Over the years, aquarists and biologists have marveled at the dramatically thick lips of several African cichlid species. These unique fish, found in lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika, have puzzled researchers who seek to understand how and why such large lips evolved.



This fascination has led to fresh investigations by scientists comparing lip structures, tissue composition, and gene expression in these fish. 



The research effort is led by Dr. Nagatoshi Machii from the <a href="https://www.isct.ac.jp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokyo Institute of Technology</a>, whose group has examined microscopic details and molecular data to pinpoint what drives lip enlargement in certain cichlids.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cichlid-lips-and-parallel-evolution">Cichlid lips and parallel evolution</h2>



Researchers have documented that cichlids across different lakes display similar traits, even though they are not closely related. Such repeated emergence of shared features is known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/parallel-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parallel evolution</a>, a process often fueled by environmental pressures.



“Parallel evolution is evidence of natural selection that drives adaptive solutions to the environment,” wrote Jonathan Losos, an evolutionary biologist based at Harvard.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lakes-as-natural-laboratories">Lakes as natural laboratories</h2>



The isolated ecosystems of Lake Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika act like nature’s own research stations. Each lake evolved its own line of cichlid species, yet many developed the same traits independently - a perfect setup to study parallel evolution.



By comparing species across these lakes, scientists can spot patterns that might be missed in a single location. It’s a rare opportunity to test how evolution repeats itself under similar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-stress-harms-the-brains-of-low-status-fish/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental conditions</a> but with different starting points.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unmasking-the-lip-building-proteins">Unmasking the lip-building proteins</h2>



Detailed analyses indicate that thick cichlid lips contain a proteoglycan-rich layer (a structural element found in various tissues, including bone, cartilage, tendons, and skin, that play crucial roles in tissue organization, hydration, and mechanical properties) not seen in normal-lipped fish. 



Proteoglycans are large molecules with attached sugar chains, sometimes linked to extra water retention.



One study on cichlids with enlarged lips showed that certain proteins, including chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, were in high abundance. This composition may give these hefty lips their signature plumpness by increasing connective tissue volume.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lip-growth-starts-young">Lip growth starts young</h2>



The team found that differences in gene expression begin earlier than expected. Even in juvenile cichlids, before their lips fully thicken, the genes responsible for building extracellular matrix components are already more active in species that develop larger lips.



This suggests the groundwork for lip hypertrophy is laid early in life and then reinforced as the fish matures. The continuous expression of these genes throughout development points to a tightly regulated system that ensures these lip traits persist across generations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genes-behind-oversized-cichlid-lips">Genes behind oversized cichlid lips</h2>



Scientists also noted changes in genes involved in the Wnt signaling network (a complex network of proteins that plays a critical role in how cells grow, divide, move, and develop. 



It’s especially important during embryonic development, but it also helps maintain and repair tissues in adults). This pathway influences a wide array of growth and developmental processes in many animals.



Some cichlids with oversized lips showed heightened expression of Wnt-related genes at both juvenile and adult stages. This suggests the pathway may stay active over time, nudging tissues to expand and accumulate more extracellular material.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tissue-connection-mirrors-human-biology">Tissue connection mirrors human biology</h2>



Recent findings have drawn an unexpected link between the oversized lips of cichlids and conditions seen in humans. The same proteoglycans found in fish lips are also involved in human skin disorders like <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/keloid-scar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">keloids</a>, where excess connective tissue causes raised, fibrous scars.



In both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-fish-coelacanth-presumed-extinct-for-60-million-years-before-rediscovery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fish</a> and humans, these molecules seem to attract and hold large amounts of water, helping tissues expand. Researchers believe that understanding how these proteins behave in cichlids may offer new insights into how connective tissues grow - or overgrow - in other animals, including us.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-possible-role-in-cichlid-feeding">Possible role in cichlid feeding</h2>



Biologists have long debated the ecological benefits of bulky lips. Past <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8025722/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> suggests these lips might help fish probe rocky crevices or minimize tissue damage as they forage.&nbsp;



Another line of research hints that extra lip surface could boost contact with environmental cues. This might aid in locating prey, which would be especially useful in the maze-like habitats of the African Great Lakes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-not-all-cichlids-have-big-lips">Why not all cichlids have big lips</h2>



Despite the shared environments of the East African Great Lakes, not every cichlid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-evolve-rapidly-by-switching-between-simple-and-complex-teeth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">species</a> ends up with hypertrophied lips. That’s because this trait appears to be polygenic, meaning it depends on many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-fix-faulty-genes-before-birth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">genes</a> working together - each with a small influence.



Environmental pressures like foraging style or diet likely interact with genetic tendencies. In species where the benefit of thick lips isn’t strong enough, the genes driving lip growth may remain quiet or develop differently, even if the molecular tools are present.



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



Genetic studies have pinpointed multiple points in the cichlid genome that may influence lip thickness. Each locus seemingly offers a small push toward fuller lips, forming a broad and complex mechanism for the trait.&nbsp;



Investigations into parallels between enlarged fish lips and certain human connective tissue conditions have also started. Some scientists hope comparisons might clarify how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/organic-molecules-collagen-discovered-in-66-million-year-old-dinosaur-bones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">collagen</a> and other structural molecules work in different organisms over many generations.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/99160" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eLife</a>.



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The molecular secret behind the giant lips of African cichlids

Over the years, aquarists and biologists have marveled at the dramatically thick lips of several African cichlid species. These unique fish, found in lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika, have puzzled researchers who seek to understand how and why such large lips evolved. This fascination has led to fresh investigations by scientists comparing lip structures, tissue composition, and gene expression in these fish. The research effort is led by Dr. Nagatoshi Machii from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, whose group has examined microscopic details and molecular data to...

Anyone interested in creepy, crawly creatures may have already known that mites and ticks are both arthropods – an incredibly diverse grouping that also includes spiders, scorpions, bees, locusts, crabs, cockroaches and mosquitoes, among others. New genetic data, though, points to a closer relationship.

A genetic study of 10 species of mites and 11 species of ticks found that they’re much more closely related than anyone expected. 

Mites and ticks are both, along with spiders and scorpions, members of the group Chelicerata under the larger arthropod umbrella. The new research, however, shows that they are not two separate groups of species, but rather a single evolutionary lineage.

The discovery could change how scientists think of the chelicerates.

"Spiders, with more than 48,000 described species, have long been considered the most biodiverse chelicerate lineage, but 42,000 mite and 12,000 tick species have been described. So, if mites and ticks are a single evolutionary entity rather than two distantly related ones, they are more diverse than the spiders,” co-author Dr. Davide Pisani of the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> said in a press release.

Arthropods make up about a million of the estimated 9 million animal species on Earth. Not only that, but fossils show that they have been around for about 500 million years. Scientists are still trying to work out how all of the species relate to one another.

"Because of their anatomical similarities it has long been suspected that mites and ticks form a natural evolutionary group, which has been named Acari,” Dr. Greg Edgecombe of the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum London</a> said. “However, not all anatomists agreed, and genomic data never found any support for this idea before."

Because of the roles that many arthropods play in the food chain – from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-bees-crops-humans/">bees that pollinate crops</a> to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bee-virus-dangerous-mite/">mites that endanger them</a>, from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tick-mosquito-borne-disease-spreading/">ticks and mosquitoes carrying disease</a> to <a href="https://www.earth.com/animals/edible-crab-cancer-pagurus/">crabs beloved by foodies</a> – determining how they are all related is a chore. Figuring it out, however, could lead to advances in agriculture or against diseases like malaria and Lyme disease. 

The discovery that mites and ticks are close cousins can help researchers piece together other relationships between chelicerates.

"Regardless of the methods we used, our results converge on the same answer – mites and ticks really do form a natural group. Evolutionary trees like the one we've reconstructed provide us with the background information we need to interpret processes of genomic change,”  lead author Dr. Jesus Lozano Fernandez of the University of Bristol said. "Our genealogical tree can now be used as the foundation for studies using comparative genomics to address problems of potential biomedical and agricultural relevance, like the identification of the genomic changes that underpinned the evolution of blood-feeding parasitic ticks from ancestors that weren't blood-feeders."

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10244-7">Nature Communications</a>.

— 

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Genetic data shows mites and ticks may be close cousins

Anyone interested in creepy, crawly creatures may have already known...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a> has revealed that wild chimpanzees crack tortoise shells open on tree trunks to access the meat inside. The researchers observed this behavior by ten different <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/captive-chimpanzees-tools-dig-food/">chimpanzees</a> during the dry season, which is a time when other preferred foods were abundant. 

"We have known for decades that chimpanzees feed on meat from a variety of animal species, but until now the consumption of reptiles has not been observed," said study co-author and primatologist Tobias Deschner. "What is particularly interesting is that they use a percussive technique that they normally employ to open hard-shelled fruits to gain access to meat of an animal that is almost inaccessible for any other predator."

The study was focused on chimpanzees in the newly habituated Rekambo community. According to study first author and cognitive scientist Simone Pika, the younger chimps and females often needed help to open the shells. "They then regularly handed the tortoise over to a stronger male who cracked the tortoise's shell open and shared the meat with all other individuals present," said Pika.

The researchers were surprised to witness one instance where an adult male cracked a tortoise and ate half of it while sitting up in a tree alone. He then stored the remainder of the meal in a tree fork. The next morning, he came back to finish off the leftovers for breakfast. 

"This indicates that chimpanzees may plan for the future," said Pika. "The ability to plan for a future need, such as for instance hunger, has so far only been shown in non-human animals in experimental and/or captive settings. Many scholars still believe that future-oriented cognition is a uniquely human ability. Our findings thus suggest that even after decades of research, we have not yet grasped the full complexity of chimpanzees' intelligence and flexibility."

"Wild chimpanzee behavior has been studied now for more than 50 years and at more than ten long-term field sites all across tropical Africa," said Deschner. "It is fascinating that we can still discover completely new facets of the behavioral repertoire of this species as soon as we start studying a new population."

Pika described non-human primate field observations as a window into the history and evolution of humans."To prevent this window from closing once and for all, we need to do whatever we can to secure the survival of these fascinating animals in their natural habitats across Africa," added Deschner.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Erwan Theleste

Chimpanzees use a unique technique to eat tortoises

A new study led by the Max Planck Institute for...

Animal welfare as promoted by organizations like the <a href="https://www.aspca.org/">ASPCA</a> or <a href="https://www.peta.org">PETA</a> is usually seen as a completely different concern from conservation biology, but the two have much in common and are rooted in some of the same concerns.  

Animal welfare is usually about the treatment of animals, domestic or wild, with a focus on alleviating individual suffering. Conservation biology is more concerned with protecting the ecological integrity, biodiversity and genetic stability of populations or ecosystems. Sometimes, conservationists kill animals such as invasive species or prescribe hunting as population control. Animal welfare organizations are generally not in favor of hunting or culling of invasive species. At other times, the divisions between the goals of conservation and animal welfare aren’t as obvious.  

When Henry Bergh of New York founded the <a href="https://www.aspca.org/about-us/history-of-the-aspca">American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals </a>(ASPCA) in 1866, there wasn’t a lot of distinction made between cruel treatment of wild animals and domestic ones. Bergh campaigned for cruelty-free treatment of work horses the same as for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/baby-sea-turtles-dying-plastic/">sea turtles</a> captured by fishing vessels to sell as food. 

Interestingly, Henry Bergh was a friend of the Roosevelt family and Theodore Roosevelt himself was said to be angered by cruelty to animals from a young age before championing the beginning framework for conservation law in the US. Of course, besides promoting environmental conservation, Roosevelt went on to be a hunter and champion things like predator control in which wolves, bears and mountain lions were slaughtered in great numbers. It’s hard to know if some of Roosevelt’s thoughts on conservation were influenced by Bergh. 

Beyond the early beginnings of modern scientific conservation, there is some shared ground with animal welfare. On issues such as the illegal exotic pet trade or slaughtering endangered wild animals for traditional medicine, the two concerns share similar views.    

Inevitably, programs such as predator control and the use of hunting as a method of population control drive a wedge between conservation and animal welfare. Many scientists view their research subjects as little more than automatons; means to an end not to be considered as individuals. Of course viewpoints are different but the scientific community generally frowns on anthropomorphism non-humans.

Humanizing non-human animals is sometimes a way for bias and misunderstanding to creep into scientific research. A strict ban on any type of anthropomorphism can at times deny animals any emotional or internal life, something that can be a bias as well. 

Compassionate conservation is a new brand of conservation that aims to bridge the gap between animal welfare and conservation and consider animals as individuals. The first ideas of compassionate conservation stem from a <a href="http://compassionateconservation.net/about/flagship-symposium/">symposium in 2010</a>, followed by scientific papers on the subject and perhaps a slow shift in thinking on animal welfare within conservation biology.   

A 2015 paper in <a href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/biu223.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAkcwggJDBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggI0MIICMAIBADCCAikGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMWQaK7buiP2icU0ovAgEQgIIB-q_-kuFiRRWKz5BqDaJOfboKaEXSgy5CO51mja7e6J2XwZKzuX9sDFZoUwHnTqg2LWjX56L6sa3jRSlBvdSaNLQgp2UIFnOxXRc32XB-0KiJJIvwEVSvU1SyinbirGnyI4Jo5O6CMuYC-bkIJ7sLQP3dvhTfC0P7hVvNCTjL7CZKJdpQFt0QCNxbNK5AX_pa5zhnYZo1jnBDCI2LRirdyc4OgD6GhbhlOf-WVo8imAot2SPTZ0k_bDcjrkMsGmlV9WlIt5ogyyN2trl2k92Gh3cNnlkq8-MiukyAJN_RfwmHyR8wGwPir41egLHqshhLxFJTD6LOfXzFQup_LB1nMAxAqfVkijZeYGl7N81MSXtjSTcL1z5aeyRYyhMKRnCQ_7rC6jafyy43TPvhG-AfTk_IksaDee4DO0_K2pyo4Wy2m-bkNfA86RCqGJKxYSn8ErU-whNY680zZzV50dXNcwGmGJtgz-V3yw4jGrBBlpyNnRAlCp1uk-9JbawG14Qh6YMx_DOZ5B9JBEkaNLx0_R35cKwarWwEPZ80iqGKyBEs7WLaQq1rD3Lfef5Ry_SRk45EfPVAHpJc3s2gSpaVNdu2kKQDBBoiqgfZy-i6f_53X3D512xZezhx_Az9T_UMqazA4ca2knpg7X0MZAf1G_NOW1pxI-FFsx02">Bioscience</a> titled Compassion as a Practical and Evolved Ethic for Conservation makes the case for compassion of individual animals in conservation. The paper’s authors Daniel Ramp and Marc Bekoff discuss methods used commonly to resolve conflicts between humans and wildlife or different wildlife species.

“Resolving conflicts…often result in the harm and death of other animals,” Ramp and Bekoff write. “That these animals carry the burden of achieving conservation objectives through their harm and death is often ignored or else justified on utilitarian grounds. It is common for some members of a single species to be killed for the “good” of their species or for members of one species to be killed for the “good” of another species…”

It’s not hard to imagine the specifics of why animals are killed in the name of conservation.  Zoos often breed lions or other animals to have babies they can’t keep to bring in money for ‘conservation’ only to kill the cubs later, as <a href="https://www.thedodo.com/in-the-wild/swedish-zoo-boras-djurpark-kills-surplus-lion-cubs">The Dodo</a> reported one Swedish zoo doing. The paper points out that animals like dingoes and wolves are routinely killed to keep them from moving off protected land onto private property. Conflicts in which a wild animal attacks a person also often end in the death of the wild animal.

A 2019 paper published in <a href="https://res.mdpi.com/animals/animals-09-00016/article_deploy/animals-09-00016.pdf?filename=&amp;attachment=1">Animals</a> aimed to look at African Wild Dogs as thinking animals, in control of their own lives and consider the impact of humans on their wellbeing, not just their survival as a species. The research also attempts to look at the subjective world of the African Wild Dogs, using an interdisciplinary approach using not just objective scientific tools but also impressionistic reports. This sort of view of a wild animal does indeed have more of a potential to instill compassion and empathy on the reader, creating more of an emotional connection to an animal and in turn an ecosystem. 

There are critics to compassionate conservation, though. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48315709">BBC</a> reported on the response by two scientists to a paper that laid out four key tenets of compassionate conservation as:

“Do not harm,

Individuals matter,

Inclusivity, and

Peaceful co-existence”

The scientists argue that there is a place for killing within conservation. Control of invasive species is one of the times when most conservation scientists would support killing invasive species. This attempts to ensure to some degree the integrity of an ecosystem by excluding non-native species that may outcompete and kill off native species. If a cat kills a hundred rare songbirds, who are you showing compassion to by not killing the cat? The researchers pointed to South Georgia, a remote island where rare birds breed. Rats had infested the island, hurting the bird populations. The rats were culled to ensure the livelihood of the birds and for the conservation of their species. 

Further, the scientists argued that compassionate conservation is largely rooted in wealthy, urban, western society. The same can also be said of conservation in general. Pushing the values of any conservation agenda on people in a less affluent country can be problematic. 

In the end, all conservation should arise from compassion or love. If all we care about is the financial benefit of wild animals or wild places, we’ve already lost much of the fight for something that can bring out a better side of human nature.     

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Compassionate Conservation: Merging animal welfare and conservation biology

Animal welfare as promoted by organizations like the ASPCA or...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/facial-recognition-technology/">Facial recognition software</a> is now being used to help conservationists identify wild pandas in China. Tracking and monitoring these critically endangered animals can be challenging because of the extremely similar markings and faces that many pandas have.

To remedy this problem, researchers from the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1169756-d1795796-Reviews-China_Conservation_and_Research_Center_for_the_Giant_Panda-Wenchuan_County_Sichu.html">China Conservation and Research Center</a> for Giant Pandas started a facial recognition project in 2017, according to <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/17/c_138066845.htm">Xinhua News</a>. 

Now, the Research Center has a database of 120,000 photos and 10,000 video clips. So far, 10,000 of the images have been annotated, analyzed, sorted and categorized. 

By filtering through thousands of panda images, the software will be able to cross-reference the database and identify a specific panda. 

The goal of the facial recognition project is to have a better way to collect data, track specific pandas, and monitor both wild and captive panda populations. 

“The app and database will help us gather more precise and well-rounded data on the population, distribution, ages, gender ratio, birth and deaths of wild pandas, who live in deep mountains and are hard to track,” Chen Peng, a researcher who is working on the project told Xinhua News. “It will definitely help us improve efficiency and effectiveness in conservation and management of the animals.” 

To see the software in action, visitors to the Conservation and Research Center can download the app, scan a panda’s face, and learn more information about the animals currently in captivity there. 

Pandas are one of the species most vulnerable to climate change. Like the polar bear, it’s continued existence is reliant on its preferred habitat and food sources. 

Bamboo makes up the majority of a panda’s diet, but habitat degradation due to climate change, deforestation, and urban sprawl are all threatening bamboo stocks. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Facial recognition software is being used for panda conservation in China

Facial recognition software is now being used to help conservationists...

Many of the world’s primates are threatened with extinction including gorillas, Bornean orangutans, macaques, and spider monkeys.

For <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzee-behavioral-diversity-human-impact/">chimpanzees</a> in West Africa, habitat loss, poaching, disease, and altercations with local communities are all contributing to their demise. 

Anthropologists from <a href="https://www.kent.ac.uk/">Kent University</a>, the <a href="https://www.uab.cat/en">Autonomous University of Barcelona,</a> and Spain’s <a href="http://www.irec.es/en/">Institute for Game and Wildlife Research</a> teamed up with the <a href="https://www.tacugama.com/">Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary </a>in Sierra Leone to study how chimpanzees are adapting to habitat changes and encroaching human settlements. 

The researchers set up 24 infra-red digital cameras across the Moyamba district in south-western Sierra Leone, recording and monitoring chimps in the area for eight months. 

Chimpanzees are attracted to human settlements where fruit farms yield tasty treats for those brave enough to get close to them, and the cameras captured the primates eating mangoes and pineapples close to human-inhabited areas. 

However, the chimpanzees were smart enough to avoid busy times during the day when humans were more likely to be around. 

The researchers also observed chimpanzees safely crossing the road and avoiding cars. 

Chimpanzees in the Moyamba district are learning to adapt to live close to humans, but if infrastructure and expansion do not consider the fragmented habitats of chimpanzees, the researchers fear that the primates will not be able to keep up with the fast pace of urbanization. 

“If we want to secure their long-term survival, it is crucial that successful protection measures should benefit people and chimpanzees alike,” said <a href="https://www.kent.ac.uk/news/environment/22403/chimpanzees-at-the-crossroads-how-they-adapt-to-living-outside-protected-areas">Dr. Tatyan Humle</a>, a member of the research team. “Conservation actions should focus on education and helping farmers to implement alternative agricultural methods to slash and burn farming and environmentally-friendly revenue generating activities to ensure coexistence between the two species.”

A study detailing the findings was published in the journal Plos One. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Marcel Derweduwen/Shutterstock

Chimpanzees are learning to safely cross roads to not get hit

Many of the world’s primates are threatened with extinction including...

The lifecycle of a typical field <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cricket-song-silent-without-action-iucn/">cricket</a> lasts about 90 days but a lot can happen in that short time. New research has shown that the golden days of old male crickets may actually be when the insects are the most attractive to potential mates.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> reviewed ten years of recorded cricket activity in a Spanish meadow to investigate how age impacted mating success among crickets. 

Surprisingly, the researchers found that older male crickets have an easy time attracting a mate back to their burrow but mate less than their young male counterparts once they’ve partnered up. 

On the flip side, although a young male cricket may end up mating more, the researchers found that younger crickets have a harder time attracting a mate back to their burrows. 

The study, published in the journal Animal Behavior, sheds light on a complicated relationship between age, mating, and reproduction. 

A female cricket may be drawn to an older cricket because of their longevity, but younger mates have had less time to accumulate potentially harmful mutations in their DNA, the researchers explained. 

“Females choose mates to get the best genes for their offspring,” said Dr. Rolando Rodríguez-Muñoz, a member of the research team. “It’s possible that the oldest males have the best genes because they’ve shown they can live for a long time. On the other hand, females might favor younger males whose sperm have not accumulated possibly harmful mutations that will be passed on to offspring.”

Although age seemed to impact attractiveness in male crickets, the researchers found no difference between young and old male crickets and how many offspring were produced. 

In a <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_710549_en.html">previous study</a>, Rolando Rodríguez-Muñoz discovered that crickets do age even though the adult stage lasts just a few weeks and that competition for females decreased lifespans for the crickets. 

When the mates were plentiful, the researchers found that males lived longer. 

The team created an interactive citizen science project called <a href="http://cricket-tales.ex.ac.uk/">Cricket Tales</a>, where curious cricket enthusiasts can watch cricket video clips and report on their behavior to help the researchers better understand cricket behavior.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wildcrickets.org

Older male crickets have no problem finding mates but have less sex

The lifecycle of a typical field cricket lasts about 90...

For humans, it may seem obvious that gender is controlled by genetics.  For other animals, it’s not always the case. Research shows that in sea turtles and crocodilians, males and females are genetically identical.  Instead of a difference in chromosomes in boys and girls, the temperature at which eggs develop are involved in determining the gender of these young reptiles.

I volunteered for five months on Equatorial Guinea collecting sea turtle nest data.  One of the data points we collected was the temperature of different nests. Nests laid on the same beach at roughly the same time can vary.  <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-sea-turtles/">Sea turtles</a> often seem to have different ideas of how far in to nest. Most turtles would haul themselves tediously over the beach right to the edge of the forest, but a few went only half that distance.  It’s easy to see how a nest partially shaded by palm trees would be cooler than one buried in sand directly under the blazing sun. 

According to the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/temperature-dependent.html">National Ocean Service</a>, in most species of sea turtle, eggs that incubate below 81.86 °F (~27.7°C) will hatch male turtles, while eggs incubated above 87.8 F (~31°C) will hatch female turtles.  Those nests that fluctuate somewhere between these outside temperatures will hatch a mix of male and female turtles. Crocodilians (alligators, caimans, crocodiles and gharials) have similar sex determination.  

According to a study in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep18581">Nature</a>, the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has eggs that develop baby alligators with different genders depending on the temperature.  Alligator eggs incubated during the critical period at 33 °C (~91.4°F) give rise to male offspring.  Eggs incubated below 30 °C (~80°F) give rise to female alligators. Interestingly, there’s a large amount of diversity among reptiles on how sex is determined.

Oddly, some turtles have gender determined by chromosomes, as opposed to most that are determined by temperature.

Black Marsh Turtles (Siebenrockiella crassicollis) are mostly dark but with whitish markings along the borders of their shells and a white pattern on their faces.  The black marsh turtle is native to Southeast Asia where it lives in slow moving water with abundant plants, eating snails, tadpoles, almost any small animal.  The Black Marsh Turtle is also the first turtle to be discovered with X and Y chromosomes.

Gender in Black Marsh Turtles is determined the same way it is in humans.  Females have two X chromosomes, one from each parent. Males have one X chromosome from mom and one Y chromosome from dad.  In other turtle species, the chromosomal system is different, these turtles have Z and W chromosomes. Males have two Z chromosomes, one from each parent.  Females are the odd ones in this case with a Z chromosome from dad and a W chromosome from mom. The differences in how chromosomes determine gender and the fact that some turtles are dependent on temperature to determine gender is telling.

Some other reptiles like the Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) have regular X and Y chromosomes like humans do to determine gender, according to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-temperature-sex-determination-reptiles/">Scientific American</a>.  Others as we’ve seen have no genetic differences between males and females at all.  Instead, gene expression is changed by temperature, turning female or male gene expression ‘on’ or ‘off’ depending.  The expression of genes is an interesting phenomena, as there are parts of any individual organism’s genome that aren’t expressed at any given time.  Sometimes partial expression of different genes combine to create a sort of hybrid gene expression. Sometimes environmentally controlled gene expression can be more important than non-environmentally expressed genes.  

In some lizards, sex is determined not just by a chromosome and not just by temperature but instead a combination of the two.  Australian skinks (Bassiana duperreyi) are one of the strange reptiles that falls somewhere in the middle between fully dependent on temperature for gender determination and those where sex chromosomes determine gender.  

Australian skinks have X and Y chromosomes, much like humans.  Two X chromosomes generally make a female skink while one of each usually makes a male skink.  I qualify these statements because gender determination in Australian Skinks is a bit complicated.  A <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2009/06/05/skinks-set-their-sex-in-three-ways-genes-temperature-and-egg-size/#.XLth9RplChA">few studies</a> have changed what we know about gender determination in reptiles.  

Australian Skink eggs that have XX chromosomes will develop into male lizards at low temperatures, despite the female chromosomes.  In Australian Dragon Lizards, the situation is a little different. In Dragon Lizards, ZZ chromosomes indicate a genotypic male. Under high incubation temperatures, ZZ lizards can develop into females.  There are some even stranger details in the gender of Australian skinks. 

It turns out that the amount of yolk in an egg plays some role in the sex determination of Australian skinks. Researchers noticed that larger eggs were more likely to develop into female lizards, so they took some pregnant skinks back to the lab.  Under a controlled setting, the eggs were slightly modified. Some eggs had an injection of egg yolk, making them larger. Some eggs had yolk removed until they were as light as the smallest eggs found naturally.  The eggs were then incubated to see how they’d develop. 

It turned out that the amount of yolk in an egg could determine gender in the Australian skinks.  The eggs with less yolk were less likely to survive the process, while those with more yolk were generally successful.  Still, the study showed undeniably that more yolk meant a much greater probability that the lizard would develop into a female while less yolk meant a much greater chance of a male lizard hatching.  

There are still plenty of studies to be done on gender determination in reptiles and who knows what we’ll find.  In the debate over nature versus nurture, it’s clear that genes are important. It’s also clear that in some organisms, environment can make determinations on things as fundamental as gender.  Some lizard mothers have a lot of control over their offspring, controlling which sperm they use to fertilize their eggs. 

We may think of lizards and other reptiles as ‘simple’ or ‘primitive’ life forms, but reproduction and gene expression is one of the many pieces of complex life histories in reptiles.                                       

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock

In reptiles, gender can be determined in some unusual ways

For humans, it may seem obvious that gender is controlled...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> analyzed stones that form in the ears of Alaskan Sockeye and Chinook salmon and found that these <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pink-salmon-threat-orca-populations/">salmon populations</a> depend on hotspots in the Nushagak River watershed to thrive, and these hotspots change from year to year.

These ear stones, called otolith, displayed chemical signatures that led researchers to conclude that hotspots within the Nushagak River are responsible for successful salmon population growth. These favorable locations change yearly depending on climate conditions and topography, each of which affects potential salmon habitats.

"We found that the areas where fish are born and grow flicker on and off each year in terms of productivity," said lead author Sean Brennan, a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="https://fish.uw.edu/">UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences</a>. "Habitat conditions aren't static, and optimal places shift around. If you want to stabilize fish production over the years, the only strategy is to keep all of the options on the table."

The study, published in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, butts against environmental analysis recently conducted to gain permits for the proposed copper and gold excavation site Pebble Mine, which would be located near the headwaters of the Nushagak River. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' analysis only took two to three years of fish counts into consideration, however, this new study proves that habitat shifts annually. Therefore, an area that is productive for a short amount of time does not represent its overall value to the fish or larger ecosystem.

"The overall system is more than just the sum of its parts, and small pieces of habitat can be disproportionately important," said senior author Daniel Schindler, a professor at the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "The arrows point to the need to protect or restore at the entire basin scale if we want rivers to continue to function as they should in nature."

The research team was able to reconstruct the geographic locations of about 1,400 salmon, just by analyzing the fish’s otolith, which grows as the fish matures. Each otolith has chemical signatures that are linked to the waters in which the fish has lived, and can be dissected using unique isotopes of the trace element strontium, found in bedrock.

"The otolith is this natural archive that basically provides a transcript of how a fish moved downstream through the river network," Schindler said. "Essentially, we're sampling the entire watershed and letting the fish tell us where the habitat conditions were most productive in that year."

Otolith analysis showed that fish populations shift all over the Nushagak watershed, including in areas near the proposed Pebble Mine. 

"The big thing we show is these types of dynamics are critical for stabilizing biological production through time,” Brennan explained. “When you have a range of habitat available, the total production from the system tends to be more stable, reliable and resilient to environmental change.”

The authors hope their findings will influence public opinion about the proposed mine, and potentially thwart the plan altogether.

"Results like those we're presenting in this paper hopefully will get people to think about what they stand to lose by starting to develop and eliminate habitat in places like the Nushagak River," Schindler said. "The Pebble Mine environmental impact statement, which is supposed to be a mature, state-of-the-science assessment of risks, really does a poor job of assessing risks of this specific project."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Jason Ching/University of Washington

Nurturing hotspots for salmon in Alaskan rivers shift annually

Researchers from the University of Washington analyzed stones that form...

Coral reefs are usually found thriving in waters that are low in nutrients, and a new study may explain how they manage to support an abundance of life in such challenging conditions. Researchers at the Smithsonian's <a href="https://marinegeo.si.edu/">Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network</a> have identified tiny, bottom-dwelling creatures known as cryptobenthic fish as a major driver of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sponges-collapse-coral-reefs/">coral ecosystems</a>. 

According to the study, these fish constantly replenish their populations in a rapid cycle of life and death, providing nearly 60 percent of the food for the other reef fish. 

"Scientists have puzzled over coral reefs for centuries, wondering how such productive, diverse ecosystems survive in what is essentially a marine desert," said study lead author Simon Brandl. "It's remarkable to find that these tiny, almost universally overlooked fishes actually serve as the cornerstone of coral-reef fish communities."

Cryptobenthic reef fish include gobies, blennies, and cardinalfish. They are the smallest of all marine vertebrates, with the tiniest measuring less than an inch and weighing nearly nothing. 

The cryptobenthic fish are eaten in large quantities within a few weeks of their birth, yet their populations somehow manage to thrive. The researchers studied the larvae of reef fishes to get a better idea of how this is possible. They developed a population model and reviewed decades of data on coral-reef fish larvae.

The experts found that, while the larvae of most fish species are cast off into the open ocean where only a few survive, cryptobenthic fish use a different strategy. 

Cryptobenthic larvae remain close to the reefs of their parents, resulting in many more surviving offspring. The babies can rapidly replace cryptobenthic fish consumed on the reef, supporting the growth of larger reef fishes.

"We found that cryptobenthic fish larvae absolutely dominate the larval-fish communities near reefs, which provides a continuous stream of new generations of tiny fish as a food source for other reef creatures," said study co-author Carole Baldwin. "It's incredible that these fishes contribute so much to coral reefs. They're so small that historically we haven't recognized their enormous significance."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">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: Tane Sinclair-Taylor

The rapid life cycle of tiny fish helps coral reefs thrive

Coral reefs are usually found thriving in waters that are...

The study of genomics, eukaryotic biology, and evolution have all been changing and advancing as a result of genome references from model organisms such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fruit-flies-travel-miles/">fruit flies</a>, yeast, and worms. A near-complete reference genome for any such model organism can answer a number of important scientific questions.

Transparent nematodes known as Caenorhabditis elegans have been very widely studied due to the fact they provide a simple invertebrate animal model and have a short generation time. Despite being one of the first multicellular organisms sequenced, there are still knowledge gaps in the reference genome of C. elegans.

Three studies published by the <a href="https://www.cshlpress.com/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press</a> are providing brand new insights into the gene expression of C. elegans. Advances in genome sequencing technologies are paving the way for longer reads which have facilitated genome assembly, finishing, and the sequencing of highly repetitive regions.

In one study, researchers used a combination of short- and long-read assemblies to improve upon the reference genome of a modern strain of C. elegans. Compared to the previous genome, the new sequence has an additional two million nucleotides and about 50 new genes.

A second project used long-read sequencing to construct a high-quality reference genome of a wild C. elegans strain for comparative studies. When compared against a laboratory strain, the researchers discovered more than 600 genes that had diverged in the wild strain.

Understanding when and where these genes are expressed is key to learning how an organism developed and how tissues carry out their specific functions. 

This growing collection of research will ultimately expand the usefulness of C. elegans as a model organism and will provide biologists with important data. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://genome.cshlp.org/">Genome Research</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: Marie-Anne Félix, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

Rapidly advancing technology for genomic studies is improving resources

The study of genomics, eukaryotic biology, and evolution have all...

A new study from <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel-Aviv University</a> has revealed that female Egyptian fruit bats living in captivity will trade sex for food. The researchers determined that this may explain why the male bats do not seem to mind when the females snatch food right out of their mouths. 

“We found a strong relationship between producer-scrounger feeding interactions and reproduction,” said study co-author Yossi Yovel. “Namely, females bore pups of the males they often scrounged food from.”

The study was focused on observations of three captive bat colonies over the course of a year. The researchers noted that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/skulls-bats-evolutionary-forces/">bats</a> either collected food for themselves or mooched it off of others.

The foraging interactions were initiated many weeks before the mating took place. The females consistently interacted with several males before ultimately choosing one of them to mate with. 

To explore their food-for-sex theory, the researchers monitored the producer-scrounger interactions among the captive bats and then tested the paternity of the pups that were born in the colony. 

The study clearly showed that females had given birth to offspring fathered by the same males they had scrounged food from.

The researchers were surprised to find that there was almost no overlap between the males preferred by each female. This indicates that the females select males based on personal preferences, which were found to change from year to year. 

In future studies, the researchers hope to explore how these relationships evolve and change over longer periods of time. They would also like to investigate the same types of interactions within bat populations in the wild. 

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

Image Credit: A. Dnilovich

Captive female fruit bats found to trade sex for food

A new study from Tel-Aviv University has revealed that female...

Invasive species are organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem or area, but when introduced they endanger the survival or success of native species. Often, invasive species end up in the cross hairs of conservationists concerned about their impact on native species and ecosystems. 

When I spent a summer collecting field data on a medium sized, mostly green parrot, the Cuban Amazon (Amazona leucocephala) in the Bahamas, house cats were a large threat to the birds. Cats are an incredibly adaptable predator, as anyone who’s watched their cat bring home any number of small animals will know. House cats found a way to hunt the parrots despite the fact that the birds spend most of their lives flying, perched in trees or in underground nest cavities. 

Because of the threat of house cats, the Bahamas National Trust (the equivalent of the National Park Service) hired a man who among his other duties hunted cats with guns and dogs. The effort will probably be an ongoing one as it only targets cats found within the protected land where parrots nest, doing nothing about cats living in nearby areas until they stray onto protected land. Unfortunately, selective control of invasive or detrimental species is normal in conservation efforts, often because of conflicting goals.   

In <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/brucellosis.htm">Yellowstone</a>, brucellosis, a bacterial disease caused by Brucella abortus, was spread from domestic cattle (Bos taurus) to bison (Bison bison) before being largely eradicated in domestic cows. The disease has little impact on bison populations but there is concern that the bison could re-infect domestic cattle. 60% of female bison in Yellowstone test positive for brucellosis, according to the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/brucellosis.htm">National Park Service</a>, but only about 10-15% of the bison could actually transmit the disease to cattle. 

Bison are culled in large numbers (1,171 Yellowstone bison were killed in the winter of 2017-18, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/bison-management-faqs.htm">NPS</a> reports), simply to keep them inside the park boundaries and limit their contact with domestic cows. Bison are also killed because much of their domestic range is inhabited by cows, so bison are unable to roam in those areas. Kept in relatively tiny spaces, the Yellowstone bison would soon overgraze the land allotted to them without being culled.    

The bison are native, unlike domestic cows, and it’s easy to think of the domestic cattle as invasive since they take large amounts of habitat from their wild relatives and have the potential to spread diseases to them. Further complicating the matter is the fact that bison and cows can hybridize, which could potentially undermine the genetic integrity of bison. In the end, bison control amounts to playing favorites with cows, while treating bison more like invasive species or at least virtual prisoners within their own home range. Cows are not treated as invasive species by wildlife managers simply because they’re financially valuable and were purposefully introduced by European Americans. 

Human settlers from Europe brought a whole host of foreign organisms with them to settle the Americas alongside them. European bacteria and viruses devastated the Native Americans with illness they had no immunity to. As previously mentioned, cats hurt wild populations of birds. As I <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-bird-population-declines/">reported</a>, that cats can kill as many 1.3 and 4 billion birds annually in the US. Despite the threat to native wildlife, little is done to control cats as a whole in the US. Most places seem to not even have leash laws for cats as they do for dogs. Honey bees are another example of how biased humans can be, including conservationists when it comes to invasive species.

Decline of the domestic honey bee garnered a lot of headlines with little consideration for how other bees were faring. As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/save-native-bees/">Earth.com</a> reported last year, there are an estimated 4,337 species of bees native to the United States alone and as many as 20,000 described species worldwide with an estimated 20,000 species yet to be described by science. Despite this misunderstanding, 50% of native bees may be declining in populations but garner less research money or headlines than their domesticated relatives.

In response to the decline of the domestic honeybee, some have been considering using public lands as places for bee habitat, allowing the honey bees to collect nectar from plants in places like National and State Parks. The <a href="https://naturalareas.org/docs/16-067_02_Overview-of-the-Potential-Impacts-of-Honey-Bees_web.pdf">Xerces Society</a> issued a report in 2018 on the potential impact of honey bees on native pollinators, bees as well as others like butterflies, with recommendations for land managers. There are no solid conclusions of the exact impacts that honey bees might inflict on native pollinators but the society recommends assessing the risk posed by honey bees in areas with endangered insect pollinators.

Evidence from controlled experiments suggest that honey bees have a negative impact on native pollinators. Even considering allowing honey bees into public lands shows how much weight they’re given by their importance to humans and our economic systems. The decline of the honey bee isn’t an issue of preservation, it’s an issue of economics. 

It’s not that invasive species don’t cause problems, they do. Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) in Guam are a classic example of the havoc to be wrought by a highly ‘successful’ invasive species. The brown tree snakes have killed off most of the island’s native bird life which in turn has lead to an eerily thriving spider population. Less birds has also led inexorably to the decline of the forest, birds spread the seeds of trees. 

According to the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/guam-military-wildlife/536622/">Atlantic</a>, seedlings have decreased in Guam by 61 to 92%. Despite the best efforts of scientists which has involved years of research, poisoning and catching snakes by hand, the snake problem on Guam persists. Given enough time, it’s likely that a new ecosystem will arise on Guam, a new equilibrium which includes the snake or at least the species ancestors. It’s also unlikely that humans will eradicate the snake from Guam. 

When playing favorites, we rarely consider reptiles or ‘useless’ insects. We also rarely consider not just ecology but the likelihood of our success weighed against the suffering caused by an endless campaign of killing. Humans want to bend environments to suit our whims but we’re unwilling to allow the same autonomy in other species.         

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Conservation bias: People often play favorites with species control

Invasive species are organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem...

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

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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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