While a mosquito bite may often be just a temporary nuisance, it can be a serious concern in many parts of the world. Some mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, are responsible for spreading viruses that cause over 100 million cases of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika each year.&nbsp;



Another species, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria, leading to more than 400,000 deaths annually, according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a>. These figures have earned mosquitoes the title of the deadliest animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-mosquitoes-locate-their-hosts">How mosquitoes locate their hosts</h2>



Male mosquitoes are harmless, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-habitats-are-expanding-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">female mosquitoes require blood</a> for egg development. Given this, scientists have dedicated over a century to understanding how mosquitoes locate their hosts.



Through this research, experts have discovered that mosquitoes don’t rely on a single cue; instead, they use a combination of different senses at various distances to find their targets.



A team led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (<a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCSB</a>) has now added a new sense to the mosquito’s known capabilities: infrared detection. 



They found that infrared radiation from a source at roughly the temperature of human skin doubles the mosquitoes’ host-seeking behavior when combined with CO2 and human odor.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strong-preference-for-the-infrared-source">Strong preference for the infrared source</h2>



The mosquitoes showed a strong preference for the infrared source during their host-seeking activities. The researchers also identified where this infrared detection occurs and uncovered how it functions at the morphological and biochemical levels.&nbsp;



“The mosquito we study, Aedes aegypti, is exceptionally skilled at finding human hosts,” said Nicolas DeBeaubien, co-lead author of the study and a former graduate student and postdoctoral researcher at UCSB in Professor Craig Montell’s laboratory. “This work sheds new light on how they achieve this.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-detecting-new-hosts-from-a-distance-nbsp">Detecting new hosts from a distance&nbsp;</h2>



It is well known that mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti use multiple cues to home in on their hosts from a distance. 



“These include CO2 from our exhaled breath, odors, vision, (convection) heat from our skin, and humidity from our bodies,” explained Avinash Chandel, co-lead author and current postdoc at UCSB in Montell’s group. “However, each of these cues have limitations.”&nbsp;



The insects have poor vision, and strong winds or rapid movements can disrupt their ability to track <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquitoes-are-attracted-to-specific-scents-and-colors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chemical signals</a>.



Given these limitations, the researchers wondered if mosquitoes could detect a more reliable directional cue, like infrared radiation.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mosquitoes_thermal-infrared_track-humans_UCSB_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mosquitoes_thermal-infrared_track-humans_UCSB_1s.webp" alt="Loose fitting clothing lets through less IR, as demonstrated in this image. Photo Credit DeBeaubien and Chandel et al." class="wp-image-1942526"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Loose fitting clothing lets through less IR, as demonstrated in this image. Photo Credit DeBeaubien and Chandel et al.</figcaption></figure>



Within about 10 centimeters, mosquitoes can detect the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bad-news-mosquitoes-prefer-heat-and-thrive-in-the-warming-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat</a> radiating from our skin. They can also sense the temperature of our skin once they land on it. 



These abilities correspond to two of the three types of heat transfer: convection (heat carried away by air) and conduction (heat through direct contact).&nbsp;



However, heat energy can also travel longer distances when converted into electromagnetic waves, typically in the infrared (IR) spectrum. 



Animals like pit vipers can detect thermal IR from warm prey, so the team wondered if mosquitoes, like Aedes aegypti, could do the same.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-focus-of-the-study">Focus of the study</h2>



The researchers placed female mosquitoes in a controlled environment and measured their host-seeking behavior in two zones.&nbsp;



Both zones were exposed to human odors and CO2 at concentrations similar to what we exhale. However, only one zone was also exposed to IR from a source at skin temperature.&nbsp;



A barrier was used to prevent heat exchange through conduction and convection. The researchers then counted how many mosquitoes began probing as if searching for a vein.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-infrared-radiation-and-mosquito-behavior-nbsp">Infrared radiation and mosquito behavior&nbsp;</h2>



Adding thermal infrared radiation from a 34º Celsius source (about skin temperature) doubled the mosquitoes' host-seeking activity, identifying infrared radiation as a newly documented sense mosquitoes use to locate humans. The team discovered that this sense remains effective up to about 70 centimeters (2.5 feet).



“What struck me most about this work was just how strong of a cue IR ended up being,” DeBeaubien said. “Once we got all the parameters just right, the results were undeniably clear.”



Previous studies didn’t observe any effect of thermal infrared on mosquito behavior, but senior author Craig Montell suspects this is due to differences in methodology.&nbsp;



“Any single cue alone doesn’t stimulate host-seeking activity. It’s only in the context of other cues, such as elevated CO2 and human odor, that IR makes a difference,” Montell said. Indeed, his team found that infrared alone has no impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-mosquitoes-detect-infrared-radiation">How do mosquitoes detect infrared radiation?</h2>



It’s impossible for mosquitoes to detect thermal infrared radiation the same way they detect visible light because the energy of IR is far too low to activate the rhodopsin proteins that detect visible light in animal eyes.&nbsp;



Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than about 700 nanometers won’t activate rhodopsin, and the IR generated from body heat is around 9,300 nm. 



No known protein is activated by radiation with such long wavelengths, Montell said. However, there is another way to detect infrared radiation.



Consider heat emitted by the sun: it’s converted into IR, which streams through space and, when reaching Earth, warms the planet by interacting with atoms in the atmosphere.&nbsp;



“You have heat converted into electromagnetic waves, which is being converted back into heat,” Montell explained, noting that the IR coming from the sun has a different wavelength from the IR generated by our body heat, as the wavelength depends on the temperature of the source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-body-heat-and-mosquito-neurons-nbsp">Human body heat and mosquito neurons&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers hypothesized that our body heat, which generates IR, might hit certain neurons in the mosquito, activating them by heating them up. This would enable mosquitoes to detect the radiation indirectly.



Scientists have known that the tips of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mating-secrets-of-mosquitoes-may-help-us-gain-control-of-them/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mosquito’s antennae</a> contain heat-sensing neurons. The team found that removing these tips eliminated the mosquitoes’ ability to detect infrared radiation.



Another lab had identified the temperature-sensitive protein TRPA1 at the end of the antenna. The UCSB team observed that mosquitoes without a functional TRPA1 gene, which codes for the protein, couldn’t detect infrared radiation.



The tip of each antenna has peg-in-pit structures well-suited for sensing radiation. The pit shields the peg from conductive and convective heat, allowing highly directional IR radiation to enter and warm up the structure. The mosquito then uses TRPA1 - a temperature sensor - to detect infrared radiation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mosquito-ir-detection-range">Mosquito IR detection range</h2>



The heat-activated TRPA1 channel alone might not fully explain the range over which mosquitoes can detect IR. A sensor that exclusively relied on this protein may not be useful at the 70 cm range the team observed. 



At this distance, there likely isn’t sufficient IR collected by the peg-in-pit structure to heat it enough to activate TRPA1.



Fortunately, Montell’s group had previously discovered in fruit flies that some rhodopsin proteins are quite sensitive to small increases in temperature.&nbsp;



Although rhodopsins were originally thought to be light detectors, Montell’s group found that certain rhodopsins can be triggered by a variety of stimuli. 



They discovered that proteins in this group are versatile, involved not only in vision but also in taste and temperature sensing.&nbsp;



Upon further investigation, the researchers discovered that two of the 10 rhodopsins found in mosquitoes are expressed in the same antennal neurons as TRPA1.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mosquito-sensitivity-to-infrared-radiation-nbsp">Mosquito sensitivity to infrared radiation&nbsp;</h2>



Knocking out TRPA1 eliminated the mosquito’s sensitivity to infrared radiation. But mosquitoes with defects in either of the rhodopsins, Op1 or Op2, were unaffected.&nbsp;



Even knocking out both rhodopsins together didn’t entirely eliminate the mosquitoes’ sensitivity to IR, although it significantly weakened it.



The results indicated that more intense thermal IR - like what a mosquito would experience at closer range (about one foot) - directly activates TRPA1.&nbsp;



Meanwhile, Op1 and Op2 can be activated by lower levels of thermal IR and then indirectly trigger TRPA1. Since our skin temperature is constant, extending the sensitivity of TRPA1 effectively extends the range of the mosquito’s IR sensor to around 2.5 feet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study-nbsp">Broader implications of the study&nbsp;</h2>



Half the world’s population is at risk for mosquito-borne <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-may-slow-the-spread-of-dengue-fever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diseases</a>, and about a billion people are infected each year, Chandel said.&nbsp;



Moreover, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-habitats-are-expanding-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a> and global travel have expanded the range of Aedes aegypti beyond tropical and subtropical countries, bringing these mosquitoes to areas in the U.S., such as California, where they were not found just a few years ago.



The team’s discovery could help improve methods for controlling mosquito populations. For example, incorporating thermal IR from sources around skin temperature could make mosquito traps more effective.&nbsp;



The findings also help explain why loose-fitting clothing is particularly good at preventing bites. Loose clothing not only blocks mosquitoes from reaching our skin but also allows the IR to dissipate between our skin and the clothing, making it harder for mosquitoes to detect.



“Despite their diminutive size, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal. Our research enhances the understanding of how mosquitoes target humans and offers new possibilities for controlling the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases,” DeBeaubien concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07848-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Mosquitoes use infrared vision to track and bite humans

While a mosquito bite may often be just a temporary nuisance, it can be a serious concern in many parts of the world. Some mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, are responsible for spreading viruses that cause over 100 million cases of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika each year.&nbsp; Another species, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria, leading to more than 400,000 deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization. These figures have earned mosquitoes the title of the deadliest animals. How mosquitoes locate...

You may notice as you grow older that you share certain characteristics with your mother (physical characteristics, we’re definitely not saying you act at all alike). You might have your mom’s nose, or her eye color, or penchant for getting sunburnt way too easily – it’s all part of the traits she passed down to you. And while it may be somewhat frustrating to know she bears responsibility for a few of your physical flaws, at least you can sleep easy knowing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/giraffes-long-necks/">giraffes</a> have the same problem.

A new study published in <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a> has confirmed a 49-year-old hypothesis about how baby giraffes inherit their characteristic spots. The report, published by researchers at Penn State, finds that a giraffe’s spot pattern is passed down from mother to baby, and that the survival of young giraffes is directly related to their spot pattern – which helps provide camouflage from predators.

“Giraffe spot patterns are complex and can be quite different among individuals, but we don’t really know their purpose in the wild,” explains first author Derek E. Lee, an associate research professor at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a>. “Complex markings can help animals evade predators, regulate their temperature, or recognize family or individuals, all of which can affect their ability to survive and reproduce. In this study, we analyzed survival records and photos of spots of Masai giraffes, and show that spot patterns do affect juvenile survival and are heritable – they are passed from mom to baby.”

Dr. Anne Innis Dagg was the first giraffe field researcher in Africa, and presented evidence back in 1968 that the shape, number, area, and color of spots in a giraffe’s coat may be heritable. However, her hypothesis came from studying a small zoo population. In this study, the researchers observed wild giraffes and used modern imaging and analysis techniques to confirm this nearly five-decade old hypothesis.

The study also determined that newborn giraffes with larger spots and irregularly shaped spots had better survival rates during their first few months of life. This is likely due to the spots providing better camouflage, but it could also be a result of other survival factors such as temperature regulation or visual communication.

“My hope is that other scientists will use the same tools to measure mammal coat patterns to advance our understanding of what these patterns mean,” says Lee. “Quantifying heritability and fitness consequences of variation in coat patterns could help us understand how and why complex coat patterns evolve in wild animals.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Derek Lee, Wild Nature Institute/Penn State

Baby giraffes inherit their spots from their mothers

You may notice as you grow older that you share...

Along with its enormous size and long, ivory tusks, the African bush elephant is known for its characteristic wrinkly, gray skin. While its wrinkled epidermis may seem undesirable to us humans – who often pay hundreds of dollars a year to stay wrinkle-free – its unappealing appearance serves an important purpose.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.unige.ch/en/university/presentation/">University of Geneva (UNIGE)</a>, Switzerland, and the <a href="https://www.sib.swiss/">SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics</a> have reported in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a> that the many crevices that make up an elephant’s skin are designed to help these mammals regulate their body temperature. The extensive network of tiny crevices on the elephant’s surface retains water and mud, protecting their skin from parasites and intense solar radiation. 

It’s known that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/artificial-intelligence-protect-elephants/">African elephants</a> lack sweat and sebum glands, which help other mammals keep their skin moist and flexible. So to avoid overheating and get rid of parasites, African elephants are constantly wallowing in mud. 

After receiving skin samples from scientists and museums in Switzerland, France, and South Africa, the multidisciplinary team of researchers assessed the samples and used a custom computer model to determine the functions of an elephant’s skin. Close inspection revealed that their skin is deeply sculptured by an intricate network of extraordinarily small crevices, all interconnected. The minuscule pattern of millions of channels prevents the shedding of mud, and allows spreading and retention of 5 to 10 times more water than on a flat surface.

The researchers used a computer model to show that the combination of the skin’s hyper-keratinization, shedding-deficiency, and lattice of millimetric elevations is able to cause mechanical bending stress to accumulate in between the skin elevations during the progressive thickening of the skin, ultimately forming cracks.

One area of focus in developmental biology is to discover how forms and shapes are created by heterogeneous tissue differentiation and growth as a result of differential gene expression throughout the body. But complex phenotypes can also be a result of mechanical instabilities – such as the folds and wrinkles of an elephant’s skin – caused by mismatched growth between adjacent tissue layers. Examples of this in our own body include the looping of our gut and the folding of our brain’s cerebral cortex.

This study is the first to show that African elephant skin is characterized by a network of channels that not only look like cracks, but are true physical cracks in the animal’s keratinized epidermis. They surmise that thickening of the African elephant keratinized epidermis is a result of imbalance between its formation at the base and its shedding at the skin surface. This actually brings about an interesting parallel to the skin morphology of these elephants and that of humans with the condition ichthyosis vulgaris, a common genetic disorder that is known to cause dry, scaly skin.

If these findings are confirmed by molecular and cell biology analyses, their equivalence could be a notable link between a human pathological condition and the skin of another mammal species.

“This correspondence would also demonstrate that similar mutations that occurred independently in the evolutionary lineages of humans and elephants turned out to be unfavorable in the former and adaptive in the latter,” says lead author Michel Milinkovitch, a professor at the Department of Genetics and Evolution of the UNIGE Faculty of Science and Group Leader at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Michel Milinkovitch

African elephants evolved wrinkled skin to help them cool off

Along with its enormous size and long, ivory tusks, the...

Fish and marine wildlife are not the only animals at risk of ingesting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-spread-insects/">microplastics</a>, according to a new study. 

Plastic pollution research has been typically focused on the oceans and finding ways to track plastic pollution to its source, stop fish and wildlife from ingesting plastic, and measure how much plastic enters the oceans every year. 

Far less attention is paid to freshwater sources like rivers and streams, environments where many insects, like mayflies, lay their eggs. 

When the eggs hatch, the larva spends the first part of its life swimming in streams and lakes eating algae, and unfortunately is not able to tell the difference between microplastics and food. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/business-school">Cardiff University’s School of Business</a> recently conducted a study examining three different kinds of mayfly and caddis larvae. 

The study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, is the first of its kind to investigate the risks of microplastic ingestion for insects near freshwater environments. 

Microplastics measuring less than 5 millimeters were found in as many as one in two  insects at every site the researchers collected samples from. 

“Every year, between eight and twelve million tonnes of plastics are thought to be entering the World's oceans, but around four million tonnes of it passes along rivers,” Fred Windsor, the lead author of the study, told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6216115/Microplastics-50-freshwater-insects-as.html">the Daily Mail</a>. “In some cases, there can be over half a million plastic fragments per square meter of river bed, so that ingestion by insects is very likely.” 

The research shows how widespread plastic pollution is outside of the ocean and that microplastics are entering watersheds from sewage treatment plants and wastewater flows. 

Insects are lower on the food chain and so any microplastic they ingest is then in turn ingested unknowingly by animals that feed on insects like birds and reptiles, making plastic pollution even more widespread. 

“Although people are more and more aware of the damage caused to ocean wildlife from ingesting plastics, the potential problem of plastics in river ecosystems has been seriously overlooked,” Isabelle Durance, Director of the Water Research Institute at Cardiff University, told the Daily Mail.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

1 in 2 freshwater insects found to have eaten microplastics

Fish and marine wildlife are not the only animals at...

Recently, I wrote about the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loss-bears-american-landscape/">decline of bears</a> throughout the United States, all bears but most importantly Brown (or grizzly) bears.  The story I wrote was connected directly to Yellowstone area brown bears being removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act. But <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/24/judge-grizzly-bear-protection-wyoming-idaho-hunt/1417295002/">USA Today</a> reported on Monday that the decision by the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> to remove protections of Yellowstone area bears has been overturned.

Chief District Judge Dana L. Christensen of Montana ruled that the decision to remove protection from the bears was “arbitrary and capricious”.  Much of the judgment is based on genetic science. The judge said that the change in status of Yellowstone Grizzly bears fails to take into account the effect on other bear populations in the area.  

Indeed, bears from the Yellowstone area and the area of Glacier National Park have been ranging far and may possibly soon come into contact with each other, the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/yellowstone-grizzlies-may-soon-commingle-with-northern-cousins-a8041906.html">Independent</a> reported last year.  Furthermore, there is a greater hope by <a href="https://y2y.net/vision/our-progress/grizzly-response">some organizations</a> that bears from Yellowstone may be again connected with their kin as far north as the Yukon at least genetically.  Different bear populations interbreeding increases the genetic resilience of both populations and of the Grizzly Bear as a species overall.  The judge’s decision on this case is a nod towards the great hope of truly restoring the Grizzly Bear to western North America. 

This decision comes in as a victory for environmentalists trying their best to push back against agencies and an administration intent on dismantling wildlife protections.  The fight over protection of bears in Yellowstone is part of a larger fight for the protection of wild animals throughout the U.S., especially predator species like grizzly bears and wolves.    

The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/alaska-wildlife-03-21-2017.php">Center for Biological Diversity</a> reported in March of last year in a press release on the removal of protection on bears and wolves in Alaskan National Wildlife Refuges.  The protections had been put into place by the Obama administration to override predator control techniques approved of by the state government of Alaska.  Techniques now allowed include shooting bears from aircraft, poisoning and trapping as well as killing during denning season. 

The change in protection rules in Alaskan National Wildlife Refuges came down to a vote of the senate under the Congressional Review Act.  This action combined with the attack on bears in the greater Yellowstone area shows a disdain by the ruling party for wildlife, especially potentially dangerous wildlife.

In places like Alaska and the western US where many of the residents and voters are hunters and ranchers, there’s a lot of political pressure behind predator control ideology.  Alaska seems to prioritize hunting in their public lands over wildlife itself, especially predatory wildlife. Not only does allowing predator control increase the hunting of bears, it allows prey animals such as caribou to expand beyond normal measures and thus increase hunting of them as well.  

What matters for now is that the bears are protected in Greater Yellowstone, even if they face more predator control in Alaska where state laws protect them in various ways but not as vigorously as the rolled back federal protections.  

The idea of controlling predators isn’t very sound scientifically speaking in the first place.  Predator populations have been shown to increase and decrease proportional to the populations of their prey base.  Removing predation can also problems in prey populations, allowing unchecked growth and population crashes. The US Fish and Game were claiming that the population of Grizzly Bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem had reached Its carrying capacity and needed to be culled but this claim is bogus.  

Treating greater Yellowstone like a closed system while it is actually a tiny piece of the grizzly bear’s former range is ludicrous.  For many environmentalists, myself included, the idea of bears spreading out from Yellowstone and inhabiting the mountains, hills, prairies and forests of the western US is wonderful.  There is no scientifically sound basis for treating the Yellowstone area as a bear habitat and the surrounding areas as something else. Historically Grizzly Bear range covered most of western North America.                 

Early in the history of US wildlife management culling predators was part of normal procedure and rarely criticized.  Among hunter conservationists like Teddy Roosevelt, there was even a distinction made between sportsman-like hunting practices and predator control, where all means were employed.  With hunting, Roosevelt and other conservationists of his day stressed a certain unwritten code of conduct, with principles of sportsmanship involved. When it came to controlling predators, the former president was much more ruthless.  Roosevelt spent time killing many predators himself but throughout his life his views changed. In <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/hisnps/NPShistory/beasts.pdf">an article</a> about predator control in Yellowstone, the National Park Service sums up his evolving viewpoint:

“Roosevelt referred to wolves as “the beasts of waste and desolation.” In this same book, Roosevelt depicted cougars as “bloodthirsty” and “cowardly” predators with a “desire for bloodshed which they lack the courage to realize.” Yet despite his depiction of predators as destroyers of cattle and wildlife, Roosevelt was a careful student of predators and their natural behavior. As he spent more time studying predators in their natural setting, his attitudes toward their role in nature began to change, so much so that by 1908 he ordered predator control of Yellowstone’s cougars be stopped in order to allow these predator populations to curtail growing elk populations. This change in Roosevelt’s perspective toward Yellowstone’s predator population was influenced by several factors, including his goal of establishing a wildlife reserve in Yellowstone, his personal interest in hunting, and his increased understanding of the role of predators in an ecosystem.”

This change in heart about predator control was also mirrored in Aldo Leopold, one of the fathers of the modern science of wildlife management.  Leopold spent some of his younger years actively involved in killing predators like wolves involved with the same agencies that were actively trying to eradicate bears from much of the American west.  In one of the more famous tales of wildlife conservation, Leopold watched a wolf die and saw in the wolf’s green eyes an epiphany. 

The shift in opinion on predator control is clearly not unanimous among even wildlife professionals but it seems that the overall consensus has shifted.  A federal judge recognizing that the evidence as presented favors those with no interest in curtailing bear populations or ‘controlling’ predator populations is a step in the right direction.  Still, states like Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho and much of the west have views antithetical to allowing predators and prey to reach a natural balance. Hunting is often prioritized over healthy wildlife populations and the wildness of natural systems.  

If we want this legal victory to be a long term one, views but also laws will need to change to formally recognize the rights and standings of other animals.  Recognizing formally that we share this planet, not rule would be a step in the right direction. For now we should celebrate that bears in Greater Yellowstone are protected which makes all Grizzly Bears just a little bit safer.   

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Protection of Yellowstone Grizzly Bears has been upheld by the court

Recently, I wrote about the decline of bears throughout the...

At The Maryland Zoo, a turtle is rolling around on a wheelchair made out of Legos while recovering from surgery. The wild Eastern box turtle was found in July with injuries and was taken to the zoo’s hospital.

Dr. Ellen Bronson is the senior director of Animal Health, Conservation, and Research at The Maryland Zoo. 

She explained in a <a href="https://www.marylandzoo.org/news-and-updates/2018/09/injured-turtle-at-the-maryland-zoo-fitted-with-customized-lego-wheelchair/">news release</a>: “He had multiple fractures on his plastron, the bottom part of his shell. Because of the unique placement of the fractures, we faced a difficult challenge with maintaining the turtle’s mobility while allowing him to heal properly.”

The veterinary team performed surgery to save the turtle’s fractured shell, which is now held together with metal bone plates, sewing clasps, and surgical wire. 

Garrett Fraess is a fourth year veterinary student who works at The Maryland Zoo. 

“It was important to keep the bottom of the shell off the ground so it could heal properly,” said Fraess. “They don’t make turtle-sized wheelchairs. So, we drew some sketches of a customized wheelchair and I sent them to a friend who is a LEGO® enthusiast.”


A few weeks after the surgery, the turtle received his custom-made wheelchair. The frame built out of Legos surrounds the turtle's shell and rests on four Lego wheels. 

The device was attached to the upper shell with plumbers putty, which lifts the turtle up enough to free his legs for movement. According to Fraess, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/turtles-shell-toothless-beak/">turtle</a> took to his new wheelchair right away. 

“He never even hesitated,” said Fraess. “He took off and has been doing great. Turtles are really good at healing as long as the shell remains stable.”

The turtle uses his front legs to wheel around, and the wheelchair design allows for natural movement. The turtle can even fully close his shell if he feels threatened. 

“Turtles heal much slower than mammals and birds, since their metabolism is slower,” said Dr. Bronson. “So, this turtle will likely use his LEGO® wheelchair through the winter and into the spring until all of the fragments have fused together and the shell has completely healed.”


The Maryland Zoo has conducted the Druid Hill Park Eastern box turtle monitoring project since 1996, tagging and releasing 132 wild turtles so far. 

“This particular turtle was originally tagged in 2000, making him at least 18-years-old,” said Dr. Bronson. “We are very happy that he is recovering well from his injuries and we plan to return him to the wild once he is fully healed.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Maryland Zoo

Zoo builds wheelchair to help turtle recovering from a broken shell

At The Maryland Zoo, a turtle is rolling around on...

Sharks are feared by many for their perceived man-eating and ferocious nature. Although shark attacks occur in small numbers throughout the world every year, in reality, humans are the true predator.

A new<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X18303038?via%3Dihub"> study</a> published in Marine Policy examined shark finning, the act of cutting a shark’s fin off and discarding the rest of its body, as a case study on the difficulties of managing threatened species in the international trade. The authors found that shark finning is currently unsustainable and is leading species of sharks towards extinction.

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sharks-sense-focused-hunters/">Sharks</a> are finned to fill demand for shark fin soup, a luxury dish that can cost up to $100 a bowl. Because shark meat has a low commercial value, many sharks are simply thrown back into the ocean where they can bleed to death or become preyed upon.

A 2013 <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X13000055">study</a> also published in Marine Policy estimated that humans kill 100 million sharks every year. Although not all these sharks are killed for their fins, some are killed as bycatch and for other body parts, shark finning is a major driver of population declines.

[caption id="attachment_1801747" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/shutterstock_101559460.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1801747" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/shutterstock_101559460-1024x704.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="481" /></a> Image Credit: Eliro/Shutterstock[/caption]

Sharks have been particularly affected by overharvesting. Many shark species are currently threatened or endangered yet are still being killed for shark fin soup. A<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cobi.13043"> study</a> which analyzed species composition of shark fins for sale in Hong Kong found that one-third of the species were threatened with extinction. In addition, sharks have naturally low reproductive rates making it difficult for the animals to come back from population declines.

Sharks currently face a similar trajectory as other wild animals who are exploited for their parts such as elephants and rhinos. As the authors note, a legal market for a wildlife part can undermine enforcement efforts and help poachers launder their products. Additionally, many governments lack the resources or desire to address the illegal wildlife trade. Shark finning can be especially difficult to enforce since the finning often occurs on the high seas and enforcement officers may only have the sharks fin available to determine whether the animal is a protected species.

Without proper regulation and enforcement, the future of many shark species is bleak. The world would have a lot to lose without sharks. Not only would movies such as Jaws and Sharknado be stuck in the past, but whole ecosystems could suffer without an apex predator controlling population dynamics.

The authors hope shark finning will illustrate the problems with having a large, luxury market for imperiled species, especially species for which demand is higher than the natural supply.

The study concludes, “Until institutional systems can effectively control the exploitation

and trade of wildlife destined for luxury markets, international trade in vulnerable and threatened species, or their parts, should cease before populations are extirpated, or species driven further towards extinction; the situation is urgent, and the message clear.”

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Study finds shark finning is unsustainable, calls for market halt

Sharks are feared by many for their perceived man-eating and...

A new study has found that many vampire bats are carriers of Bartonella bacteria, and Bartonella infections are extremely prevalent among bat populations in Peru and Belize. 

Bartonella bacteria can cause life-threatening diseases in humans and animals such as endocarditis, which is an infection of the lining of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/genetics-heart-responds-exercise/">heart</a>. 

Vampire bats are common carriers and because Bartonella bacteria is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans, and this increases the risk of transmission and disease for humans and livestock. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.montana.edu/">Montana State University</a> set out to examine how much vampire bats themselves were at risk of infection, rather than focusing on their role as carriers as many other studies have. 

Although vampire bats are considered an abundant zoonotic reservoir of Bartonella infections in humans, how bats contract and spread the disease amongst themselves is not well known. 

The results of the study were published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006786">PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases</a>. 

Over a period of two years, the researchers collected blood, saliva, and fecal samples from vampire bats in both Belize and Peru. 

The different samples were analyzed and the researchers were able to identify which bats were infected with Bartonella bacteria. 

To determine the individual risk factors for Vampire bats, the researchers studied the relationship between age, sex, forearm size, and the reproductive status of the bats. 

If a sample did test positive for Bartonella, the researchers conducted genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to better understand how and where the disease spread from bat to bat. 

Male vampire bats carried the highest risk of infection and 67 percent of the samples tested positive for the bacteria. 

The genotypes of the bacteria showed a wide distribution across Central and South America. 

Bats, like humans and animals, can become infected with Bartonella through arthropod bites like ticks or mites that use hosts for a blood meal. However, the researchers also found that vampire bats could spread the disease to other bats through saliva or environmental contamination. 

Having a better understanding of how vampire bats contract Bartonella could help with creating better strategies to prevent disease transmission. 

“Given the high rates of vampire bat bites and proximity to humans, and domestic animals, such efforts to verify the possibility and frequency of oral and environmental exposures would elucidate Bartonella transmission dynamics in this common host species and the risks of cross-species transmission,” the study authors wrote.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vampire bats carry bacteria that cause deadly infections in humans

A new study has found that many vampire bats are...

A new species of dinosaur, described from fossils found in South Africa, sheds light on the earliest dinosaurs from the Jurassic period during the Mesozoic era. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/">University of Witwatersrand</a> in Johannesburg, South Africa discuss the new species in a study published in the journal Current Biology. 

First discovered in 2012, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-modern-birds-dinosaurs/">dinosaur</a> was described as belonging to a new species of sauropodomorphs named Ledumahadi mafube, and it’s a close relative of the famous long-necked sauropod Brontosaurus. 

What’s notable about the Ledumahadi mafube is that it provides paleontology with a rare glimpse of dinosaur evolution and how the early ancestors of sauropods developed the ability to walk on all fours. 

After years of excavating the skeleton, the researchers realized that the specimen was a full grown adult around 14 years of age and estimated that it weighed around 12,000 kilograms. 

“It shows us that even as far back as 200 million years ago, these animals had already become the largest vertebrates to ever walk the Earth,” said  Jonah Choiniere, one of the researchers involved in the excavation of the specimen. 

The researchers weren’t sure if the dinosaur they uncovered walked on two legs like earlier dinosaurs or was a quadruped like the brontosaur. To find out, the researchers measured the thickness of the Ledumahadi's limbs and used that to estimate how much weight the dinosaur carried and how that weight was dispersed when walking. 

It turns out that the dinosaur likely waked on all fours. The researchers also discovered that other sauropodomorph dinosaurs were probably “experimenting” with walking on all fours, eventually leading to the complex evolution of quadruped sauropods.

“The evolution of sauropods isn't quite as straightforward as we once thought,” said Choiniere. “In fact, it appears that sauropodomorphs evolved four-legged postures at least twice before they gained the ability to walk with upright limbs, which undoubtedly helped make them so successful in an evolutionary sense.”

The findings also point to an abundant and diverse dinosaur ecosystem in South Africa with many huge carnivores. 

“There was a thriving dinosaur ecosystem here in South Africa, at the bottom of the world, featuring 12-ton giants like Ledumahadi, tiny carnivores like Megapnosaurus, the earliest mammals, some of the earliest turtles, and many, many others,” said Choiniere. “Africa, and particularly South Africa, is known for its big game. I think we should be just as famous for our big game of the early Mesozoic, 200 million years ago.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Viktor Radermacher, University of the Witwatersrand

Brontosaurus relative shows how early dinosaurs walked on 4 legs

A new species of dinosaur, described from fossils found in...

Over forty years ago, the first initiatives were put in place to ban the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are chemical pollutants that can be passed through the food chain and are deadly to animals in certain concentrations. A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> shows that – despite these bans – the current concentrations of PCBs may lead to the disappearance of half the world’s populations of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/save-endangered-killer-whale/">killer whales</a> in a period of just 30 to 50 years. 

Killer whales – also known as orcas – are the last link in a long oceanic food chain. Because of this, they are among the mammals with the highest level of PCBs in their tissue, as the chemical increases in concentration as the food chain goes up. Many studies have shown that PCB levels as low as 50 milligrams per kilogram of tissue are enough to cause infertility and impact the immune system in some animals. Shockingly, researchers have measured PCB concentrations as high as 1300 milligrams per kilo in the fatty tissue of orcas.

For this study, an international team of researchers reviewed all existing literature and assessed all data compared to their own most recent results on PCB levels in these whales. In total, they accrued data on more than 350 individual killer whales from around the world, which makes this the largest number of whales ever studied. They then used models to predict the effects of PCBs on the number of offspring – as well as the immune system and mortality of killer whale populations over a period of 100 years. The result was that more than 50 percent of orca populations are under threat.

Of the 19 killer whale populations they investigated, 10 of these populations may disappear entirely in the next few decades. The most threatened populations were in heavily contaminated areas such as the waters near Brazil, the Strait of Gibraltar, and near the United Kingdom. Although the killer whale is one of the most widespread mammals on Earth – found in all of the world’s oceans – only the populations living in the least polluted areas contain a large number of individuals.

Orcas typically eat seals, large fish such as tuna, and sharks – which all accumulate high concentrations of PCBs themselves, along with other pollutants. However, orca populations that primarily feed on smaller fish, like herring and mackerel, tend to have significantly lower levels of PCBs. 

While international efforts to phase out PCBs began over four decades ago during the Stockholm Convention, it clearly has not been enough to reduce the health effects of animals at the top of the food chain. 

“This suggests that the efforts have not been effective enough to avoid the accumulation of PCBs in high trophic level species that live as long as the killer whale does. There is therefore an urgent need for further initiatives than those under the Stockholm Convention,” says co-author Paul D. Jepson, of the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/science">Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society</a> of London, England.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Killer whales are at risk of disappearing due to PCB pollution

Over forty years ago, the first initiatives were put in...

Scientists at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a> (ZSL) may have finally ended a long debate over the “world's largest bird." The title has now been given to Vorombe titan, a Madagascan creature that weighed more than 1,700 pounds and reached heights of nearly 10 feet.

Elephant birds are an extinct group of large, flightless <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-modern-birds-dinosaurs/">birds</a> that roamed Madagascar during the Late Quaternary. 

Prior to the study, it was suggested that up to 15 different species of elephant birds fell under two genera. Out of these two genera previously recognized by scientists, Aepyornis maximus has often been considered to be the world's largest bird.

In 1894, British scientist C.W. Andrews described an even larger species, Aepyornis titan, which was initially dismissed as an unusually large specimen of A. maximus. However, the new research from the ZSL reveals that this “titan” bird was actually a distinct species.

[caption id="attachment_1801811" align="aligncenter" width="613"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/4553212-6209309-Researchers_believe_the_world_s_largest_ever_bird_was_Vorombe_ti-m-23_1537956680354.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1801811" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/4553212-6209309-Researchers_believe_the_world_s_largest_ever_bird_was_Vorombe_ti-m-23_1537956680354.jpg" alt="" width="613" height="645" /></a> Image Credit: Jaime Chirinos[/caption]

The ZSL team, led by Dr. James Hansford, found that the shape and size of A. titan's bones are so different from other elephant birds that it has now been given the new genus name Vorombe. The name of the new species, Vorombe titan, translates to “big bird" in Malagasy and Greek.

“Elephant birds were the biggest of Madagascar's megafauna and arguably one of the most important in the islands evolutionary history - even more so than lemurs,” explained Dr. Hansford. 

“This is because large-bodied animals have an enormous impact on the wider ecosystem they live in via controlling vegetation through eating plants, spreading biomass and dispersing seeds through defecation. Madagascar is still suffering the effects of the extinction of these birds today.”

Study co-author Professor Samuel Turvey added, “Without an accurate understanding of past species diversity, we can't properly understand evolution or ecology in unique island systems such as Madagascar or reconstruct exactly what's been lost since human arrival on these islands. Knowing the history of biodiversity loss is essential to determine how to conserve today's threatened species.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 
Image Credit: Jaime Chirinos

The world’s largest bird ever lived in Madagascar 1,000 years ago

Scientists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) may have...

A new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> provides insight into the hovering flight capabilities of bats and hummingbirds, the only two vertebrates that can hover in place. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hummingbirds-songs-tail-feathers/">Hummingbirds</a> are well known for their speed, endurance, and impressive agility, but they aren’t the only winged animals that can hover at a place to feed. 

Both hummingbirds and bats can hover by twisting their wings and pushing air downward to help keep steady in mid-air, but only hummingbirds and nectar bats can sustain their hovering. 

River Ingersoll, a graduate student at Stanford University, examined bats and hummingbirds in Costa Rica in order to better understand hovering flight between the two vertebrates. 

“We're really interested in how hovering flight evolved,” said Ingersoll. “Nectar bats drink from flowers like hummingbirds do, so we want to see if there's any similarities or differences between these two different taxa.”

To study hovering flight, the researchers set up delicate, almost invisible nets in the jungle of Las Cruces, Costa Rica in the hopes of catching hummingbirds and bats to study and then release. 

All in all, the researchers were able to examine over 100 hummingbirds and bats from 17 hummingbird and three bat species. 

The results of the study were published in the journal Science Advances. 

Once a bird or bat was caught the researchers placed it in a flight chamber that contained aerodynamic force sensors, and the animals' movements were also recorded using high-speed cameras. 

The sensors measured small changes in the vertical force even capturing minute changes in wing movements of hummingbirds that weighed as much as 2.4 grams. 

The researchers synced up the force measurements with the high-speed camera footage which showed how wing shape at any given moment affected the vertical lift. 

“I'd sit and wait for the hummingbird to feed at the flower,” said Ingersoll. “Once it was feeding, I would trigger the cameras and the force measurements and we'd get four seconds of footage of the hummingbird flapping at the flower.”

Even though the bats and hummingbirds exerted the same amounts of energy in relation to their weight, the researchers discovered that hummingbirds, fruit bats, and nectar bats all hover in different ways. 

Hummingbirds are more aerodynamically efficient in their hovering flight and can invert their wings more easily than bats. 

Nectar bats generated more upward force while hovering than fruit bats and can twist their wings more easily than fruit bats. 

The researchers say that understanding how hovering flight works in different animals could be useful for improving flying robot and drone technology in the future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hovering bats and hummingbirds can help improve flying robots

A new study conducted by researchers from Stanford University provides...

DEET is widely considered to be the most effective insect repellent available, but researchers are now explaining why it may not be a typical repellent. The research has revealed that DEET is successful in keeping <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/flying-insects-mysteriously-vanishing/">insects</a> away by interfering with neurons that allow them to smell their surroundings, which causes confusion. 

Professor Leslie B. Vosshall of <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller University</a> and former graduate student Emily Dennis have also demonstrated that the effects of DEET are not limited to insects. The findings suggest that DEET may be less of an insect repellent and more of an “invertebrate confusant.”

DEET was first developed in the 1940s and can be found in most bug sprays today. In flies and mosquitoes, the chemical works by interacting with odor receptors that are unique to insects. The current study, however, reveals the previously unknown influence of DEET among non-insect species, which cannot yet be explained.

To investigate, the team set out to examine whether DEET changes the behavior of the roundworm C. elegans, a simple animal with an elaborate sense of smell. When the tiny worms were presented with samples of DEET alone, the animals did not go out of their way to avoid the chemical. 

Next, the scientists mixed small amounts of DEET into agar, a gel-like substance that C. elegans crawl on in Petri dishes. The presence of DEET limited the movement of the worms toward a chemical that normally attracts them - isoamyl alcohol. They were also less effective in avoiding a compound called 2-nonanone that they typically dodge. In addition, the worms reacted normally to several other chemicals. 

The findings suggest that DEET can interfere with responses to both good and bad smells, but that it does not entirely shut down olfaction. 

The researchers determined that sensitivity to DEET among the worms was dependent upon a gene called str-217, which is expressed in neurons called ADL cells. 


“Somehow activating ADL puts the worms into a frame of mind where they're more introspective, they're pausing more, they're not paying as much attention to odors,” said Professor Vosshall. “But if you take away the right gene or neuron, this spell is broken.”

“The one common theme in all of these organisms is that DEET is doing something to affect odor perception - it's like sensory system sabotage.”

Dennis added, “Something about DEET is really special. And I think we're just starting to uncover all the ways that it can affect different neurons, receptors, and species.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> .

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Rockefeller University

DEET is repelling insects by confusing and disorienting them

DEET is widely considered to be the most effective insect...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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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 



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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



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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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[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



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



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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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...