High in northern Peru, three frogs no bigger than a thumbprint have stepped out of anonymity and into the scientific spotlight. Their world is a maze of wet cliffs, dripping bromeliads, and wind‑scoured ridges where moss carpets the rocks.



“They’re <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-frog-day-2025-protecting-natures-tiny-guardians/">small</a> and unassuming, but these frogs are powerful reminders of how much we still don’t know about the Andes,” said Germán Chávez of the Center for Ornithology and Biodiversity (<a href="https://corbidi.org/">CORBIDI</a>). 



Chávez and his colleagues trekked those ridges between 2021 and 2024, often in freezing rain, to reach calling sites above 9,000 feet.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mountains-support-unique-frog-species">Mountains support unique frog species</h2>



The <a href="https://blog.pensoft.net/2025/06/27/hidden-gems-in-the-mist-three-new-frog-species-uncovered-in-northern-peru/cordillera-de-huancabamba-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cordillera de Huancabamba</a> forms a natural break in the Andes, splitting watersheds and isolating species. 



Ecologists classify the region as a <a href="https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/tropicalandes_techsummary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biodiversity hotspot</a>, one of only thirty‑five on Earth where extraordinary endemism collides with severe habitat loss.



"The Cordillera de Huancabamba is not just a remote range - it's a living archive of biodiversity and cultural legacy," said Wilmar Aznaran. "And we've barely scratched the surface."



Isolation breeds novelty, and novelty fills the genus Pristimantis. With 619 described species, Pristimantis is now the most diverse <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whistling-forest-frogs-recently-discovered-may-be-wiped-out-before-we-learn-about-them/">amphibian</a> genus on the planet.



The new frogs, Pristimantis chinguelas, P. nunezcortezi, and P. yonke, occupy different niches along the same ridge. One clings to cliff faces, one prowls leaf litter beside clear streams, and the smallest tucks itself deep inside tank bromeliads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confirming-the-new-species">Confirming the new species</h2>



Night surveys began after dusk, when temperatures hovered near 50 °F and fog erased headlamp beams. Team members listened for faint “peep” notes that barely rose above dripping leaves. 



Finding a caller did not end the chase. Each frog had to be photographed, swabbed for DNA, measured, and released without harming delicate skin.



Back in Lima, the researchers compared mitochondrial 16S sequences. Genetic distances exceeded the three‑percent threshold herpetologists often use to flag separate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/missing-frog-species-alsodes-vittatus-resurfaces-after-130-years/">species</a>, clinching the case for formal description.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-many-amphibians-are-poorly-studied">Many amphibians are poorly studied </h2>



All three newcomers enter the IUCN books as <a href="https://www.thebhs.org/publications/the-herpetological-bulletin/issue-number-169-autumn-2024/4079-03-how-many-data-deficient-amphibians-are-threatened-iucn-red-list-assessments-for-amphibian-species-previously-classed-as-data-deficient" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Data Deficient</a>, meaning scientists lack enough information to judge extinction risk. 



The label sounds neutral, yet recent reassessments show that roughly half of amphibians that start as Data Deficient later prove threatened.



Formal names unlock funding and legal tools that nameless creatures rarely receive. Conservation plans, environmental‑impact statements, and protected‑area budgets almost always hinge on a taxon’s standing in recognized databases.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-indicators-of-climate-shifts">Indicators of climate shifts</h2>



The Cordillera de Huancabamba isn't just a biological goldmine, it’s wrapped in layers of folklore. In nearby villages, frogs are often seen as signs of rain or omens tied to agriculture and spiritual beliefs.



This cultural lens makes local communities key allies for conservation. When researchers name <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-lead-the-way-in-developing-new-antibiotics/">species</a> after regional icons or traditions, like P. yonke, they honor local identity and encourage stewardship.



Unlike most frogs, species in the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/64811-Pristimantis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pristimantis genus</a> bypass the tadpole stage entirely. They hatch from eggs as fully formed froglets, ready to climb, hop, and call without ever entering water.



This reproductive shortcut allows them to thrive in places where standing water is rare or seasonal. It also makes them sensitive indicators of climate shifts and microhabitat changes in mountain ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-frog-species-in-fire-prone-habitats">Frog species in fire-prone habitats</h2>



Each frog occupies an area smaller than four square miles, hemmed in by crop fields and fire scars. Peru recorded about 10,400 wildfires in 2024, more than double its previous record, burning grasslands and cloud‑forest edges alike.



P. chinguelas calls from a road‑cut cliff where charred bamboo still smells of smoke. P. nunezcortezi shares a single stream corridor that now borders new potato plots.



P. yonke lives higher, inside bromeliads at roughly 9,800 feet, in what locals call the <a href="https://lacgeo.com/northern-andean-paramo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">páramo</a>, a chilly grassland‑wetland mosaic perched above the treeline. 



Páramo vegetation stores water like a sponge, so every lost bromeliad weakens both the frogs and the human communities farther down‑slope.



“Exploring this area is more than fieldwork - it’s an immersion into wilderness, culture, and resilience,” said Karen Victoriano‑Cigüeñas.&nbsp;



"Many of these mountain&nbsp;ridges&nbsp;are isolated, with no roads and extreme terrain," noted Ivan Wong. "The weather shifts within minutes, and the steep cliffs make every step a challenge. It's no wonder so few scientists have worked here before. But that's exactly why there's still so much to find."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-the-new-frog-species">Protecting the new frog species </h2>



No one has recorded the breeding calls of P. nunezcortezi or P. yonke, so females remain unverified. Diet, predators, and lifespan also remain mysteries for all three species.



Future expeditions will test whether the frogs persist on neighboring ridges or whether each ridge hosts its own micro‑endemic. 



Acoustic monitors and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.2353" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eDNA traps</a> could reveal silent populations hiding in moss tunnels or bromeliad tanks beyond the reach of hikers.



For now, the frogs depend on local goodwill. Community fire patrols, low‑impact grazing, and small protected micro‑reserves can buy time while researchers gather the missing data.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://evolsyst.pensoft.net/article/148522/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evolutionary Systematics</a>.



Image Credit: Germán Chávez et. al



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Three new frog species found in Peru face an uncertain future

High in northern Peru, three frogs no bigger than a thumbprint have stepped out of anonymity and into the scientific spotlight. Their world is a maze of wet cliffs, dripping bromeliads, and wind‑scoured ridges where moss carpets the rocks. “They’re small and unassuming, but these frogs are powerful reminders of how much we still don’t know about the Andes,” said Germán Chávez of the Center for Ornithology and Biodiversity (CORBIDI). Chávez and his colleagues trekked those ridges between 2021 and 2024, often in freezing rain, to reach...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.4012">Ecosphere</a> has found that spotted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hyena-scavenging-brings-health-and-economic-benefits/">hyenas</a> (Crocuta crocuta) are able to adjust to a reduced presence of migratory prey in their territories induced by climate change. An observation-based dataset spanning three decades has revealed that, although the substantial increase in annual rainfall during this period halved the presence of migratory herbivores inside the hyenas’ territories in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, it did not affect female hyenas’ access to prey and the successful nursing of their offspring.



Changes in the timing and amount of precipitation can alter vegetation growth and hence the distribution of migratory herbivores, such as the zebras or blue wildebeest from Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem. Ultimately, such climate changes may influence the location of feeding areas for predators like the spotted hyenas, who feed upon these herbivores.



However, by daily monitoring three clans of spotted hyenas from 1990 to 2019, researchers from the <a href="https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/home.html">Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research</a> in Germany (Leibniz-IZW) and the <a href="https://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/en/">Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology</a> in France (CEFE) have made a surprising discovery: spotted hyenas seemed perfectly able to adjust their foraging behavior to shifts in migratory prey presence in their territories that were linked to climate-related changes.&nbsp;



The scientists found that, although increases in rainfall volume over the years were correlated with a decrease in the presence of migratory herbivores, maternal den attendance of hyenas (the presence of lactating hyenas with entirely milk-dependent offspring at communal dens) did not decrease, matching periods of high prey abundance.



“The presence of mothers at the communal den is a key behavior directly related to cub survival. Spotted hyenas in the Serengeti National Park reproduce throughout the year. Their cubs entirely depend on milk for their first six months of life,” explained study co-authors Dr. Marion East and Professor Heribert Hofer, senior scientists at the Leibniz-IZW.



“When large aggregations of migratory herbivores occur in the clan territory, all lactating mothers feed inside the territory and nurse their cubs daily. When migratory herds are absent, there is no other prey around and females fuel milk production by regularly commuting to distant areas to feed on migratory herbivores. After one to several days, they return to the communal dens to nurse their cubs.”



According to the researchers, these findings suggest that hyenas may not so much rely on expectations of where aggregations of migratory herds should be at a given time, but rather employ other means of locating good foraging locations when commuting, such as observing the movements and behaviors of well-fed members of their clan, or using established commuting routes that cross many territories.



Thus, hyenas appear particularly well-suited to cope with changes in the presence of their prey in their territories induced by climate change. “This indicates a high plasticity in the response of this keystone predator to environmental variability,” concluded study co-author Dr. Sarah Cubaynes, a scientist at CEFE.



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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

Spotted hyenas change their foraging behavior to adapt

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

A new longitudinal study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a> has found that deep in the Panamanian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-rainforest-is-creeping-closer-to-a-tipping-point/">rainforest</a> – a region belonging to the so-called “Neotropics” - bird populations have been declining over the past 44 years. According to the researchers, 70 percent of understory bird species have declined between 1977 and 2020, with the vast majority of them being down by half or even more.



“Many of these are species you would expect to be doing fine in a 22,000-hectare national park that has experienced no major land use change for at least 50 years,”&nbsp;said study lead author Henry Pollock, a postdoctoral researcher in Ecology at the University of Illinois. “It was very surprising.”



According to Dr. Pollock, loss of birds from any habitat can threaten the integrity of the entire ecosystem, since the birds play fundamental ecological roles such as seed dispersion, pollination, or insect consumption. Declines in bird populations could endanger tree reproduction and regeneration, thus impacting the entire structure of the forest.



Over the past 43 years, the scientists captured more than 15,000 unique birds representing nearly 150 species and gathered sufficient data to closely follow the dynamics of 57 of these species. They noted marked declines in 40 of these species (70 percent), and 35 species lost at least half of their initial populations. During this period, only a species of hummingbird and one species of puffbird appeared to increase.



“At the beginning of the study in 1977, we'd catch 10 or 15 of many species. And then by 2020, for a lot of species, that would be down to five or six individuals,” said Pollock.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Dr. Pollock and his colleagues noted declines across three broad categories: common forest birds, species which migrate seasonally across different elevations, and “edge” species living in the transition zones between open and closed-canopy forests.



While the declines among the last two groups were easily explained by increased forest fragmentation in the past years, the decline among common species is the less understood and most alarming phenomenon.&nbsp;



“The bottom line is these are birds that should be doing well in that forest. And for whatever reason, they aren’t. We were very surprised,” said study co-author Jeff Brawn, a professor of Sustainability at the University of Illinois.



The scientists hypothesize that some of the causes leading to these declines include changing amounts of rainfall, food resources, and reproductive rates, many of which can be tied to climate change.



“Almost half the world’s birds are in the Neotropics, but we really don’t have a good handle on the trajectories of their populations. So, I think it's very important that more ecological studies be done where we can establish trends and mechanisms of decline in these populations. And we need to do it damn quick,” Professor Brawn concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2108731119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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

Bird populations are declining in the Neotropics

A new longitudinal study led by the University of Illinois...

Birds are important visitors to coffee plantations because they prey on insects, like the coffee berry borer, that would otherwise harm the coffee beans or plants. In addition, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weeds-are-much-more-valuable-to-pollinators-than/">pollinating insects</a> are crucial for the fertilization of the coffee flowers, so they are also welcome visitors to coffee farms. But a new study, conducted by scientists from Latin America and the U.S., indicates that these two natural forces have more of an impact when they work together.&nbsp;



“Until now, researchers have typically calculated the benefits of nature separately, and then simply added them up,” said lead author Alejandra Martínez-Salinas of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica. “But nature is an interacting system, full of important synergies and trade-offs. We show the ecological and economic importance of these interactions, in one of the first experiments at realistic scales in actual farms.” &nbsp;



Researchers manipulated visits by insects and birds to the coffee plants on 30 different coffee farms in the U.S. and Latin America. They excluded birds by covering the plants with large nets, and excluded pollinating insects using small lace bags that were placed over the flowers.&nbsp;



The experts set up four experimental scenarios: allowing bird activity alone (pest control), bee activity alone (pollination), no bird or bee activity at all, and finally, leaving trees in a natural condition, where bees and birds were free to pollinate and eat insects at will.



The results, published today in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, show that the combined positive effects of birds and bees on fruit set, fruit weight, and fruit uniformity – all important factors in determining quality and price – were greater than the sum of their individual contributions.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Overall, the study indicated that without birds and bees (and other pollinating insects), the average yield declined nearly 25 percent. This represents a reduction in income of roughly $1,066 per hectare, which would be highly significant for the $26 billion coffee industry. All those involved, including consumers, farmers, and corporations that prepare and package coffee, depend on nature’s unpaid labor for this popular product.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“These results suggest that past assessments of individual ecological services - including major global efforts like IPBES [Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services] - may actually underestimate the benefits biodiversity provides to agriculture and human wellbeing,” said Taylor Ricketts of the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a>. “These positive interactions mean ecosystem services are more valuable together than separately.”&nbsp;



The researchers were very surprised to find that many of the birds providing pest control in the coffee plantations in Costa Rica were migrants that had flown thousands of miles from Canada and the U.S. In fact, some spent their summers in Vermont, exactly where the UVM scientists taking part in this study hailed from.



The team is also studying how changing farm landscapes impact the ability of birds and bees to deliver benefits to coffee production. They are supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act.&nbsp;



“One important reason we measure these contributions is to help protect and conserve the many species that we depend on, and sometimes take for granted,” said Natalia Aristizábal, a PhD candidate at UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment and Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. “Birds, bees, and millions of other species support our lives and livelihoods, but face threats like habitat destruction and climate change.”&nbsp;



In addition to Martínez-Salinas (Nicaragua), Ricketts (USA), Aristizábal (Colombia), the international research team from CATIE included&nbsp;Adina Chain-Guadarrama (México), Sergio Vilchez Mendoza (Nicaragua), and Rolando Cerda (Bolivia).&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

The birds and the bees boost coffee production

Birds are important visitors to coffee plantations because they prey...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-destroyed-14-percent-of-the-worlds-coral-reefs/">Coral</a> reefs are often described by scientists as the rainforests of the ocean, since they host a high diversity of species and play a fundamental role in the proper functioning of marine ecosystems. Recently, climate change and local threats such as overfishing have caused a marked global decline in corals, making researchers ponder whether our planet will still have healthy, functional reefs in the near future. However, it is not yet clear what makes a coral reef functional.



By analyzing more than 500 coral reefs worldwide, a new study led by the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawai’I at Mānoa</a> has argued that five key functions performed by fish communities residing in coral reefs – the removal of algae, predation, biomass production, and the cycling of phosphorous and nitrogen – are inherently interconnected and need to remain in a delicate balance in order for the reefs to function properly. According to the scientists, while the performance of these processes is influenced by the community structure of fishes in any given reef, no reef can maximize all of the processes simultaneously.



“Imagine a coral reef fish community swirling with small fishes that feed on algae,” said study lead author Nina Schiettekatte, a postdoctoral fellow at UH Mānoa. “This community will be characterized by high algal consumption and high biomass production, but it will have low phosphorus cycling because these species excrete very little phosphorus.”



The discovery that no coral reef can excel in all functions led researchers to wonder whether there is a certain set of species that is more important than others in maintaining reef stability and health. Surprisingly, they found that no single species was consistently important in all locations where it was found, but half of all species played a crucial role in at least one location.



“This means that there are no global super-hero fish species for ecosystem functioning,” said study co-author Sébastien Villéger, a researcher at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.occitanie-est.cnrs.fr/fr">National Center of Scientific Research</a> (CNRS) in Montpellier, France. “But there are many local super heroes.”



“This work really changes the way we need to think about coral reef conservation,” added study co-author Simon Brandl, an assistant professor of Marine Ecology at the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a>. “Since we cannot maximize all aspects of functioning, we clearly need to develop a more nuanced approach to conserving coral reefs that considers local species, ecosystem dynamics, and stakeholder needs.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01710-5">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</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

Coral reefs must strike a delicate balance in order to function

Coral reefs are often described by scientists as the rainforests...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/en">University of Lisbon</a> reveals that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-does-not-always-decrease-food-diversity/">urbanization</a> impacts the personalities of individual shrews. The greater white-toothed shrew is expanding its range in Europe and has been identified as invasive on some islands in Ireland. In order to predict where else shrews may emerge, it is important to understand how these small mammals adapt so rapidly to new environments.



"Urban environments differ in many aspects from natural or rural ones and thus pose challenges for many animal species. Some of these challenges have been connected to the observation that urban individuals of many animal taxa are bolder and more aggressive than their rural conspecifics," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Apart from average behavioral differences between rural and urban populations, the variation of such behaviours within these populations may differ, enabling them to deal with the spatially and temporally heterogeneous habitats within cities. Here we tested average differences in behavior as well as the components of variation in these behaviors in rural and urban populations of shrews."



Beyond confirming that urban shrews are more active and aggressive, the researchers have discovered that shrews from urban environments differ more in their individual behavior than those in rural environments.



“Possibly, such diverse city personalities are caused by the high spatial and temporal heterogeneity in urban environments,” explained study first author Sophie von Merten.



The shrews that were observed for the study came from a diverse assortment of sites, ranging from small patches of vegetation on a busy university campus to city parks or green spaces located next to a noisy highway. Furthermore, the same results were found in two different species of shrews: the greater white-toothed shrew and the common shrew.



“The fact that similar results were found in two species that are so different to each other hints at a general pattern," said study co-author Professor Leszek Rychlik. “As cities are continuously growing around the globe, studies like ours are important to better understand of the consequences of urbanization on wild animals. Ultimately this might help us to protect biodiversity."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/animal-behaviour">Animal Behaviour</a>.



Image Credit: Ana Cerveira



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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

City shrews have bigger personalities

A new study from the University of Lisbon reveals that...

Many species of large-bodied, land <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/large-mammals-play-a-role-in-combating-climate-change/">mammals</a> went extinct in the late Quaternary Period, between 115,000 and 500 years ago. These megafaunal extinctions are usually attributed to changing climatic conditions during this time, as well as to the impacts of hunting by humans. However, not all of the mammal species went extinct. Previous research has shown that mammals with larger bodies had an increased risk of extinction,&nbsp;although even this does not tell the whole story.



There are many mammal taxa (groups of related species) with some representatives that went extinct while others, of similar body size, survived into modern times. Jacob Dembitzer, from the School of Zoology, University of Tel Aviv, and colleagues, hypothesized that brain size may also have been a factor in whether mammalian species went extinct. They set out to determine whether there is a difference in brain size between extant (living) species and those that went extinct during the Late Quaternary, after accounting for differences in body size.&nbsp;



To do this, they measured the endocast volume (a measure of cranial capacity) of 291 living mammal species and 50 that went extinct during the Late Quaternary. In total, the researchers collected data on the volumes of 3,616 specimen skulls, with a median of three specimens per species, to calculate brain size. They used previously published research data on mammal body mass and extinction dates.&nbsp;



The species belonged to a total of 10 taxonomic orders, nine of which have both extinct and extant members, meaning that comparisons could be made between closely related species. More than half of the dataset was made up of species belonging to the Xenarthrans (sloths, armadillos and anteaters), Proboscideans (mastodons, mammoths and elephants), and Primates, which reflects a good cross-section of species that went extinct during the Late Quaternary.



The findings of the investigation, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>, showed that the major factor correlated with risk of extinction was indeed body size, as expected. However, brain size was also a significant predictor of extinction. In a linear regression model, extant species had endocast volumes that were 83 percent larger, on average, than similar-sized extinct counterparts. The brain size was still 53 percent larger in extant species when mammalian order was used as a random effect.



The authors suggest that having a larger brain would have predisposed certain mammalian species to cope better with changes in climate, habitat and predation scenarios during the Late Quaternary Period. They feel that differences in brain size may explain why some large mammals went extinct (e.g., the relatively small brained&nbsp;Mammut americanum) while others, such as the large brained extant elephants (Elephas maximus&nbsp;and&nbsp;Loxodonta africana), survived.&nbsp;



Interestingly, extinct species from the mammalian orders Notoungulata, Pilosa (sloths and anteaters), Cingulata (armadillos), and Diprotodontia (marsupials) possessed, on average, the smallest brains (relative to body size) of any species in the dataset). Almost no large-bodies species from these orders have survived to modern times as the risk of extinction probably increased with body size and with small brain capacity.



The authors propose that, on the other hand, larger brain size may have helped large-bodied species that were prone to extinction anyway, to survive. A larger brain may have helped species to adapt quickly to changes such as increased hunting by humans, and may have meant the species were able to remember several sources of food and water within a changing landscape.



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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

Greater risk of extinction for large-bodied mammals in the past

Many species of large-bodied, land mammals went extinct in the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> has found that infant monkeys conceived while their mothers were naturally exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aerosols-in-wildfire-smoke-can-affect-the-climate-for-days/">wildfire smoke</a> shown significant behavioral changes compared to those conceived a few days after the exposure. These findings prove the importance of timing in the effects of smoke exposure during pregnancy, and suggest that exposure to such pollutants could have similar impacts on human infants.



“I think this will have an effect on future studies of exposures in pregnancy, because we’ll know when to look,” said study senior author Bill Lasley, a professor emeritus of Population Health and Reproduction at UC Davis. According to Lasley, existing studies of environmental exposure to pollutants during pregnancy in humans are largely retrospective, since women may not even realize that they are pregnant until weeks into the first trimester.



The Camp Fire – one of the largest and deadliest wildfires in California’s history – began on November 8, 2018 and provided a natural experiment in the effects of smoke exposure. At the peak of the breeding season for rhesus macaques housed in outdoor corrals at the <a href="https://cnprc.ucdavis.edu/">California National Primate Center</a> in Davis, the smoke blanketed the area, exposing many of the pregnant monkeys.



The 89 macaques conceived around that time were born approximately six months later. The researchers divided them into 52 animals conceived on or before November 22 – which were considered to be exposed to wildfire smoke during the first trimester – and 37 that were conceived later.



According to the scientists, the smoke exposed monkey infants showed increases in markers of inflammation, reduced cortisol responses to stress, memory deficits, and more passive temperaments than those conceived later. These effects appear similar to those identified in studies of prenatal exposure to air pollution, and are probably caused by airborne hydrocarbons such as phthalates, which were found in the smoke from the Camp Fire.



Unlike in the case of other mammals, the placenta of primates such as monkeys or humans produces hormones supporting brain development through the adrenal system. “Since fetal adrenal glands are the source of cortisol and other steroids for neurologic development, which determines behaviors, a scenario of a placenta-adrenal-brain axis could be the causal pathway,” explained Professor Lasley.



Further research is needed to clarify whether smoke exposure in humans could cause similar effects. The scientists are now beginning a prospective study on women with implanted embryos as a result of in vitro fertilization, since the time of conception is exactly known if the women are incidentally exposed to wildfire smoke or other types of pollutants.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29436-9">Nature Communications</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

Wildfire smoke exposure changes behavior of infant monkeys

A new study led by the University of California, Davis...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.su.se/cmlink/stockholm-university">Stockholm University</a> has found that longer and warmer autumns make it less likely that green-veined white <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-of-monarch-butterflies-are-killed-by-parasites-yearly/">butterflies</a> – a species common throughout Europe and the United Kingdom - will survive winter. Although the butterflies exposed to warmer conditions did not die immediately, those that experienced them were less likely to survive to adulthood the following spring.



“Climate change is making autumns warmer and last longer, and it was this specific combination of conditions that had the greatest impact on the butterflies in our study,” said study lead author Dr. Matthew Nielsen, a postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm University. “We show that stressful conditions experienced at one time of year can have lasting negative consequences at other times of year, linking changes in one season to consequences in others.”



According to Dr. Nielsen, animals which enter a dormant stage through the winter are particularly vulnerable to increasing temperatures because this raises their metabolic rates, making them run out of energy faster. “Even though dormant animals use less energy than active animals, they use more when it’s warmer, and they can’t eat to replace that lost energy. It is already established that warmer winters are actually worse for dormant animals than colder ones, and our findings show that warmer autumns are potentially even more dangerous,” he said.



In laboratory conditions, the scientists exposed the chrysalises of butterflies to simulated autumn conditions of varying temperature and length and found that those exposed to warmer and longer conditions lost significantly more weight and used more energy than those exposed to milder conditions.



Since the study was performed in the lab, it may be difficult to extrapolate these findings to populations in the wild that are exposed to natural seasonal and daily variations. However, according to the researchers, such variations could in fact further intensify the metabolic costs of autumn conditions.



The scientists are now expanding their research to explore the effects of climate change on butterflies in more detail and assess the effects of different seasons. “In our study we only considered survival to adulthood, but there could be even more negative effects later in life, for example on the ability to find mates or the number of eggs laid. Studying how warming in autumn, winter, and spring interact will also be key to understanding the actual impacts of climate change on dormant animals,” Dr. Nielsen concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14037">Functional Ecology</a>.



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

Warmer autumns reduce the life expectancy of butterflies

A new study led by Stockholm University has found that...

Light <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-is-a-major-risk-factor-for-heart-attacks/">pollution</a> can be a real problem for migratory birds that fly by night. Light can attract but also confuse birds, causing them to fly into buildings and become injured or die.&nbsp;



Some migratory birds are facing more light pollution on both ends of their migrations, according to new research from scientists at the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Ornithology Lab</a> and Colorado State University.



“The southeastern United States, Mexico, and especially Central America are important migration corridors," said study lead author Frank La Sorte of the Cornell Lab. "Evidence that nocturnally migrating birds are encountering increasing light pollution levels within these regions is concerning. Birds largely avoid light during the breeding and non-breeding season. During migration, however, these associations break down as birds travel across a wide range of habitats, including populated areas that contain higher light pollution levels."



Although light pollution is decreasing in some parts of the Americas, the researchers found an increase in about 16 percent of the land area of the western hemisphere. By contrast, only seven percent of the area had a decline in light pollution.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Using eBird, a popular citizen science web service, the scientists looked into the occurrence of 42 species of migratory birds. The bird occurrences were then correlated with light pollution data collected by satellite over 22 years.&nbsp;



The scientists found that all of the birds experienced increases in light pollution, with birds migrating through Central America facing the greatest increases. Conversely, birds living year round in the northeastern US had the smallest amounts of light pollution increases, in fact much of this region has decreased in light pollution.&nbsp;



"Reversing light pollution trends in Central America, especially during the spring, and launching Lights Out programs during intense migration periods could save a substantial number of migrating birds," said study co-author Kyle Horton of Colorado State University. “Reversing light pollution trends in the southeastern United States during the summer breeding season and in Central America during the winter non-breeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration periods."



The researchers hope that by identifying the biggest problem areas of light pollution, a plan might be developed to help migratory birds facing too much light.&nbsp;



The study was published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21508925">Ecosphere</a>.&nbsp;



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

Light pollution is a growing issue for migratory birds

Light pollution can be a real problem for migratory birds...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/">University of Bonn</a>, some species of fish such as cichlids and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protruding-eyes-and-snout-improve-stingray-hydrodynamics/">stingrays</a> can perform simple additions and subtractions in the number range of one to five. Although it is not yet known what the animals need their mathematical abilities for, these findings provide strong evidence that fish may have more complex cognitive skills than scientists previously thought.



Researchers have long known that cichlids and stingrays can detect small quantities of objects precisely, and presumably without counting. For instance, they can be easily trained to reliably distinguish quantities of three from quantities of four. However, it appears that both species can even calculate.&nbsp;



“We trained the animals to perform simple additions and subtractions,” said study lead author Vera Schluessel, a professor of Zoology at Bonn. “In doing so, they had to increase or decrease an initial value by one.”



In order to do this, Professor Schluessel and her colleagues used a method that has previously been employed to test the mathematical abilities of bees. They presented the fish with a collection of geometric shapes, such as four squares. The color of the objects signified the arithmetical operation that needed to be performed: blue for addition, and yellow for subtraction.



After showing them the initial group of objects, such as four squares, the fish were presented with two new pictures – one with three and one with five squares. If they swam to the correct picture (for instance to the one with five squares in the “blue” arithmetic task), they were rewarded with food. Over a period of time, they learned to associate the blue color with an increase of one in the amount shown at the beginning, and the yellow number with a decrease of one. Moreover, the fish managed to reliably perform these operations even if the groups of objects were formed of different shapes, such as one triangle, two squares, and one circle.



“So the animals had to recognize the number of objects depicted and at the same time infer the calculation rule from their color,” said Professor Schluessel. “They had to keep both in working memory when the original picture was exchanged for the two result pictures. And they had to decide on the correct result afterwards. Overall, it's a feat that requires complex thinking skills.”



These results are highly surprising, especially considering the fact that fish do not have a neocortex (the part of the brain responsible for complex cognitive tasks in mammals), and confirm the fact that humans often tend to underestimate other animal species, such as fish, which “are quite far down in our favor – and of little concern when dying in the brutal practices of the commercial fishing industry,” according to Professor Schluessel.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07552-2">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

Fish are able to perform simple mathematics

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

When famous dinosaur fossil hunter Barnum Brown discovered the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/were-there-three-distinct-species-of-tyrannosaurus-rex/">Tyrannosaurus Rex</a> fossils in 1900, he thought its arms were too short to belong to the skeleton. His colleague, Henry Fairfield Osborn, who first described and named this specimen, argued that the short arms may have been “pectoral claspers,” or limbs that hold females in place during copulation - which is analogous to how some sharks’ or rays’ pelvic claspers function.&nbsp;



Since then, the shortness of T.rex’s limbs remained a highly debated issue, with scientists proposing various hypotheses, including waving for mate attraction or social signaling, serving as an anchor to allow the dinosaur to get up from the ground, holding down prey, or stabbing enemies. Some paleontologists even claimed that the arms had no function at all.



In a new study, Kevin Padian – a distinguished emeritus professor of Integrative Biology at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, and a curator at the <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/">UC Museum of Paleontology</a> – has proposed a new hypothesis, which he formulated after other paleontologists unearthed evidence that T.rex often hunted in packs, rather than singly, as depicted in many pictures and dioramas.



“Several important quarry sites unearthed in the past 20 years preserve adult and juvenile tyrannosaurs together,” Professor Padian said. “We can’t really assume that they lived together or even died together. We only know that they were buried together. But when you find several sites with the same animals, that’s a stronger signal. And the possibility, which other researchers have already raised, is that they were hunting in groups.”&nbsp;



According to Padian, T.rex’s arms might have shrank in length over several generations in order to prevent accidental or intentional amputation when a pack of T.rexes converged on a carcass with their huge heads and massive, bone-crushing teeth.



“What if several adult tyrannosaurs converged on a carcass? You have a bunch of massive skulls, with incredibly powerful jaws and teeth, ripping and chomping down flesh and bone right next to you. What if your friend there thinks you’re getting a little too close? They might warn you away by severing your arm,” explained Professor Padian.



&nbsp;“Bite wounds on the skull and other parts of the skeleton are well known in tyrannosaurs and other carnivorous dinosaurs. If fewer bite marks were found on the reduced limbs, it could be a sign that reduction worked,” he added.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://app.pan.pl/article/item/app009212021.html">Acta Paleontologica Polonica</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

Why are Tyrannosaurus Rex’s arms so short?

When famous dinosaur fossil hunter Barnum Brown discovered the first...

In 2014 Robert Dudley, a professor of Integrative Biology at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> wrote a famous book proposing the so-called “drunken monkey” hypothesis of how humans’ attraction to alcohol emerged and evolved. According to Dudley, our love of alcohol arose millions of years ago, when our ape and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monkey-sperm-cells-could-treat-human-infertility/">monkey</a> ancestors discovered that the scent of alcohol led them to ripe, fermenting, and highly nutritious fruits. A new study, in which Professor Dudley collaborated with primatologists from <a href="https://www.csun.edu/">California State University, Northridge</a> (CSUN), provides further evidence that this hypothesis may be true.&nbsp;



The researchers collected fruit eaten and discarded by black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Panama and found that the alcohol concentration in the fruit was typically between one and two percent by volume – a by-product of natural fermentation caused by yeasts that consume the sugars from ripening fruits. Moreover, the scientists also collected urine from these free-ranging monkeys and discovered that it contained secondary metabolites of alcohol, suggesting that the animals were actually using the alcohol for energy.



“For the first time, we have been able to show, without a shadow of a doubt, that wild primates, with no human interference, consume fruit-containing ethanol,” said study lead author Christina Campbell, a professor of Anthropology at CSUN. “This is just one study, and more need to be done, but it looks like there may be some truth to that ‘drunken monkey’ hypothesis - that the proclivity of humans to consume alcohol stems from a deep-rooted affinity of frugivorous (fruit-eating) primates for naturally-occurring ethanol within ripe fruit.”



“The study is a direct test of the drunken monkey hypothesis,” added Professor Dudley. “Part one, there is ethanol in the food they're eating, and they're eating a lot of fruit. Then, part two, they're actually metabolizing alcohol - secondary metabolites, ethyl glucuronide, and ethyl sulfate are coming out in the urine. What we don't know is how much of it they're eating and what the effects are behaviorally and physiologically. But it's confirmatory.”



According to Dudley and his colleagues, the monkeys consume fermented fruits for the calories, and probably do not feel much the inebriating effects of alcohol that humans appreciate. This need for highly caloric intake may similarly have influenced human ancestors’ decisions in choosing which fruits to eat. This idea that humans’ natural affinity for alcohol is inherited from our primate ancestors could help society better understand and deal with the adverse consequences of alcohol abuse.



“Excessive consumption of alcohol, as with diabetes and obesity, can then be viewed conceptually as a disease of nutritional excess,” concluded Campbell.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211729">Royal Society Open Science</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

Humans may have inherited a love of alcohol from monkeys

In 2014 Robert Dudley, a professor of Integrative Biology at...

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.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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"

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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

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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