Portrait,Of,A,Wild,Octopus,Under,Water.

The octopus is a creature that continues to surprise scientists and inspire engineers. With eight arms that move in ways no human limb can, it demonstrates flexibility and control that seem almost otherworldly. 



Each arm bends, twists, elongates, and shortens with unmatched precision, enabling these animals to hunt, hide, and explore with ease. 



Researchers hope that unlocking the secrets of these movements may guide the design of flexible robotic arms capable of lifesaving missions.



Imagine a robotic arm slipping through rubble after a building collapse, delivering food or medicine to someone trapped below. 



This vision has motivated scientists to study octopus arms in detail - both in the laboratory and in their natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dumbo-octopus-species-carnarvon-flapjack-discovered-in-very-deep-ocean-waters/">environment</a>.



Until recently, most studies were limited to tanks, where behaviors may not reflect the complexity of life in the wild. That gap is now being addressed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-octopus-intelligence">Understanding octopus intelligence</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-could-dominate-earth-if-humans-vanish/">Octopuses</a> are some of the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth. Unlike most animals without backbones, they can solve puzzles, open jars, and even escape from aquariums by remembering routes back to the ocean. 



Their brains are incredibly complex, with about 500 million neurons - similar to a dog. What makes them even more fascinating is that two-thirds of those neurons are in their arms. 



This means each arm can sense, move, and even make decisions on its own while still communicating with the central brain. It’s like having eight mini-brains working together with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-are-tricked-by-the-rubber-hand-illusion-like-humans-suggesting-self-awareness/">one big brain</a>.



Their intelligence also shows up in how they hunt and survive. Octopuses use tools, like carrying coconut shells to hide inside when threatened, and they can change color and texture in an instant to camouflage perfectly against rocks or coral. 



They’ve been observed watching other animals and learning from them, which is rare in the animal kingdom.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-octopus-arms-inspire-robotics">Flexible octopus arms inspire robotics</h2>



A new study from the <a href="https://www.mbl.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marine Biological Laboratory</a> in Woods Hole and Florida Atlantic University has provided the most comprehensive analysis of octopus arm movements in natural habitats. 



Researchers recorded 25 wild octopuses in six locations, ranging from the Caribbean to Spain. The footage captured thousands of arm movements across a variety of behaviors, including foraging, locomotion, and even defense.



“I’ve been trying for a long time to work out the natural behavior of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sea-octopus-footage-could-revolutionize-flexible-robot-design-eyeris/">cephalopods</a> in their natural habitat,” said MBL Senior Scientist Roger Hanlon, who led the project. 



“Studying and recording octopus behavior from wild octopuses in the field gave us the opportunity to analyze a larger behavioral repertoire and further understand how they use their arms to achieve such complex behaviors,” added Chelsea Bennice, research fellow at <a href="https://www.fau.eu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAU</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-guided-by-touch-not-sight">Guided by touch, not sight</h2>



Octopuses rely heavily on touch, guided by sensory organs in their arm suckers. “The octopus is a very tactile animal - it’s more tactile than visual,” said Hanlon. 



Each of their nearly 100 suckers per arm contains chemosensory-tactile receptors, combining functions similar to the human nose, lips, and tongue.



Finding octopuses to observe was not simple. Their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-squid-power-their-amazing-camouflage-abilities/">camouflage</a> skills make them almost invisible in coral reefs or sandy seabeds. Divers often relied on clues like discarded shells and food debris near their dens.



Once located, octopuses emerged briefly from hiding, offering precious opportunities to record their natural actions.



These moments revealed unique hunting strategies, arm movements, and subtle interactions with their environment otherwise impossible to witness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-arm-mechanics-of-octopuses">Complex arm mechanics of octopuses</h2>



The researchers identified 12 distinct arm actions across 15 behaviors, built from four fundamental deformations: shortening, elongating, bending, and torsion. They discovered a pattern of specialization within each arm. 



For instance, elongation and shortening were most common near the base, while bending occurred more at the tips. 



This functional partitioning allows octopuses to combine motions across arms for tasks like crawling, probing reef crevices, or launching sudden prey attacks.



“These are the actions that make up the whole complex of octopus <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-and-squids-defy-the-slow-pace-of-evolution/">behaviors</a>,” said study co-author Kendra Buresch. 



In the wild, researchers observed octopuses using different combinations of arm actions - sometimes relying on a single arm for tasks like grabbing food, and other times coordinating multiple arms for behaviors such as crawling or launching a parachute attack.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-behavior-that-guides-technology">Behavior that guides technology</h2>



The findings go beyond understanding animal behavior. With nearly 7,000 observed arm deformations, the study highlights an extraordinary degree of control and flexibility. 



This knowledge may inform robotics research, where engineers seek to design soft, adaptable arms capable of both precise and exploratory tasks.



“Understanding these natural behaviors not only deepens our knowledge of octopus biology but also opens exciting new avenues in fields like neuroscience, animal behavior, and even soft robotics inspired by these remarkable creatures,” Bennice said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-in-flexibility-and-change">Lessons in flexibility and change</h2>



From the ocean floor to robotics labs, octopuses continue to inspire, offering lessons in both biology and technology. 



Their flexible arms not only influence the design of machines that could navigate disaster zones or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-deep-sea-crustacean-species-discovered-in-the-bahamas/">deep-sea environments</a>, but also remind us how problem-solving in nature often leads to solutions with real-world applications.



Beyond robotics, their adaptability symbolizes the broader principle that survival depends on innovation and change, a message equally relevant to ecosystems, human health, and future technologies.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-10674-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Octopus arms are probably the most complex and flexible structures in nature

The octopus is a creature that continues to surprise scientists and inspire engineers. With eight arms that move in ways no human limb can, it demonstrates flexibility and control that seem almost otherworldly. Each arm bends, twists, elongates, and shortens with unmatched precision, enabling these animals to hunt, hide, and explore with ease. Researchers hope that unlocking the secrets of these movements may guide the design of flexible robotic arms capable of lifesaving missions. Imagine a robotic arm slipping through rubble after a building collapse, delivering food...

Recently, Alaska officials cancelled several <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-create-sustainable-batteries-from-crab-shells/">crab</a> harvests in an unprecedented conservation effort which sent shock waves through the region’s crabbing industry. After canceling the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest, the authorities have now announced - for the first time on record - that they will be holding off the winter harvest of snow crab too.



This major decision comes after massive crab populations declines over the past few years. For instance, data from a recent eastern Bering Sea survey conducted by the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA) has shown a 92 percent decline in overall snow crab abundance between 2018 and 2021. Although some small crab entered the population in 2022, lowering this number to 83 percent, the situation continues to be dire, calling for urgent action such as that taken by the Alaska officials.&nbsp;



According to experts, snow crab populations dropped substantially after a 2019 Bering Sea warming, and their numbers continue to decrease due to environmental stressors such as warmer waters and increased threats from predators. “Management of Bering Sea snow crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the condition of the stock,” the <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/">Alaska Department of Fish and Game</a> (ADF&amp;G) wrote in a recent <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/applications/dcfnewsrelease/1441272349.pdf">statement</a>.&nbsp;



“Efforts to advance our science and understanding of crab population dynamics are underway. With crab industry input, ADF&amp;G will continue to evaluate options for rebuilding, including potential for sustainably fishing during periods of low abundance.”



Since Bering Sea crab harvests grossed $280 million by 2016, and a fleet of about 60 vessels from Alaska, Washington, and Oregon typically pursue the crab during the winter season, the cancelling of this year’s hunt can significantly affect a large number of people who depend on these activities for their subsistence.



“It’s going to be life-changing, if not career-ending, for people. A lot of these guys with families and kids, there’s no option other than getting out. That’s where the hammer is going to fall –&nbsp;on the crew,” warned Dean Gribble Sr., a crab boat captain who has fished for snow crab since the late 1970s.



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

Alaska cancels snow crab season due to massive decline

Recently, Alaska officials cancelled several crab harvests in an unprecedented...

Snailfish are found in all of the world’s oceans, at depths varying from shallow intertidal to the deepest oceanic trenches. Of the approximately 400 identified species, 20 are known from the eastern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-pool-of-water-in-the-pacific-linked-to-human-activities/">Pacific</a>, off the west coast of South America. Although the shallow-living species are relatively well studied, those that inhabit the deepest oceanic habitat, known as the hadal zone, are not well known.



In 2018, an international team of scientists studied the fauna of the Atacama Trench, an expansive underwater subduction zone that runs along the west coast of South America and is as deep as the parallel-running Andes Mountains are high. The deepest regions of this trench, lying between 6,000 and 8,000 meters below sea level, fall in the hadal zone, where conditions are characterized by immense pressures, freezing cold temperatures and pitch darkness. It is no surprise that the fauna inhabiting this trench have not been studied very much.



The team of researchers, including Newcastle University scientists, used specially engineered underwater cameras and lights that were lowered to these depths on custom-made, free-falling landers. Bait, in the form of mackerel, was attached to the landers to attract organisms to the area, and traps enabled the collection of some of these. The two landers were lowered to the depths on 18 different occasions and recorded the presence of numerous small, deep-sea creatures that inhabit this inhospitable zone, including three different types of snailfish.



Previous investigations of deep-sea trenches in many locations have confirmed the importance of snailfish in the hadal zone. They are suction-feeding predators that prey on the many small amphipods (crustaceans) also inhabiting the depths. However, the true diversity and distribution of snailfish species, particularly in the deepest regions of the ocean, remain uncertain due to the scarcity of samples. From the camera footage the researchers identified one type of snailfish that was unfamiliar to them and appeared different from what they expected.&nbsp;



The small blue fish, seen between about 6,000 to 7,600 m in depth, didn’t look like other hadal snailfish. Instead of being pale in color with diminutive eyes, it was blue and had large eyes – unexpected for a creature that lives in total darkness. With these features, it resembled other species of snailfish that are found living in much shallower waters.&nbsp;



The team managed to trap one of these unfamiliar individuals and brought it to the surface. Although it died due to the extreme change in pressure, the researchers were able to use microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and DNA analysis to compare the new species with other members of the snailfish family. In their description, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01294-0">Marine Biodiversity</a>, they name the new species Paraliparis selti, with the specific name meaning ‘blue’ in the Kunza language of the indigenous peoples of the Atacama Desert.



To the team's surprise, the new species appears to be a separate colonizer of the Atacama Trench and marks a new lineage of deep sea snailfish. It is not directly related to the other species known from the area. Species in the genus Paraliparis are particularly abundant in the Southern Ocean of the Antarctic and are rarely found living at depths greater than 2,000 m. This is the first time that a species from this genus has been found inhabiting the hadal zone.&nbsp;



Study lead author, Dr Thom Linley, a visiting researcher at <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> said: “I find this family of fishes absolutely fascinating. They are not at all what we expect from a deep-sea fish and I love to show people that the world’s deepest fishes are actually pretty cute.”



“For me to get a camera down to where these animals live, it’s made of inches thick stainless steel and sapphire glass. It then films these delicate and beautiful animals perfectly adapted to this extreme environment. With engineering-built force we can only clumsily visit these animals for a short time.”



“We have been wondering for some time just what makes this type of fish so good at living deep. Maybe it was a series of lucky accidents, a chance fluke, that happened in one lineage. Finding this new species tells us that it’s bigger than that. Lightning struck twice and there is something special about this Family.”



“Paraliparis selti provides a fantastic opportunity to explore what allows fish to live so deep. If we only had a single lineage to study, we could never be sure which traits were just part of that lineage and which are the deep-sea secret sauce.”



The researchers conclude that the new species may have evolved from the cold-adapted species of the Southern Ocean, and its discovery and genetic data will help unravel how this group of remarkable fish have evolved, adapted, and diversified into the greater depths of the deep sea. This little blue fish opens new questions about the relationship between cold temperature and high-pressure adaptation and gives a new understanding of how and when life took to the deep.



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

Blue snailfish discovered in the darkest ocean depths

Snailfish are found in all of the world’s oceans, at...

A Cambridge team has developed a new way to highlight the demise of nature – and people are listening. Driven by the observation that human activities are silencing nature, Dr. Matthew Agarwala is using sound to convey the enormity of biodiversity loss. The goal is to draw attention to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/non-native-species-can-have-unexpected-benefits/">species</a> recovery.



“Over the past century we have seen nearly a million species pushed to the brink of extinction – nature is going quiet,” said Agarwala, an economist at the University of Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy.&nbsp;



The collaboration with composer Dr. Ewan Campbell is capturing the attention of new audiences. A piece of classical music, Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture,' is linked to the loss of an iconic species: the North Atlantic humpback whale.



Inspired by his 1829 trip to a sea cave - Fingal’s Cave - Mendelssohn’s original music captures the vitality of the sea just before the introduction of mechanized industrial fishing.



The 30,000 notes in the original music score is the approximate number of humpback whales in 1829, when the piece was written. Extensive commercial whaling led to a dramatic decline in the whale population.&nbsp;



By 1920, two-thirds of all humpback whales were gone. The resulting piece, ‘Hebrides Redacted,' is a dramatically simple way for audiences to grasp the enormity of biodiversity loss over time.



Researchers have long been sounding the alarm on biodiversity loss, but the message isn’t landing. The project relies on the visceral and emotional response to music that grabs attention in ways that scientific papers do not.



A short film about the music and its impact on audiences has been<a href="https://climatechangefestival.zero.cam.ac.uk/events/world-premier-hebrides-redacted"> released online</a> as part of the Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival. The audience response was overwhelmingly positive – and the piece received a standing ovation.



“It really was an uninitiated audience at the Wilderness Festival - people were there for a good time, not to be told that the world is falling apart through the medium of music from the 19th century. But somehow it worked,” said Dr. Campbell, Director of Music at Churchill College and Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.



The duo drew attention to policies needed to help humpback whale populations recover. The last part of the piece looks into the future, predicting an optimistic eight percent rise in whale population every decade. “We can see when the oceans are better managed, whale populations can start to rebound,” said Dr. Agarwala.



Marine protected areas could protect food chains, re-route maritime freight to reduce the number of whales struck by ships, and minimize ocean pollution to allow the humpback whale population to fully recover. And so their music does the same.



“But even in the face of devastating destruction, nature is resilient and always beautiful, and so even when two-thirds of the music is absent there’s still a delicate beauty, though a pale imitation of its once dramatic glory,” said Dr. Campbell. In this way, the piece shows how human activities have silenced nature.



Agarwala and Campbell are excited by the power of arts and sciences working together. The duo hopes that future projects will encourage policy-makers to take action.



The <a href="https://climatechangefestival.zero.cam.ac.uk/">Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2022</a> includes a focus on ensuring the conversation around climate change is accessible to the general public. It runs from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th October.



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

Classical tune illustrates the loss of humpback whales

A Cambridge team has developed a new way to highlight...

According to a recently released assessment by the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a> (WWF), wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted by nearly 70 percent over the past half a century – a “devastating” loss to nature caused mainly by human activities. Moreover, in biodiversity-rich areas such as Latin America or the Caribbean, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/losing-wildlife-will-be-very-costly-for-some-countries/">wildlife</a> population loss was found to be as high as 94 percent.&nbsp;



By examining data from 32,000 populations of over 5,000 species of mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles, the scientists found "a devastating fall in wildlife populations, in particular in tropical regions that are home to some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world," said Marco Lambertini, the director general of WWF International. The analyses revealed that freshwater species have declined more than those from any other habitat, with a staggering 83 percent population loss since 1970.



According to Mark Wright, the director of science at WWF, these findings are “truly frightening,” particularly in the case of Latin America. “Latin America is renowned for his biodiversity, and of course, it’s really important for lots of other things as well. It’s super important for regulating the climate. We estimate that currently there’s something like 150 to 200 billion metric tons of carbon wrapped up in the forests of the Amazon.” Thus, massive biodiversity loss in this region will likely have cascading consequences on the climate too.



The main drivers of wildlife loss are habitat degradation caused by development and farming, exploitation, pollution, climate change, disease, and the introduction of invasive species. To solve these problems, the world should urgently rethink its harmful and wasteful agricultural and industrial practices, before leading the global food chain to irremediable collapse.



“Food systems today are responsible for over 80 percent of deforestation on land, and if you look at the ocean and freshwater, they are also driving a collapse of fishery stocks and populations in those habitats,” Lambertini said.



Increasing conservation and restoration efforts, consuming food more sustainably, and quickly decarbonizing all sectors may alleviate the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Moreover, governments all over the world should properly factor into policymaking the value of the many services provided by nature, including food, water supplies, or medicines.



“We need to stress the fact that nature loss is not just a moral issue of our duty to protect the rest of the world. It is actually an issue of material value, an issue of security for humanity as well,” Lambertini concluded.



The Living Planet Report 2022 can be found <a href="https://livingplanet.panda.org/">here</a>.



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

Wildlife populations have declined dramatically in recent years

According to a recently released assessment by the World Wildlife...

Bombus,Terrestrial,On,The,Flower,The,Buff,Tailed,Bumblebee,Or

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> (QMUL) has found that bumblebees do not seem able to keep <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insomnia-may-lead-to-memory-loss-in-adults/">memories</a> for how sweet a particular flower was, but instead only remember if it was sweeter than other flowers.



The researchers first trained bumblebees on two flowers, making them learn that one flower was sweeter than the other. Later on, they also learned that a third flower was sweeter than a fourth one. Then, the insects were given the choice between two of the flowers they had not seen together before, such as the first and the third, or the second and the third.



During the experiments, the bumblebees’ preferences indicated that they could only retain very basic ranking memories for the flowers for an extended period of time. While they could remember that a flower had been better or worse during the training phase, they did not seem capable of remembering for more than a few minutes how sweet or rewarding the flowers were on their own, or even how much sweeter they were compared to other flowers.



While humans and other animals, such as starlings, are able to keep memories for both absolute information (e.g. how sweet something is) and comparisons (if something is sweeter than something else), bumblebees seem unable to memorize absolute information.



“Our results reveal an intriguing divergent mechanism for how bumblebees retain and use information about options, compared to humans and birds,” said study co-lead author Yonghe Zhou, a doctoral student in Biological and Behavioral Sciences at QMUL.&nbsp;



&nbsp;“It may be that the different strategies used by bumblebees and humans may have evolved because of their different diets,” added study senior author Fei Peng, a psychologist at <a href="http://portal.smu.edu.cn/en/">Southern Medical University</a> in China. “Maybe because bumblebees evolved to mostly only eat flower nectar, they never needed to remember the details and could survive and thrive simply using simple comparisons.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Despite what may seem to be a poor memory strategy, bumblebees do very well in finding the most profitable flowers. It’s fascinating to consider how different animals, in their own ecological niche, can be similarly successful using such different strategies,” Yonghe concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/78525">eLife</a>.&nbsp;



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

How does the memory of bumblebees work?

A new study led by the Queen Mary University of...

Currently, many large-bodied mammals are endangered. By examining past evidence about large mammal extinctions, a team of researchers led by the <a href="http://www.unm.edu/">University of New Mexico</a> (UNM) has analyzed the potentially profound impacts of losing animals such as elephants, rhinoceros, or lions – known in the scientific community as “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/megafauna-in-new-guinea-outlived-their-australian-relatives/">megafauna</a>” – on the ecosystems in which they are embedded.



“Humans are having drastic effects on large mammals, both directly, such as hunting, and indirectly through land use and climate change,” said Sam Scheiner, a program director in the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=DEB">National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology</a>. “This study shows that these effects can have profound impacts on ecosystems.”



According to study lead author Felisa Smith, a biologist at UNM, the current conservation status of large-bodied mammals is “dire.” Their massive decline “has serious consequences because they have unique ecological roles.”



“But this sort of biodiversity loss has happened before,” Smith explained. “Humans entering the Americas at the terminal Pleistocene around 13,000 years ago caused a widespread extinction of the large-bodied mammals present then through some of the same activities that endanger mammals today.”



The scientists used the fossil records documenting this earlier extinction event to examine what happened to the surviving animals, by focusing on a mammal community in the Edwards Plateau of Texas. They characterized their diets by measuring stable isotopes in fossil bones, and estimated their body sizes by measuring their teeth and long bones, thus managing to reconstruct the ancient food web of the Pleistocene to better understand how it changed after extinction.



“We [found] significant reorganization of the community, particularly among carnivores, a loss of ecological complexity, and many vacant niches. The loss of complexity likely meant a reduction in ecosystem resilience,” the author reported.



Such ecosystem consequences are likely to emerge now too, with the decline of elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, and other large-bodied mammal populations. Since these animals play a critical role in influencing ecological interactions and biochemical cycles, their loss would severely de-structure the ecosystems in which they currently live.



“It is critically important to understand how the decline or potential extinction of Earth’s last remaining large-bodied mammals might change ecosystems. We can’t afford to lose these large-bodied mammals,” Smith concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2115015119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> (PNAS).



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

What will happen if modern large mammals become extinct?

Currently, many large-bodied mammals are endangered. By examining past evidence...

Glass,Globe,In,The,In,Nature,Concept,For,Environment,And

New research from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/low-oxygen-zone-is-expanding-in-the-arabian-gulf/">oxygen</a> levels in the Earth’s atmosphere “fluctuated wildly” one billion years ago, which could have accelerated the development of early animal life.



Atmospheric oxygen is believed to be developed in three stages, starting with the Great Oxidation Event around two billion years ago, when oxygen first appeared in the atmosphere. During the third stage, around 400 million years ago, atmospheric oxygen rose to levels that exist today. &nbsp;



The second stage remains uncertain. This stage occurred during the Neoproterozoic Era, which started about one billion years ago and lasted for around 500 million years. This was when early forms of animal life emerged.  &nbsp;



Scientists have been trying to identify what led to the development of oxygen levels during this time that played a pivotal role in early evolution.  Did oxygen levels suddenly rise or was there a gradual increase? &nbsp;



Early animals known as Ediacaran biota were multi-celled organisms that required oxygen. These organisms&nbsp; have been found fossilized in sedimentary rocks that are 541 to 635 million years old. &nbsp;



To investigate, the research team used measurements of carbon, or carbon isotopes, found in limestone rocks taken from shallow seas. Based on the different types of carbon found, the researchers calculated photosynthesis levels that existed millions of years ago to infer atmospheric oxygen levels. &nbsp;



The experts used the data to produce a record of oxygen levels in the atmosphere over the last 1.5 billion years. This historical detail tells us how much oxygen would have been diffusing into the ocean to support early marine life.&nbsp;



Dr. Alex Krause, lead scientist on the project, said the findings give a new perspective on how oxygen levels were changing on Earth. “The early Earth, for the first two billion years of its existence, was anoxic, devoid of atmospheric oxygen. Then oxygen levels started to rise, which is known as the Great Oxidation Event." &nbsp;



“Up until now, scientists had thought that after the Great Oxidation Event, oxygen levels were either low and then shot up just before we see the first animals evolve, or that oxygen levels were high for many millions of years before the animals came along," said Dr. Krause.



“But our study shows oxygen levels were far more dynamic. There was an oscillation between high and low levels of oxygen for a long time before early forms of animal life emerged. We are seeing periods where the ocean environment, where early animals lived, would have had abundant oxygen - and then periods where it does not." &nbsp;



This periodic change in environmental conditions would have produced evolutionary pressures where some life forms may have become extinct and new ones could emerge, explained Dr. Benjamin Mills, who supervised the project. He noted that the oxygenated periods expanded “habitable spaces” – parts of the ocean where oxygen levels would have been high enough to support early animal life forms. &nbsp;



“When oxygen levels decline, there is severe environmental pressure on some organisms which could drive extinctions. And when the oxygen-rich waters expand, the new space allows the survivors to rise to ecological dominance.”



These habitable spaces lasted for millions of years, which provided enough time for early ecosystems to develop.&nbsp;



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



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

Animal evolution was accelerated by fluctuating oxygen levels

New research from the University of Leeds has revealed that...

Coral reefs are home to much of the biodiversity in the ocean, which is now suffering from the rise of marine heat waves. This has led to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shifting-ocean-conditions-influence-chago-whale-migrations/">migration</a>, where Atlantic species are now appearing more frequently in the Arctic. 



Understanding how biodiversity will adapt to a warming ocean is difficult to identify because of the nature of evolution. While evolution allows species to adapt to new conditions, it also takes place over centuries, making it difficult to capture in laboratory experiments.&nbsp;



With the help of fossils, researchers can look into the past to evaluate how biodiversity changed during comparable climate changes. In a new study, marine geologists and palaeontologists from the <a href="https://www.uni-bremen.de/">University of Bremen</a> and ecologists from the University of Oldenburg have analyzed fossil plankton species in the Atlantic Ocean after the last ice age.&nbsp;



As the oceans continued to warm, the experts found that many species migrated to higher latitudes, as expected. Surprisingly, new species groups also formed in the process, and these group changes did not occur entirely in step with ocean warming.



For the investigation, the researchers looked at species composition of fossil plankton from the North Atlantic during the last ice age 24,000 years ago to the present warm period. This allowed researchers to track how marine biodiversity changed throughout the North Atlantic with the onset of the last warming in Earth's history (after the last ice age).&nbsp;



Unexpected patterns were discovered: the species composition of plankton continued to change even after temperature stabilized in the warm period.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It has long been known that species assemblages change when their environment changes. For instance, when ocean temperatures rise, species migrate to higher latitudes. We can also observe this migration to higher latitudes in our data from the North Atlantic. But the amazing thing is that the 'native' species have not migrated at the same rate,” explained study co-author Anne Strack.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, this asymmetry between immigration and emigration led to the formation of novel species groups that did not exist anywhere on Earth during the ice age. “Even more astonishing, these newly thrown-together communities were not a transient phenomenon, but persisted for several thousand years,” noted Professor Michal Kucera.



The results provide important clues of how marine ecosystems will fare under continued ocean warming. The results also support computer simulations which suggest that future warming will lead to the formation of novel species communities.&nbsp;



The establishment of plankton communities could implicate key ecosystem functions through new direct or indirect ecological interactions. “This study also contributes to how we understand today's rapid biodiversity change, because it shows us that we will not see the response of marine life to present-day environmental changes until far into the future,” said Professor Helmut Hillebrand.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01888-8">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.



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

Marine biodiversity could shift rapidly due to climate change

Coral reefs are home to much of the biodiversity in...

Many species of animals sport markings that subjectively appear to represent vertebrate eyes. These eyespots are conspicuous on the wings of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monarch-butterflies-are-officially-listed-as-endangered/">butterflies</a> and moths, on caterpillars, beetles, fish, reptiles and even some birds, and their potential functions have been discussed and debated by scientists for decades.&nbsp;



In some instances, large eyespots are thought to make an animal appear much bigger than it actually is, leading a predator to think twice about attacking. They are also assumed to protect a prey animal’s vital parts by directing the predator’s attention to the non-vital end (a prey is much more likely to survive a bite to its tail than its head). Most commonly, though, eyespots are assumed to appear intimidating to potential predators such that they choose not to attack at all.



Most of these hypothetical explanations suppose that predators actually see the paired spots as eyes, and not just as splashes of contrasting color that warn of toxicity or noxiousness. There are many conspicuous colors and patterns in the animal kingdom that are aversive to predators but look nothing like eyes – for example, the red and black patterns of certain locusts. Humans might perceive eyespots to look like eyes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that predators do too. They may simply see ‘scary’ conspicuous markings.



In new research, John Skelhorn from the Biosciences Institute at Newcastle University, and Hannah Rowland from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have tested whether eyespots are indeed perceived by predators as eyes. Furthermore, they investigated whether predators would respond more aversively to eyespots that faced them directly, appearing to glare menacingly at them, or to eyespots that faced away from them.



The researchers trained 126 domestic chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) to run along a narrow 50 cm runway and peck a favorite prey item from the wall at the end. The prey item was initially a mealworm, but after the chicks were accustomed to pecking at the prey, the mealworm was subsequently covered with a triangular piece of grey paper representing wings. After a few days of training, all the chicks would run along the runway and attack the concealed mealworm within 2 seconds.&nbsp;



With the training complete, the researchers designed three alternative patterns to be placed on the paper wings. All the wings received a pair of markings that resembled eyes; the outside ring was white (against the grey background of the paper), while the inside circles were of darker grey, resembling an iris. On some of the wings, the iris was displaced to the left or right of the white circle, as though the eyes were looking to the left or to the right respectively. However, on others the iris was directly in the center of the white ring, as though the eyes were looking straight ahead.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Eyes that are depicted as staring straight ahead give rise to an optical illusion known as the Mona Lisa effect, after Leonardo da Vinci’s famously enigmatic painting. Such eyes appear to gaze directly at the observer, wherever he or she stands, be it to the left, right or in front of the staring eyes. Nature seems to have hit upon the same idea here, but in the animal kingdom it can be a matter of life or death. The researchers hypothesized that, if predators do indeed interpret eyespots as potential eyes, they will be more wary of eyespots that seem to stare directly at them.



The trained chicks were made to approach the prey from different angles by moving the runway into a left, central or right position. In addition, the eye spots on the prey’s wings either stared straight ahead or stared to one side, left or right. The researchers then timed how long it took a chick to approach and attack each type of ‘moth’ from each of the three directions.&nbsp;



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.951967">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>, show that chicks were slow to approach from the left when the moth’s eyespots were ‘looking’ to the left, and slow to approach from the right when the moth’s eyespots were ‘looking’ to the right. However, when chicks approached these moths from the opposite direction, there was no hesitancy and they ate the mealworm within about 20 seconds.&nbsp;



In the case of moths with concentric circle eyespots that appeared to gaze directly at the chicks, irrespective of the direction from which they approached, the time taken to eat the mealworm was between 100 and 170 seconds – some chicks failed to eat the prey at all, even though they were given up to 10 minutes to do so.&nbsp;



The researchers say their results show that the chicks perceived the artificial eyespots as actual eyes and that the eyespots were most effective when they appeared to gaze at the predator. This suggests that eyespots consisting of concentric circles could offer greater protection than eyespots with left- or right-shifted central circles in situations where individual predators approach from a range of different directions, just like the portraits that maintain eye contact from wherever you stand. They conclude that this probably explains why concentric circle eyespots are so common in nature.&nbsp;



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

Eyespots on moth wings use optic illusion to deter predators

Many species of animals sport markings that subjectively appear to...

Through a randomized online experiment with 295 participants, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Human Development</a> has investigated how traffic noise and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birdsong-frequency-is-influenced-by-sexual-selection/">birdsong</a> affect mood, paranoia, and cognitive functioning. The analysis revealed that listening to birdsong reduces anxiety and paranoia, thus contributing to mental health.



The participants listened to six minutes of either typical traffic noise or birdsongs. Before and after hearing these clips, the participants had to fill in questionnaires assessing their mental health and to perform a series of cognitive tests. 



“Everyone has certain psychological dispositions. Healthy people can also experience anxious thoughts or temporary paranoid perceptions,” explained study lead author Emil Stobbe, a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Neuroscience at Max Planck.



“The questionnaires enable us to identify people’s tendencies without their having a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and paranoia and to investigate the effect of the sounds of birds or traffic on these tendencies.”&nbsp;



While birdsong appeared to reduce anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants, it did not seem to have an influence on depressive states. By contrast, listening to traffic noise worsened such states, particularly if the audio clip involved many different types of traffic sounds. While the positive effect of birdsong on mood was already well-known, this study is the first to reveal a positive effect on paranoid states. However, neither birdsong nor traffic noise influenced cognitive performance.



According to the researchers, birdsong could be a subtle indication of an intact natural environment, detracting the listeners’ attention from environmental stressors which could otherwise signal an acute and imminent threat. These findings suggest the possibility of applications in the treatment of mental illness, such as the active manipulation of background noise in various situations or the examination of its influences on people suffering from anxiety disorders or paranoia.



„Birdsong could also be applied to prevent mental disorders. Listening to an audio CD would be a simple, easily accessible intervention. But if we could already show such effects in an online experiment performed by participants on a computer, we can assume that these are even stronger outdoors in nature,” Dr. Stobbe said.



“We were recently able to perform a study showing that a one-hour walk in nature reduces brain activity associated with stress,” added senior author Simone Kühn, a professor of Environmental Neuroscience at Max Planck. “We cannot say yet which features of nature – smells, sounds, color, or a combination thereof – are responsible for the effect. The present study provides a further building block to clarify this issue,” she concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20841-0">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



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

Listening to birdsongs can improve mental health

Through a randomized online experiment with 295 participants, a team...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.utu.fi/en">University of Turku</a> in Finland has found that Roundup, a widely used herbicide containing glyphosate, affects the learning and memory of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-in-low-quality-habitats-are-more-susceptible-to-disease/">bumblebees</a>. According to the experts, even after exposure to relatively small doses, bumblebees’ ability to learn and memorize connections between colors and tastes seemed to be impaired – a problem that could significantly diminish their foraging and nesting success.



The researchers exposed bumblebees to an acute dose of herbicide that pollinating bumblebees might be exposed to in a sprayed field. Afterwards, they tested their learning and memory capacities in a ten-color discrimination task, in which the bumblebees learned to associate five specific colors with a rewarding sugary solution, and other five colors with an aversive quinine solution.



While the bumblebees in the control group learned to distinguish colors associated with sweet sugar water from those associated with a bad-tasting compound and could remember what they learned even after three days, those exposed to the herbicide managed to learn significantly less and forgot almost everything they had learned in just a few days.



However, the herbicide treatment did not seem to affect bumblebees’ performance in an easier two-color discrimination task or a ten-odor discrimination task. These findings suggest that, although exposure to the herbicide does not make bumblebees completely color or odor blind, it does impair their fine color vision.



“We focused on the cognitive traits of the bees because these traits determine the successful foraging and social behavior of social insects and therefore their fitness. I am really worried. Even one very small acute dose had a harmful effect on the bumblebees,” said study lead author Marjo Helander, a biologist at the University of Turku. “The result is even more worrying when you take into account how much glyphosate-containing herbicides are used globally.”



“The results are quite worrying considering the importance of color vision for bumblebees. Even small disturbances in color vision can be catastrophic in terms of foraging and nesting success,” concluded study senior author Olli Loukola, a behavioral ecologist at the same university.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722063975">Science of the Total Environment</a>.



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

Popular herbicide impairs bumblebee color vision

A new study led by the University of Turku in...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">UNSW Sydney</a>, in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations, has developed a way to classify the world's ecosystems. This development aids ecosystem typology, a relatively new approach to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-hotspots-for-soil-conservation-are-poorly-protected/">conservation</a>.



"For the first time, we have a common platform that identifies, defines and describes the full suite of the whole planet's ecosystems," said Professor David Keith, who led the team with Richard Kingsford and Emily Nicholson.



"It may seem rather odd that we haven't had this before, but historically scientists have forged advances by working somewhat separately in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. This is the first time that all of this detailed knowledge has been brought together into a single framework taking advantage of common theory across the disciplines."



The experts believe this research will aid conservation policy since it offers a clearer picture. "It's very hard to see the big picture on a jigsaw puzzle until you have all the pieces in place – and that's what we now have. We have a much more substantial foundation to move ahead with a new era of ecosystem conservation and management policy," said Professor Kingsford.



"Efforts on biodiversity conservation have largely centered at the species level, because it's seen to be more tangible," explained Professor Keith. "But a broader focus on both ecosystems and species is more likely to succeed in conserving all plants and animals, as well as the essential services that nature provides people."



Professor Keith noted that by using <a href="https://global-ecosystems.org/">global ecosystem typology</a>, conservationists are more likely to consider lesser-studied ecosystems. "We don't think often about what's in the deep oceans, for example. There's a tremendous variety of life down there and it's organised into a number of different ecosystems. And those ecosystems are beginning to feel the impact of human expansion."



Future analyses will focus on mapping and monitoring the world’s ecosystems. "Although many of the world's 110 ecosystem types are already served with high quality maps updatable with satellite technology, the data for some other types is still rudimentary,'' said Professor Keith.



"We can't plan effectively where to protect ecosystems or how to manage them sustainably unless we have reliable maps for the full range of ecosystem types, and integrate them into decision-making and monitoring systems."



This study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05318-4">Nature</a>.



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

Ecosystems classified for the first time across the entire planet

A research team led by UNSW Sydney, in collaboration with...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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</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.

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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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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