Dinosaur climate context</h2>



Marine records indicate the Late Cretaceous did not stay uniformly hot. 



One North Atlantic sea surface temperature <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24937202/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">record</a> shows a drop of about 7 degrees Celsius (12.6 degrees Fahrenheit), from around 35 degrees to below 28 degrees, between the earliest Campanian and the Maastrichtian.



Independent <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18187651/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> from oxygen isotopes suggests brief glaciation episodes punctuated parts of the mid Cretaceous greenhouse, showing that climate could swing even when the world was generally warm. 



Inland Asia would have felt those shifts in precipitation, seasonality, and vegetation.



Pinned ages on terrestrial <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-extinction-theories-are-challenged-by-new-research/">fossils</a> let scientists ask tighter questions about whether nesting density changed across cooler intervals or whether certain egg types rose or fell with climate. 



The eggshell ages at Qinglongshan now give one fixed point for such tests, and more layers can add the sequence needed to see patterns.



Cause and effect claims are premature at a single site, but a direct eggshell chronology makes it practical to compare neighboring basins and see whether bird and non avian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dog-sized-baby-dinosaur-unearthed-after-166-million-years/">dinosaur</a> nesting moved, paused, or persisted during regional climate transitions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-comes-next">What comes next</h2>



The team plans to sample eggs from additional horizons at Qinglongshan, then from basins to the north and south, to build a regional timeline that can be compared with dated marine and volcanic records. 



That will clarify which changes are local quirks and which ones reflect broader environmental forcing across East Asia.



Applying the same protocol to eggs in the Xixia, Jiaolai, and Nanxiong basins would close large age gaps where ash beds are absent. 



Those basins have different egg assemblages, so a uniform clock could test migration ideas and turnover hypotheses without assuming rock ages transfer cleanly between sites.



Direct dinosaur eggshell dating also complements existing zircon frameworks rather than replacing them, since both tools answer different parts of the age question. 



Zircons pin eruptive or depositional moments for ash, while eggshells date the biological event of nesting, and together they can resolve the tempo of life on land.



With better <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-ground-dwellers-survived-the-asteroid-impact-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/">timescales</a>, small details like pore geometry, clutch spacing, and shell thickness will be tied to environmental context, not guesswork. 



That is how a few careful ages can turn a crowded egg hillside into a precise chronicle of Late Cretaceous life in central China.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1638838/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>.



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These dinosaur eggs tell an incredible story from 85 million years ago

A team in central China has done something simple and bold, they directly dated dinosaur eggs instead of the rocks around them. The eggshell calcite from the Qinglongshan site yielded an age of 85.91 ± 1.74 million years. This matters because it turns eggs from interesting fossils into reliable timestamps for life on land during the Late Cretaceous, a time of shifting climates and ecosystems. Dinosaur eggshells dated The fossils come from Qinglongshan in the Yunyang Basin of Hubei Province, where thousands of intact eggs rest in...

Flea toads, despite being just seven millimeters in length, are among the smallest vertebrates on the planet. Regardless of their tiny size, their organs and bodily functions are almost identical to those of animals that are hundreds or even thousands of times larger.&nbsp;



While extreme miniaturization is a phenomenon seen in nature, the exact mechanisms behind how animals become so small have long remained a mystery. 



Now, thanks to a grant of around $1.7 million from the <a href="https://erc.europa.eu/homepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">European Research Council</a> (ERC), a <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a> researcher is setting out to solve this puzzle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-miniature-animals-with-optimal-function-nbsp">Miniature animals with optimal function&nbsp;</h2>



What do flea toads and smartphones have in common? Both have undergone extreme miniaturization while still maintaining all their essential components. 



In the tech world, we’ve grown accustomed to devices becoming smaller while retaining or even increasing functionality. 



Similarly, in nature, creatures like flea toads, dwarf pygmy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discovered-three-new-species-of-freshwater-goby-fish/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">goby fish</a>, and bumblebee bats have evolved to shrink while keeping their vital organs and functions intact, much like their larger relatives.&nbsp;



But what exactly happens within these creatures, especially at the genetic level, when they undergo such evolutionary changes to reduce in size? And are there any biological limits to how small these animals can get?



These are some of the questions Mark D. Scherz, a researcher at the <a href="https://snm.dk/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural History Museum of Denmark</a>, will explore over the next five years. His research will focus on uncovering the genetic processes that govern miniaturization in vertebrates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-how-animals-become-miniature-nbsp">Understanding how animals become miniature&nbsp;</h2>



“<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/large-animals-vulnerable-human-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Large animals</a> are often the ones to grab our attention. But I think it to be just as fascinating how nature has managed to miniaturize the exact same vital organs and cram them into a less than one-centimeter-long frog. Today, we know surprisingly little about how it all happens, and I want to change that,” Scherz explained.



Much like the tech industry has continually reduced the size of transistors to make devices smaller and more efficient, nature has found ways to make animals miniature over millions of years. 



Scientists believe that extreme miniaturization is linked to evolutionary innovation, although the exact mechanisms remain poorly understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetic-changes-during-miniaturization-nbsp">Genetic changes during miniaturization&nbsp;</h2>



Scherz’s research project, GEMINI (Genomics of Miniaturisation in Vertebrates), aims to uncover the specific genetic changes that occur as animals become smaller. 



The goal is to create a sort of genetic “template” that will reveal what happens in the DNA of vertebrates when they <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brazilian-flea-toad-worlds-smallest-vertebrate-discovered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shrink in size</a>.



“In several independent studies that looked at the genomes of miniaturized animals, a kind of clean-up and innovation takes place, where the genome becomes smaller. A lot of this happens in repetitive bits of the genome that we used to call <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/junk-dna-may-set-humans-apart-from-chimpanzees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘junk’ DNA</a>. But some of it happens in other genes as well, which is what we need to learn more about,” Scherz said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-size-big-innovations-nbsp">Small size, big innovations&nbsp;</h2>



In the past, scientists believed that animals generally evolved to become larger over time, a concept known as “Cope’s rule.” However, it is now clear that this isn’t always the case - and for a good reason.



“Animals can't just keep growing bigger and bigger. At some point, their physiology reaches a limit, and so does gravity. That’s why there are phases where body size reduces, allowing for a trend toward increased size later on,” Scherz said.&nbsp;



“We also think that small size might be where the really big innovations happen, which we then see expanded when the descendants get bigger again. That makes these miniaturized animals particularly exciting to study when we’re trying to figure out how innovations evolve in nature.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-overlooked-phenomenon-nbsp">An overlooked phenomenon&nbsp;</h2>



For decades, miniature animals have been somewhat overlooked in favor of studying large species like blue whales and elephants. 



Some of the biggest discoveries in the field of miniaturization date back to the 1990s, with fewer recent advancements.



“Everyone’s attention is on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blue-whales-continue-their-battle-for-survival/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blue whales</a> and elephants. Any child you ask can tell you about the largest land mammal and the largest marine mammal and the largest dinosaur that has ever lived,” said Scherz.



“But scaling up and getting bigger is not a big problem. It is a far more impressive feat to have (practically) everything in a twenty-three-ton blue whale compressed into a seven-millimeter package.”



However, interest in miniaturization is experiencing a resurgence, partly due to exciting new discoveries. 



Earlier this year, researchers in Brazil found the world’s smallest vertebrate, the flea frog, measuring just seven millimeters in length. This discovery has reignited curiosity about the biological processes behind miniaturization.



“We live at a time when probably the smallest vertebrates ever are around us, but they are too easy to overlook, so we just forget about them. This project will allow us to gain a genetic understanding of what controls this 'miniaturization process' and investigate whether there is something that keeps animals from becoming even smaller,” Scherz concluded.



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Why do some animals evolve to become miniature?

Flea toads, despite being just seven millimeters in length, are...

Neighbors can often be annoying, intruding on our personal space or being too loud. But is it worthwhile to fight them? Parrotfish, for instance, choose not to battle it out with their neighbors. 



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Colorado Boulder</a>, researchers revealed that the stoplight parrotfish - a brightly colored species living in the shallow waters off Florida and in the Caribbean Sea - tends to behave more tolerantly toward neighboring parrotfish, but rather aggressively toward strangers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ecological-role-of-parrotfish-nbsp">Ecological role of parrotfish&nbsp;</h2>



The experts spent days underwater observing parrotfish, to gather new insights into a species which plays a major role in maintaining healthy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-could-vanish-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral reefs</a>, while also contributing to the white sand beaches of the Caribbean.



“Parrotfish are an important part of the coral reef ecosystem and the ecological functions it provides,” said lead author Joshua Manning, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder. “Understanding their behavior will help us evaluate whether and how they can buffer the effects of climate change on coral reefs.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-parrotfish-with-beak-like-teeth-nbsp">Parrotfish with beak-like teeth&nbsp;</h2>



Stoplight parrotfish are some of the largest parrotfish species in the Caribbean reefs, measuring up to 1.5 feet long. They sport strong, beak-like teeth which allow them to spend nearly 90% of the day eating microscopic organisms that grow on and within the calcium carbonate structures produced by corals.&nbsp;



As the parrotfish remove coral skeletons, they make space for new corals to grow and produce white sand as their digestive waste.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-claiming-their-territory-nbsp">Claiming their territory&nbsp;</h2>



Since they are highly territorial animals, male stoplight parrotfish defend territories as large as two tennis courts, where they spend their time foraging and mating with a small group of female followers.&nbsp;



However, not every parrotfish has a specific territory. Some of them are “floaters,” as Manning calls them, constantly scouting the reefs and claiming space that becomes available.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-parrotfish-respect-their-neighbors">Parrotfish respect their neighbors</h2>



As an experienced diver, Manning spent over 400 hours underwater during his doctoral studies trying to understand how the stoplight parrotfish behave and interact with one another. His observations revealed that the fish might be smarter than previously thought.&nbsp;



By following ten spotlight parrotfish off the coast of Bonaire, a Caribbean island, he discovered that each time a floater swam by an occupied territory, the territory holders would puff up, displaying their fins and aggressively chasing the floater away.&nbsp;



Surprisingly though, when parrotfish from neighboring territories approached the boundary lines, territory holders appeared to be much less aggressive.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-dear-enemy-effect">The “dear enemy” effect</h2>



When parrotfish did behave aggressively toward their neighbors, it was most frequently because they had strayed too far into other parrotfish’s territory while chasing another parrotfish.



This “dear enemy” effect, as scientists call it - when territory holders show less <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-animals-have-mirror-neurons-that-spark-aggression/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">aggression</a> toward neighbors than strangers - has also been observed in frogs, squirrels, sparrows, and several other animal species. However, this was the first time this phenomenon was discovered in parrotfish. 



According to Manning, parrotfish might be more aggressive toward floaters because they are more likely to try to take over their territories.&nbsp;



Moreover, since territory-holding males have better mating opportunities, their continuous patrolling and defense efforts take a toll on their physical condition and, as a consequence, they have to focus their energy on fighting off the most critical threats.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-capacity-to-learn-and-use-information-nbsp">The capacity to learn and use information&nbsp;</h2>



To the scientists’ surprise, floaters appeared to recognize territorial boundaries. For instance, floaters often swam across the reefs using the buffer zones between established territories in order to avoid aggression.



“These fish may be smarter than what we give them credit for. They seem to recognize neighbors, find the boundaries of territories, and have the capacity to learn and use information,” Manning said.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-parrotfish-accelerate-reef-recovery-nbsp">Parrotfish accelerate reef recovery&nbsp;</h2>



Due to global warming, coral reefs worldwide are declining rapidly. Between 2023 and mid-May 2024, experts have found mass <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-worlds-largest-coral-bleaching-event-is-now-underway/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral bleaching</a> - which happens when corals expel the algae living in their tissues due to stress caused by high ocean temperatures and other climatic factors - in 62 countries and territories worldwide. 



Since parrotfish depend on coral reefs for shelter and food, coral loss due to ocean acidification and warming can have major impacts on their habitat and populations. Yet, parrotfish are able to accelerate reef recovery from bleaching events by creating space for coral larvae to settle and grow.



“Reefs are a vital source of food for us and support immense biodiversity, including species with significant medical potential,” said Manning.&nbsp;



“By studying how parrotfishes use space and how their grazing influences coral recruitment patterns, we can better understand how reefs can recover from disturbances and adapt to climate change.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4407" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecology</a>.



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Parrotfish are more aggressive with strangers than neighbors

Neighbors can often be annoying, intruding on our personal space...

Have you ever wondered how long can your dogs remember the names of their favorite toys? Do they have a lasting memory or is it just temporary? 



Well, a trio of ethologists in Hungary have some insightful answers for us. They have peeled back the curtain of canine brains, revealing some intriguing answers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-and-toy-names">Dogs and toy names</h2>



Most dog owners know that dogs can associate human words with toys. Call out "Squeaker," and Fido will bypass all other toys, laser-focused on finding that one.



However, what remained a mystery was the longevity of this association. Could <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-learn-better-with-praise-and-petting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dogs</a> retain these associations for long? Or is it more of a fleeting "here and gone" experience?



The research was led by Shany Dror, Ádám Miklósi, and Claudia Fugazza from <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eötvös Loránd University</a>. Their study reveals that some dogs can remember toy names for at least two years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-experiment-that-fetches-results">Experiment that fetches results</h2>



The experiment involved five dogs, all of whom had previous training to associate human words with toys. 



These dogs, known as "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gifted-dogs-can-learn-the-names-of-up-to-100-toys/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gifted</a> word learners," are better at making these associations, with some breeds and individuals within those breeds emerging as star performers.



Giving a new spin to the existing training, the squad taught the dogs to associate names with twelve new toys. 



The researchers made sure the dogs thoroughly learned these names before storing away all the toys for two years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-and-toy-names-0">Dogs and toy names</h2>



Imagine the excitement when, after two years, the dogs were reintroduced to these toys. They were then put to the ultimate test. 



The researchers mixed these test toys with others familiar to the dogs, then asked the dogs to fetch the test toys by their associated name.



The results? The dogs fetched the correct toy 44% of the time on average, with some even reaching the impressive 60% accuracy mark. 



These results far exceed chance, proving that the dogs remembered the names -- a clear testament to their long-term memory.



The findings offer some serious food for thought. Do we often underestimate our pets' cognitive abilities? Perhaps.



What the research implies is remarkable. Dogs, or at least some of them, have a memory retention ability that runs deep. They can store associations in their long-term memory, much like we humans do.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-underestimated-intelligence-of-dogs">Underestimated intelligence of dogs</h2>



Understanding how dogs remember toys intrigues owners and sheds light on broader animal cognition.



Comparative studies have shown that while dogs process information differently than humans, their ability to learn and retain information is remarkably sophisticated. 



Dogs exhibit features of both associative and episodic memory, enabling them to recall specific experiences and the context in which they occurred. 



Such capabilities suggest that dogs, with their unique interaction with humans, might even share some cognitive traits with our species, challenging the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/go-fetch-some-cats-love-fetching-as-much-as-dogs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">long-held perception</a> of dog intelligence as merely instinctual. 



By exploring these parallels, we highlight the profound bond between humans and their canine companions, rooted in shared understanding and communication.



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



The insights from this research possess vital implications for dog training and enrichment activities. Recognizing that dogs can retain information over extended periods emphasizes the importance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-learn-to-speak-by-pressing-buttons-on-a-soundboard/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consistent and meaningful training sessions</a>. 



Engaging dogs in exercises that reinforce name associations with toys not only aids in developing their cognitive skills but also enriches their playtime, making it more stimulating. 



This understanding encourages dog owners and trainers to incorporate varied vocabulary and concepts into daily interactions, ultimately enhancing the dog's learning experience.



By equipping dogs with the tools to remember their belongings, we empower them to engage in more enriched and fulfilling lives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unleashing-the-true-potential-of-dogs">Unleashing the true potential of dogs </h2>



So, dog-lovers, maybe it's time we challenge our fur-babies a little more. Their cognitive abilities are impressive, and they continue to surprise us with their capabilities. 



Further research is needed to understand the full scope of canine memory.



Perhaps, the next time you play fetch, try attaching a name to that new toy. Who knows, even after many dog years, they just might surprise you and retrieve the right one.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0208" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biology Letters</a>.



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Some dogs can remember their toy names for years

Have you ever wondered how long can your dogs remember...

Mountain chickadees, small birds native to North America, are more than just cute faces. They are survivors, and quite smart ones at that.



But how was this determined? Firstly, it's crucial to understand that these birds have developed a unique ability to stash away food, specifically seeds, in numerous locations and retrieve them when needed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chickadees-the-smart-survivor">Chickadees: The smart survivor</h2>



"Survival of the fittest" suggests that the strong and adaptable are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, the latest research indicates there might be another critical factor involved – being smarter.



A decade-long study involving 227 mountain chickadees was conducted by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagulls-birds-more-intelligent-than-believed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animal behavior</a> and cognition researcher Dr. Carrie Branch, a psychology professor in the Advanced Facility for Avian Research at the University of Western Ontario.



Collaborating with researchers at the <a href="https://www.ou.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oklahoma</a> and <a href="https://www.unr.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Nevada</a>, Branch tracked the spatial cognition and lifespan of the chickadees. The study revealed a significant correlation between a bird's spatial awareness, its lifespan, and the number of offspring it could produce.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-speaking-of-smart-birds">Speaking of smart birds</h2>



"Animals have two interests. They want to survive, and they want to reproduce, so the smart thing for them to do is whatever allows those two things to happen," noted Dr. Branch. 



"We found for mountain chickadees that means knowing where to collect food, successfully storing it and remembering where they stored it so they can retrieve it later."



In simpler terms, these quick-witted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-birds-moving-area-where-giant-moa-pachyornis-australis-went-extinct/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a> have learned that the key to survival is not just about how much food they can gather, but how efficiently they can store and retrieve it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-of-smart-chickadees">Potential of smart chickadees</h2>



The study confirmed that enhanced cognitive abilities are associated with a more extended lifespan in wild chickadees. Specifically, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-is-a-threat-to-78-of-the-worlds-bird-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a> with better learning and memory capabilities regarding their surroundings and food storing strategies lived longer.



"We can confirm chickadees have figured out how to cache and recover food using spatial cognition and the ones that do it better, live longer," said Dr. Branch.



The results showed that mountain chickadees with the best spatial cognitive abilities, on average, tend to outlive their peers by two years. Furthermore, they may produce more than double the offspring compared to those with poorer cognition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-brains-more-babies">More brains, more babies</h2>



It's no secret that longer life signifies more years to breed and produce offspring. This rings particularly true for chickadees, who breed once a year with an average clutch size of seven eggs.



In addition to this, Dr. Branch and her teammates have discovered that females produce more offspring when paired with "smarter" males. Substantiating the claim, the study showed that individuals with the best spatial abilities could produce 14 more offspring than those with poorer cognition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-survival-skills-amidst-climate-change">Survival skills amidst climate change</h2>



In times of harsh and unpredictable environments, including extreme weather events caused by climate change, better spatial cognitive abilities allow chickadees to successfully retrieve cached food.



"This study shows that mountain chickadees with better spatial cognitive abilities are more likely to live longer," said Dr. Branch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-intelligence-and-survival">Intelligence and survival</h2>



Understanding the link between cognitive abilities and survival not only sheds light on mountain chickadees but opens the door to broader implications across <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/why-are-birds-endangered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">avian species</a>. 



The enhanced problem-solving and adaptability showcased by these birds may provide key insights into how intelligence can contribute to evolutionary success. 



This information may hold critical significance in conservation efforts, prompting researchers and wildlife managers to consider cognitive capacities as a vital component when assessing the resilience of bird populations in a rapidly changing environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-the-smart-chickadees">Protecting the smart chickadees</h2>



The revelations from this study highlight the importance of preserving natural habitats, as the decline of suitable environments poses a substantial threat to the intelligence-driven survival strategies of mountain chickadees and many other species.



Conservation initiatives must not only focus on protecting the physical aspects of these ecosystems but also on ensuring that the cognitive demands placed on wildlife are met. 



By maintaining environments that challenge and expand the learning opportunities for avian populations, we can contribute to a future where smarter birds lead the way in adaptation and resilience amidst environmental changes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn5633" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Survival of the smartest: Chickadees with better memory live longer

Mountain chickadees, small birds native to North America, are more...

How many times have you tossed a squeaky toy or balled-up paper across the room, only to find your feline friend darting off to fetch it, exactly like our canine pals? A recent study tells us that fetching is not just a dog's game - cats love it too.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cats-and-dogs-on-fetching">Cats and dogs on fetching </h2>



Contrary to popular belief, dogs aren't the only pets that love to go fetch. The domesticated feline population also has its share of fetch enthusiasts.&nbsp;



Mikel Delgado from <a href="https://www.purdue.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Purdue University</a> and his team have unearthed quite a surprise in their study, which is published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.



The game of fetch resonates with dogs. They chase balls, sticks, and toys, bringing them back to us, tail wagging with canine joy. But have you ever wondered whether our purring pals enjoy the game as much? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Some cats fetch, and they seem to love it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-on-the-fetching-behavior-of-cats">More on the fetching behavior of cats</h2>



The study brings into focus the fetching attributes of cats, a behavior previously accredited mainly to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heartache-from-dog-theft-is-as-intense-as-losing-a-loved-one/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dogs</a>. 



Delgado and the team analyzed data from online surveys of cat (Felis catus) and dog (Canis familiaris) owners conducted between 2015 and 2023, which included questions about their pet's fetching behavior.



The experts found that among the 8,000 cat owners surveyed, 41% reported their cats would sometimes, frequently, or always retrieve toys or objects tossed at them - a figure significantly higher than previous estimations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-furry-game-of-fetch">Furry game of fetch</h2>



Cats that are more playful, active, and live indoors are more likely to fetch, according to the report. Though all breeds show fetching behavior, it is more common in Burmese, Siamese, and Tonkinese cats.



These breeds originated from cats that were taken to the Far East during early cat domestication, making them genetically distinct from other breeds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-discovering-dogged-fetchers">Discovering dogged fetchers</h2>



Of nearly 74,000 dog owners surveyed, 78% confirmed their dogs would fetch toys, sticks, or balls thrown at them, sometimes, frequently or always. 



The study points out that dogs that exhibit fetching behavior also scored high on overall trainability. Breeds commonly associated with fetching include Labrador and Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, and English Cocker Spaniels. Dogs bred for herding livestock or as hunting companions are more likely to fetch.



But the game of fetch is not so common in females and older pets, or those with health conditions in both cats and dogs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-joy-of-interactive-play">Joy of interactive play</h2>



Understanding that cats can engage in fetching behaviors opens up exciting new dimensions for interaction between pets and their owners. 



The act of throwing a toy and watching a cat retrieve it not only stimulates the feline’s natural hunting instincts but also strengthens the bond between human and pet. 



This level of engagement can, in turn, lead to a more fulfilling and enriched life for indoor cats, who might otherwise lack the opportunities for physical and mental stimulation found in the great outdoors.



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



For <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/homeless-pet-owners-need-better-options-to-protect-their-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pet owners</a>, recognizing the potential of their cats to enjoy fetching can reshape the way they approach playtime. 



Incorporating fetching into their daily routine encourages exercise and mental challenge, addressing issues related to obesity and boredom in felines, which are often overlooked. 



By providing a variety of toys that are suited for fetching - such as lightweight balls or soft plush toys - owners can elevate their pet's play experience.



Additionally, this newfound understanding may prompt further research into the cognitive and physical benefits of fetch-like activities in both cats and dogs, paving the way for a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-people-experience-puppy-blues-with-a-new-pet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deeper exploration</a> of interspecies behaviors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-game-of-fetch-for-cats">A game of fetch for cats</h2>



Fetching, it seems, is more than just a game. It is a behavioral pattern, often compared to the hunting instincts of the pets. 



But the study suggests fetching to be more connected to play than predation. Delgado stresses that domestication might have made pets retain juvenile behaviors like fetching, initially a tool for wild animals to learn hunting.



"Although cats and dogs are very different in many aspects of their behavior and how they ended up being companion animals, we find it fascinating that so many of them share this very interesting behavior - fetching! We hope that our study will encourage further exploration of how fetching is related to play, hunting and social interactions in both cats and dogs," noted the researchers.



And there it is, ladies and gentlemen - fetching isn't just a dog's game anymore. Have you ever wondered how your pet's fetching habits stand up to Delgado's research? Maybe it's time to give the old game of fetch another shot with your feline friend.



You never know, you might just discover a whole new level of playfulness in them. You might indeed be living with a fetching feline or a dogged dog who loves nothing more than a good game of fetch.



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0309068" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLoS ONE</a>.



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Go fetch: Some cats love fetching as much as dogs

How many times have you tossed a squeaky toy or...

Have you ever wondered how fruit flies manage to move seamlessly within a complex and unpredictable world? 



This seemingly trivial question is the focus of advanced research at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The researchers used treadmills to study proprioception in fruit flies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-miniature-treadmills-and-fruit-flies">Miniature treadmills and fruit flies</h2>



A pivotal part of this research is the use of miniature treadmills, specifically designed for fruit flies. The study was led by Brandon G. Pratt, a recent physiology and biophysics PhD graduate and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.



<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="i8pV3IVB8g-3836567-12187" type="single"]</div>



The treadmill setup is relatively simple. Pratt created it from inexpensive parts, improving on a prototype from Max Mauer, an alumnus from the same institution. The question is, why use a treadmill, and what's the bigger picture?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fruit-flies-movement-and-balance">Fruit flies' movement and balance</h2>



Any <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insect-flight-is-powered-by-an-extraordinary-structure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">walking creature</a>, from insects to humans, needs to recognize and quickly adapt to unexpected changes underfoot. Failing to do so can result in a significant amount of stumbling and, possibly, a few unexpected crashes.



This is where the nervous system plays a vital role. It detects unexpected events and controls the body to regain balance, making navigation possible.



These balance issues are being studied at the UW Department of Physiology and Biophysics, under the supervision of associate professor John Tuthill, where Pratt carried out his doctoral research. 



Pratt wasn't alone in this endeavor. His colleagues in the lab, Su-Yee J. Lee and Grant M. Chou, contributed significantly to this intriguing project.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proprioception-the-unsung-hero">Proprioception: The unsung hero</h2>



Tuthill's lab focuses on proprioception - the body's ability to sense its movement and positioning. It's an essential aspect of our coordination, with malfunctions causing difficulties in everyday tasks, like picking up a glass of water or simply walking.



In the lab, the researchers used their fruit fly treadmill experiment to study how proprioception controls the body when it becomes off kilter during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-fruit-flies-smell-well-as-humans-with-much-less-nose-neurons/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">movement</a>.



This isn't an easy task, as disruptions to proprioception can alter animal behaviors and confuse the examination of proprioception's role in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fruit-flies-can-walk-jump-and-dance-using-the-same-motor-neurons/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural activities</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treadmills-not-just-for-humans">Treadmills: Not just for humans</h2>



For decades, treadmills have been effectively used to reignite the desire to walk in animals with perturbations to the nervous system. 



Not just in fruit flies, but also in a variety of creatures like cockroaches, rodents, cats, and of course, humans. There's even a variation, known as split-belt treadmills, that help researchers understand leg coordination when the legs on one side of the body move at a different speed than those on the other.



Inspired by these methods, Tuthill and his team designed miniature versions of these treadmills to study locomotion in fruit flies.



And why fruit flies? Because they're a good model system. With a compact, fully mapped nervous system and the availability of genetic tools, they offer unique opportunities for manipulating the nervous system precisely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breakthroughs-in-fruit-fly-locomotion">Breakthroughs in fruit fly locomotion </h2>



By coercing flies to walk on the newly engineered treadmills, the investigators could track their movement in 3D over the long term. This allowed them to analyze walking at various speeds in flies with and without impaired proprioception.



The researchers found that the fruit flies walked in bursts on the mini treadmill. They sprinted to the front of the treadmill chamber, then rode the belt back. Roughly half their time was spent walking, and they sped up when the treadmill did. 



Their body height even rose when they walked faster - a trait shared with humans and cockroaches. The highest walking speed ever reported for fruit flies, an impressive 50 millimeters per second, was achieved in these experiments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-key-to-coordination">The key to coordination</h2>



When the researchers genetically silenced neurons underlying proprioception and ran the insects on the treadmill, they noticed another interesting phenomenon. 



The flies took fewer but larger steps. Yet, the coordination of their legs didn't seem to be affected. 



This suggested that other proprioceptive neurons might be key to coordinating walking, or the nervous system might have compensated for the lack of feedback.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treadmills-a-valuable-research-tool">Treadmills: A valuable research tool</h2>



The researchers from University of Washington <a href="https://www.uwmedicine.org/school-of-medicine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">School of Medicine</a> in Seattle have found treadmills to be invaluable tools for investigating the neural and behavioral mechanisms of fly locomotion. 



From their work, the experts have realized that treadmills bridge an important gap between free-walking and tethered preparations, enlightening the scientific community further on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-boost-plant-evolution-in-surprising-ways/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fly behavior</a>.



In a display of intellectual generosity, the team has provided the designs of their miniature treadmill systems as a free, open source for fellow scientists. 



The research was backed by numerous grants and awards, including a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a UW Innovation Award.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(24)01082-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



Video Credit: B.G. Pratt et al/bioRxiv 2024



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Fruit flies on treadmills: Video shows how insects walk and balance

Have you ever wondered how fruit flies manage to move...

A new species of sauropod dinosaur, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, has been identified in Cuenca, Spain. This remarkable discovery sheds light on the rich biodiversity that thrived in southwestern Europe during the Upper Cretaceous period, approximately 75 million years ago.



The research was led by Portuguese paleontologist Pedro Mocho from the <a href="https://idl.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instituto Dom Luiz</a> at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CIÊNCIAS).&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-qunkasaura-pintiquiniestra-in-dinosaur-history">Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra in dinosaur history </h2>



The fossil remains of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra were uncovered during excavation work for the Madrid-Levante high-speed train (AVE) tracks, starting in 2007. Over 12,000 fossils have since been collected from the site, making it one of the most significant deposits of Upper Cretaceous vertebrates in Europe.&nbsp;



Thanks to ongoing national research projects and support from the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, this fossil trove has provided paleontologists with unprecedented insights into the ecosystems that once dominated the region.&nbsp;



The discovery of Qunkasaura represents another significant step forward in understanding Europe’s late dinosaur history, with the find being hailed as a crucial piece in the puzzle of dinosaur evolution on the continent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-distinct-lineages-of-sauropod-dinosaurs-nbsp">Two distinct lineages of sauropod dinosaurs&nbsp;</h2>



Mocho and his team’s analysis of the fossils has yielded important discoveries about the presence of two <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-sauropod-dinosaur-discovered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">distinct lineages</a> of sauropod dinosaurs in the same area. This is the first time such an occurrence has been documented in the fossil record.&nbsp;



“The study of this specimen allowed us to identify for the first time the presence of two distinct lineages of saltasauroids in the same fossil locality. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Qunkasaura-pintiquiniestra_dinosaur_relationship-tree_3m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Qunkasaura-pintiquiniestra_dinosaur_relationship-tree_3s.webp" alt="Relationships of Qunkasaura with some of the most important sauropods from the Late Cretaceous and reconstruction of the life form of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra. Credit: José Antonio Peñas Artero, GBE-UNED, FCUL" class="wp-image-1943748"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Relationships of Qunkasaura with some of the most important sauropods from the Late Cretaceous and reconstruction of the life form of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra. Credit: José Antonio Peñas Artero, GBE-UNED, FCUL</figcaption></figure>



One of these groups, called Lirainosaurinae, is relatively known in the Iberian region and is characterized by small and medium-sized species, which evolved in an island ecosystem.



“In other words, Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands during the Late Cretaceous. However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of sauropods, represented in the Iberian Peninsula by medium-large species 73 million years ago," Mocho explained. 



"This suggests to us that this lineage arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-qunkasaura-pintiquiniestra-dispersal">Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra dispersal</h2>



This insight into the two lineages of sauropods is vital in understanding how dinosaurs adapted to the island-like ecosystems that characterized Europe during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/late-cretaceous-dinosaur-was-sluggish-and-nearly-deaf/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Late Cretaceous</a> period. It was a time when Europe was a collection of islands rather than a continuous landmass.&nbsp;



Mocho’s findings suggest that Qunkasaura represents a later arrival to this archipelago, highlighting the complexities of dinosaur dispersal and evolution across what is now the Iberian Peninsula.



The site where Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra was discovered, Lo Hueco, is unique not only for the sheer number of fossils uncovered but also for the exceptional preservation of large partial sauropod skeletons - an unusual occurrence in Europe.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-one-of-the-most-complete-sauropod-skeletons-nbsp">One of the most complete sauropod skeletons&nbsp;</h2>



Qunkasaura stands out as one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found on the continent, with key elements such as cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, parts of the pelvic girdle, and limb bones preserved.



This level of completeness allows scientists to gain new insights into the anatomy and evolutionary history of sauropods in Europe. 



Particularly noteworthy is the distinct morphology of Qunkasaura’s tail vertebrae, which provide fresh perspectives on the non-avian dinosaurs that roamed the Iberian Peninsula during the Upper Cretaceous -- a group that has historically been poorly understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-qunkasaura-pintiquiniestra-in-the-northern-hemisphere">Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra in the northern hemisphere </h2>



The study identifies Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra as part of the opisthocoelicaudine saltasaurids, a group of sauropods that lived in the northern hemisphere (Laurasia).&nbsp;



This finding is significant because it contrasts with other Late Cretaceous sauropods from southwestern Europe, such as Lohuecotitan pandafilandi, which belong to the Lirainosaurinae group - a lineage previously thought to be exclusive to Europe.&nbsp;



The discovery of both lineages at Lo Hueco suggests that this site is the only known location where these groups coexisted, offering a unique glimpse into the evolutionary dynamics of sauropods in Europe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-story-of-sauropod-evolution-nbsp">The story of sauropod evolution&nbsp;</h2>



Moreover, the study introduces a new group of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enormous-titanosaur-discovered-in-the-pyrenees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">titanosaurs</a>, the Lohuecosauria, which includes members of both the Lirainosaurinae and opisthocoelicaudine lineages.&nbsp;



The researchers propose that this group may have originated on the southern continents (Gondwana) before spreading globally, adding another layer of complexity to the story of sauropod evolution.



The name Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra holds special significance, as it incorporates local geographic and cultural references from the Cuenca region. “Qunka” refers to the oldest etymology of the Cuenca and Fuentes area, while “Saura” is the feminine form of the Latin word “saurus,” meaning lizard.&nbsp;



Additionally, the name pays homage to the renowned Spanish painter Antonio Saura. The final part of the name, “pintiquiniestra,” is a reference to Queen Pintiquiniestra, a giant character from a novel mentioned in Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.



This discovery is just the beginning of what Lo Hueco may reveal about sauropod dinosaurs. As Mocho notes, “fortunately, the Lo Hueco deposit also preserves several skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs to be determined, which may correspond to new species and which will help us understand how these animals evolved.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ongoing-research-efforts">Ongoing research efforts</h2>



The study is part of ongoing research focusing on the ecosystems of dinosaurs in the central Iberian Peninsula. Part of the skeleton of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra is now on display at the <a href="https://mupaclm.es/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paleontological Museum of Castilla-La Mancha</a> in Cuenca, allowing the public to view one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe.&nbsp;



This discovery not only deepens our understanding of Europe’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-sea-creatures-built-ecosystems-that-diversified-ocean-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prehistoric ecosystems</a> but also paves the way for future discoveries about the life and evolution of dinosaurs in the region.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06653-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Biology</a>.



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New sauropod discovery fills in dinosaur history gaps

A new species of sauropod dinosaur, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, has been...

It's no secret that ant colonies operate with remarkable efficiency, functioning as highly organized, cooperative systems that have evolved over millions of years.



Similar to our own societies, these tiny creatures have assigned roles, effectively dividing labor among various ant individuals to ensure the colony’s survival and success. 



This division of labor is not random but rather a finely tuned system where each ant knows its place and function within the larger group.



Some ants are dedicated caregivers, meticulously tending to the young and ensuring the next generation thrives, while others take up the mantle of soldiers, bravely guarding the nest and protecting the colony from potential intruders or predators. 



Each role, whether defensive, nurturing, or foraging, is vital to maintaining the balance and longevity of the entire colony.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tale-of-division-and-evolution">A tale of division and evolution</h2>



A recent study involving 794 species of ants reveals a compelling insight: the size of a group plays a crucial role in whether a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/division-of-labor-in-ants-emerged-over-100-million-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">division of labor</a> develops.



Remarkably, in some species, ants evolve distinct physical features to better serve their respective roles, despite being siblings. 



Charles Darwin referred to such worker castes as his "special difficulty" because their evolution was challenging to explain.



"We know that larger ant colonies have more worker castes," said Philip Downing, a Postdoctoral Researcher from the <a href="https://www.oulu.fi/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oulu</a> and one of the study's authors. "The difficulty is working out how this association came to be."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-size-or-caste-what-comes-first">Size or caste - what comes first?</h2>



The study explored whether large <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ant-colonies-behave-like-neural-networks-when-making-decisions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">colonies</a> evolved first, paving the way for specialized castes, or if the emergence of castes enabled colonies to grow larger. 



To address this question, the researchers compared modern ants to their extinct ancestors using statistical methods.



"Since the ant ancestors no longer exist, researchers had to rely on statistical approaches to infer what their colony sizes and caste numbers would have been, based on their living descendants," explained Downing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-size-complexity-hypothesis">The size-complexity hypothesis</h2>



The research points to a clear pattern: larger colonies tend to evolve before <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-single-molecule-can-switch-an-ant-from-worker-to-queen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">worker castes</a>. This suggests that as ant colonies grow, their social structures become more complex, leading to the development of specialized roles.



"We found that larger colony sizes evolved before worker castes did, supporting what's known as the size-complexity hypothesis," said Downing.



"The size-complexity hypothesis is a leading explanation for the evolution of complex life on Earth," said study lead author Louis Bell-Roberts from the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oxford</a>.



"Our research shows that larger colony sizes favored the evolution of increased division of labor, leading to more worker castes and greater variation in worker size."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-of-complex-life">Evolution of complex life</h2>



These insights not only enhance our understanding of ant colonies but could also provide clues about the evolution of complex multicellular organisms, including plants and animals. 



"The implications of our findings extend beyond ants, offering potential explanations for the broader evolution of life's complexity," said Bell-Roberts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-factors-underlying-ant-colony-sizes">Factors underlying ant colony sizes</h2>



With the discovery that larger colony sizes promote more worker castes, future research is needed to identify what drives the growth of larger colonies among ants.



"Colony size in ants varies from seven to 14.8 million," noted Downing. "Can ecological factors, such as the number of predators, climate conditions, or even the number of an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-thing-of-nightmares-parasite-turns-ants-into-zombies-at-dawn-and-dusk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ant species' parasites</a>, explain this?"



His next steps involve large-scale statistical comparisons across various ant species to uncover these factors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-ant-caste-systems">Broader implications of ant caste systems</h2>



The evolution of ant castes offers a unique window into social organization and division of labor across species. 



Much like human societies, where cooperation and specialization enhance success, ants develop distinct roles that improve colony efficiency. 



This reflects broader evolutionary themes, such as how altruistic behavior - working for the collective good - emerges in nature.



The specialization of castes in ants parallels the differentiation of cell types in multicellular organisms, providing a model for studying how division of labor evolves. 



Additionally, understanding how environmental factors like predators and climate shape colony size and caste development offers insights into how social organisms adapt to changing environments, an increasingly relevant topic as species face new ecological challenges.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02512-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.



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Larger ant colonies drove the evolution of worker castes

It's no secret that ant colonies operate with remarkable efficiency,...

The summer of 2024 is shaping up to be the hottest on record for numerous cities across the U.S. and globally, with temperatures reaching unprecedented levels.&nbsp;



Even in Antarctica, which is currently in the middle of its winter, temperatures soared more than 50°F above the July average in some areas. This extreme weather event is part of a broader trend of intensifying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctica-experienced-the-most-intense-heat-wave-ever-recorded/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat waves </a>fueled by climate change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-delicate-ecosystems-of-antarctica-nbsp">Delicate ecosystems of Antarctica&nbsp;</h2>



A recent study published on July 31 in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004306" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth’s Future</a> explores how such heat waves, particularly during Antarctica’s cold seasons, may impact the continent’s delicate ecosystems.



The research, led by scientists from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Colorado Boulder</a>, focuses on how these heat waves could disrupt the lives of the animals and organisms that inhabit the coldest and driest places on Earth. 



The findings illustrate that climate change-driven extreme weather could have profound and long-lasting effects on the fragile ecosystems of Antarctica, particularly for its resilient yet vulnerable inhabitants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-intense-heat-wave-on-earth">Most intense heat wave on Earth</h2>



In March 2022, Antarctica experienced the most intense heat wave ever recorded on Earth. This unprecedented event occurred just as the region’s organisms were preparing for the long, harsh winter ahead.&nbsp;



Temperatures soared more than 70°F above the average in parts of the continent, leading to rapid melting of glaciers and snow, even in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, a region known for being one of the coldest and driest places on the planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microscopic-organisms-in-soils-nbsp">Microscopic organisms in soils&nbsp;</h2>



As part of a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, researchers studied the impact of this sudden heat wave on the McMurdo Dry Valleys, where they found that the extreme weather likely disrupted the life cycles of many organisms.&nbsp;



In particular, the rapid melting followed by an equally rapid refreeze appeared to have killed a significant number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invertebrate-extinction-cause-concern/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">invertebrates</a>, such as roundworms, which are well-adapted to the harsh conditions of the polar desert.



“It's important that we pay attention to these signals, even if they're coming from microscopic organisms in soils in a polar desert,” said Michael Gooseff, senior author of the study and a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at CU Boulder.&nbsp;



“They're the early responders to changes that could cascade up to larger organisms, the landscape, and even us, far away from Antarctica.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extreme-temperature-rise-nbsp">Extreme temperature rise&nbsp;</h2>



Gooseff, a fellow at the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research</a> (INSTAAR), has led the LTER project at the McMurdo Dry Valleys for the past decade, regularly traveling to the southern region during the Antarctic summer to study the unique ecosystem. 



In November 2021, when Gooseff arrived in Antarctica, the landscape appeared much like it had for the past two decades. 



However, by March 2022, when the research team had already left the continent, an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/consecutive-atmospheric-rivers-cause-far-more-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">atmospheric river</a> - a massive storm carrying moist air over long distances - brought about the most extreme heat wave ever recorded there. 



The event caused temperatures in the McMurdo Dry Valleys to rise more than 45°F above normal, with air temperatures that typically hover around -4°F in March rising above freezing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disrupted-life-cycles">Disrupted life cycles</h2>



Satellite imagery and stream discharge measurements confirmed that the sudden warming caused an unusual wetting of the valleys’ soil, occurring more than two months after the typical summer thaw.&nbsp;



This was a critical period when organisms in the region were preparing for the upcoming winter, shutting down their biological processes to conserve energy.&nbsp;



The rapid rise and subsequent fall in temperatures, as the heat wave passed and the soil refroze, likely disrupted the delicate timing of these organisms’ life cycles.



“These animals invest a significant amount of energy in preparing and shutting down for the winter,” Gooseff explained. “When things start to warm up the following summer, they use energy to become active again.”&nbsp;



“One of our major concerns with unusual weather events like this heat wave is that these animals might start using a lot more energy, thinking it's summer, only to have to shut down again two days later. How many times can they go through that cycle before they exhaust their energy reserves?”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-false-start-to-the-summer">A false start to the summer</h2>



When Gooseff and his team returned to Antarctica in December 2022, they sampled the soil and compared the organisms in areas that had become wet during the heat wave with those in areas that had stayed dry.&nbsp;



The findings revealed a 50% decrease in the population of Scottnema, a common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/roundworms-travel-backwards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">roundworm</a> species that is highly adapted to the extreme cold and dryness of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.



“The heat wave made the environment appear warm enough for things to get wet, creating a false start to summer. Some of the biology responding to these temperatures might be seriously disrupted by this,” Gooseff said.&nbsp;



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



While species like Scottnema suffered, other organisms, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discovered-a-16-million-year-old-tardigrade-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tardigrades</a> (also known as water bears), which are more tolerant of moisture, were likely less affected. 



This shift in species populations could have wide-ranging implications for the region's food webs and nutrient cycling.



Changes in the populations of organisms like Scottnema can have a significant impact on the ecosystem. Previous research has shown that Scottnema is responsible for about 10% of the carbon processing in the Dry Valleys’ soil ecosystem.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-large-species-affected-by-heat-waves-in-antarctica">Large species affected by heat waves in Antarctica </h2>



As extreme weather events become more frequent due to climate change, larger species in Antarctica are also being affected. 



In 2013, an unusual rainfall event along the Adélie Coast of East Antarctica killed all of the Adélie penguin chicks in the region, and in July 2024, temperatures in parts of East Antarctica climbed 50°F above the usual winter average.



Gooseff and his team plan to continue monitoring the effects of extreme weather events on Antarctica’s ecosystems. 



As Gooseff noted, what happens in Antarctica does not stay in Antarctica. “The loss of ice shelves has pretty dramatic impacts on the mass balance of our oceans, and it affects us even thousands of miles away,” he concluded.



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How are intense heat waves affecting life in Antarctica? 

The summer of 2024 is shaping up to be the...

A single million-strong population of Amur falcons (Falco amurensis) can consume up to two billion termites in just over two weeks, according to a new study.&nbsp;



These large numbers highlight the vital role that Northeast India plays as a stopover site for these falcons during their migration.&nbsp;



The region allows the birds to prepare for their non-stop flight across the Arabian Sea, a journey that gives the Amur falcon the distinction of making the longest known overwater flight of any raptor.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fall-migration-of-amur-falcons">Fall migration of Amur falcons</h2>



Amur falcons are small <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-falcons-are-highly-intelligent-and-eager-to-show-it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds of prey</a> that migrate twice a year between northern Asia, where they breed, and southern Africa, where they spend the winter. Their autumn migration involves a 3,500 km (2,000 mile) journey across the Arabian Sea. 



To successfully complete this flight, the falcons must build up energy reserves by feeding on protein-rich food, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/termites-are-natures-architects-building-well-ventilated-nests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">termites</a> are their preferred choice. 



In the paper titled “Prey Species in the Diet of the Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis) During Autumn Passage Stopover in Northeast India,” lead author Amarjeet Kaur from the <a href="https://wii.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wildlife Institute of India</a> and her co-authors identify the region of Nagaland in Northeast India as a critical stopover for the falcons. 



As insect-eaters, the Amur falcons likely rely on termites to fuel their migration, making this area a priority for conservation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dominant-prey-for-amur-falcons">Dominant prey for Amur falcons</h2>



To assess the role of insects in the falcons’ diet during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-of-peregrine-falcons-suggests-birds-have-a-migration-gene/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">migration</a>, Kaur and her team analyzed more than 1,000 regurgitated pellets collected from beneath an Amur falcon roost in Nagaland in October and November of 2017 and 2018. 



These pellets, which contain undigested prey remains, showed a high concentration of body parts from two species of fungus-growing termites, Odontotermes feae and Odontotermes horni. Termites were the dominant prey for the falcons across both years and at all three roosting sites studied.&nbsp;



The researchers also observed numerous Amur falcons feeding on termite swarms, providing further evidence that termites are a crucial food source.&nbsp;



Termites offer easily digestible protein and are rich in fat, a fact well-known to local hunters who historically called Amur falcons “loi,” meaning “insect eater.” In the past, hunters would capture the falcons late in the season, when their consumption of termites had resulted in a rich layer of fat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-symbol-of-conservation-efforts-nbsp">A symbol of conservation efforts&nbsp;</h2>



Today, the local Naga communities have become active in protecting the falcons, moving away from hunting them during migration. 



Senior author Suresh Kumar initially began this research to raise local awareness about the falcons, and now he says the birds have become a symbol for regional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildlife-conservation-can-help-stabilize-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conservation</a> efforts. 



“Local communities in Nagaland and neighboring States of Manipur and Assam have independently begun setting aside community lands for the protection of not only Amur falcons, but for all biodiversity in the area,” Kumar said. 



“Given that Nagaland is predominantly governed by community-owned land, conservation actions are significantly shaped by local residents.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-the-study">Significance of the study</h2>



The study’s findings are significant because they underscore the importance of stopover sites in the yearly migration of the Amur falcon, especially the pre-Arabian Sea refueling site in Nagaland.&nbsp;



Kaur and her team were surprised by the strong connection between the Amur falcons and termites, noting that “it appears that termites are the exclusive prey in this region, and the synchronization between termite emergence and the presence of Amur Falcons is remarkable.”



As long-distance migrators, the falcons are on a strict schedule and could be vulnerable to changes in the environment that disrupt this synchronization.&nbsp;



Climate change has already affected other long-distance migrators, such as the Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) and Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica).&nbsp;



The study also emphasizes the role that insect-eating raptors like the Amur Falcon play in controlling insect populations, a fact supported by research on their wintering grounds in southern Africa.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-critical-stopover-sites-nbsp">Critical stopover sites&nbsp;</h2>



Looking ahead, Kaur and her colleagues aim to identify specific features of Amur falcon stopover sites across Northeast India and use this data to develop a more comprehensive GIS-based model. They also plan to conduct a detailed study of termite populations at these sites.



“We need to determine if the termite swarming events are cyclic in nature and how they might be influenced by climatic factors, particularly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-land-conditions-affect-the-asian-monsoon-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">monsoonal rains</a>,” noted the researchers. 



Since the Amur Falcons may depend on just a few critical locations to gain the energy needed for their migration, understanding the connectivity between these sites is crucial. As the researchers conclude, “Amur falcon conservation requires a landscape-scale approach.”



The research is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3356/JRR-23-49" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Raptor Research</a>.



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How do Amur falcons fuel their 2,000-mile flights?

A single million-strong population of Amur falcons (Falco amurensis) can...

Our world is changing, and among the most vivid signs of this change is the diminishing sight of beautiful butterflies dancing through our gardens and parks. Yet, don't lose hope just yet. Recent research indicates that specific butterfly species teetering on the edge of extinction can be given a fighting chance if humans intervene and actively manage habitats that can support butterflies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-habitat-loss-of-butterflies">Habitat loss of butterflies</h2>



Digging into the looming crisis faced by our winged companions, a team of researchers from Washington State University assessed data from 31 butterfly species across 10 U.S. states. The pattern they discovered was concerning.



Scientists have been sounding the alarm over declining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-butterfly-wings-acquire-their-breathtaking-colors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">butterfly populations</a> globally, attributing this trend to the impact of climate change, habitat loss, and prevalent pesticide use. The study's results reflected these concerns.



The butterfly species teetering on the brink of extinction exhibited an estimated annual decline rate of 8%. To put it in perspective, this translates to a staggering 50% decrease in less than a decade.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel">Light at the end of the tunnel</h2>



However, the world of butterflies isn't all descending into darkness. According to the study, habitat management interventions have the potential to slow down or even reverse these alarming declines in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-learn-about-butterflies-day-an-enchanting-world-awaits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">butterfly populations</a>.



Study co-lead author Cheryl Schultz, a professor of conservation biology at WSU, elaborated on the team's findings.



“The strongest signal we found is that in places where people are actively engaged with ways to manage the habitat, the butterflies are doing the best. That means that habitat management can make a difference, even in the face of stressors like climate change,” said Schultz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-butterfly-decline-due-to-climate-change">Butterfly decline due to climate change</h2>



Climate change has been causing temperatures to soar incrementally. As a result, there's been an observable change in many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterflies-create-silk-seatbelts-to-strap-in-for-metamorphosis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">butterfly species</a>' behavioral patterns, especially in terms of their seasonal activities.



In reaction to the changing environment, many species are stirring into action much earlier in the year. The long-term effects of these changes are not entirely clear.



“We found that for these butterflies, big shifts in timing were generally bad. Populations with greater shifts were more likely to be declining,” said Collin Edwards, a recent WSU postdoctoral fellow and  co-lead author on the study.



“However, we were excited to discover that habitat management appeared to be dampening the effect of climate change on butterfly timing. Populations that received more frequent management had smaller shifts in their timing.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conserving-butterfly-habitats">Conserving butterfly habitats</h2>



Even though the population trends for these species don't paint a rosy picture, the links discovered by the research team between population patterns, behavioral shifts, and management strategies pave the way for a solid butterfly conservation strategy.



"This might not solve the impact of climate change, but we can mediate some of the effects. It's within our power at the local level to do something positive for these populations," noted study co-author Professor Elizabeth Crone from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Davis</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-showcasing-butterfly-resilience">Showcasing butterfly resilience</h2>



The study dissected the behavior of myriad species, such as the Oregon silverspot, Taylor's checkerspot, Karner blue, and frosted elfin. 



Among these, the Fender's blue butterfly deserves a special mention. This butterfly made a remarkable recovery, increasing from a few thousand butterflies in the 1990s to about 30,000 today, owing to the efforts of Schultz and others in the fields of public land management and private land ownership.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-habitat-interventions-for-butterflies">Habitat interventions for butterflies</h2>



The researchers concluded that the implemented habitat interventions, including prescribed burns, mowing, weeding, and planting of nectar or "host" plants for butterfly caterpillars, were aptly identified based on the individual needs of each area.



Schultz urges people to participate in natural area management activities, which could involve planting new flowers or weeding out invasive plant species.



"We really encourage people to plant an abundance of wildflowers and plants which are both hosts for caterpillars and provide nectar for butterflies. These should be 'clean plantings' meaning they are pesticide-free. The more we can reduce pesticides in our environment, the better it's going to be for butterflies and insects,” noted Schultz.



This research was funded by the U.S. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14735" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>. 



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Butterflies can be saved if we manage their habitats

Our world is changing, and among the most vivid signs...

Ferruginous hawks that winter in California have shown an unexpected rise in numbers, despite a significant decline in their preferred grassland habitats over the past two decades. 



In contrast, many other grassland bird species have experienced sharp population declines, paralleling the loss of the open landscapes that once characterized much of western North America.



A recent study published in the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3356/jrr2370" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Raptor Research</a>, explores this surprising trend. The paper, authored by independent researcher Edward Pandolfino, along with Lily Douglas from the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> and Chris Ray from <a href="https://www.birdpop.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Institute for Bird Populations</a>, suggests possible explanations for the hawks’ population growth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conflicting-data-on-ferruginous-hawks">Conflicting data on ferruginous hawks</h2>



The research highlights how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/citizen-scientists-rare-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">citizen science</a> can reveal important insights about the lesser-studied aspects of a raptor’s life cycle, such as wintering grounds. These periods, although often overshadowed by the breeding season, are vital to understanding the overall health of a species.



Studying ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) can be difficult because they do not consistently appear at migration sites, unlike other hawks that follow more predictable paths along topographical features such as ridges. 



This has led to conflicting data on their population status, with their conservation status varying across different regions and countries.&nbsp;



For example, many of the hawks wintering in California come from breeding populations in Washington and Oregon, where they are classified as endangered and sensitive-critical, respectively.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-christmas-bird-counts-nbsp">Christmas Bird Counts&nbsp;</h2>



To investigate the species’ mixed population trends, the research team analyzed citizen science data from the Washington-Oregon population's wintering grounds. They focused on five Bird Conservation Areas in California, where Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) had been conducted between 1998 and 2022.



Christmas Bird Counts are organized by bird enthusiasts and related organizations every December, following a consistent method to record bird species' presence. These counts provide a rich dataset that offers a clearer picture of the ferruginous hawk’s winter range, far beyond what typical research efforts could achieve.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-population-trends-of-ferruginous-hawks">Population trends of ferruginous hawks</h2>



The analysis revealed an intriguing result: while the quality of the hawks' habitat declined over the 25-year period, their winter numbers actually increased. This finding was unexpected, especially since the species has been in decline in Washington, where many of these hawks breed.



“Grassland species are nearly all in long-term, continent-wide declines. Our findings offer a small ray of hope these hawks can continue to persist,” Pandolfino said.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-raptors-in-open-habitats-nbsp">Raptors in open habitats&nbsp;</h2>



One potential reason for the hawks’ resilience in California could be their preference for larger prey, such as Black-tailed Jackrabbits (Lepus californicus), which thrive in open habitats, including areas affected by development and agriculture.&nbsp;



It’s also possible that ferruginous hawks have adapted by using inactive croplands as new habitat and expanded their diet to include a greater variety of prey.



Despite the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/top-predators-face-the-most-imminent-threat-from-habitat-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">habitat losses</a>, these findings suggest that the population dynamics of raptors in open habitats can be more complex than expected. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-ferruginous-hawks-nbsp">Protecting ferruginous hawks&nbsp;</h2>



Since young ferruginous hawks face high mortality rates during their first year, understanding the conditions they encounter on their non-breeding grounds is crucial. Protecting these areas, especially in California, will require a collaborative conservation approach.



“Nearly every acre of ferruginous hawk habitat surveyed for this paper is on private cattle ranches,” Pandolfino explained. “In California, the survival of this hawk is completely dependent on cattle ranching continuing to be a viable way to make a living.”



As apex predators, ferruginous hawks serve as indicators of the overall health of their ecosystems, making their protection even more critical in a rapidly changing environment.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-the-habitats-of-grassland-birds-nbsp">Preserving the habitats of grassland birds&nbsp;</h2>



Pandolfino plans to continue his research in California to support <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wind-energy-facilities-birds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grassland birds</a> like the ferruginous hawk and raise awareness about the importance of preserving their diminishing habitats.



“This same approach of assessing population trends conducted in other parts of the winter range could shed more light on the overall population status of this species,” noted the study authors.&nbsp;



“In addition, telemetry studies of birds breeding in other parts of the range could clarify the source(s) of increasing numbers of Ferruginous Hawks wintering in California.”



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Resilient hawks manage to thrive despite shrinking habitats

Ferruginous hawks that winter in California have shown an unexpected...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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