Digger wasps exhibit remarkable memory skills when managing their nests. These wasps create separate burrows for each egg, storing food inside and returning after a few days to provide more. 



They can remember the locations of up to nine nests simultaneously, despite the chaotic surroundings filled with hundreds of other females' nests. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unexpected-find-inside-the-eye-of-a-tiny-wasp-megaphragma-viggianii/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wasps</a> rarely make mistakes, ensuring that each offspring receives adequate nourishment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digger-wasps-manage-multiple-nests">Digger wasps manage multiple nests</h2>



Mother <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parasitic-wasp-had-a-flytrap-for-snatching-its-victims/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wasps</a> feed their young in age order, adjusting the sequence if one larva dies. 



They can also delay feeding larvae that received more food during the first visit. This intricate scheduling prevents starvation and ensures all larvae get sufficient food. 



“Our findings suggest that the miniature brain of an insect is capable of remarkably sophisticated scheduling decisions,” said Professor Jeremy Field, from the&nbsp;<a href="https://ecologyconservation.exeter.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centre for Ecology and Conservation</a>&nbsp;on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.



“We tend to think that something so small couldn’t do something so complex. In fact, they can remember where and when they have fed their young, and what they fed them, in a way that would be taxing even to human brains.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-episodic-memory-in-wasps">Episodic memory in wasps</h2>



Humans use episodic memory to recall past actions and adjust future plans. Professor Field suggests that wasps may use a similar mechanism to remember where and when they last fed each larva. 



Although the exact process remains unknown, the study indicates that these wasps can track multiple nests, the food given, and the timing of each feeding.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-caterpillar-hunting-and-feeding-strategy">Caterpillar hunting and feeding strategy</h2>



Digger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-wasp-species-named-after-famous-thieves/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wasps</a> hunt caterpillars on heather plants, paralyzing them before placing them in burrows with eggs. The larva consumes the caterpillar as its first meal. 



Mothers then seal the burrow entrance and leave to either start a new burrow or continue feeding existing offspring. They return after two to seven days to check on the larvae. 



If a larva is dead, the mother lays a new egg and reorders the feeding schedule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-navigating-hundreds-of-nests">Navigating hundreds of nests</h2>



Despite nesting in nearly featureless sand with hundreds of other nests, mother wasps maintain exceptional spatial awareness. 



They use visual landmarks like stones to locate their nests with impressive accuracy. The study recorded just 1.5% of 1,293 food deliveries going to the wrong nest, emphasizing the precision of their navigation skills.



The researchers also tested the wasps by swapping caterpillars as mothers prepared burrows.



Wasps given larger caterpillars waited longer before providing more food, indicating a flexible feeding strategy based on larval needs. This adaptability helps manage resources effectively and supports the survival of the young.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wasp-memory-nests-and-scheduling">Wasp memory, nests, and scheduling</h2>



Professor Field noted that memory is energetically expensive, requiring neural machinery to store and process information.



While many lab-based studies explore memory in controlled settings, this study demonstrates the ecological relevance of memory in the wild, showing why natural selection may have favored these capabilities.



The researchers used various experiments to explore wasp memory and scheduling. One experiment involved replacing food items in nests, testing whether wasps adjusted feeding schedules based on food size. 



Mothers given larger prey items delayed further feeding, initiating new nests sooner. This behavior allowed them to increase reproductive output without compromising larval survival.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-wasps-adjust-after-losing-a-nest">How wasps adjust after losing a nest</h2>



Mothers could remember up to nine active nests and adjust feeding schedules without revisiting nests. 



However, when larvae died, mothers replaced them with new eggs, moving these nests to the back of the feeding order. This strategy minimized energy loss and prevented resource wastage.



Fieldwork at Witley Common, UK, revealed that digger wasps evolved cognitive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/an-8-year-olds-backyard-discovery-of-ants-wasps-changed-science/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">strategies</a> to counter parasitism and food scarcity. 



Parasitic flies pose a significant threat, laying eggs on wasp larvae. To minimize exposure, mother wasps avoid revisiting nests unless parasitism risk is low. This reduces the chances of parasites accessing vulnerable offspring. 



Additionally, food scarcity prompted wasps to develop efficient nest management. By remembering up to nine nests, mothers allocate food based on larval age without resampling, conserving time and resources. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-of-cognitive-traits">Evolution of cognitive traits </h2>



Researchers suggest that these memory and scheduling abilities may have laid the foundation for social behaviors seen in more advanced insect lineages. 



Managing multiple offspring, tracking nest locations, and adjusting feeding schedules align with the caregiving patterns observed in social insects like ants and bees. 



The study highlights how ecological pressures can drive the evolution of complex cognitive traits even in insects with tiny brains.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00509-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



-----



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Wasp moms manage multiple nests with remarkable memory

Digger wasps exhibit remarkable memory skills when managing their nests. These wasps create separate burrows for each egg, storing food inside and returning after a few days to provide more. They can remember the locations of up to nine nests simultaneously, despite the chaotic surroundings filled with hundreds of other females' nests. The wasps rarely make mistakes, ensuring that each offspring receives adequate nourishment. Digger wasps manage multiple nests Mother wasps feed their young in age order, adjusting the sequence if one larva dies. They can also...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/half-a-trillion-corals-counted-in-the-pacific-ocean/">Corals</a> in the northern Red Sea, along with their symbiotic algae, appear to be overcoming the threat of global warming. In a new study from <a href="https://www.epfl.ch/en/">EPFL</a>, experts are closer to understanding why.

Global warming is pushing ocean temperatures beyond the limit that coral reefs, as well as many other marine organisms, will be able to survive. For example, the photosynthetic algae that provide corals with essential nutrients will not be able to resist the temperatures that are projected by the end of this century.

These symbiotic algae contain a variety of pigments that give coral reefs their brilliant colors. As the algae are lost, the corals turn white in a process known as coral bleaching. 

"We already knew that corals in the Gulf of Aqaba, at the northern tip of the Red Sea, were particularly resistant to higher temperatures. But we wanted to study the full molecular mechanism behind this resistance," said study lead author Romain Savary.

The scientists found that these corals, as well as their unicellular algae, can withstand average temperatures the are up to five degrees Celsius higher than what they typically experience. Despite the intensity of global warming, it is unlikely that Red Sea temperatures will rise more than five degrees Celsius by the end of the century, noted the researchers. 

"This gives us real hope that we can save at least one major coral reef ecosystem for future generations," said study co-author Anders Meibom.

"The main thing we found is that these corals currently live in temperatures well below the maximum they can withstand with their molecular machinery, which means they're naturally shielded against the temperature increases that will probably occur over the next 100 or even 200 years," said Savary. "Our measurements showed that at temperatures of up to 32°C, the corals and their symbiotic organisms were able to molecularly recover and acclimate to both short-term and long-term heat stress without any major consequences." 

The findings have laid the groundwork for a much more ambitious project that will be led by the Transnational Red Sea Center, which was established at EPFL in 2019. The new project will kick off this summer and will continue for four years. 

"We'll sail the entire Red Sea - some 2,000 km long - on the research vessel Fleur de Passion, owned by our partner the Fondation Pacifique," said Meibom. 

"The goal will be to map the heat tolerance levels and the diversity of all the different types of corals found in these waters. Water temperatures rise as you head further south on the Red Sea, with a 5-6°C differential between the northern and southern tips. That's what makes it a perfect real-world laboratory for studying these ecosystems. It's as if you're sailing towards the future as you head south."

According to the researchers, corals in the southern Red Sea are already starting to bleach.

"We have to protect these corals and shield them from local stressors, which are mainly sources of pollution and physical destruction," said Savary. 

"That way we can keep a stock of 'natural super corals' for potentially recolonizing areas that have been hit particularly hard by climate-change-induced heat waves."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Corals in the northern Red Sea can resist global warming

Corals in the northern Red Sea, along with their symbiotic...

A study conducted at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> is providing new insight into what causes aggressive behavior in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-with-shorter-noses-are-better-at-making-eye-contact/">dogs</a>. Based on a dataset of more than 9,000 dogs, the researchers found that aggressive behavior is most often triggered by fear. 

Growling, barking, snapping, and biting are all signs of aggression among dogs, but these same gestures are also used for communication in non-aggressive situations, such as during play. It is important to recognize when a dog's aggression is excessive, and poses a threat to both humans and other animals. 

"Understanding the factors underlying aggressive behavior is important. In what kinds of circumstances does aggressive behavior occur and what is the dog's motive for such behavior? In normal family dogs, aggressive behavior is often unwanted, while some dogs with official duties are expected to have the capacity for aggressiveness. At the same time, aggressiveness can be caused by welfare issues, such as chronic pain," explained study co-author Salla Mikkola.

The researchers investigated aggressiveness toward both dog owners and unfamiliar humans based on several potential risk factors.

"Dogs' fearfulness had a strong link to aggressive behavior, with fearful dogs many times more likely to behave aggressively," said Mikkola.

"Moreover, older dogs were more likely to behave aggressively than younger ones. One of the potential reasons behind this can be pain caused by a disease. Impairment of the senses can contribute to making it more difficult to notice people approaching, and dogs' responses to sudden situations can be aggressive."

While small dogs are more likely to become aggressive compared to bigger dogs, their behavior is not usually considered as threatening. As a result, the researchers found, aggressiveness is often not addressed in small dogs. 

The results indicate that male dogs are more aggressive than females, regardless of neutering. The study also revealed that dogs who spend time in the company of other dogs behave less aggressively. 

"In the case of dogs prone to aggressive behavior in the first instance, owners may not necessarily wish to take a risk of conflicts with another dog," said Mikkola.

The experts found significant differences in aggressive behavior among various dog breeds, which can point to a genetic cause.

"In our dataset, the Long-Haired Collie, Poodle (Toy, Miniature and Medium) and Miniature Schnauzer were the most aggressive breeds. Previous studies have shown fearfulness in Long-Haired Collies, while the other two breeds have been found to express aggressive behavior towards unfamiliar people," said Professor Hannes Lohi.

"As expected, the popular breeds of Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever were at the other extreme. People who are considering getting a dog should familiarise themselves with the background and needs of the breed. As for breeders, they should also pay attention to the character of dam candidates, since both fearfulness and aggressive behavior are inherited."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Aggressive behavior in dogs is most often caused by fear

A study conducted at the University of Helsinki is providing...

It is widely assumed that inbreeding is bad and that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-are-not-the-only-animals-that-create-their-own-culture/">animals</a> prefer to avoid mating with family members, but experts at <a href="https://www.su.se/cmlink/stockholm-university">Stockholm University</a> have found little evidence to support this theory. 

"People assume that animals should avoid mating with a relative when given the chance," said study co-author Raïssa de Boer. "But evolutionary theory has been telling us that animals should tolerate, or even prefer, mating with relatives under a broad range of conditions for more than four decades."

The researchers analyzed the results of 139 experimental studies on inbreeding, which were conducted over 40 years and involved a total of 88 animal species.

"We address the 'elephant in the room' of inbreeding avoidance studies by overturning the widespread assumption that animals will avoid inbreeding whenever possible," said de Boer.

The experts found that animals rarely attempt to avoid mating with relatives, and this finding was consistent across a wide range of conditions and experimental approaches.

"Animals don't seem to care if their potential partner is a brother, sister, cousin or an unrelated individual when they are choosing who to mate with," explained study co-author Regina Vega Trejo.

The researchers also looked at studies on inbreeding avoidance in humans, and compared the results with similar experiments on animals.

"We compared studies that asked if humans avoid inbreeding when presented with pictures of faces that were digitally manipulated to make the faces look either more or less related to studies that used similar approaches in other animals," said de Boer. "Just like other animals, it turns out that there is no evidence that humans prefer to avoid inbreeding."

According to study senior author Professor John Fitzpatrick, the findings help explain why many studies have failed to find clear evidence of inbreeding avoidance.

The research also has far-reaching implications for conservation biology. Mate choice is increasingly being used in conservation breeding programs to protect endangered species. 

"A primary goal of conservation efforts is to maintain genetic diversity, and mate choice is generally expected to achieve this goal. Our findings urge caution in the application of mate choice in conservation programs," said Fitzpatrick.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature 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

Animals rarely try to avoid inbreeding

It is widely assumed that inbreeding is bad and that...

In a breakthrough study from the <a href="https://www.egu.eu/">European Geosciences Union</a>, scientists have discovered that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-have-become-increasingly-toxic-to-insects/">insects</a> like the non-biting midge grow larger up north. Based on this evidence, the researchers have developed a new way to examine past temperatures and climates.

Scientists use many proxies to reconstruct Earth's ancient climates, including pollen, diatoms, geochemical isotopes, and fossils. One previous study used chironomids to reconstruct climate during the past 11,000 years by comparing fossil insects to modern midges. 

"This (technique) is pretty good, but it has a major drawback: the further back in time you go, the less applicable what we know about the coverage of modern animals becomes," said study co-author Viktor Baranov, a palaeontologist at Lüdwig Maximilians-University in Munich. 

For example, explained Baranov, the small dragonflies of today may not share a similar range with the meter-long dragonflies of the Cretaceous that lived around 100 million years ago.

The experts have now developed a technique using the size of fossil midge bodies and wings to reconstruct temperatures all the way back to the start of the Cretaceous about 145 million years ago. 

Baranov said the team wanted to add a proxy that can be useful for fossils that are found in settings where other proxies are not. The findings revealed that the relation of insect body size to latitude appears to be a promising new proxy for studying ancient temperatures.

According to Baranov, he found the possibility of using insects for palaeoclimate work deep in the geologic past to be alluring, and started looking at literature to see if it could be feasible. 

"I noticed that some workers wrote down in very old papers anecdotal evidence - it appears that the Afrotropical representative of this genus living in the Congo seems to be considerably smaller than close relatives from France."

Baranov explained that the omnipresence of insects makes them a good candidate to reveal global patterns. He said the collection in Munich alone has about two million specimens of chironomids, from Antarctica to the Arctic, from Australia to England.

The study was focused on more than 6,000 specimens that lived at some point between 245 million years ago and today. The experts  measured body and wing lengths and found that, in Northern Hemisphere chironomids, both became larger in the northward part of their range. Just like polar bears, the midges got bigger with colder temperatures.

"The average midge becomes one millimeter longer per every five degrees of latitude," said Baranov. "That was very exciting for me to learn. Because it means there seems to be a very strong signal, at least in this group."

The results show the potential of using invertebrate fossils for quantitative analyses to reconstruct temperatures over millions of years, said Baranov.

In addition, the temperature-size relationship may be useful in predicting what could happen to modern insect populations facing climate change. 

"I'm also working on the insect decline and drivers of the modern insect extinctions," said Baranov. "It appears that increasing temperatures influence insect size, and that's impacting their ability to fly around."

The research was presented at the <a href="https://www.egu.eu/">European Geosciences Union</a> (EGU) General Assembly 2021.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Past temperatures are revealed by the size of insects

In a breakthrough study from the European Geosciences Union, scientists...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en">KAUST</a>, researchers set out to investigate how the soft-bodied ancestors of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-coral-reefs-depend-on-poop-from-their-predators/">corals</a> were transformed into the ecosystem builders they are today. The experts have now identified the specific genes that allowed corals to grow calcified skeletons. 

"Reef-building corals build the largest living structures in the world that provide a habitat for more than a quarter of all marine animals, and are the 

primary source of livelihood to hundreds of millions of people," wrote the researchers.

"Their immense structures are built through calcification, i.e., the continuous

deposition of calcium carbonate that forms their skeletons."

But while the processes involved in coral calcification are well understood, it is less clear how corals actually evolved the ability to grow calcium carbonate skeletons, explained study lead author Xin Wang.

"How did a squishy anemone-like organism begin to build reefs?" added study co-author Manuel Aranda. "Did the 'tools' already exist in their genetic code?"

While the earliest fossils of calcified corals are around 265 million years old, their evolution began much earlier.

"We conducted a genomic search for conserved genes that might be involved in calcification," said Wang. "Our findings suggest that corals evolved to calcify somewhere between 308 and 265 million years ago."

The researchers compared the genomes of six related species, including two evolutionary divergent reef-building corals, two of their closest non-calcifying relatives, and two sea anemones. The two-year analysis was conducted using the KAUST supercomputer.

"We found that the necessary proteins to make coral skeletons were already present in the soft-bodied ancestor and that various existing proteins were recruited to boost the calcifying process," said Wang. "Essentially, we believe we've found the genetic toolkit for coral skeleton creation."

In order to calcify, corals take in positively charged calcium ions from seawater. The experts pinpointed the genes responsible for transporting calcium and removing protons in the soft-bodied organisms. They showed that two of the three gene copies found in corals have been recruited to the calcifying tissue. 

The researchers also identified a gene that was duplicated in corals twice and recruited to precipitate and stabilize calcium carbonate in the initial stage of skeleton building. 

"This is a great example of how latent traits can evolve to become dominant given certain environmental pressures," said Aranda. "Next we hope to verify which of these components is critical to calcification and investigate how coral reefs might be influenced by the changing pH of future oceans."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe">Molecular Biology 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

Squishy ancestors of corals had the genes to build skeletons

In a new study from KAUST, researchers set out to...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a>, experts have discovered that fish have been swallowing microplastics since the 1950s. The researchers examined the guts of freshwater fish preserved in museum collections, and found that concentrations of microplastics have dramatically increased over time.

"For the last 10 or 15 years it's kind of been in the public consciousness that there's a problem with plastic in the water. But really, organisms have probably been exposed to plastic litter since plastic was invented, and we don't know what that historical context looks like," said study co-author Professor Tim Hoellein of Loyola University Chicago. "Looking at museum specimens is essentially a way we can go back in time."

Study co-author Caleb McMahan is an ichthyologist at the Field Museum who cares for two million fish specimens, most of which are preserved in alcohol and stored in jars in the museum's underground Collections Resource Center. 

McMahan explained that these specimens are more than just dead fish - they are a snapshot of life on Earth. "We can never go back to that time period, in that place."

The study was focused on four common fish species that the museum had chronological records of dating back to 1900: largemouth bass, channel catfish, sand shiners, and round gobies. 

"We would take these jars full of fish and find specimens that were sort of average, not the biggest or the smallest, and then we used scalpels and tweezers to dissect out the digestive tracts," said study lead author Loren Hou. "We tried to get at least five specimens per decade."

To find microplastics inside of the fish, the team treated their digestive tracts with hydrogen peroxide. 

"It bubbles and fizzes and breaks up all the organic matter, but plastic is resistant to the process," explained Hou. "It just looks like a yellow stain, you don't see it until you put it under the microscope."

"We look at the shape of these little pieces. If the edges are frayed, it's often organic material, but if it's really smooth, then it's most likely microplastic." 

To determine where the microplastics came from, the researchers teamed up with collaborators at the University of Toronto to examine the samples using Raman spectroscopy, a technique that uses light to analyze the chemical signature of a sample.

The amount of microplastics present in the fish guts was found to drastically increase over time. There were no plastic particles before mid-century, yet these concentrations skyrocketed in the 1950s - when manufacturing was industrialized.

"We found that the load of microplastics in the guts of these fishes have basically gone up with the levels of plastic production," said McMahan. "It's the same pattern of what they're finding in marine sediments, it follows the general trend that plastic is everywhere."

One of the major sources of plastic particles found in the fish guts was fabric. 

"Microplastics can come from larger objects being fragmented, but they're often from clothing," said Hou.

"It's plastic on your back, and that's just not the way that we've been thinking about it," said Hoellein. "So even just thinking about it is a step forward in addressing our purchases and our responsibility."

While it is not clear how ingesting microplastics affected the fish in this study, the outcome was probably not great. 

"When you look at the effects of microplastic ingestion, especially long term effects, for organisms such as fish, it causes digestive tract changes, and it also causes increased stress in these organisms," said Hou.

The researchers hope the stark findings will serve as a wake-up call. "The entire purpose of our work is to contribute to solutions," said Hoellein. "We have some evidence that public education and policies can change our relationship to plastic. It's not just bad news, there's an application that I think should give everyone a collective reason for hope."

The researchers noted that the study highlights the importance of natural history collections in museums. 

"Loren and I both love the Field Museum but don't always think about it in terms of its day-to-day scientific operations," said Hoellein. "It's an incredible resource of the natural world, not just as it exists now but as it existed in the past. It's fun for me to think of the museum collection sort of like the voice of those long dead organisms that are still telling us something about the state of the world today."

"You can't do this kind of work without these collections," said McMahan. "We need older specimens, we need the recent ones, and we're going to need what we collect in the next 100 years."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19395582">Ecological Applications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Microplastics have been abundant in fish guts since the 1950s

In a new study from the Field Museum, experts have...

The combination of lamb grazing and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/investment-in-solar-energy-is-urgently-needed-to-meet-climate-targets/">solar</a> energy production increases the overall productivity of land, according to a study from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>.

The research is the first of its kind to investigate livestock production under agrivoltaic systems, which optimize land's potential by using it for both solar energy and agricultural production.

For the investigation, the researchers compared lamb growth and land productivity in pastures with solar panels and traditional open grassland. 

In the solar pastures, the experts found higher quality food for lamb grazing. They also noted that lambs gained similar amounts of weight in both types of pastures. 

Solar panels are valuable in terms of energy production, which increases the productivity of the land. The solar panels also provided the lambs with shade, allowing them to preserve energy. Furthermore, lamb grazing alleviates the need to manage plant growth under the solar panels with herbicides or regular mowing.

Overall, the return from grazing was $1,046 per hectare per year in open pastures and $1,029 per hectare per year in pastures with solar panels.

"The results from the study support the benefits of agrivoltaics as a sustainable agricultural system," said study lead author Alyssa Andrew.

Solar photovoltaic installation has increased by an average of 48 percent per year in the United States over the past decade. The researchers noted that current solar capacity is expected to double again over the next five years.

Previous studies have shown that grasslands and croplands in temperate regions are the best places to install solar panels for maximum energy production. However, photovoltaic systems require large areas of land, which can reduce the amount of land available for agricultural use.

Agrivoltaics could eliminate this competition by using the same land for energy production and agricultural use. Some crops, especially those that like shade, can be more productive in combination with solar panels.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lamb grazing and solar energy increase land productivity

The combination of lamb grazing and solar energy production increases...

Baby mantis shrimp are born as ferocious <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wasps-are-undervalued-as-predators-and-pollinators/">predators</a> with a deadly punch, according to a new study from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>.

The researchers demonstrated that larvae of the Philippine mantis shrimp can execute ultra-fast movements when they are no larger than a short grain of rice.

The punching appendages, which measure less than ome millimeter, develop right as the larva exhausts its yolk reserves, moves away from its nest, and heads out into the ocean. At this point, the baby shrimp immediately begin preying on organisms smaller than a grain of sand.

The larvae are slower than the adults, even though the young mantis shrimp can accelerate its arms almost 100 times faster than a Formula One car.

"They're producing amazing speeds and impressive accelerations relative to their body size, but they're not as fast as adults," said study lead author Jacob Harrison.

The remarkably fast speeds of mantis shrimp are achieved using a tiny spring-actuated mechanism hidden in their punching appendage. 

According to the researchers, when a muscle contracts, a tiny segment of their exoskeleton is deformed, and elastic energy is stored in the locked joint. When the latch releases, and the exoskeleton springs back into its natural position, the appendage is propelled forward with ultra-fast speeds.

Adult mantis shrimps have opaque exoskeletons, which makes it impossible to observe their spring-latch mechanisms in action. On the other hand, the exoskeleton of larvae is much thinner and fully transparent. Simply by watching them under a microscope, the researchers could see precisely how the larvae manage to store so much elastic energy in their tiny appendages.

"One of the trickiest parts of researching spring-actuated mechanisms is that a lot of those elements are working inside the animal. We can look outside of the animal and see the behavior, measure the kinematics, dissect the animal, and say the mechanism looks like it works like this, but there are always levels of assumption," said Harrison.

"Transparency sets up larval mantis shrimps as systems where we can look at how each of these elements work in concert together, It removes assumptions and allows us to understand it on a finer scale."

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Baby mantis shrimp are ferocious predators

Baby mantis shrimp are born as ferocious predators with a...

A new study from the <a href="https://ttk.elte.hu/en/">ELTE Faculty of Science</a> has identified four independent traits that influence a dog's ability to form eye contact. The experts found that shorter noses, younger age, visual cooperation, and playfulness are all traits that make <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-sniff-out-coronavirus-with-96-percent-accuracy/">dogs</a> more capable of establishing eye contact with humans.

Eye contact plays a critical role in communication between humans and dogs. By recognizing the direction of the human's gaze, dogs can decide whether a message is directed at them. 

Furthermore, eye contact between dogs and their owners can raise levels of oxytocin - the "love hormone" that promotes social bonding. 

When it comes to making eye contact, however, some dogs are more skilled than others. Their tendency to form eye contact is influenced by many factors, such as age and personality, the anatomy of the eye, and the original function of the dog breed.

"One hundred and thirty family dogs were examined at the Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University. We measured the length and width of their heads because this is related to their vision." said study first author Zsófia Bognár. 

"The boxer, bulldog, pug, and snub-nosed dogs, in general, have a more pronounced area centralis in the retina, so they can better respond to stimuli in the central field, which may make it easier for them to form eye contact with humans."

By contrast, long-nosed dogs have nerve cells for processing visual information that are more evenly distributed throughout the retina. These dogs, such as greyhounds, see a wide panoramic image and are more easily distracted by visual stimuli from the periphery.

For the investigation, an experimenter initiated play with a dog, and then measured how quickly and how many times the dog established eye contact within five minutes. 

"The experimenter did not speak and remained motionless until the dog looked at her. Every time the dog looked at her, she rewarded this with a treat. Meanwhile, the owner sat on a chair, silent. We measured how much time elapsed after eating the treat until the next eye contact," explained Dr. Dóra Szabó.

The results revealed that the shorter the dog's nose, the faster it made eye contact with the human. 

"It is likely, that they see the human face more sharply because of their special retina, but it is also possible that their owners gaze at them more often as their facial features resemble a small child, a powerful cue for humans. Because of this, dogs with shorter noses may be more experienced in making eye contact," explained Zsófia Bognár.

The researchers also examined the original role of the dog breeds, and whether this had any influence on eye contact. As expected, dogs bred for visually guided work - including Shepherd dogs - made eye contact faster than those driven by vocal cues like sled dogs. 

The research was part of the European Research Council funded Senior Family Dog Project. The oldest dog participant was 15 years old.

"We assumed that aging dogs would find it more difficult to control their attention and would be slower to switch from eating to looking at the face of the experimenter. That's what happened," said Dr. Eniko Kubinyi.

"Since we pre-screened our participants for potential visual and auditory impairments, the slower establishment of eye contact seems to be a natural consequence of aging." 

The research sheds new light on our knowledge of short-nosed dogs. While many experts have assumed that these dogs are selected for their baby-like facial appearance, it is also plausible that people prefer individuals that are more capable of maintaining eye contact.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs with shorter noses are better at making eye contact

A new study from the ELTE Faculty of Science has...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>, experts describe the value of wasps as predators and pollinators. Based on evidence from over 500 studies and roughly 33,000 species, the researchers found that these insects play underestimated roles in the health of humans and ecosystems.

"Wasps are one of those insects we love to hate - and yet bees, which also sting, are prized for pollinating our crops and making honey," said lead author Professor Seirian Sumner.

"In a previous study, we found that the hatred of wasps is largely due to widespread ignorance about the role of wasps in ecosystems, and how they can be beneficial to humans."

"Wasps are understudied relative to other insects like bees, so we are only now starting to properly understand the value and importance of their ecosystem services. Here, we have reviewed the best evidence there is, and found that wasps could be just as valuable as other beloved insects like bees, if only we gave them more of a chance."

When it comes to protecting crops, predation by insects is worth at least $416 billion per year worldwide, and wasps are top predators of other insects. For example, they regulate populations of crop-damaging arthropods like caterpillars.

While solitary wasps typically target a specific pest, social ones may be useful to control a range of crop-eating pests.

According to the researchers, wasps could be used as a sustainable form of pest control in developing countries, especially tropical ones, where farmers could bring in a local species with minimal risk to the natural environment. 

The UCL team recently published a study which found that common wasps are effective at managing pests that attack maize and sugarcane in Brazil.

The current study reveals that wasps pollinate 960 plant species, including 164 species that are completely dependent on them for pollination. 

The experts note that many wasps are also generalist pollinators that visit a wide variety of plants, which means that they can serve as "backup pollinators" if a plant loses its local primary pollinator.

Furthermore, wasp venom and saliva have antibiotic properties, while yellowjacket venom has shown promise in treating cancer. In some tropical countries, wasp larvae are even harvested for food. 

According to study co-author Dr. Alessandro Cini, the value of wasps in supporting our crops remains poorly understood. "We hope that by rehabilitating their bad reputation, we can collectively get the most value out of these fascinating creatures."

"Alongside other insects, many wasp species are declining from factors such as climate change and habitat loss," added study first author Ryan Brock.

"As such, there is urgent need to address their conservation and ensure that habitats continue to benefit from the far-reaching ecosystem services that wasps provide."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1469185x">Biological Reviews</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

Wasps are undervalued as predators and pollinators

In a new study from University College London, experts describe...

Wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania are greatly affected by human antibiotic consumption. In a recent study, nearly half of all fecal samples collected from the chimpanzees were found to contain bacteria that is resistant to a major class of antibiotics.

Study lead author Thomas Gillespie is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Rollins School of Public Health at <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a>.

"Our results suggest that the antibiotic-resistant bacteria is actually spreading from people to non-human primates by making its way into the local watershed," said Professor Gillespie.

"People are bathing and washing in the streams, contaminating the water with drug-resistant bacteria where wild chimpanzees and baboons drink."

The researchers were specifically looking for resistance to drugs called sulfonamides, which are often used by people in the region to treat diarrheal diseases. 

The team tested fecal samples from humans, domestic animals, chimpanzees, and baboons in and around Gombe National Park, as well as the stream water used by these groups.

Overall, sulfonamide resistance appeared in 74 percent of the human samples, 48 percent of chimpanzee samples, 34 percent of baboon samples, and 17 percent of the domestic animal samples. Traces of the drug were detected in 19 percent of the samples taken from local streams.

Professor Gillespie is a disease ecologist who helped pioneer the "One Health" approach to protecting humans, ecosystems, and biodiversity. In collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania, Professor Gillespie works on projects to help farmers co-exist with primates and other wildlife in ways that minimize the risk of pathogen exchange between species. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, spilled over from chimpanzees to people.

"It's important to consider both sides of the story - human health and well-being, as well as conservation of chimpanzees and other species," said Professor Gillespie.

The number of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park is down to about 95. The population has been hit hard by disease and habitat fragmentation.

Diarrheal diseases are common in the region, and people often use cheap sulfonamide antibiotics that are available without a prescription. 

"The majority of people in our sampling harbored bacteria resistant to the sulfonamide medication they are taking," said Professor Gillespie. "In those cases, they're spending their money on a drug that is not helping them get better. Overuse of such drugs creates the potential for more lethal, antibiotic-resistant 'super bugs' to emerge."

More local guidance is needed on the proper use of antibiotics, said Professor Gillespie. He noted that it is also important to improve hygiene for wash-related activities in area streams, as well as to improve disposal of human waste materials.

"By misusing antibiotics, people can actually harm not only themselves, but also the species they share an environment with. After drug-resistant bacteria jump into chimpanzees, it can further evolve with the chimpanzees and then spill back into humans." 

"We need to be thinking about infectious diseases within evolutionary and ecological frameworks, something that's not often done in medicine."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens">Pathogens</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Overuse of antibiotics threatens wild chimpanzees

Wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania are greatly...

Water currents caused by the tide have a major influence on the foraging behavior of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rat-eradication-is-beneficial-for-seabirds-and-coral-reefs/">seabirds</a>, according to a study from the<a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/"> University of Plymouth</a>. The researchers investigated how terns respond to turbulent tidal flows caused by natural coastal features and man-made structures.

The scientists used drones to experience what the terns see and how their behavior changes depending on the movement of tidal flows beneath them.

The study was focused on a turbulent tidal channel, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, which is known to be a foraging hotspot for terns.

The experts found that the terns were more likely to actively forage over swirling patches of water, or vortices. However, eruptions of upwelling water ahead of the terns' flight path prompted them to stay on course as they approached.

The researchers said their findings offer a never-before-seen insight into how tidal turbulence can impact foraging behaviors. The experts noted that the study may ultimately help to predict how species will respond to environmental changes such as the increased future development of ocean renewable energy sites.

"Our research highlights the importance of identifying changes in local flow conditions due to ocean energy structures which can change the occurrence, scale and intensity of localized turbulence in the water," said Dr. Lilian Lieber. 

"Through a fantastic interdisciplinary collaboration, we were able to track prevalent flow features and seabirds on thus far unobtainable scales, shedding new light on tern foraging associations with turbulence." 

"We found that terns were more likely to actively forage over vortices, while conspicuous upwellings provided a strong physical cue even at some distance, leading them to investigate such features. This research can help us predict seabird responses to coastal change."

"It is extremely exciting that we now have these incredibly detailed animal movement data, which allows us to investigate behavioral processes at effectively arbitrarily fine scales of animal decision-making," said Professor Roland Langrock.

"While it presented some new statistical challenges, the interdisciplinary nature of our project presents a valuable contribution to the emerging field of high-throughput movement ecology."

Dr. Alex Nimmo-Smith used machine learning and mapped the underlying turbulent features to track the terns.

"The drone provided a real bird's eye view, allowing us to track the highly localized foraging behavior of the terns and the close association they have with particular flow features."

"Upwelling boils and swirling vortices, characteristic of strong tidal flows, can bring potential prey items (such as small fish) to the water surface and trap them there. Therefore, these physical processes provide foraging opportunities for the terns."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Royal Society Proceedings B</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

Foraging habits of seabirds altered by  turbulent tidal flows

Water currents caused by the tide have a major influence...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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