Walk into any pet show and you’ll see them - flat-faced Persian cats with plush coats and round eyes, or pug dogs waddling about with their unmistakably squished faces.



At first glance, they seem like they belong together, cousins perhaps. Yet they are worlds apart in evolutionary terms. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-reveal-hidden-danger-of-microplastics-to-unborn-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cats</a> and dogs diverged from a common ancestor over 50 million years ago. Despite that, some breeds have grown so similar, they defy nature’s original blueprint.



How did we get here? The answer lies in us. Humans have not only guided the way these animals look but have also unintentionally rewritten the story of cat and dog evolution.



Recent research by scientists from Cornell University and <a href="https://washu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Washington University in St. Louis</a> shows just how powerful human preferences can be. This isn’t a story of natural evolution - it’s one of artificial selection, taste, and the strange paths of convergence that arise when we shape nature in our own image.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-changed-cat-and-dog-evolution">Humans changed cat and dog evolution</h2>



The study, published in the journal PNAS, reveals a striking example of evolutionary convergence.



Convergence typically occurs when unrelated species adapt to similar environments, evolving comparable traits. Think wings in birds, bats, and pterosaurs. But here, convergence didn’t come from nature - it came from us.



The researchers found that certain breeds of cats and dogs - Persians, Pugs, Pekingese, Himalayans - developed nearly identical skull shapes.



The flat faces, short snouts, and upward-tilted muzzles were so similar that they overlapped in 3D models. Even more astonishing, these pets were more like each other than like their own ancestors.



“Persian cats and pug and Pekingese dogs all have skull shapes that are very similar to each other, with flat and short faces, and their muzzles and palettes are tilted up in the same way,” said Abby Drake, senior lecturer at <a href="https://www.cornell.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cornell</a> and co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-bred-by-humans-are-more-varied">Dogs bred by humans are more varied </h2>



Much of this comparison began years earlier, in an unexpected place. Bern, Switzerland is home to the world’s largest scientific collection of pedigree dog skulls. With 2,800 skulls from over 100 breeds, it offers a comprehensive look into the diversity that breeding has created.



Drake studied this collection to understand how modern dogs compare with wild canines like wolves, foxes, and coyotes. The conclusion was clear: dogs bred by humans are far more varied in skull shape than their wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-have-become-one-of-the-worlds-most-invasive-predators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">relatives</a>.



This idea sparked curiosity in Jonathan Losos, evolutionary biologist at Washington University. If dog breeds were more varied than their wild kin, could the same be true for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-can-associate-human-words-with-images/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cats</a>? 



He soon found himself navigating a new kind of evolutionary question - one driven not by survival, but by human whim.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cat-and-dog-skull-evolution">Cat and dog skull evolution</h2>



In the new study, Drake and Losos used three-dimensional skull data from domestic cats and dogs, their wild ancestors - the North African wildcat and the wolf - and other members of the Carnivora order. They examined 47 shape landmarks across 1,810 skulls, creating a broad shape-space to compare variation.



“The original idea was to map the cat shape space onto the same graph with the dog shape space and see how diverse the cats were,” Drake said. 



“We did not expect to see what we saw, which was that the cat shape space overlapped the dog shape space. When I saw that, I thought, ‘What’s going on? That’s amazing.’”



The overlap wasn’t just statistical - it was visual. A Pekingese dog and a Persian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-that-like-attention-can-soothe-people-during-therapy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cat</a> shared more in common with each other than with a wolf or a wildcat. Their skulls reflected nearly identical facial structures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cats-and-dogs-that-look-like-babies-nbsp">Cats and dogs that look like babies&nbsp;</h2>



This similarity didn’t happen by chance. Modern breed standards emphasize traits like big eyes, small noses, and round faces - features often associated with infants.



These “baby-faced” aesthetics appeal deeply to humans, possibly triggering nurturing instincts. And breeders, consciously or not, have refined their animals to meet those ideals.



“The dog and cat families diverged evolutionarily 50 million years ago,” Losos said. “What’s happening now is that breeders are selecting for the same baby-like features in dogs and cats: big eyes, small noses and round heads.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breed-standards-and-baby-features">Breed standards and baby features</h2>



Breed standards even describe these features in remarkably similar language. The Cat Fanciers’ Association describes the Persian head as “round and massive” with a nose “centered between the eyes.” 



The American Kennel Club calls the Pekingese’s skull “massive,” stating its chin, brow, and nose must lie in one vertical plane.



“If you read the breed standards for the Pekingese and the Persian, the language is very similar in terms of how they want the nose to be up between the eyes and the face to form a vertical plane with no protrusion of the muzzle,” Drake said. "They set these breed standards up, and they achieved them.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-breeds-evolved-similar-looks">Different breeds evolved similar looks</h2>



What’s even more fascinating is that this convergence didn’t occur just once. Within dogs, it happened independently in two lineages: English bulldogs and the Asian breeds like the Pekingese and Pug. In cats, the same short-faced form emerged in both Persian and Burmese breeds.



“We realized that the Asian short-faced dogs like the Pekingese and Pugs are basically unrelated to the bulldogs — or the English short-faced breeds,” Drake said. 



“This short-faced morphology has evolved twice within dogs, and also twice within cats, where it evolved in the Persians and the Burmese. So, we’re seeing not just convergence between the two species - cats and dogs - but also convergence within each species.”



This repeated pattern of similarity in unrelated lineages strengthens the case for artificial convergence. Unlike natural selection, where similar traits evolve to meet shared environmental needs, this is evolution for aesthetic preferences. And it happens fast.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-dark-side-of-breeding">The dark side of breeding</h2>



Yet this similarity comes at a cost. Brachycephalic breeds often suffer from serious health issues. Their flat faces can lead to breathing problems, dental misalignment, and complications during birth. These animals would struggle to survive in the wild.



“There are efforts by some groups led by veterinarians to outlaw breeding such extreme types,” Losos said. “And we really need that, for the benefit of the animals. There are all kinds of skull problems with these cats and dogs, because of the way they have been altered.”



Despite their appeal, baby-faced breeds are biologically compromised. Losos and Drake make it clear they do not support continued breeding for such extreme features. Their work exposes how far we’ve taken some animals from their natural design - and the price they pay for our preferences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions </h2>



Looking ahead, the team plans to expand their study. They want to gather CT scans of breeds not included yet - like the long-faced Siamese or the uniquely shaped Cornish Rex and Savannah cats. These may add even more complexity to the picture of modern pet evolution.



The researchers also hope to apply their methods to extinct species. Comparing today’s breeds with saber-toothed cats or dire wolves may uncover even more about how artificial and natural selection interact.



This study not only reveals what humans have done to cats and dogs - it also helps us see evolution at work in real time. It’s a mirror reflecting both our creativity and our responsibilities. Through our choices, we’ve sculpted life - but not always with care.



Now, as scientists dig deeper, we face a question just as important as any data point: what kind of future do we want for the animals we love?



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413780122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Our love for 'baby faces' reshaped cat and dog evolution

Walk into any pet show and you’ll see them - flat-faced Persian cats with plush coats and round eyes, or pug dogs waddling about with their unmistakably squished faces. At first glance, they seem like they belong together, cousins perhaps. Yet they are worlds apart in evolutionary terms. Cats and dogs diverged from a common ancestor over 50 million years ago. Despite that, some breeds have grown so similar, they defy nature’s original blueprint. How did we get here? The answer lies in us. Humans have not...

Today, macadamia nuts are a $3 billion industry, and a single healthy tree can yield 12 to 13 kilograms of in-shell nuts. 

Although the fast-growing evergreen tree has become a popular crop in Hawaii, supplying 70 percent of the world’s macadamia nut varieties, the macadamia nut tree originates from Australia. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> traced Hawaii’s macadamia tree nut crop back to one single cultivar that was brought to the region from a small town in Queensland, Australia and cloned repeatedly. 

Understanding the geographic origins and genetic lineage of a crop can help with conservation and breeding healthier plants that are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disease-resistant-crops/">drought and pest-resistant</a>. 

However, the origins of many of our most basic food crop staples remain unknown. 

In a new study published in the journal Frontiers, researchers were able to trace Hawaii’s Macadamia nut family tree back to one or several trees from the town of Gympie which was brought to Hawaii in the 19th century. 

“Most of the germplasm in Hawaii and particularly the germplasm used extensively throughout the world for commercial production came from a single population, and possibly even a single tree, at Mooloo, north-west of Gympie,’ said <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2019/05/gympie-identified-birthplace-of-global-macadamia-industry">Dr. Craig Hardner</a>, a lead author of the study. 

Macadamia trees were likely an essential part of the diet of Australia’s indigenous people, but it wasn’t until 1848 that Europeans first recorded coming in contact with the tree and its nuts. 

“The world’s first cultivated macadamia tree was likely planted in 1858 by Walter Hill in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, and it is still alive today,” said Hardner. 

What sets the Macadamia tree apart from other popular crops is that the Macadamia nut industry has only recently undergone a massive and rapid global expansion in the last 50 years.

Because Hawaii’s crop is based on one cultivar that was cloned for generations, there is very little genetic diversity in the trees, which makes it easier to trace its cultivar origins. 

The researchers conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 64 wild and cultivated macadamia tree samples. 

Most of the samples collected from Hawaiin trees shared a chlorotype with trees that grew in the wild in Mooloo. 

“Macadamias are only a few generations from the wild. They have not gone through as many cycles of selection as, for example, apples,” said Hardner. “This means there is still a lot of opportunity to improve them.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Trevor Christopher

Hawaii's macadamia nut industry owes its success to one tree

Today, macadamia nuts are a $3 billion industry, and a...

The news of a <a href="http://time.com/5582694/russian-spy-whale-history/">beluga “spy” whale</a> discovered swimming near Norway that may have escaped from the Russian Navy garnered global attention, but Russia is not the only country to employ marine animals in military operations. 

The <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/">US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency</a> (DARPA) plans to use Goliath grouper, black sea bass, and snapping shrimp to help monitor human activity like boats and submarines underwater as part of its Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) program. 

Five teams of researchers have signed on to help develop the necessary software and sensors to make the system a success. 

The program aims to use fish and microorganisms which are highly sensitive to changes in their marine environments and use the signals, movements, and behaviors of fish to detect potential underwater activity like drones maneuvering in strategic waters. 

First announced in 2018, PALS will greatly advance the military’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-spy-plants/">surveillance capabilities.</a>

“Tapping into the exquisite sensing capabilities of marine organisms could yield a discreet, persistent, and highly scalable solution to maintaining awareness in the challenging underwater environment,” Lori Adornato, the PALS program manager said in a <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-02-15">statement</a>. 

The military program will monitor and record fish and other marine organisms, making a note of changes in behavior and signals. 

Specially designed software would then translate these cues to see if they were made in response to human disturbances. 

While sonar and other existing surveillance technology can sometimes pick up these changes and signals, more often than not, it is treated as background noise. 

Finding a way to translate marine signals accurately would be optimal for monitoring because fish and microorganisms not only respond to sounds but visual, magnetic and chemical cues, according to the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fish-spies-underwater-us-military-defence-trump-navy-a8936051.html">Independent</a> which reported on the PALS program. 

The five teams have their work cut out for them, and there are many hurdles to overcome for the program to successfully filter out responses to human activity from reactions to other natural disturbances. 

The researchers plan to utilize hydrophones, sonar, cameras, kinetic sensors, and magnetic acoustic sensors to record and analyze responses to environmental changes. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Four Oaks

US military program plans to use fish as underwater spies

The news of a beluga “spy” whale discovered swimming near...

Godzilla has evolved 30 times faster than any other animal on Earth. Ever since their humble beginnings on the silver screen, few movie monsters have captured our imagination like Godzilla, King Kong, or the terrifying T-Rex from Jurassic Park. 

King Kong first appeared to American audiences during the Great Depression. Years later, Godzilla, the radioactive reptilian, rose menacingly from Tokyo Bay in 1954 and jump started the Showa era of Japan’s Kaiju films. 

Every few years or so, these revered movie monsters are given fresh looks, new films, and fancier special effects.Godzilla has evolved 30 times faster than any other animal on Earth 

Godzilla: King of Monsters was released at the end of May and is the latest in the Godzilla films. While critics and audiences may be at an impasse as to whether the new installment is a worthy addition to the franchise, one thing for certain is that Godzilla is keeping up with the times, evolutionarily speaking. 

Godzilla has evolved 30 times faster than any real animal’s evolution, according to a new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a> and published in the journal Science. 

The Godzilla films have always served as a powerful allegory for fear. In the 50s, Godzilla premiered in the wake of post-World War II concerns about nuclear weapons and radioactive fallout in Japan. 

As humanity’s fear of nuclear testing and its potential damage to the natural world grew and evolved, so too did Godzilla. 

As if fed by our own growing fears about climate change, degrading ecosystems, conservation, and nuclear power, Godzilla has gotten bigger and more destructive with each new film. 

In their paper, Nathaniel J. Dominy and Ryan Calsbeek suggest that Godzilla’s evolution is fueled “a spike in humanity’s collective anxiety.” 

In 1954, Godzilla was a 164-foot tall behemoth that decimated cities and caused mass carnage. In the film, hospitals are crowded with civilians suffering from radiation sickness. 

Later in the 80s, Godzilla Returns hit theaters standing 262 feet tall. In the most recent film, Godzilla has grown to 393 feet. 

Over the last 65 years, Godzilla has hyper-evolved and doubled in size since 1954. 

“This rate of increase far exceeds that of ceratosaurids during the Jurassic, which was exceptional,” the researchers wrote. “The rate of change rules out genetic drift as the primary cause. It is more consistent with strong natural selection.”

In order to examine Godzilla’s growth rate, the researchers compared the fictional monster to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/convergent-evolution-reptiles-amphibians/">evolution of lizards</a> using existing genetic studies. 

The researchers also reviewed military spending and the increasing US military budget through the years as a reliable stand-in for growing global fears about war. 

“Icons are always a reflection of their times, and few have enjoyed such longevity.” the two authors wrote. “What began as a pointed anti-nuclear fable has since evolved into a broader allegory for human folly and our reckless disregard for the natural environment.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Phoenix Pixels / Shutterstock.com

Godzilla has evolved 30 times faster than any other animal on Earth

Godzilla has evolved 30 times faster than any other animal...

A team of researchers from Australia’s <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/">Macquarie University</a> and <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/">University of New England</a> have devised a plan to keep <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-infectious-disease-frogs/">frogs</a> safe from the species-destroying chytrid fungus on the island of New Guinea. The chytrid fungus has already killed off over 90 frog species and caused population decline in over 500 species worldwide.

Now, the international team of scientists are calling for help to keep frogs safe on New Guinea, which is currently home to 6% of all known frog species. They have outlined their plan in <a href="https://www.frontiersinecology.org/fron/">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.

"You don't often spot a conservation disaster before it happens and get the chance to stop it," said first author Deborah Bower of the University of New England. "We know what needs to be done."

The team states that the international pet trade has been the main cause of the spread of the chytrid fungus from its origins in East Asia. It can now be found on every continent and is the largest reason why 40% of the world’s frog species are now threatened with extinction. However, it has yet to reach New Guinea. If it did, about 100 species of frog would be at risk, which could damage the entire island’s ecosystem.

[caption id="attachment_1873421" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/frog-young.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873421" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/frog-young.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="435" /></a> New Guinean frog carrying its young on its back. Image Credit: Stephen J Richards[/caption]

"A lot of New Guinea's frogs are closely related to Australian species that have been devastated by chytrid, so we expect they would be just as vulnerable," said lead researcher Simon Clulow from Macquarie University. "Other New Guinea frog species are unusual because they hatch from eggs as fully formed frogs, rather than going through a tadpole stage, and we don't know how chytrid will affect them."

The team developed a 5-step program that outlines preparation, prevention, detection, response and recovery that can successfully keep the fungus off the island. Not only would their program preserve frog species, but it would also build up local science capacity and disease surveillance and diagnosis, both pertinent for public and animal health safety.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Stephen J. Richards

Frogs remain safe from fatal fungus on the island of New Guinea

A team of researchers from Australia’s Macquarie University and University...

A team of Japanese whalers and scientists have successfully identified new subspecies of the short-finned pilot whale, a species of whale found all over the world from the Pacific and Indian to the North Atlantic Oceans. 

Although it’s often been thought that the short-finned was its own unique species, the team has actually identified two “forms” of short-finned pilot whales, which populate the Pacific off the coast of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/japan-commercial-whaling/">Japan</a>.

First is the “Naisa” form, which lives off the coast of Southern Japan and has a square-shaped head. And second is the “Shio” form, which lives off the coast of Northern Japan and has a round head.

"You can't manage animals globally without understanding their diversity," said lead author of the study Amy Van Cise, a postdoctoral scholar at the <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a> (WHOI). “If you think of a group of animals as a single species, and it turns out they're not, you could wind up accidentally losing an entire subspecies without knowing it.”

This study, published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1365294x">Molecular Ecology</a>, is the first to examine the genetic diversity of these two forms of short-finned pilot whales.

Using marine mammal tissue archived at <a href="https://swfsc.noaa.gov/">NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center</a>, Van Cise was able to examine the entire global population structure of the short-finned pilot whale. She was able to extract over 700 DNA samples from the tissue archives and successfully identified two subspecies of the short-finned pilot whale merely separated by the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

"You would expect to see a different subspecies of whale in each ocean basin — the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific. That's pretty common,” Van Cise said. “But what we found was that short-finned pilot whales in the Atlantic are the same sub-species as those living in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific.” However, those short-finned pilot whales living off the coast of Japan differed from the root species.

To determine that the Naisa and Shiho forms were uniquely different from the rest, Van Cise used small portions of the whales’ mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to study each form’s genetic divergence from the pack.

It’s thanks to the mtDNA that scientists can now dig deeper into unique species that may have been previously overlooked. 

"[The Pacific expanse] seems to have separated these groups of whales for long enough that they diverged into two different types," she explained. "That means continents and land forms may not have been as significant a barrier as we thought to this species' evolution. Instead, the oceanic 'desert' in the Pacific might have been more important."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Dai Mar Tamarack

Researchers identify new subspecies of pilot whale in the Pacific

A team of Japanese whalers and scientists have successfully identified...

A new study has revealed that sponges provide a unique way for monitoring marine biodiversity. As the sponges filter-feed, the DNA left behind in the water from other animals is collected in their tissues. The researchers identified fish, seal, and penguin <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-woolly-mammoths-dna/">DNA</a> in sponges from the Antarctic and Mediterranean.

Study co-author Stefano Mariani is a marine ecologist and population geneticist at the <a href="https://www.salford.ac.uk/">University of Salford</a>.

"Sponges are ideal sampling units because you find them everywhere and in every aquatic habitat, including freshwater," said Mariani. "Also, they're not very selective filter-feeders, they don't run away, and they don't get hurt by sampling - you can just grab a piece, and they will regenerate nicely."

The researchers found that the presence of sponge DNA did not interfere with their ability to identify the DNA of other species caught within its tissue. By using a particular DNA primer, they were able to selectively amplify vertebrate DNA without amplifying the DNA of the sponge itself. This technique was combined with metabarcoding, which sorted through the DNA in the tissue sample and organized it into distinguishable species.

[caption id="attachment_1873415" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/sponge.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1873415" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/sponge.jpeg" alt="" width="650" height="702" /></a> Sponge specimen, Aplysina aerophoba, Image Credit: A. Riesgo[/caption]

The team identified 31 taxa, which mostly consisted of fish. One sponge sample from Antarctica included DNA from Weddell seals and chinstrap penguins. The sample was ultimately linked to a specific region offshore of a penguin breeding colony. "This was a really exciting find and also makes a lot of sense, because the penguins would be in and out of the water a lot, eating, swimming, and pooing," said Mariani.

Next, the researchers plan to investigate the ability of other animals to act as DNA samplers, particularly in open waters where sponges are unavailable or inaccessible. According to Mariani, organisms such as jelly fish or salps may be better options in the open ocean. 

The ultimate goal of the research is to improve how environmental DNA is collected in order to better monitor biodiversity in areas that may not be suitable for other methods. "I am hopeful that this method will prove itself to be useful," said Mariani. "It's the quintessential environmentally friendly biodiversity assessment tool."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: A. Riesgo

Sponges pick up DNA from other sea creatures as they filter ocean water

A new study has revealed that sponges provide a unique...

Recent instances of elephant injuries illustrate harms of tourism industry. Elephants have long been a source of human fascination and admiration. The species is vastly intelligent, social and emotional, capable of activities previously believed to be unattainable to non-humans such as grieving the dead. This love for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/poaching-rates-elephants-not-safe/">elephants</a> brings countless tourists to elephant attractions, allowing them the opportunity to interact with the species firsthand.

The attractions may look idyllic to star-struck visitors, but they are often darker than they seem. Two recent cases of elephant injuries at wildlife attractions provide a small glimpse into an industry rife with concerns over animal welfare.

A<a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/baby-elephant-collapses-exhaustion-tied-16193114"> video</a> taken in May shows a one-year old elephant, strapped to his mother by ropes, collapse from exhaustion while his mother gives rides to humans. The young elephant struggles to get up while laying on the concrete ground before finally getting to his feet and continuing the elephant ride.

In April, footage of a young skeletal elephant performing tricks at a Thai zoo went viral. The elephant appeared to be in distress as he mechanically performed tricks during a show. Although animal activists worked to have the elephant moved to a sanctuary, he developed an infection in his digestive tract before he could be relocated. The infection left him so weak that his legs snapped, slowly killing him over the course of days, the animal advocacy group Moving Animals told<a href="https://people.com/pets/baby-elephant-dies-phuket-zoo-thailand/"> People</a>.

Both the incidents occurred in Thailand, a country that has emerged as a hub for elephant tourism. The country has a complicated relationship with domestic elephants. Elephants were used in the logging industry until logging was banned in 1989. After the ban took place, 2,000 mahouts were left to care for captive elephants who they had no immediate use for. The tourism industry quickly came in to fill this void.

There are now an estimated 200 elephant parks in Thailand. Many of them market themselves as “sanctuaries” and “refuges” despite<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elephant-sanctuary-attractions-inhumane/"> rampant inhumane practices</a>.

As commonly seen in animal attractions, financial gain becomes a primary motivation, trumping the welfare of the stars of the show.

Elephant attractions routinely subject animals to cruel conditions such as abusive training practices, the use of chains and isolation from conspecifics. The attractions may also push the elephants to work long hours, interacting with<a href="https://d31j74p4lpxrfp.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/int_files/pdfs/taken_for_a_ride.pdf"> up to 1,000</a> tourists a day.

For unknowing tourists, it may be difficult to spot an inhumane elephant attraction. Attraction operators may allow the elephants to roam while tourists are visiting, keeping the chains and small enclosures hidden from the public. Operators may also tell tourists about how they rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned elephants.

This deception allows tourists to both have their up-close encounter with elephants and leave feeling that they had a fulfilling and meaningful experience.

If any good can come from the recent incidents of elephant injuries, tourists can see a snapshot into the consequences of elephant exploitation in the tourism industry.

While the issue is not as simple as casting all elephant attractions as cruel, tourists should conduct thorough research before visiting any animal attraction to ensure they are not supporting animal cruelty. With elephant tourism, the line between ethical and exploitative is difficult to decipher. 

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: deejungloei / Shutterstock

Recent instances of elephant injuries illustrate harms of tourism industry

Recent instances of elephant injuries illustrate harms of tourism industry....

Once, European wildcats could be found throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Cornwall. Now, after centuries of culling, there are only a handful of Scottish wildcats left – and not for long.

The Highlands population of cats are not interested in approaching humans – but have mated extensively with their domestic cats. The result is that most of the remaining Scottish wildcats are hybrids, leaving the group no longer viable, according to the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>.

So scientists are hoping to return European wildcats to Britain by breeding them in captivity, then releasing them into promising habitat in Wales, Devon and Cornwall.

“Wildcats look like the kitty at home but they are like leopards,” big cat expert Marianne Hartmann told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk">The Guardian</a>. “I’ve been working with leopards for many years and the only difference is size, and that leopards can get tame. If you hand-raise lions or tigers, they remain tame for the rest of their lives. Wildcats cannot be tamed under any circumstances. This is very special.”

While the European wildcats look like larger versions of domestic cats, modern house cats descend from African wildcats. The European cats are much less friendly toward humans than their African cousins.

Hartmann is one of a number of scientists who have helped to reinvigorate species on the brink of extinction and reintroduce them to the wild. She helped to guide a successful project to reintroduce <a href="https://www.waldwissen.net/wald/tiere/saeuger/lwf_wildkatze_lockstock/index_EN">European wildcats to Bavaria</a>. 

Other recent projects:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pacific-fisher-weasel-back/">Pacific fishers</a> were returned to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm">Mount Rainier National Park</a> in 2016, after 70 years. The species had previously been reintroduced to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/fisher-reintroduction.htm">Olympic National Park</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/noca/learn/nature/washington-fisher-restoration.htm">North Cascades National Park</a>.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Bison have been reintroduced to a few <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restoring-americas-prairies/">prairie ecosystems</a>.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predators-yellowstone-landscape-fear/">Wolves</a> were successfully returned to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm">Yellowstone National Park</a> in the 1990s.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Researchers at a U.S. university are considering whether an extinct tiger species could be revived and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/long-extinct-tiger-reintroduced/">returned to Kazakhstan</a>.</li>
</ul>
Britain has already had one success story. After a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eager-beavers-devon/">group of beavers</a> escaped captivity in Devon, local wildlife advocates requested to turn it into a trial reintroduction. The experiment has so far proved a success.

The team working on the European wildcat reintroduction plan acknowledged that residents of the target areas in Wales, Cornwall and Devon have valid concerns, especially the farmers.

But the cats could help control rodent and rabbit populations, the researchers pointed out. They don’t take larger prey like lambs, Hartmann told The Guardian, and when they take chickens, they go after one at a time, not several as foxes do. 

A breeding facility has already been set up in Devon, with three breeding pairs. Ecologist Derek Gow, who runs the facility and has been behind successful beaver and water vole revivals, is calling for a captive breeding program.

“We need to bring animals from Swiss and German zoos, build up a stock and have captive cats that are capable of producing 150 kittens a year,” he said. “I can produce 3,500 water voles a year if required. We’ve got the land to do it but we’ll find other project partners.”

The <a href="https://www.rzss.org.uk/">Royal Zoological Society of Scotland</a> is already breeding the European wildcats in captivity.

Hartmann warns fellow conservationists that the reintroduction will take a lot of effort.

“The wildcat was there historically, there is habitat left and the most challenging thing is the feral cats,” she said. “If you manage to control that, it can be a big success but a reintroduction is a lifetime’s work. It’s 20 to 30 years. It’s not just releasing animals.”

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

European wildcats could soon see a revival in Britain

Once, European wildcats could be found throughout England, Wales, Scotland...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> is the first produce evidence that chimpanzees hunt and eat freshwater <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/chimpanzees-go-freshwater-crab-fishing/">crabs</a> on a regular basis. Video footage captured in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea reveals that this behavior is more common among the female and infant <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-eat-tortoise-technique/">chimpanzees</a> than the males. 

"Our study is the first evidence showing that non-human apes regularly catch and eat aquatic fauna," explained study lead author Kathelijne Koops.

The team discovered that the chimpanzees consumed crabs all year long regardless of whether fruit was available, suggesting that the crabs are a top selection. According to the study authors, the chimpanzees searched for crabs in shallow streams by scratching along the riverbed with their fingers.

The researchers found no evidence that crab-fishing activities were related to the amount of monthly rainfall. In fact, the hunting behavior remained consistent throughout both dry and rainy seasons. 

The experts did find, however, that chimpanzees fished more often for crabs when they were eating fewer ants. This indicates that crabs and ants provide a similar nutritional value.

"Female chimpanzees and their offspring fished for crabs more often and for longer than adult males, which we had not expected," said Koops. The discrepancy may be explained by the fact that mothers and infants both need the essential fatty acids and micronutrients, such as sodium and calcium, that are provided by the crabs.

The research may shed new light on why aquatic fauna became more and more important as a source of nutrition in the course of human evolution. "These findings on wild chimpanzees contribute to our understanding of hominin nutrition," said Koops.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-human-evolution">Journal of Human Evolution</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: Kathelijne Koops

Scientists discover first evidence of chimpanzees hunting and eating crabs

A new study from the University of Zurich is the...

As humans, it’s easy to ignore the spectrums of color that we can’t see but that define the world of the mantis shrimp or the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/monarch-butterflies-vast-distances/">butterfly</a>. We also tend to think of the color blind as missing something vital of the world as it is. The same is true for sounds – whole ranges of noise are outside of the hearing of the average human, yet we go about acting like these noises simply don’t exist. Other animals are endowed with different hearing apparatus and so, not only do other creatures see the world differently, they also hear it differently.

The most obvious example that may come to mind is the silent dog whistle but it’s even more interesting looking at the low frequency sounds that animals use for communication.

Different sounds can serve different purposes. The high pitched ultrasound used by bats in echolocation is perfect for navigating at night because these noises are easily reflected back to the bats by objects in the environment. The mid-frequency noises that most animals use are perfect for relatively close communication through air. Communicating across long distances is something else, though.  

Low frequency noises, below the frequency that human ears can usually detect, are used by elephants to communicate over long distances. The infrasound frequencies are good for long distance communication because they travel well through objects instead of being reflected. Because they travel well through things such as heads, it’s also hard to tell what direction infrasound is coming from. 

We use the difference in time for a sound to reach one ear compared to the other as one way to determine where a sound is coming from. Since infrasound travels through the bone and tissue of our head, the sound reaches both ears at very close to the same time. For this reason, infrasound is good for long distance communication but not for locating individual animals. This also partially explains why we can’t hear infrasound but sometimes we can feel it.    

We don’t know what elephants are communicating about using infrasound. According to Cornel Lab’s <a href="http://elephantlisteningproject.org/all-about-infrasound/">Elephant Listening Project</a>, we do know that African elephants can communicate over very long distances.  Recorded elephant sounds played back were responded to by elephants on the savannah as far as 2 km away. Because it’s hard to play the sounds as loudly as elephants make them themselves, it’s estimated that elephants can actually hear each other as far as 4 km away, which means elephants can hear each other within a 50 km square area. 

The distances elephants can hear each other seem to be much shorter in tropical forests but this seems to be mainly due to background noise. When the forests are at their quietest, it seems that the infrasound can still be heard 3 km away. It’s possible that the elephants are even better at distinguishing between their own infrasound and background noise than we think, making it so they can communicate over longer distances in the forest. 

A report published in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4494393/pdf/animals-03-00349.pdf">Animals</a> also suggests that elephants could hear gathering thunderstorms more than 100 km away and could theoretically make their way towards them.  This would be an important skill to have at the end of the dry season in much of sub-Saharan Africa where water is an important limiting resource.  There is also anecdotal evidence that elephants in Thailand may have been able to detect a coming tsunami, according to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/can-animals-predict-disaster-listening-to-infrasound/133/">PBS</a>. 

Other animals have shown their ability to detect coming storms from infrasound. Different studies reported on by <a href="https://www.kqed.org/science/25236/uc-berkeley-study-says-migratory-birds-use-infrasound-to-avoid-storms">KQED Science</a> show that birds can detect coming storms.  Some birds apparently even use the sound of coming storms from hundreds of miles away as cues to leave an area and start their migrations.  Other birds seem to use infrasound for communication. 

Research published in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4090277?read-now=1&amp;seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">The Auk</a> found that cassowaries – large, flightless birds living in dense rainforests in Papua New Guinea and northern Australia – not only hear infrasound but can produce it as well.  Infrasound seems like the ideal way for the birds to communicate over long distances in dense forests and rough terrain. It’s possible that this long-distance communication is used to warn other cassowaries away or to attract mates.  Crocodilians seem to apply a similar strategy.

Many crocodilians perform what is known as a ‘water dance’ where they create infrasound that makes the shallow water over their backs ‘dance’ in interesting patterns. These noises are used along with grunts or roars and head slaps to the water by males to attract females. The combination of head slaps, roars and infrasound vary depending on the environment a crocodilian population has evolved to. Head slaps are useful in helping other animals to determine where a sound is coming from. 

Infrasound is more useful in making the sound travel long distances. So in large lakes, infrasound and head slaps are both very useful. In smaller ponds, head slaps are less useful. Vladimir Dinets, the scientist who made the discovery of variable crocodilian ‘songs’ depending on environment, describes the adventurous research in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Songs-Adventure-Crocodiles-Alligators/dp/1611458935">Dragon Songs</a>.

<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3680-tigers-use-infrasound-to-warn-off-rivals/">New Scientist</a> reports that tigers also use infrasound to attract mates and to warn other tigers off.  Baleen and Fin whales use infrasound. Research published in <a href="https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4783845">The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</a> suggests that the whales use infrasound for long range communication, like many other animals.  

In the end, infrasound is still a relatively new field of study in animal behavior. The more we look, the more we find but there are still many unanswered questions like why or how this ability first evolved.  For now, we should be excited to learn that the world of sound, of voices is much broader than our human ears can detect. Animals all over the world are talking and we can’t even hear them. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer  

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Kletr

Many animals use infrasound to communicate over vast distances

As humans, it’s easy to ignore the spectrums of color...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> have investigated how the energy inputs of various caregivers may affect brain size and fertility among <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hunting-decline-mammals-tropical-forests/">mammals</a>. The study revealed that more paternal care is linked to a larger brain size in the offspring, while additional care and support for offspring outside of the biological parents is linked to higher fertility in the mothers. 

The investigation was focused on the data comparison of 478 different species, including lions, mice, meerkats, monkeys, and apes. 

"Both reproduction and brain tissue are energetically very expensive, and one way for females to reduce their cost is by distributing that cost over other individuals by sharing the burden of care," explained study co-author Dr. Sandra Heldstab. 

"Unlike previous studies, we distinguished between paternal and alloparental care because we expected there to be a difference between how reliable they are and in the effect they may have on brain size and fertility."

The research was based on the expensive brain hypothesis, which predicts that the brain will only evolve to become larger if the additional energy that is made available to a female through help with raising the offspring is predictable and constant.

"Paternal care is both reliable and stable; therefore we'd expect it to be associated with brain size," said Dr. Heldstab. "Additional care from individuals who are not the offspring's parents often fluctuates as they adjust their caring effort depending on both food availability and their own reproductive needs."

"This unpredictable type of care doesn't provide enough stable energy to affect brain size, but our findings suggest that the additional energy it does provide is associated with a significant increase in fertility, as females readily respond through litter size adjustments to variable amounts of energy inputs."

According to the researchers, the relatively high reproductive output and extremely large brain size of humans may be explained by multi-family cooperative parenting, which involves stable and reliable care by both parents and non-parents.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</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: Shutterstock/Ricardo Reitmeyer

Mammal brain size and fertility is determined by the availability of caregivers

Researchers at the University of Zurich have investigated how the...

Years ago, on a cold night in the austral winter, I stood on a beach watching. Eventually the cold drove me back to my rental car to huddle in the interior and try to warm up for a while. When I felt warm again, I returned and started down a steep path towards the beach but as I walked, I saw a small creature startle and stumble backwards, tripping over itself. I stopped. I wanted to call out for the animal to wait, I was no harm but it was no use, I’d scared away the little bird I’d been waiting to see. 

I was in Tasmania and the bird I’d scared away was the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the fairy penguin. 

The fairy penguin is the world’s smallest <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/penguin-foraging-behavior-habitat-health/">penguin</a> and the only one to visit Tasmania. The tiny penguin spends its days hunting for fish only to return after sundown to the land and a safe burrow where often a hungry chick waits. Unfortunately, like many of Australia’s wild animals, the fairy penguin has a population in decline.

So far, the fairy penguin is listed as a species of least concern on the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697805/132603951">IUCN Red List</a>, with an estimated population of over 460,000 individual birds. But the whole situation for the fairy penguin is a bit more complicated than the number of individuals in the species. The fairy penguin species is broken into different subpopulations and subspecies nesting in different areas. Some of these populations are doing better than others. The population of penguins on Australia’s Middle Island wasn’t doing so well.

Middle Island is an interesting place off the coast of southern Australia in Victoria near the town of Warrnambool. The island is quite small and rocky, if also beautiful. The relatively remote island seemed a perfect place to quietly harbor a population of penguins. Unfortunately, like other parts of Australia, foxes were introduced to Middle Island and wreaked havoc on the fairy penguin population. A penguin population of 800 was reduced to only 4 found by scientists due to foxes and incautious trampling of their burrows, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35039105">BBC</a>. In the biggest kill, 360 penguins were found dead from foxes, not for food but apparently for the thrill of killing.

The European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) was introduced to Australia in the 1800s by sport hunters, according to the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/1910ab1d-a019-4ece-aa98-1085e6848271/files/european-red-fox.pdf">Australian government</a>. Within a hundred years, the clever fox had spread across the whole continent on their own. The unique geography of Middle Island allows the curious fox to cross from mainland Australia to the island at low tide with only a short swim. A natural build up of sand by sea currents slowly made the island more accessible. It was only a matter of time before foxes inhabited the fragile island and endangered its ecosystem. 

The solution taken up by most wildlife managers throughout Australia is to wage an all out war on foxes. Despite hunting, poisoning and trapping foxes, their numbers seem strong. According to a report form <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/fox-numbers-take-bite-out-of-australian-agriculture-economy/9485428">ABC</a> in 2018, foxes inhabit about two thirds of southern Australia. In one culling event, 701 foxes were killed in just two nights. 

Despite the slaughter and range of weapons available to humans, only Tasmania, an island state, successfully eradicated foxes. In fact, sometimes poisons meant for foxes kill dingos, one of the few Australian animals that actually competes with foxes and naturally curtails their populations. According to <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/poisoning-dingoes-has-domino-effect-on-australiae28099s-biodiversity/?redirect=1">Scientific American</a>, areas in Australia where dingos have been poisoned (on purpose) have more herbivore species like kangaroos but also more foxes. Beyond that, more grazing from kangaroos and wallabies reduced the amount of ground cover for small mammals to hide in, making them easier prey for foxes. 

Fencing has also been used as a method to control foxes in Australia and proven to be useful but it could also potentially impact native wildlife as well. With very few successes to learn from in fox control or protecting wildlife from them, conservationists working on Middle Island tried something novel to protect the fairy penguins.

The <a href="http://www.maremmaclub.com/maremma-faq.html">maremma</a> is a large, white fluffy breed of dog. Maremmas are an Italian breed, originally bred to guard sheep from the likes of wolves and bears. Interestingly, maremmas have been used to guard other animals as well, such as chickens. A chicken farmer with the eccentric name of Swampy Marsh suggested using one of his maremma guard dogs named Oddball to protect the penguins. Immediate success in penguin protection was realized with the introduction of Oddball and since that first trial more than 10 years ago, more maremma guard dogs have been used to protect the penguins. When the dogs have been on duty, they were amazingly effective, with no penguins killed under their watch. The penguin population flourished and rose to 200 birds. An adorable fictionalized <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401748/">movie</a> about the penguins and Oddball was made in 2015, boosting tourism to the area. Unfortunately, this is only part of the story.

<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/penguins-killed-by-fox-victoria-middle-island/8794828">ABC</a> reported in 2017 that 70 penguins were killed, mostly eaten by a fox attack on Middle Island. This comes at a time when the penguin population was at 182 birds, a large growth from its low point but still devastated by a loss of 70. The maremmas had been off duty because of rough tides and bad weather. It was assumed that the conditions made the island impossible to access for foxes as well, unfortunately the conservationists learned they were wrong the hard way. 

Now, maremma dogs and volunteers will always be either on the island or the beach in front of it to keep foxes at bay. Despite the recent setback, the maremma program is a success in showing that non-lethal predator control can sometimes be more effective at protecting populations of native wildlife. It’s truly astonishing that guard dogs can protect penguins from foxes better than snipers, poisons and traps. For those who are interested, tourists can even <a href="http://www.warrnamboolpenguins.com.au/meet-the-maremmas">meet the maremma dogs</a> on educational tours and support penguin conservation.           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer                    

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Kamala Sakornmaneesup

Guard dogs help protect fairy penguins from vicious fox attacks

Years ago, on a cold night in the austral winter,...

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

[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



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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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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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

[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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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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...

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



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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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" 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> 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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