Western Chimpanzee mum and daughter

Young chimpanzees in a West African forest form either trusting or independent ties with their mothers, but they do not display the confused, “disorganized” attachment style seen in many human children. 



That pattern, common among orphaned chimps raised by people, seems to be absent when animals grow up under natural survival pressures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tale-of-two-attachment-styles"><a></a>A tale of two attachment styles</h2>



Field observers followed mother-infant pairs in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire, for four years. They noted the parenting style of the chimpanzees. In particular, the experts studied how youngsters reacted when separated from or reunited with their mothers, and how boldly they explored.



Most fell into one of two familiar human categories. Some were secure: they checked in with their mothers during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stress-eats-away-our-brains-cognitive-defenses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stress</a>, then ranged out with confidence.



Others showed insecure-avoidant attachment: they coped alone and rarely sought comfort. No infant behaved in the erratic, approach-and-retreat fashion that defines disorganized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-way-you-send-emojis-shows-your-attachment-style/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">attachment</a>.



According to attachment theory, secure bonds foster resilience, while insecure or disorganized ties can predict later anxiety or social trouble. In people, about one child in four shows the disorganized style.



Among captive, human-reared chimp orphans the rate soars to three out of five. The absence of that pattern in nature raises a striking possibility: the style may be maladaptive outside of sheltered environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-parenting-style-of-wild-chimpanzees">Parenting style of wild chimpanzees </h2>



Disorganized attachment often follows trauma, fear, or unpredictable care. In forest life, any infant who hesitates at danger may expose itself to leopards, rival males, or territorial disputes. 



“In the wild, we found no evidence of disorganized attachment patterns among chimpanzees, which supports the hypothesis that this type of attachment may not be an adaptive survival strategy in the face of environmental constraints,” said first author Eléonore Rolland, a scientist at the <a href="http://www.isc.cnrs.fr/index.rvt" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Institute of Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod</a>.



If the response ever arises, its bearers probably fail to thrive or reproduce, erasing the trait from the visible population.



Captive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-share-alcoholic-fruit-to-increase-social-bonding/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chimpanzees</a>, by contrast, may live inside small enclosures, face no predators and rely on rotating human keepers. That unstable social mix can trigger the conflicted behaviors catalogued in laboratory tests. 



A parallel may exist for modern children who experience institutional care, high caregiver turnover, or chronic stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzee-lessons-for-parenting">Chimpanzee lessons for parenting</h2>



A deeper look at the findings nudges parents and policymakers to ask hard questions. “Our results deepen our understanding of chimpanzees' social development and show that humans and chimpanzees are not so different after all,” Rolland said.



“But they also make us think: have some modern human institutions or caregiving practices moved away from what is best for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/five-scientifically-proven-steps-for-thriving-infant-development/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">infant development</a>?”



Secure attachment in the forest emerged through steady proximity, gentle reassurance, and the freedom to explore within sight of the mother. Avoidant youngsters still stayed near but preferred self-soothing. Both strategies, the authors argue, work under natural constraints.



The third style appears only when normal mammalian care breaks down. If children in wealthy societies show that style at notable rates, the disruption may lie not in genetics but in caregiving routines: overstretched parents, frequent moves, rushed schedules, devices replacing touch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzee-and-human-attachment">Chimpanzee and human attachment</h2>



“By identifying attachment patterns in wild chimpanzees, we provide important insights into the roots of human social behavior,” said senior author Roman Wittig from the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a>.



The work links psychology with field primatology and anthropology, tracing how early bonds shape adult society across species.



“Our findings suggest that shared attachment strategies in primates may reflect a common evolutionary heritage,” said co-author Catherine Crockford, a scientist at the same institute.



“The high prevalence of disorganized attachment in humans and captive orphan chimpanzees, in contrast to wild chimpanzees, also supports the idea that the rearing environment plays an important role in shaping attachment types.”



That insight underlines a long-standing debate. Are certain emotional disorders products of modern life rather than ancient biology? If wild primates, who share 98 percent of human DNA, avoid a pattern linked to later mood and relationship problems, then context - not species - may tip the scale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conservation-and-child-welfare">Conservation and child welfare</h2>



Protecting chimpanzee habitats does more than save a charismatic animal; it preserves the social conditions that allow normal attachment to flourish. 



Orphan rescue centers might adjust caregiving protocols to reduce inconsistency and replicate maternal security rather than relying on multiple human feeders.



In the human realm, the research supports policies that stabilize early care: parental leave, low child-to-caregiver ratios, trauma-informed schooling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzee-parenting-next-steps">Chimpanzee parenting: Next steps</h2>



The Taï study followed infants until weaning, around age four to five. Future projects could test whether early attachment style predicts later rank, alliance skills, or parenting success.



Researchers also plan to compare <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bonobos-group-cohesion-common-enemy-effect-do-not-kill-inside-their-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bonobos</a>, whose matriarchal societies differ from chimpanzees, and to track hormone levels that might signal stress during separations. 



At the same time, developmental psychologists may revisit human data from cultures with extended family caregiving or from hunter-gatherer groups that mirror ancestral conditions.



If disorganized attachment drops in those settings, it would strengthen the case that modern disruptions - not innate tendencies - fuel the pattern.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trust-risk-and-survival">Trust, risk, and survival</h2>



In the forest canopy, a mother chimp pauses, her infant scrambling over branches before returning to her side. The scene looks simple, yet it echoes deep principles about trust, risk and survival.



By watching our closest relatives, scientists remind us that the first ties we form still guide us decades later - and that nurturing those ties may be one of the most ancient, and vital, tasks any society undertakes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02176-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Human Behavior</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.



-----

What wild chimpanzees can teach us about parenting

Young chimpanzees in a West African forest form either trusting or independent ties with their mothers, but they do not display the confused, “disorganized” attachment style seen in many human children. That pattern, common among orphaned chimps raised by people, seems to be absent when animals grow up under natural survival pressures. A tale of two attachment styles Field observers followed mother-infant pairs in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire, for four years. They noted the parenting style of the chimpanzees. In particular, the experts studied how youngsters...

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an overabundance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strong-ocean-currents-push-red-crabs-far-out-of-their-range/">crabs</a>. A long-term study by researchers at <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UC Santa Cruz</a> in California's Elkhorn Slough revealed that an excessive number of crabs causes tidal creek banks to become more vulnerable to erosion.

The experts report that coastal salt marshes are threatened by erosion that is associated with rising seas, pounding waves, and tidal flows. These vulnerabilities are made worse by superabundant crabs, which are found at their highest densities along the estuary’s tidal creeks.

The striped shore crab can be found all along the West Coast of North America. The study highlights the dual role of these crabs as both consumers of salt marsh vegetation and as ecosystem engineers.

“Their burrowing weakens the creekbank edges, so that whole chunks of marsh will sometimes calve off, and by lowering biomass they are reducing the ability of marsh plants to prevent erosion,” said study lead author Kathryn Beheshti.

The researchers analyzed the effects of crabs on the vegetation and sediments along eroding creekbank edges over the course of five years. They found that reducing crab abundance led to increased growth of salt marsh vegetation and enhanced sediment density.

“Field experiments that span multiple seasons and years are rare,” said study co-author Kerstin Wasson. “This work demonstrates the value of long-term studies by showing that burrows, which weaken the stability of tidal creek banks, persist despite the near absence of the crabs that build them.”

According to study co-author Professor Brent Hughes, the crabs were most abundant in spring and summer, when the pickleweed marshes are at peak production. “This synchrony suggests that the effect of crabs as consumers is more punctuated than their more chronic effect as engineers."

Elkhorn Slough is one of the largest estuaries in California. It has been substantially altered by human activities, and erosion is steadily eating away at the marsh. “It’s a big issue, because when the marsh erodes away along the tidal creeks it’s a permanent loss,” explained Beheshti.

Study co-author Professor Christine Angelini of the University of Florida said that salt marshes in the southeastern United States appear to be a harbinger of what’s to come for marshes along the Pacific coast, with sea-level rise amplifying the effects of what would otherwise be considered an innocuous crab.

The researchers are calling for similar long-term studies to be conducted in other West Coast marsh systems to investigate whether the impacts of crabs are widespread. “It’d be great for contextualizing our findings,” said Beheshti. 

“We’d like to know if Elkhorn Slough is the canary in the coal mine, signaling yet another pathway for accelerated marsh edge loss for one of California's rarest coastal habitats.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21508925">Ecosphere</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Superabundant crabs threaten the resilience of salt marshes

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a>, experts report that mountain lions moved less and downsized their territory during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-antibodies-persist-for-at-least-nine-months/">COVID-19</a> pandemic. The research contradicts the idea that carnivores roam wild in the absence of people. 

“We saw a potential silver lining with COVID, which obviously has been generally a negative thing for everyone,” said study lead author Professor John Benson. “We saw an opportunity to get a better sense of how human disturbance and human activities influence animal behavior.”

During 43 days of lockdowns from late March to early May 2020, mountain lions around the Los Angeles area were monitored with GPS trackers. At this time, most of the parks were closed to the public - including those favored by mountain lions. 

The researchers found that the reclusive animals moved around less and occupied smaller territories compared to before the pandemic.

“There was this popular perception that animals were going to start running free, expanding their home ranges, moving greater distances, colonizing cities, coming into areas where they didn’t used to be,” said Professor Benson. “But that goes against theory - the theory that animals should move as efficiently as possible."

“It actually makes sense that when you don’t have to dodge around as many humans, you could use the landscape more efficiently. Without humans, you don’t have to take a circuitous route to get from one place to another.”

The study was focused on 12 mountain lions that had previously been collared with GPS trackers by Jeff Sikich and Seth Riley of the National Park Service. The team found that the mountain lions were generally traveling shorter distances by up to one third compared to their pre-pandemic activity. 

That matters, said Professor Benson, because it helps quantify just how much energy mountain lions in Greater Los Angeles are expanding to avoid people - energy they need to hunt for prey and search for mates. 

“Any additional stressor - like needing to modify your movement patterns, which could come with a cost of finding prey, getting enough to eat, mating, whatever it is - could be the stressor that tilts the balance toward the extinction process,” explained Professor Benson.

One of the mountain lions, surrounded by busy freeways on three sides, was found to occupy what may be the smallest home range ever recorded for an adult male of about eight square miles. This is a fraction of the roughly 150 square miles that most mountain lions call home. 

According to Professor Benson, the case study illustrates a paradox that makes sense in the light of theory: a carnivore, already confined to an artificially small range by human disturbance, choosing to occupy an even smaller range when that disturbance abates.

Avoiding people is necessary and good to some extent, said Benson, given that “bad things usually happen when we get annoyed by mountain lions.” Yet the energy they expend to do so might ironically increase human-wildlife conflict if high energy demands are leading them to seek additional food sources, he noted. 

“This idea of coexistence - that if they stay out of our way, everyone’s happy - maybe it’s not that rosy if it causes them to burn more energy and then potentially makes them more likely to actually attack livestock or pets. This is not something we documented or investigated with our current study, but it would be an interesting hypothesis to test with future research."

“Does it have unintended consequences that we can’t control? I think that may be a good thing to look at and re-evaluate.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26888319">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mountain lions downsized their territory during the pandemic

In a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, experts...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a>, experts are describing how venom has contributed to the species diversity of insects and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/depending-on-friends-makes-life-easier-for-reef-fish/">fish</a>. The researchers found that venomous animals diversify twice as fast as non-venomous animals. 

Insects and fish have a larger number of species than any other groups in the animal kingdom. Scientists have identified over one million species of insects, and 31,269 species of fish. 

Overall, 16 percent of all insect families and ten percent of fish families contain venomous species, such as wasps or stingrays. The new study has revealed that venom has evolved independently at least 19 times in fish and at least 28 times in insects throughout their evolutionary history.   

Venom helps animals to repel predators and catch prey. This may allow venomous animals to exploit more opportunities in their environment, potentially leading to the formation of new species as they diversify in their ecology, explained the researchers.

The study is one of the first to examine the role of venom in driving biodiversity. By finding that venom has evolved so many times, and that it is associated with faster diversification, the research indicates that venom has played an important role in promoting species diversity.

"Our results provide evidence that venom has played a part in generating the diversity of insects and fishes, which have the largest number of species amongst invertebrates and vertebrates respectively," said study lead author Dr. Kevin Arbuckle.

"Venom is not the only factor driving species richness in these animal groups, but we show that it has played an important but previously unrecognised role in generating the amazing diversity we see today amongst insects and fishes.”

Among insects, venom evolved fairly evenly over time. In fish, however, most venomous species can be traced back to the Late Cretaceous and Eocene periods.

“Mosasaurs - the aquatic behemoths made famous in the Jurassic World series - originated and peaked in diversity in the Late Cretaceous, at a time when other large marine predator groups were declining," explained Dr. Arbuckle.

"Similarly, whales originated and peaked in diversity in the Eocene, when most other large marine predators had gone extinct at the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which killed off the dinosaurs."

"Both early whales and mosasaurs are thought to have been active predators with similar styles of movement. As a result, we cautiously speculate that most origins of fish venom were linked to similar predation pressures imposed by mosasaurs in the Late Cretaceous and early whales in the Eocene.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Ecology and Evolution</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Venomous animals diversify at double the rate

In a new study from Swansea University, experts are describing...

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers from <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> report how squirrels make split-second decisions about when to leap from branches in order to secure a peanut reward. The scientists made videos of fox squirrels as they leaped and landed in the canopy of a eucalyptus grove on the university campus in order to reach their desired goals.

The squirrels were offered novel launching pads, such as flimsy, rigid or overly bendy branches. The researchers observed that squirrels quickly adjusted to the new launching conditions. They modified their body position in mid-flight if a leap did not go quite according to plan, and were supremely adept at sticking the landings.  

"When they leap across a gap, they decide where to take off based on a trade-off between branch flexibility and the size of the gap they must leap," said Nathaniel Hunt, former UC Berkeley doctoral student and current assistant professor of Biomechanics at the University of Nebraska. 

"And when they encounter a branch with novel mechanical properties, they learn to adjust their launching mechanics in just a few jumps. This behavioral flexibility that adapts to the mechanics and geometry of leaping and landing structures is important to accurately leaping across a gap to land on a small target."

However, when deciding whether or not to jump, squirrels do not give equal attention to the bendiness of the branch and the distance of the gap. The flexibility of the branch is six times more critical than the gap distance when deciding whether to jump. The researchers felt that this was due to the fact that squirrels can rely on their sharp claws to help them cling on, even when the landing is not perfect. 

Despite being put through some tricky and unexpected manoeuvres in order to get to the peanuts, no squirrels fell during the entire study. Their ability to innovate and learn rapidly was evident in their locomotion solutions. 

The squirrels were even able to change orientation while in mid-air and then push off from a vertical surface in order to adjust their speed for a better landing. This is reminiscent of human parkour, where people jump, swing, somersault and vault through the urban environment as a form of sport.

An understanding of how squirrels learn to travel through a complex environment could be applied to develop robots that need to move through challenging landscapes, such as collapsed buildings where survivors might be found. 

"As a model organism to understand the biological limits of balance and agility, I would argue that squirrels are second to none," said Hunt. "If we try to understand how squirrels do this, then we may discover general principles of high-performance locomotion in the canopy and other complex terrains that apply to the movements of other animals and robots."

---

By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Squirrels can adjust to new launching conditions mid-flight

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers...

Poisonous animals are fascinating. In vertebrates, the toxin is generally accumulated by eating toxic insects. This means a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-have-lost-their-teeth-more-than-any-vertebrate-during-evolution/">frog</a> or bird, for instance, must consume another toxic animal and somehow gain that toxicity for itself.   

Researchers have long wondered how poisonous animals, like poison dart frogs kept from falling prey to their own toxins. Many of the poisons, such as batrachotoxins, disrupt electrical impulses in the neurons, heart and muscles. This particular type of toxin is used by both the golden poison frog of Colombia and pitohui birds of New Guinea. 

The poison works by binding onto important proteins - voltage gated sodium channels. According to <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">UCSF</a> Professor Daniel L. Minor, Jr., it remains uncertain if poisonous animals have toxin adapted sodium gates, as has been hypothesized.

“However, there haven’t been any functional studies of poison frog or Pitohuisodium channels, so whether batrachotoxin-bearing animals rely on changes within their sodium channels or alternative resistance mechanisms remains unclear,” said Professor Minor. 

Previous research has shown that a mutation in sodium channels found in poison dart frogs, when expressed in rats, gives them a poison resistant sodium channel. 

When Professor Minor and colleagues introduced the mutation to golden poison frogs and pitohui birds, they found the change didn’t make the sodium channels resistant to toxin. Actually, with the mutation, the sodium channel doesn’t function well without batrachotoxin being present. Professor Minor suggests that this finding is telling.

“Taken together, our observations challenge the idea that sodium channel mutation is the batrachotoxin auto resistance strategy for poisonous birds and poison frogs such as P. terribilis.” 

Instead of autoimmunity from toxic resistant sodium channels, scientists suggest something else is at play. Bullfrogs synthesize a protein called saxiphilin that binds to the poison saxitoxin. The saxiphilin has been shown experimentally to neutralize saxitoxin when both are introduced to other frogs. 

So far, a “toxic sponge” protein like saxiphilin has yet to be discovered for batrachotoxin, yet scientists hypothesize such a protein exists, sequestering the toxins within the poisonous animals that use them.   

The research is published in the <a href="https://rupress.org/jgp">Journal of General Physiology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

The secret that protects poisonous animals from themselves

Poisonous animals are fascinating. In vertebrates, the toxin is generally...

Anyone who’s watched a lizard scale a cliff, building or tree seemingly without effort  knows they have some serious climbing skills. Many lizards have this remarkable climbing ability, with tiny claws that cling to a variety of surfaces. Some lizards that live high in the tree tops have evolved special anatomy - sticky toes that are perfect for climbing.  

Geckoes, skinks and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/anole-lizards-have-adapted-their-own-version-scuba-diving/">Anolis</a> lizards each independently evolved sticky toe pads. There are, however, hundreds of other lizards adapted to life in the trees, many of which do not possess these special sticky toes. 

Scientists at <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University</a> set out to investigate whether sticky toe pads confer an advantage to the lizards that possess them. Using a previously published database of habitat use, the researchers were able to analyze the evolutionary relationship of lizards that live in trees. 

Interestingly, the scientists found, lizards evolved the ability to live in trees hundreds of times, with thousands of species living in trees. 

Even more fascinating, sticky toe pads evolved only after lizards already lived in trees - it wasn’t a prerequisite. Study co-author James Stroud explained the advantage the team found in sticky toes.

“There are hundreds of lizards living in the trees, but over evolutionary time many of those species end up leaving for life on the ground because, presumably, they interact with these padded lizards that have a greater advantage,” said Stroud.

Despite the fascinating conclusion that sticky toe pads to infer an advantage to tree living lizards, study co-author Aryeh Miller said there’s more research still to be done.

“Analyzing evolutionary relationships can tell us a lot, but next we need to go out into nature - to see what parts of the environment the lizards use and why these evolutionary relationships exist," said Miller.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio">Systematic Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sticky toes help lizards live high in the trees

Anyone who’s watched a lizard scale a cliff, building or...

The results of a new study from the <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> suggest that emperor penguins are increasingly threatened by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-variability-is-driving-more-intense-thunderstorms/">climate</a> change and should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The researchers took a closer look at how rapid climate change is ramping up the frequency of extreme climate events, such as glacial calving and sea ice loss. The team also examined how these events may influence the risk of species extinctions. 

The study was led by seabird ecologist Stephanie Jenouvrier and co-authored by an international, interdisciplinary team of experts.

“Scientists have a responsibility to make people aware of the need for change through objective evidence,” said Jenouvrier. “With the help of a dedicated team, we put together this paper for the USFWS to provide additional analyses of future projections and help inform policy and protection for the species.”

The researchers analyzed the projected dynamics of all emperor penguin colonies under different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Unlike previous projections, the computer models used for this study accounted for the effects of extreme climate events.

“Protection of species through legal frameworks should facilitate conservation actions that in turn should help mitigate climate change impacts," said co-author Shaye Wolf, Climate Science Director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The experts report that extreme climate events impact the resiliency, redundancy, and representation - the 3Rs - of emperor penguins. 

The analysis shows that if sea ice declines at the expected rate, the 3Rs will be drastically reduced. As a result, almost all of the emperor penguin colonies would become quasi-extinct by 2100.

“Emperor penguins live in a delicate balance with their environment, there is a sea ice ‘Goldilocks’ zone," said Jenouvrier. “If there is too little sea ice, chicks can drown when sea ice breaks up early; if there is too much sea ice, foraging trips become too long and more arduous, and the chicks may starve.”

“Given the species’ reliance upon sea ice for breeding, molting, and feeding, the most important threat for emperor penguins is climate change, which would lead to Antarctic Sea ice losses over this century,” explained Marika Holland a climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research. 

“Trends in warming and consequential sea ice losses through the end of the century are clear and unidirectional under all projections from all climate models.”

According to Jenouvrier, this research provides the best available science for projecting emperor penguin populations in the context of future climate change.

“The future of this iconic species depends on immediate actions to decarbonize society and increased protections for species endangered by climate change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Emperor penguins may not survive climate change

The results of a new study from the Woods Hole...

A common insecticide that is widely used in commercial nurseries is extremely harmful to the average bee, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>. The experts report that neonicotinoids can cause serious harm to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/caffeine-helps-bumble-bees-find-flowers/">bees</a> and other beneficial insects, even in the smallest doses. 

In the first experiment that was conducted by the researchers, they used the concentration of insecticide recommended on the product label. All of the bees died in a matter of days. 

For the next experiment, they used a third of the recommended dose and still found negative effects on reproduction, the ability of the bees to feed themselves, and overall fitness. “It almost completely wiped them out,” said study lead author Jacob Cecala. 

Neonicotinoids are formulated to protect against plant-consuming insects like aphids. Most relevant studies have focused on crops like canola, for which neonicotinoids are typically used at low doses. 

The current study is one of the first to examine neonicotinoid usage in potted ornamental plants. For these plants, the insecticides are applied at more potent levels that are toxic to bees. 

“Neonicotinoids are often used on food crops as a seed treatment,” explained Cecala. “But they’re usually applied in higher amounts to ornamental plants for aesthetic reasons. The effects are deadly no matter how much the plants are watered.”

Cecala said he was surprised by this result, given that neonicotinoids are water soluble. Going into the study, he assumed that more water would dilute the amount of harm they caused the bees. 

The researchers wanted to investigate whether increased watering could benefit bees - despite insecticide exposure - by increasing the quantity or quality of nectar produced by the plants.

The experts raised bees on potted flowering plants that either received a lot of water or a little. In addition, half of the plants were treated with a neonicotinoid.

Plants were selected for the experiment based on their popularity at nurseries, drought tolerance, and their attractiveness to bees. 

The results showed that, even though increased watering reduced the pesticide’s potency in the nectar of the flowers, the negative effects on bees were still observed.

“Unfortunately, we observed a 90 percent decrease in the bees’ reproduction with both high and low levels of irrigation,” said Cecala. 

The study was specifically focused on alfalfa leafcutter bees, which make their nests in tunnels and lay eggs one at a time. 

While the study used a neonicotinoid product that is formulated for nurseries, similar products for home gardeners tend to be just as highly concentrated.

The researchers recommend that nurseries quantify the amount of pesticides that are making their way into flowers, and consider alternative management practices that reduce harm to bees and the ecosystems dependent on them. 

“It’s not as simple as ‘don’t use pesticides’ - sometimes they’re necessary,” said Cecala. “However, people can look for a different class of insecticide, try to apply them on plants that aren’t attractive to bees, or find biological methods of pest control.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Common insecticide can kill bees in very small doses

A common insecticide that is widely used in commercial nurseries...

While studying the behavior of giraffes, scientists at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> have discovered that they are surprisingly socially complex <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-can-show-us-how-they-will-respond-to-climate-change/">animals</a>. 

Prior to the last decade or so, giraffes were thought to have only short-lived, fleeting relationships. By contrast, recent studies have shown that giraffes have a much more advanced social structure than what was previously thought. 

“Recognizing that giraffes have a complex cooperative social system and live in matrilineal societies will further our understanding of their behavioural ecology and conservation needs," explained Zoe Muller of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences.

“Conservation measures will be more successful if we have an accurate understanding of the species’ behavioral ecology. If we view giraffes as a highly socially complex species, this also raises their 'status' towards being a more complex and intelligent mammal that is increasingly worthy of protection.”

The new study has revealed that giraffes spend up to 30 percent of their lives in a post-reproductive state. The experts noted that this is comparable to other species with highly complex social structures, such as elephants and killer whales.

For these types of species that practice cooperative care, post-menopausal females offer survival benefits for related offspring. This is known as the "Grandmother hypothesis,"which suggests that females live past the point of fertility to help with successive generations of offspring and to help preserve the family genes. 

The researchers believe that older adult female giraffes probably function in the same way. According to Muller, giraffes are likely to engage in cooperative parenting, along matrilines, and contribute to the shared parental care of related kin. 

“It is baffling to me that such a large, iconic and charismatic African species has been understudied for so long. This paper collates all the evidence to suggest that giraffes are actually a highly complex social species, with intricate and high-functioning social systems, potentially comparable to elephants, cetaceans and chimpanzees."

“I hope that this study draws a line in the sand, from which point forward, giraffes will be regarded as intelligent, group-living mammals which have evolved highly successful and complex societies, which have facilitated their survival in tough, predator-filled ecosystems.” 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652907">Mammal Review</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Giraffes are much more socially intelligent than previously thought

While studying the behavior of giraffes, scientists at the University...

When the Chapman’s pygmy chameleon was first described in 1992, the destruction of the tiny <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-accelerates-aging-in-fish-amphibians-and-reptiles/">reptile</a> was already underway. Since the 1980’s, up to 80 percent of the forest the chameleon calls home has been destroyed. It was even feared for a time that the chameleon had gone extinct. 

Professor Krystal Tolley from the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the University of the Witwatersrand, explains the beauty of the small animal.

“They are little, gentle creatures. Other chameleon species can be hysterical, hissing and biting, but pygmy chameleons are gentle and just beautiful."

"Chapman’s in particular are one of the smallest and don’t have a prehensile tail like most chameleons, perhaps because they aren’t particularly arboreal but walk about on the forest floor in the leaf litter, crawling up into low bushes at night to sleep. They blend right into the leaf litter and perfectly pattern match the dead leaves."

"They are mostly brown but they can change to quite beautiful blues and greens with little dots all over them and that’s probably a way of communicating with each other. They also vibrate and we could feel it when we held them. We don’t really know why but it’s also probably some form of communication. The fact they do it while held in our hands could mean it’s a way to try and scare predators.”

Now, a 2016 survey of the chameleons is being published for the first time, showing that the small reptile has indeed survived - at least for the moment.  The study, published by <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/">Cambridge University Press</a>, was led by Professor Tolley. 

The research team analyzed satellite images of the Malawi Hills where the chameleons live that were captured in the 1980’s and compared them to modern photos. 

The results revealed a massive amount of forest loss. What remained of the forest was fragmented, and the researchers decided it was important to look for Chapman’s pygmy chameleons.

The researchers found some of the tiny chameleons living in small pockets of forest. Unfortunately, the remaining specimens showed signs of genetic isolation - a problem that could lead to inbreeding in small, separate populations of chameleons. 

The team recommends that the chameleons be protected by folding their habitat into the nearby Matandwe Forest Reserve along with strong protection measures. Further research is needed to better understand the current status of the chameleons.

The study is published in <a href="https://www.oryxthejournal.org/">Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Critically endangered chameleon rediscovered in Malawi

When the Chapman’s pygmy chameleon was first described in 1992,...

Anyone who’s walked along a beach almost anywhere in the world knows that plastic pollution is a real problem in the ocean. It may no longer be useful to go beachcombing with a metal detector, considering that about 80 percent of all ocean debris is now plastic. 

Plastic trash isn’t just ugly either, it’s a major threat to marine creatures. Scientists estimate that 700 ocean species, ranging from tiny organisms to enormous whales, interact with plastic trash. A new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a> focuses on an especially charismatic example - baby sea turtles. 

Young sea turtles in the Indian and Pacific Oceans have a high incidence of ingesting plastic. Eating or becoming entangled in plastic garbage can be fatal. 

Sometimes, the plastic blocks digestion, perforates the gastrointestinal tract or causes laceration. Baby sea turtles can also be suffocated by trash.

Even when a turtle isn’t killed, scientists suspect that plastics can lead to malnutrition or contamination by harmful chemicals.

To examine plastic ingestion, scientists looked at five species of sea turtles found off Australia in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. They studied the contents of stomachs, bladders and cloacas of turtles stranded or caught as bycatch. Thankfully, plastics were only found in the animal’s gastrointestinal tract. 

Most of the plastics eaten by young turtles in the Pacific were hard plastic fragments that are extremely common, thus making the specific sources of these pollutants hard to pinpoint. Study lead author Dr. Emily Duncan of the University of Exeter explained how  the situation was different in the Indian Ocean.

“Plastic in the Pacific turtles was mostly hard fragments, which could come from a vast range of products used by humans, while Indian Ocean plastics were mostly fibers - possibly from fishing ropes or nets,” said Dr. Duncan.

It’s hard to imagine that consumption of plastic by sea turtles, especially young turtles won’t have a negative impact but the scientist’s next goal is to examine the specific health problems caused more closely. In the meantime, it’s good to look closely at the sources of plastic pollution - humans on land. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Baby sea turtles are swallowing plastic trash

Anyone who’s walked along a beach almost anywhere in the...

Even though cats have been domesticated for millennia, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-understand-humans-in-ways-that-wolves-never-will/">dogs</a> are often favored when it comes to scientific research. Veterinary Medicine expert Leslie Lyons from the University of Missouri aims to change this. She argues that the advantages of using cats in research is really overlooked.

"The dog or mouse genome have rearranged chromosomes that are quite different than humans, but the domestic cat has genes that are about the same size as humans, as well as a genome that, like humans, is very organized and conserved."

Lyons explained that specifically, cats could help researchers better understand humans’ genetic “dark matter.” This unclassified genetic material is currently considered filler information of little to no consequence, yet it makes up 95 percent of human DNA. 

Furthermore, approximately 10 percent of the noncoding regions within genetic dark matter is conserved across mammals, which suggests that its role is important and misunderstood. For example, cats sometimes develop genetic diseases related to the dysfunction of their dark matter, demonstrating significant importance and a potential case study for this type of research.

"As we discover that perhaps animals have more similar spacing between genes and the genes are in the same order, maybe that will help us to decipher what's going on with humans," said Lyons. "Working with a primate is on the expensive side, but a cat's affordability and docile nature make them one of the most feasible animals to work with to understand the human genome."

Furthermore, scientists have access to technology that would facilitate the cloning and creation of transgenic cats, with the first cloned "CopyCat" being generated in 2001. Despite her typical calico cat donor having black, orange, and white fur, CopyCat did not have any orange on her coat, defying many basic genetic principles. This presented clues about feline genes that are just beginning to be understood.

Our feline friends could also play an important role in precision medicine for genetic diseases, allowing researchers to fix genetic disorders as opposed to treating the symptoms. For example, some cats are prone to polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that also affects humans. Research into this could allow us to treat humans for the disease in the future.

"Vets could sequence the genes and potentially more quickly find the cause of what's going on and then develop a treatment that is more appropriate than just treating the symptoms," explained Lyons. "We can provide a more tailored healthcare program for our pets, and more funding would put all the different pieces into place."

The Forum was published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/home">Trends in Genetics</a>.

---

By <a href="http://calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What cats can teach us about human genetic diseases

Even though cats have been domesticated for millennia, dogs are...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

News coming your way