Beautiful,Spider,Web,Close-up,On,The,Background,Of,Nature.,Selective

Scientists have bred spiders that weave bright red, fluorescent draglines, proving that the animals’ silk can be genetically re-engineered inside the living organism. This finding shows a new path toward designer fibers with tunable strength, elasticity, and surface chemistry.



The experiments were carried out by the Biomaterials research group at the <a href="https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bayreuth</a>. Using the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crispr-gene-editing-gets-a-revolutionary-upgrade-with-new-tool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system</a>, the team inserted a fluorescent marker gene into the spiders’ silk-protein DNA, then confirmed the edit when the offspring produced crimson red threads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-spider-silk-excites-engineers"><a></a>Why spider silk excites engineers</h2>



Dragline silk already outperforms many man-made fibers. It resists tearing, stretches without snapping, weighs very little and breaks down harmlessly in nature. 



If its molecular recipe can be tweaked at will, future filaments could combine even greater toughness with added functions ranging from antimicrobial activity to electrical conductivity. Over the past decade CRISPR-Cas9 has become biology’s precision scalpel. 



The enzyme-guide complex targets chosen DNA sites, cuts them, and lets the cell’s own repair crew delete unwanted sequences or patch in new ones. The method has been applied to plants, insects, mice and more, yet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-spiders-have-personalities-what-new-research-reveals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spiders</a> had remained untouched.



“Considering the wide range of possible applications, it is surprising that there have been no studies to date using CRISPR-Cas9 in spiders,” said senior author Thomas Scheibel, a professor of biochemistry at Bayreuth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-egg-injection-to-glowing-fiber"><a></a>From egg injection to glowing fiber</h2>



Scheibel and doctoral researcher Edgardo Santiago-Rivera mixed the gene-editing components with a sequence coding for a red fluorescent protein. They injected this cocktail into unfertilized spider eggs and later mated the females.



Because the edit happened before <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flowers-are-picky-when-choosing-their-mate-for-fertilization/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fertilization</a>, every cell in the brood carried the new blueprint. When the juveniles spun safety lines, the filaments glowed scarlet under blue light, confirming a successful gene knock-in.



“We have demonstrated, for the first time worldwide, that CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to incorporate a desired sequence into spider silk proteins, thereby enabling the functionalization of these silk fibers,” Scheibel said.



“The ability to apply CRISPR gene-editing to spider silk is very promising for materials science research. For example, it could be used to further increase the already high tensile strength of spider silk.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-learned-from-red-spider-silk">Lessons learned from red spider silk</h2>



The fluorescent marker acts as a beacon, showing where and how the modified proteins fold into the fiber. That view should help unravel the still-mysterious link between amino-acid sequence, spinning process, and macroscopic performance.



With the roadmap clearer, scientists can test added modules that stiffen the thread, alter its stickiness or carry therapeutic payloads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-artificial-vs-natural-spider-silk">Artificial vs. natural spider silk</h2>



Earlier attempts to engineer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/holy-grail-artificial-spider-silk-indistinguishable-from-natural-silk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">silk</a> relied on copying genes of spiders into bacteria, yeast, plants or even goats. While those hosts churn out raw protein, the artificial threads seldom match the natural product because spinning in air differs from extrusion through a spider’s duct.



Editing the spider itself preserves the native assembly line, letting researchers fine-tune properties without losing the fiber’s intricate nanostructure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-innovation-and-ecology"><a></a>Balancing innovation and ecology</h2>



The gene-edited arachnids remained confined to secure laboratories, and the team stresses that large-scale production will require strict containment.



Spiders play key roles in ecosystems, so any field release of modified lines would demand careful risk assessment. For now. the focus lies on fundamental insight and small-batch, high-value uses such as surgical sutures or micro-mechanical springs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-next-web-strands-to-come">The next web strands to come</h2>



Having proved that complex proteins can be knitted into dragline <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/holy-grail-artificial-spider-silk-indistinguishable-from-natural-silk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">silk</a>, the Bayreuth group plans to insert sequences that enhance strength, adjust elasticity, or add sensing abilities.



Marker colors beyond red could enable multicolored performance mapping. Researchers also hope to explore the spider’s six other silk types - each specialized for tasks like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spiders-adapt-their-webs-to-filter-out-human-made-noise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">web</a> capture or egg protection - to see how far CRISPR can stretch nature’s design space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turning-point-for-sustainable-fibers">Turning point for sustainable fibers</h2>



By merging a molecular editing toolkit with the planet’s premier fiber spinner, the study opens a fresh chapter in biomaterials science. It hints at a future where customized, biodegradable threads are spun at ambient temperature by miniature eight-legged factories - no smokestacks or petrochemicals required. 



For now, a vivid red glow in a strand of spiders silk stands as proof that the possibilities are real, and only beginning to be woven.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202502068" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Angewandte Chemie</a>.



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World's first gene-edited spiders spin red silk

Scientists have bred spiders that weave bright red, fluorescent draglines, proving that the animals’ silk can be genetically re-engineered inside the living organism. This finding shows a new path toward designer fibers with tunable strength, elasticity, and surface chemistry. The experiments were carried out by the Biomaterials research group at the University of Bayreuth. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, the team inserted a fluorescent marker gene into the spiders’ silk-protein DNA, then confirmed the edit when the offspring produced crimson red threads. Why spider silk excites engineers...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Gut bacteria enhances memory in bees

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Vulture bees have acquired a taste for dead bodies

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Cambodian bats have coronaviruses related to SARS-COV-2

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Dopamine plays a central role in songbird mating

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Ants swap spit to share food and special fluids

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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 predators have outsmarted monarch butterflies

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Fruit bat pups take after their adoptive mothers

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Supersaurus may be the longest dinosaur ever discovered

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

Guinea,Pig,Friends

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Speech sounds elicit similar brain responses in humans and guinea pigs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spiders found on Kangaroo Island were thought to be extinct

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

Isolated tropical birds may represent new species

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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

Scientists find a new way to study venom production

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

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

[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

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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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 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"

[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



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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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