Dinosaurs,In,The,Forest.,This,Is,A,3d,Render,Illustration

A team of international experts has shed new light on the intelligence of T. rex and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/t-rex-may-have-had-brains-and-brawn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dinosaurs</a>, challenging previous assumptions and offering a fresh perspective on their cognitive abilities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dinosaur-intelligence-not-quite-monkey-like">Dinosaur intelligence: Not quite monkey-like</h2>



The research team re-examined brain size and structure in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dinosaur-species-tyrannosaurus-mcraeensis-discovered-in-new-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dinosaurs</a> and concluded that they behaved more like crocodiles and lizards, contradicting a previous study that claimed dinosaurs like T. rex had an exceptionally high number of neurons and were substantially more intelligent than assumed.



The previous study had suggested that these high neuron counts could directly inform on intelligence, metabolism, and life history, and that Tyrannosaurus rex might have possessed cognitive traits such as cultural transmission of knowledge and tool use. 



However, the new study takes a closer look at the techniques used to predict both brain size and neuron numbers in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/juvenile-t-rex-fossils-belong-a-distinct-tyrannosaur-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dinosaur</a> brains and found that previous assumptions were unreliable.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-overestimated-brain-size-and-neuron-counts">Overestimated brain size and neuron counts</h2>



The team discovered that the brain size of dinosaurs, especially that of the forebrain, had been overestimated, leading to inflated neuron counts. They also showed that neuron count estimates are not a reliable guide to intelligence.



Dr Kai Caspar of <a href="https://www.hhu.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Heinrich Heine University</a> explained, "We argue that it's not good practice to predict intelligence in extinct species when neuron counts reconstructed from endocasts are all we have to go on."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multiple-lines-of-evidence-required">Multiple lines of evidence required</h2>



To reliably reconstruct the biology of long-extinct species, the team argues that researchers should look at multiple lines of evidence, including skeletal anatomy, bone histology, the behaviour of living relatives, and trace fossils.



Hady from <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/earthsciences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bristol's School of Earth Sciences</a> stated, "Determining the intelligence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/t-rex-cousins-had-even-shorter-arms-and-bulldog-snouts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dinosaurs</a> and other extinct animals is best done using many lines of evidence ranging from gross anatomy to fossil footprints instead of relying on neuron number estimates alone."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tyrannosaurus-rex-as-not-as-intelligent-as-baboons">Tyrannosaurus rex as not as intelligent as baboons</h2>



The possibility that T. rex might have been as intelligent as a baboon had the potential to reinvent our view of the past. However, the study shows that all the available data is against this idea.



Dr Darren Naish concluded, "They were more like smart giant crocodiles, and that's just as fascinating."



Dr Ornella Bertrand from the <a href="https://www.icp.cat/index.php/en/">Institut Català d</a><a href="https://www.icp.cat/index.php/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">e</a><a href="https://www.icp.cat/index.php/en/"> Paleontologia</a> Miquel Crusafont added, "Neuron counts are not good predictors of cognitive performance, and using them to predict intelligence in long-extinct species can lead to highly misleading interpretations."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-the-intelligence-of-t-rex-and-other-dinosaurs">Rethinking the intelligence of T. rex and other dinosaurs</h2>



In summary, this recent study challenges the notion that dinosaurs possessed primate-like intelligence, as suggested by previous research. 



The international team of experts found that earlier assumptions about brain size and neuron counts in dinosaurs were unreliable, leading to overestimations of their cognitive abilities. 



The scientists emphasize the importance of considering multiple lines of evidence, such as skeletal anatomy, bone histology, the behavior of living relatives, and trace fossils, to accurately assess the intelligence of extinct species. 



The study concludes that dinosaurs, like T. rex, were more akin to intelligent giant crocodiles rather than highly cognitive primates, offering a fascinating new perspective on these ancient creatures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-about-tyrannosaurus-rex-t-rex">More about Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex)</h2>



As discussed above, Tyrannosaurus rex, commonly known as T. rex, was one of the largest and most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-did-t-rex-really-look-like/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fearsome predators</a> to ever walk the Earth. This massive theropod dinosaur lived during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 68 to 66 million years ago. 



Adult T. rex individuals reached lengths of up to 40 feet (12.3 meters) and heights of around 12 feet (3.7 meters) at the hips. They weighed between 5.5 and 9 tons (5,000 to 8,000 kilograms), making them one of the heaviest known <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-largest-t-rex/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">land predators</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-powerful-jaws-and-teeth-of-t-rex">Powerful jaws and teeth of T. rex</h3>



Tyrannosaurus rex possessed an incredibly powerful set of jaws, lined with up to 60 massive, serrated teeth. These teeth, some measuring over 12 inches (30 centimeters) in length, allowed T. rex to crush and tear through the flesh and bones of its prey. 



The immense bite force of T. rex, estimated to be around 12,800 pounds (5,800 kilograms), was one of the strongest of any terrestrial animal known.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keen-senses-of-t-rex">Keen senses of T. rex</h3>



Despite its large size, Tyrannosaurus rex had keen senses that helped it hunt effectively. Its eyes were forward-facing, providing excellent depth perception and binocular vision. 



T. rex also had a large olfactory bulb in its brain, suggesting a highly developed sense of smell. These sensory adaptations, combined with its powerful jaws and teeth, made T. rex a formidable predator.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tyrannosaurus-rex-locomotion-and-speed">Tyrannosaurus rex locomotion and speed</h3>



While Tyrannosaurus rex was undoubtedly a powerful predator, its actual running speed has been a topic of debate among paleontologists. 



Recent studies suggest that T. rex likely had a maximum walking speed of around 12 miles per hour (19 kilometers per hour) and a running speed of approximately 17 miles per hour (27 kilometers per hour). This is slower than previously thought but still faster than most of its potential prey.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tyrannosaurus-rex-fossils-and-discovery">Tyrannosaurus rex fossils and discovery</h3>



The first Tyrannosaurus rex fossil was discovered in 1902 by Barnum Brown in Montana, USA. Since then, over 50 T. rex specimens have been identified, making it one of the best-known dinosaurs. 



The most complete T. rex skeleton, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sue-the-t-rex-gender-neutral/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nicknamed "Sue,"</a> was discovered in 1990 in South Dakota and is now housed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.



Tyrannosaurus rex continues to captivate the public imagination and inspire scientific research. As more fossils are discovered and new technologies are developed, our understanding of this magnificent creature continues to grow, shedding light on its biology, behavior, and role in the ancient ecosystems of the Cretaceous period.



This research was led by Dr Kai Caspar from Heinrich Heine University, along with Dr Cristian Gutierrez-Ibanez from the University of Alberta, Dr Grant Hurlburt from the Royal Ontario Museum, Hady George from the University of Bristol, and Dr Darren Naish from the University of Southampton.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19328494" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Anatomical Record</a>.



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Scientists change their minds about Tyrannosaurus rex yet again

A team of international experts has shed new light on the intelligence of T. rex and other dinosaurs, challenging previous assumptions and offering a fresh perspective on their cognitive abilities. Dinosaur intelligence: Not quite monkey-like The research team re-examined brain size and structure in dinosaurs and concluded that they behaved more like crocodiles and lizards, contradicting a previous study that claimed dinosaurs like T. rex had an exceptionally high number of neurons and were substantially more intelligent than assumed. The previous study had suggested that these high...

Researchers have discovered that duetting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-abandon-their-offspring-early-but-its-for-their-own-good/">songbirds</a> have a surprising strategy to stay in sync while they are performing. The study revealed that each singer mutes the brain of the other by inhibiting the song-making regions as they exchange phrases.

The researchers analyzed the brain activity of male and female plain-tailed wrens in Ecuador. The experts report that the auditory feedback exchanged between wrens during their opera-like duets momentarily inhibits motor circuits used for singing in the listening partner, which helps link the pair's brains and coordinate turn-taking for a seemingly telepathic performance. 

Study co-author Eric Fortune is a neurobiologist in the Department of Biological Sciences at <a href="https://www.njit.edu/">New Jersey Institute of Technology</a>.

"You could say that timing is everything," said Fortune. "What these wrens have shown us is that for any good collaboration, partners need to become 'one' through sensory linkages. The take-home message is that when we are cooperating well, we become a single entity with our partners."

"Think of these birds like jazz singers," said study co-author Professor Melissa Coleman of Scripps College. "Duetting wrens have a rough song structure planned before they sing, but as the song evolves, they must rapidly coordinate by receiving constant input from their counterpart."

"What we expected to find was a highly active set of specialized neurons that coordinate this turn-taking, but instead what we found is that hearing each other actually causes inhibition of those neurons - that's the key regulating the incredible timing between the two."

To study the duets of the plain-tailed wren, the research team traveled to remote bamboo forests on the slopes of Ecuador's Antisana Volcano. 

The experts made neurophysiological recordings of four pairs of native wrens as they sang solo and duet songs, analyzing sensorimotor activity in a premotor area of the birds' brains where specialized neurons for learning and making music are active.

The recordings revealed that during duet turn-taking, the birds' neurons fired rapidly when they produced their own syllables. However, as one wren began to hear their partner's syllables sung in the duet, the neurons quieted down significantly. 

"You can think of inhibition as acting like a trampoline," explained Fortune. "When the birds hear their partner, the neurons are inhibited, but just like rebounding off a trampoline, the release from that inhibition causes them to swiftly respond when it's their time to sing."

Next, the team played recordings of wrens duetting while they were in a sleep-like state. The birds had been anesthetized with a drug that affects a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). 

The drug transformed the activity in the brain, shifting from inhibition to bursts of activity when the wrens heard their own music. 

"These mechanisms are shared or similar to what happens in our brains because we are doing the same kind of things," said Fortune. "There are similar brain circuits in humans that are involved in learning and coordinating vocalizations."

According to the researchers, their findings offer a fresh look into how the brains of humans and other cooperative animals use sensory cues to act in concert with each other, from flowing musical and dance performances, or even the disjointed feeling of inhibition commonly experienced today during video conferencing.

"These days, inhibition is occurring at all the wrong times when we have poor internet connections during our Zoom, WebEx, and Facetime conferences. The delays affect the sensory information that we rely on for coordinating the timing of our conversations," said Professor Coleman. 

"I think this study is important for understanding how we interact with the world whenever we are trying to produce a single behavior as two performers. We are wired for cooperation, the same way as these jazz singing wrens."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wrens "mute" the brain of their partner to stay in sync

Researchers have discovered that duetting songbirds have a surprising strategy...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>, experts have developed an antidote to protects <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-bees-struggle-to-recover-after-extreme-weather-events/">bees</a> from deadly insecticides, which cause beekeepers to lose around a third of their hives every year on average.

The pollen-sized technology has been demonstrated to effectively protect bees from all insecticides, and has inspired a new company, Beemmunity.

"This is a low-cost, scalable solution which we hope will be a first step to address the insecticide toxicity issue and contribute to the protection of managed pollinators," said study senior author Minglin Ma.

Bees and other pollinators are a critical component of the global food supply, supporting the production of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide.

According to the researchers, studies show that wax and pollen in 98 percent of hives in the U.S. are contaminated with an average of six pesticides, which also lower a bee's immunity to devastating varroa mites and pathogens. 

The research was focused on organophosphate-based insecticides, which account for about a third of the insecticides on the market. Study co-author Professor Scott McArt noted that five insecticides currently pose substantial risks to bees, two of which are organophosphates.

The team developed a uniform pollen-sized microparticle filled with enzymes that detoxify organophosphate insecticides before they are absorbed and harmful to the bees. The particle has a protective casing that allows the enzymes to move past the bee's stomach, where they would normally be broken down.

The microparticles can be mixed with pollen patties or sugar water. Once they the midgut, the enzymes can act to break down and detoxify the organophosphates.

In the lab, bees that were fed the microparticles with a high dose of the enzyme had a 100 percent survival rate after exposure to the insecticide malathion. Meanwhile, unprotected control bees died in a matter of days.

Beemmunity takes the concept one step further. Instead of filling the microparticles with enzymes that break down an insecticide, the particles have a shell made with insect proteins and are filled with a special absorptive oil, creating a kind of micro-sponge. 

Since many insecticides, including widely-used neonicotinoids, are designed to target insect proteins, the microparticle shell draws in the insecticide where it is contained within the casing. Eventually, the sequestered toxins are simply excreted in bee feces. 

"We have a solution whereby beekeepers can feed their bees our microparticle products in pollen patties or in a sugar syrup, and it allows them to detoxify the hive of any pesticides that they might find," said study co-author James Webb, who is also the CEO of Beemmunity.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natfood/">Nature Food</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tiny technology protects bees from insecticides

In a new study from Cornell University, experts have developed...

A surprising new study has revealed that parasitic infections can extend the life expectancy of worker ants, possibly by slowing down the aging process. The experts report that ants of the species Temnothorax nylanderi infected with a tapeworm live much longer than other worker ants in the same colony. 

"The lifespan of the infected ants is significantly prolonged. According to our observations, such workers have a survival rate similar to that of queens," said Professor Susanne Foitzik of <a href="https://www.uni-mainz.de/eng/">Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz</a> (JGU), who led the research.

According to the researchers, possible explanations for the extended lifespan observed in worker ants may be linked to changes in their physiology caused by the parasites, or to the enhanced care they receive in the nest. 

Some ant queens can survive for several decades, spending almost all of their life tucked away safely in the nest where they are cared for by the workers. By contrast, worker ants live for only for weeks or months, progressing to risky jobs outside of the colony as they grow older, such as foraging for food. 

Queens of the species T. nylanderi can live for up to 20 years, but it is rare for their female workers to reach the age of two. Ant queens live longer thanks to the high levels of social care they receive, a safe environment, and the activation of physiological repair mechanisms. These same factors may actually contribute to the extremely high survival rates of T. nylanderi worker ants with a certain tapeworm infection. 

The ants described in the study form small colonies on the forest floor inside of acorns or wooden branches. The insects serve as an intermediate host for the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis. A single ant can be infected by up to 70 parasitic larvae, which survive in the body fluid. 

The research team investigated the long-term consequences of the parasitic infection by collecting ant colonies from forests around Mainz and observing them in the laboratory. 

"We tracked the survival rate of the workers and queens in both infected and uninfected ant colonies over three years, until more than 95 percent of the uninfected workers had died," explained Professor Foitzik. 

At that point, over half of the infected workers were still alive. Their survival rate was practically identical to that of long-lived queens. 

"It is quite extraordinary that a parasite can trigger such a positive change in its host. This lifespan extension is very unusual."

The infected workers turn a light yellow color that makes them easy to distinguish from their brown nest-mates. The ants with parasites are also less active, and receive care from other workers in the nest. 

"The infected insects get more attention and are fed, cleaned, and looked after better. They even benefit from slightly more care than the nest's queen," explained Professor Foitzik. 

Remarkably, the infected ants were found to have metabolic rates and lipid levels similar to those of younger ants, suggesting that they remain in a permanent juvenile stage as a result of the parasitic infection. According to the experts, this is likely because the tapeworm larvae alter the expression of ant genes that affect aging, and also due to parasites' release of proteins containing antioxidants.

The researchers found no evidence that the insects actively beg for enhanced care. However, chemical signals on the cuticle of infected ants were found to elicit more attention from their nest-mates. 

"The infected insects live a life of luxury, but the fact that they receive more social care cannot alone account for their prolonged lifespan," concluded Foitzik. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Parasites help worker ants live longer lives

A surprising new study has revealed that parasitic infections can...

Galapagos,Islands.,Galapagos,Tortoise.,Big,Turtle.,Ecuador.

A new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has shown that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-found-in-the-remote-vatnajokull-glacier/">plastic</a> pollution has invaded nearly every marine habitat examined in the Galapagos Islands. Microplastics were found in all of the invertebrate species tested, and in all of the seabed and seawater samples.

Study lead author Dr. Jen Jones said the research highlights how far plastic pollution travels, and how it contaminates every part of marine ecosystems.

"Given the level of pollution we have found in this remote location, it's clear that plastic pollution needs to stop at source. You can't fix the problem just by cleaning beaches," said Dr. Jones. 

In collaboration with the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT), the researchers focused their investigation on San Cristobal, where Charles Darwin first landed in Galapagos. 

Across the most polluted areas, including a beach used by the rare "Godzilla" marine iguana, more than 400 plastic particles were found per square meter of beach. 

The findings suggest that most of the plastic pollution in Galapagos arrives from elsewhere on ocean currents.

"The pristine image of Galapagos might give the impression that the islands are somehow protected from plastic pollution, but our study clearly shows that's not the case," said study co-author Dr. Ceri Lewis of Exeter's Global Systems Institute.

"The highest levels of plastic we found were on east-facing beaches, which are exposed to pollution carried across the eastern Pacific on the Humboldt Current."

"These east-facing beaches include Punta Pitt, a highly polluted site that is home to Godzilla marine iguanas which - like so much Galapagos wildlife - are found nowhere else in the world."

"There are less than 500 Godzilla marine iguanas in existence, and it's concerning that they are living alongside this high level of plastic pollution."

Dr. Jones noted that the potential health effects of plastic ingestion on marine animals are largely unknown, and more research is needed. "These animals are a crucial part of food webs that support the larger species that famously live on and around the Galapagos Islands," she said. 

All seven marine invertebrate species examined for the study were found to contain microplastics. Overall, 52 percent of the 123 individuals tested had ingested plastic.

Of the larger plastic pieces, only two percent were identified as coming from the Galapagos Islands. These "macroplastics," which are items and fragments larger than five millimeters, were found at 13 of 14 sandy beaches studied, with 4,610 items collected in total.

Furthermore, the study revealed that significant amounts of plastic have accumulated in key habitats including rocky lava shores and mangroves.

Based on the IUCN conservation status of each particular Galapagos species, and also based on where each species can be found across the islands, the experts identified 27 species in need of urgent monitoring and mitigation.

"This situation is only going to get worse if we don't dramatically change our use of plastics," said study co-author Dr. David Santillo.

The experts have also identified marine vertebrates in the Galapagos that have the highest risk of swallowing plastic or getting entangled, including scalloped hammerheads, whale sharks, sea lions, and sea turtles.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/science-of-the-total-environment">Science of the Total Environment</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plastics are accumulating in nearly every habitat of Galapagos

A new study from the University of Exeter has shown...

River otters in Brazil use a complex range of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-appear-to-get-jealous-over-their-owners-affection/">vocalizations</a> to communicate, according to a new study published by <a href="https://plos.org/">PLOS</a>. The researchers identified six clearly distinguishable call types at frequencies ranging from 90 to 2500 Hz.

Among 13 species of otters, some are completely solitary while others are highly sociable. The giant otter is known to use a complex collection of vocalizations., but the social calls of the other species have remained largely unknown. 

"Most aquatic mammals have complex social and communication systems. Interestingly, little is known about otters’ vocal communication compared to other aquatic mammals," wrote the study authors. 

"Here, for the first time, we acoustically describe vocalizations of the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), a solitary and endangered New World otter species."

For their investigation, the researchers observed the behavior of six captive river otters on Santa Catarina Island in Brazil. Overall, they analyzed nearly 1,000 calls.

"We used 422 high-quality recorded calls, along with 990 call occurrences including behavioral context to establish the vocal repertoire of the neotropical river otter," wrote the study authors. "The vocal repertoire was classified into six call types: chirps, squeaks, chuckles, growls, hahs and screams."

The calls identified by the experts, as well as the range of frequencies, were found to be used in different social contexts. For example, high-frequency chirps and low-frequency chuckles were primarily used by males to reaffirm social bonds or to beg for food.

Females often produced low-amplitude squeaks during social grooming, and "hahs" to express alarm or surprise at a new object. They also used high-frequency screams to complain, both during play and in more aggressive contexts. 

Both males and females frequently used low-pitch growls in disputes over food or individual space.

According to the study authors, a better understanding of the vocalizations of neotropical river otters could enable conservationists to make use of acoustic recordings to monitor this elusive endangered species.

"The neotropical river otter has a rich vocal repertoire, with at least six distinct call types, similar in complexity to other solitary otter species but less complex than that of the social giant otter. Despite differences in sociality, phylogeny and ecology, L. longicaudis seems to possess vocalizations homologous to those found in other otters (e.g. hah and chirp), suggesting phylogenetic inertia in the otter communicative repertoire."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Neotropical river otters use complex vocalizations

River otters in Brazil use a complex range of vocalizations...

To investigate reproductive success in seabirds, researchers have analyzed more than 50 years of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/murrelets-rely-on-each-other-to-find-breeding-sites/">breeding</a> records for 67 species worldwide. The study shows that many seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere are struggling to breed, and the conditions in the Southern Hemisphere are beginning to follow suit.

The experts report that reproductive success has decreased over the past half century for fish-eating seabirds north of the equator. The greater impacts in this region are tied to climate change and human activities, like overfishing.

Study co-author P. Dee Boersma is the director of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels and a professor of Biology at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>. She noted that many scientists view seabirds as sentinels of habitat health because their lives and well-being depend on sound conditions both on land and at sea.

"Seabirds travel long distances - some going from one hemisphere to the other - chasing their food in the ocean," said Professor Boersma. "This makes them very sensitive to changes in things like ocean productivity, often over a large area."

Furthermore, seabirds congregate at particular sites along coasts to breed and rear their young, which makes them vulnerable to changing shore and surface conditions and restricts how far they can travel for food while still successfully raising their chicks, explained Professor Boersma.

The research shows that the diets of seabirds play a major role in their ability to rear chicks. Reproductive success was found to decline among fish-eating seabirds in the north, and also among surface-feeding birds in both hemispheres, over the course of the study period. 

The experts believe that changing environmental conditions are to blame. Climate change is causing more frequent and more extreme events like heat waves. A long term marine heat wave in 2015-2016 caused one million murres to starve to death. In the ocean, seabirds face other threats as well.

"They have to compete with us for food. They can get caught in our fishing nets. They eat our plastic, which they think is food," said Professor Boersma. "All of these factors can kill off large numbers of long-lived seabirds."

"What's also at stake is the health of fish populations such as salmon and cod, as well as marine mammals and large invertebrates, such as squid, that are eating the same small forage fish and plankton that seabirds eat," said study co-author William Sydeman of the Farallon Institute. 

"When seabirds aren't doing well, this is a red flag that something bigger is happening below the ocean's surface which is concerning because we depend on healthy oceans for quality of life."

The team found high variability in reproductive success among species, which means that additional research is needed to understand all the factors that shape feeding and breeding among seabirds.

"By knowing what is important to a species for success, we can make the world a better place for its survival," said Professor Boersma.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Declining reproductive success in seabirds is a red flag for ocean health

To investigate reproductive success in seabirds, researchers have analyzed more...

Wild elephants pay close attention to scent trails of dung and urine that have been left behind by other elephants, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> and <a href="https://www.elephantsforafrica.org/">Elephants for Africa</a>.

"When animals move along well-established pathways, sensory cues along the path may provide valuable information concerning other individuals that have used the same route. Yet the extent to which animals use pathways as sources of public social information is poorly understood," explained the study authors. 

"Here we quantified the responses of wild African savannah elephants, Loxodonta africana, to olfactory information along natural elephant pathways, habitual routes that link predictable critical resources in the environment."

The researchers found that the African savannah elephants were "highly attentive" as they traveled, sniffing and tracking the trail with their trunks. This was especially true of those traveling alone.

The experts said their findings indicate that scents act as a type of "public information resource" for wild elephants. 

Further research is needed to investigate the potential for artificial elephant trails to be used to steer the animals away from farms and villages, where human-elephant conflict can cause devastation. 

Scent trails could also be created to improve the efficiency of routes connecting elephant populations between protected areas.

"Our findings suggest an important role of an elephant's sense of smell in long-distance navigation," said study lead author Connie Allen. "As elephants follow these trails, they deposit their own urine and dung, which reinforces the pathway's presence for future elephants."

"We see great potential for these findings to be applied to elephant management and conservation - primarily as a method for manipulating elephant movements."

Allen noted that the study was conducted in Botswana, where the main threat to elephants is conflict with humans.

"By removing the existing scent paths that lead elephants to close contact with humans in problem areas, and redirecting them, perhaps we could reduce such conflicts happening."

The study also revealed that urine deposits from adults were more likely to attract attention than that of younger elephants.

"African elephants may therefore be able to discern the age and maturity of individuals they can expect to encounter from remote urine cues on pathways," said Allen.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/animal-behavior">Animal Behavior</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wild elephants track the scents of others in their path

Wild elephants pay close attention to scent trails of dung...

An international team of researchers has discovered amounts of highly toxic mercury in the deepest trenches of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salmon-virus-has-spread-from-the-atlantic-to-the-pacific/">Pacific</a> Ocean that exceed any value ever recorded in remote marine sediments. 

The experts report that the mercury levels which have accumulated in the remote Pacific are even higher than in many areas that are directly contaminated by industrial releases.

The researchers have obtained the first-ever direct measurements of mercury deposition in one of the most challenging environments to sample on Earth.

Study lead author Professor Hamed Sanei is the director of the Lithospheric Organic Carbon Laboratory (LOC) in the Department of Geoscience at <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University </a>. 

"The bad news is that these high mercury levels may be representative of the collective increase in anthropogenic emissions of Hg into our oceans," said Professor Sanei. "But the good news is that ocean trenches act as a permanent dump, and so we can expect the mercury that does end up there will be buried for many millions of years. Plate tectonics will carry these sediments deep into the earth's upper mantle."

"But even as mercury is being removed from the biosphere, it remains quite alarming how much mercury has ended up in the ocean trenches. This may be an indicator of the overall health of our oceans."

Study co-author Dr. Peter Outridge is a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada and the lead author of the United Nations' Global Mercury Assessment.

"The results of this research help fulfill a key knowledge gap in the mercury cycle, i.e. the true rate of mercury removal from the global environment into deep-ocean sediments," said Dr. Outridge. "We have shown that sediments in the ocean trenches are mercury accumulation 'hotspots,' with mercury accumulation rates many times higher than were previously believed to be present."

Study co-author Professor Ronnie Glud, the director of the Hadal Centre at the University of Southern Denmark, was the scientific leader of a multi-national expedition to the ocean trenches. 

"This paper calls for extensive additional sampling of the deep-ocean and in particular hadal trenches to support this preliminary work," said Professor Glud.

"Ultimately this will improve the accuracy of environmental mercury models and the management of global mercury pollution."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mercury levels found in remote Pacific trenches are unprecedented

An international team of researchers has discovered amounts of highly...

Some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-use-tools/">primates</a> can change their accent to avoid conflict with other groups, according to a new study. The researchers investigated the behavior of 15 groups of tamarins in the Brazilian Amazon, and found that one species adopts the calls of another species to improve communication in shared territory. 

Focused on pied tamarins and red-handed tamarins, the study is the first to identify this behavior in primates.

Pied tamarins are critically endangered and have one of the smallest ranges of any primate in the world, while red-handed tamarins are found throughout the northeastern Amazon.

The study revealed that when groups of red-handed tamarins enter shared territory, they adopt the long calls used by the pied tamarins. The experts believe this behavior is used to avoid territorial disputes over resources.

"When groups of tamarins are moving quickly around mature Amazonian forest it can sometimes be difficult to tell the species apart, but during our research we were surprised to discover they also sound the same in the areas of the forest they cohabit," said study lead author Tainara Sobroza of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia.

"We found that only the red-handed tamarins change their calls to those of the pied tamarins, and this only happens in places where they occur together. Why their calls converge in this way is not certain, but it is possibly to help with identification when defending territory or competing over resources."

Study co-author Dr. Jacob Dunn is an associate professor in Evolutionary Biology at <a href="https://aru.ac.uk/">Anglia Ruskin University</a> (ARU).

"We have long known that when closely related species overlap in their geographic ranges, we are likely to see interesting evolutionary patterns. One famous example is the Galapagos finches, studied by Darwin, whose beaks evolved to specialise on different foods on the islands to avoid competition," said Dr. Dunn.

"In some cases, rather than diverging to become more different from one another, some closely related species converge to show similar traits. Our study is the first to show asymmetric call convergence in primates, with one species' call becoming the 'lingua franca' in shared territories."

"Because these tamarin species rely on similar resources, changing their 'accents' in this way is likely to help these tiny primates identify one another more easily in dense forest and potentially avoid conflict."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tamarins change their accent in shared territory to avoid conflict

Some primates can change their accent to avoid conflict with...

Wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/distinctly-different-chinook-salmon-are-part-of-the-same-population/">Chinook</a> salmon are more likely to be infected with Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) the closer they are to salmon farms. This finding indicates that farms are spreading the virus to wild salmon - a theory that is further supported by the results of a recent genomic analysis.

Dr. Gideon Mordecai is a viral ecologist at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> who led the study.

"Both our genomic and epidemiological methods independently came to the same conclusion, that salmon farms act as a source and amplifier of PRV transmission," said Dr. Mordecai. "Because separate lines of independent evidence all point to the same answer, we're confident in our finding."

In collaboration with researchers from the Strategic Salmon Health Initiative, the UBC team traced the origins of PRV to Atlantic salmon farms in Norway and found that the virus is now widespread across salmon farms in British Columbia.

After sequencing 86 PRV genomes, the researchers estimated that the lineage of the virus that is now present in the Northeast Pacific diverged from the virus in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 30 years ago. This suggests that the introduction of PRV to British Columbia, and the infection of wild Pacific salmon, is a relatively recent phenomenon.

"There is much confusion about where PRV is originally from, whether it is transmitted between farmed and wild salmon, and how different lineages of the virus cause different severities of disease," said Dr. Mordecai. "This study's genome sequencing clearly indicates PRV is not native to B.C. waters - it originated in the Atlantic Ocean and has been spread around the world through salmon aquaculture."

The genomic analysis revealed that there has been a growth in the number of PRV infections in British Columbia in recent decades. This corresponds with the expansion of salmon aquaculture and high rates of viral infection in salmon farms.

"Our finding that PRV is transmitted between farmed and wild salmon is particularly relevant given recent field and laboratory studies showing the lineage of PRV in B.C. is likely to cause disease in both Pacific and Atlantic salmon," said Dr. Mordecai. 

The virus is associated with a disease in Chinook salmon that causes blood cells to rupture, leading to kidney and liver damage that can be deadly. 

"Our study reaffirms that a more precautionary approach to managing salmon farming in BC is warranted," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Bateman of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. "The PRV findings, in particular, support calls to transition from open-net salmon farming towards farming technology that doesn't allow disease transfer between farmed and wild salmon, protecting BC's wild Pacific salmon from serious risk in the process."

Professor Jeffrey Hutchings of Dalhousie University is a leading Canadian fisheries scientist who was not involved with the research. 

"The study provides foundational information necessary to assess the risk of salmon aquaculture on wild fish, as recommended by the Auditor General of Canada's 2018 Report on Salmon Farming, which criticized DFO's ability to manage aquaculture in a precautionary manner," said Professor Hutchings. 

"The work by Mordecai, Miller, and colleagues on PRV provides the most compelling, scientifically objective evidence to date that wild salmon in BC are at increased risk of disease because of open net-pen Atlantic salmon aquaculture."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Salmon virus has spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Wild Chinook salmon are more likely to be infected with...

In a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>, researchers have discovered that the embryos of many different animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-fate-of-two-bird-species-could-help-save-others/">species</a> rely on acoustic signals during development in a phenomenon that they refer to as "acoustic developmental programming." The embryos are essentially dependent upon sound cues to prepare them for the outside world. 

"Acoustic developmental programming occurs when a sound informs embryos about the environment they'll encounter postnatally and changes their development to better suit this environment," said study lead author Mylene Mariette, a postdoctoral researcher at Deakin University.

While the scientific evidence is just now becoming established, this newly discovered phenomenon seems to be rather widespread among animals, explained the experts.

"We have found evidence of this happening in birds, where parental calls can warn embryos about heatwaves or predators," said Mariette. "Before that, there was also evidence that cricket nymphs use male songs to predict the level of competition for mates. However, what is most striking from the evidence we've gathered is how common it is for embryos across species to rely on sound information."

"For example, across all animal groups that lay eggs, such as insects, frogs, reptiles and birds, embryos use sound or vibration to know when the best time is to hatch. This suggests that acoustic developmental programming is likely to happen in many animal species and for a whole range of conditions. But, until recently, we did not know it was happening."

Mariette became interested in acoustic developmental programming while studying how zebra finch parents communicate to coordinate their parental duties. "I noticed that when a parent was alone incubating, it would sometimes produce a strange high-pitched call."

To investigate whether the calls had implications for the developing embryos, Mariette captured audio recordings in nests and played them to eggs incubated artificially in the lab. 

The study revealed that the finch parents were producing specific calls when it was very hot out. The nestlings inside of the eggs respond by adjusting their development to prepare for the heat.

"I became very curious about how just hearing a sound before hatching could alter development," said Mariette.

She started searching for documented evidence of embryos using sound in other animals. While it is not yet clear exactly how it works, the new report describes some potential mechanisms.

"In crickets, when developing nymphs hear many sexy songs, female develop quickly to make the most of the opportunity, whereas males delay metamorphosis to grow bigger and invest more in reproduction," said Mariette. 

"In zebra finches, embryos exposed to parental heat calls grow less to reduce the physiological damage of heat exposure, which then allows them to produce more babies at adulthood. But embryos cannot decide to change their development, it just happens. This is because sound directly impacts behavior and physiology, without any conscious processing." 

"This is why, for example, music triggers spontaneous emotions of sadness or happiness, without us having to remember which movie that soundtrack came from, or in fact without us even noticing our reaction to the music."

"It seems to occur on its own, because there are direct connections in the brain between the auditory pathway and the areas that control emotion, reflex learning, and hormone production, so the higher cortical areas do not need to decode the information." 

Mariette explained that sound experienced early in life could trigger the same spontaneous reactions and, in fact, have long-lasting effects, because this is when the brain is developing and consolidating connections. "For the same reason, the downstream effects on physiology and then morphology can persist for life."

The researchers will continue to study the physiological traits in zebra finches that may be affected by heat-calls. "It is quite amazing that sound alone can prepare babies for heat, particularly given the alarming rate of climate change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sound cues help embryos prepare for the outside environment

In a new study published by Cell Press, researchers have...

The ancestors of modern whales made their transition from land to sea about 53 million years ago. At one point during the middle of this transition, whales had a mouth full of both teeth and baleen, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/">San Diego State University</a>.

Modern blue whales, humpback whales and gray whales have teeth in the womb but are born toothless. Baleen replaces the teeth for filter feeding small fish and tiny shrimp-like krill. The disappearing embryonic teeth are evidence of a time when ancient whales had teeth and consumed larger prey. 

For the current investigation, the researchers used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) to scan a 25 million year-old fossilized whale skull that belonged to Aetiocetus weltoni, an evolutionary "cousin" of modern whales. The analysis revealed that Aetiocetus had both teeth and baleen at the same time in adulthood.

Baleen decomposes and is rarely preserved intact in fossils, so the scientists turned to digital reconstructions with CT imaging to search for evidence of the elastic substance in Aetiocetus. They identified grooves and holes on the roof of the mouth that were consistent with baleen in modern mysticetes.

"We have found evidence that supports a co-occurrence of teeth and baleen, indicating the tooth-to-baleen transition occurred in a stepwise manner from just teeth, to teeth and baleen, to only baleen," said Ekdale.

"Our study provides tangible fossil evidence of a major shift in feeding behavior from a raptorial carnivorous feeding mode to a bulk filter-feeding mode for obtaining food, among the largest animals that have ever lived in earth's oceans. Krill are around 1/600th the size of blue whales. That's like us humans eating nothing larger than sesame seeds floating in a pool."

Some researchers questioned how Aetiocetus managed to process its food, considering that the baleen could get in the way of teeth in the mastication process. However, the position of the holes observed in Aetiocetus suggests that the baleen was not in the "line of fire" where it would interfere with the function of the teeth.

"While the tiny holes on the palate of Aetiocetus may look similar at a superficial level to other mammals, we can clearly demonstrate that this anatomy is related to baleen in baleen whales," said study co-author Thomas Deméré.

The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean">Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Some ancient whales had both teeth and baleen

The ancestors of modern whales made their transition from land...

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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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video 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 history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...