Eels move in ways that seem to ignore the rules most vertebrates live by. They swim with flowing body waves, they can scoot across wet ground, and they often keep going even when the spinal cord is cut. 



According to a new paper, two simple body signals, stretch and pressure, help explain how that is possible.



Those signals are not fancy. Stretch tells the body how much each segment bends, and pressure reports forces on the skin from water or from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-new-eel-species-with-fang-like-teeth/">objects</a>. 



When these signals are fed into the spinal circuits that set a basic rhythm for movement, the eel’s whole body keeps time without micromanagement from the brain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-secrets-of-eel-movement">Secrets of eel movement</h2>



Kotaro Yasui is an assistant professor at Tohoku University’s Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science (<a href="https://www.fris.tohoku.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FRIS</a>) and lead author of the study



“Our findings will help design highly adaptive robots capable of navigating complex and unpredictable environments,” noted Professor Yasui.



Most vertebrates walk or swim thanks to networks in the spinal cord called central pattern generator <a href="https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/introneuroscience1/chapter/central-pattern-generators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">circuits</a>. 



These circuits can produce rhythmic muscle commands on their own, then shape that rhythm using feedback from the body. That is why the same overall plan can show up in animals as different as fish, salamanders, and mice.



Eels add a twist by leaning hard on two kinds of sensory input. Proprioception is internal sensing of stretch that tells a segment where it is in the cycle. Exteroception is sensing from outside the body, including water pressure on the sides of the fish or contact with a surface. 



Stretch sensitive neurons like the classic lamprey edge cells have long shown how such bending <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-2025-our-power-our-planet/">signals</a> can tune the spinal rhythm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-robot-mimics-eel-movement">Flexible robot mimics eel movement </h2>



Yasui’s team built a mathematical model in which each body segment has a small local oscillator that produces a timing signal. They wired in two feedback loops, one for stretch and one for pressure, so the oscillators would be tugged into step by what the body feels.



The researchers tested the controller in two settings. First, they used computer simulations that generated body movements and force patterns. Then, they tried it on a physical eel-like robot made of flexible segments and equipped with skin-level sensors.



The same controller worked in both settings, and it produced stable swimming quickly, without central commands to lock the segments together.



The stretch loop had a special job. It sped up the time it took for a smooth traveling wave to appear from random starting positions. It also helped the body hold a strong stride once the pattern settled, even though that gain could cost a little <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-2025-what-were-really-fighting-for/">energy</a> because the joints work harder during sharper turns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spinal-rhythm-and-sensory-feedback">Spinal rhythm and sensory feedback</h2>



The team asked a simple question. If the controller swims well, can it also crawl on land when the ground is dotted with obstacles? They ran the robot through a peg field where pushing and bracing matter more than glide.



Stretch feedback made the difference. With stretch only, the robot found traction on the pegs and made steady headway. 



Pressure alone did not help in that setting, which fits earlier <a href="https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/acg/publications/Pace_%26_Gibb_2011.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> showing that elongated fishes such as ropefish change their kinematics across water and land in specific ways, with long, slow, high amplitude body waves on land.



The results suggest continuity rather than a clean break between swimming and crawling in these fishes. 



The same spinal rhythm and sensory feedback can drive both swimming and crawling, as long as the environment provides the right reaction forces. The fish doesn’t need a separate land-based neural controller to move



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-spinal-injuries-teach-us">What spinal injuries teach us</h2>



The most striking tests involved spinal cord transection. The group measured swimming in live American eels before and after a complete cut around the middle of the body, then matched those tests with simulation and robot runs using the same controller.&nbsp;



The movement behind the injury kept a similar frequency and phase as the movement in front of it, which echoes decades old <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11744256/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> that eels can recover coordinated swimming after transection as regrowth advances.



In the model, that coordination did not need signals from the brain. It emerged when the local oscillators had some built-in tendency to tick on their own, and when stretch and pressure loops were strong enough. 



The body above the cut tugged the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-secretly-reshape-landscapes-in-powerful-ways/">body</a> below the cut into the same rhythm through passive motion and local sensing.



That simple recipe explains why eels can move immediately after injury while many amphibians and mammals cannot. If the posterior spinal cord cannot oscillate on its own, or if the feedback pathways are too weak, the two halves fall out of step and the body stalls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eel-movement-robots-and-evolution">Eel movement, robots, and evolution</h2>



Robots that move without legs need to live with uncertainty. Water currents change, floors are cluttered, and obstacles shift. Prior <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abf6354" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> has shown that proprioceptive feedback can entrain undulatory robots into reliable patterns despite turbulence and noise.



This study adds pressure sensing on the skin to that recipe and shows how a simple stretch rule helps robots use clutter for propulsion. That means eel-like machines could search pipes, navigate earthquake rubble, or inspect tanks without complex top down control.



There is also a story about evolution here. If a swimming controller can produce useful crawling when the environment offers something to push against, early vertebrates may have needed adjustments more than a full rewrite to move onto land. Flexible circuits and strong local feedback could have carried a lot of that load.



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



Biologists can now test specific predictions in the lab. For example, they can look for descending stretch pathways that echo the model’s anterior to posterior copy rule, and they can probe how pressure sensors along the skin tune rhythm in moving fish.



Engineers can search for energy savings by blending stretch rules that boost stride with rules that prevent excessive bending. They can also explore how to route around damaged links in a robot by letting neighboring segments pull each other back into rhythm.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2422248122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Spinal secrets: What eels reveal about the origins of movement

Eels move in ways that seem to ignore the rules most vertebrates live by. They swim with flowing body waves, they can scoot across wet ground, and they often keep going even when the spinal cord is cut. According to a new paper, two simple body signals, stretch and pressure, help explain how that is possible. Those signals are not fancy. Stretch tells the body how much each segment bends, and pressure reports forces on the skin from water or from objects. When these signals are fed...

Surviving the bitter cold Arctic winters isn’t easy, just ask the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/polar-bears-climate-change-2/">polar bears</a>. On second thought, don’t do that. But they must have some secret that helps them live in subzero temperatures with no down jackets or space heaters. That secret happens to be in their hair, which engineers are now attempting to replicate with synthetic materials.

Materials scientists in China have developed an insulator that reproduces the structure of individual polar bear hairs, while scaling toward a material made up of many hairs for real-world applications in architecture and aerospace. Polar bear hairs are hollow, and the shapes and spacing of their hollow centers is responsible for their distinctive white coats, as well as being a source of incredible heat-holding capacity, water resistance, and stretchiness.

“Polar bear hair has been evolutionarily optimized to help prevent heat loss in cold and humid conditions, which makes it an excellent model for a synthetic heat insulator,” explains Shu-Hong Yu, a professor of chemistry at the <a href="https://en.ustc.edu.cn/">University of Science and Technology of China</a> (USTC) and co-senior author of the paper published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/chem/home">Chem</a>. “By making tube aerogel out of carbon tubes, we can design an analogous elastic and lightweight material that traps heat without degrading noticeably over its lifetime.”

In an effort to copy the structure of these hairs and scale it to a practical size, the research team manufactured millions of hollowed-out carbon tubes, each the size of a single strand of hair, and wound them into a spaghetti-like aerogel block. 

The team found that the faux-polar bear hair tube design was lighter in weight and more resistant to heat flow compared to other aerogels and insulation components. It was also barely affected by water, which exhibits the principles that help keep polar bears warm while swimming. This synthetic material is also extremely stretchy, which could help with its engineering applicability.

The next challenge for researchers is to now scale up the manufacturing process from a centimeter scale to a meter scale. “While our carbon-tube material cannot easily be mass produced at the moment, we expect to overcome these size limitations as we work toward extreme aerospace applications,” says Yu.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Zhiltsov Alexandr/Shutterstock

Synthetic polar bear hair could be the next big step in architecture, aerospace

Surviving the bitter cold Arctic winters isn’t easy, just ask...

According to a new study, drinking stations for koalas could be key to their survival, especially amidst hotter and drier conditions.

It was long thought that koala bears, one of Australia’s most iconic native animals, don’t drink much water because their leafy diet provides the hydration they need. 

However, as temperatures increase and Australia’s record-breaking summer heat waves take their toll on both the koala and its habitat, researchers from the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> found that koalas will seek out and drink from water stations. 

If koalas get their water from leaves, you might think that the easiest answer for the furry marsupial to stay hydrated would be to eat more. But koala diets are unique in that toxins in the leaves prevent koalas from eating more to compensate for thirst.  

Add climate change to the mix and koalas could soon be threatened with extinction. Koala populations along the east coast of Australia have been declining due to disease, habitat loss, and human activity. 

The <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/">Australian Koala Foundation </a>released a statement last month reporting that there were only <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/koala-bears-heading-towards-extinction/">80,000 koalas left in the country</a>. 

“It is predicted that increased CO2 emissions will increase the level of phenolics and tannins in eucalyptus leaves,” said Dr. Valentina Mella from the University of Sydney. “This means koalas will need alternative strategies to find water - and’  that’s where we can help with drinking stations.”

Mella and a team of colleagues set up water stations in Western New South Wales, where a heat wave wiped out 25 percent of the local koala population in 2009. The team wanted to see if providing an artificial secondary water source could help vulnerable marsupials stay hydrated. 

“We weren’t sure if the water stations could be used to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events,” said Mella. “But our results clearly show koalas will regularly use these stations to supplement their water needs.”

Over several years, Mella and her team monitored ten pairs of water stations, and in 12 months the researchers recorded 401 visits where the koalas drank from the water stations.

[caption id="attachment_1873544" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/koala.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873544" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/koala.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="871" /></a> A Koala bear drinking from a birdbath. Image Credit: University of Sydney[/caption]

The number of visits to the stations doubled during the summer months, showing that water stations provide a crucial lifeline for the koalas. 

“Drinking stations could help koalas during heat and drought events and might help mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Mella. “Frequent access to water may be fundamental for koalas to assist thermoregulation when temperatures are high.” 

Not only could drinking stations help thirsty koalas, but the researchers say that other animals like sloths, lemurs, and possums could benefit from artificial drinking spots. 

Now, water stations are being regularly used as a conservation and management strategy for koalas, and the researchers say that future studies are needed to ensure that water stations are effective and beneficial over the long-term. 

The researchers published their findings in a new study 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

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: University of Sydney

Drinking stations could help at risk koala bears stay hydrated

According to a new study, drinking stations for koalas could...

The fearsome dragonfish looks a lot like the type of fish that inspires such a name – although it’s considerably smaller than the dragons we read about in books or see on certain ultimately-disappointing TV shows. 

Measuring in at just 15 centimeters, this deep-sea fish makes up for its lack of size by sporting a set of enormous teeth, which they use to eat <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pressure-important-forage-fish/">smaller fish</a> up to 50% of their size. These impressive teeth were the focus of a study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/home">Matter</a> by a team of oceanographers.

The study’s authors were interested in one unique characteristic of this species teeth -- they are transparent. 

“Most deep-sea fauna have unique adaptations, but the fact that dragonfish have transparent teeth puzzled us, since the trait is usually found in larger species,” says Marc Meyers, a researcher at the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California, San Diego</a> and senior author of the study. “We thought that the nanostructure would be different, and when we looked at this, we found grain-sized nanocrystals embedded throughout the teeth are responsible for this uncanny optical property.”

In their investigation, the research team found that the transparency of the teeth is different from how other organisms have evolved this same adaptation. Dragonfish teeth are composed of an outer enamel-like later and an inter dentin layer, just like our own teeth. 

The nanocrystals in their teeth are scattered throughout the matrix of the enamel, preventing light in the environment from reflecting or scattering off the surface of the teeth. It also helps that the teeth are rather thin compared to other predatory fish, which helps with the light scattering effect.

[caption id="attachment_1873503" align="aligncenter" width="592"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dragonfish-teeth.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1873503" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dragonfish-teeth.jpeg" alt="" width="592" height="594" /></a> Transparent dragonfish teeth. Image Credit: Velasco-Hogan et al./Matter[/caption]

“Down at great depths there’s almost no light, and the little light there is comes from fish, such as the dragonfish, that have small photophores that generate light, attracting prey,” explains Meyers. “But the dragonfish’s teeth are huge in proportion to its mouth – it’s like a monster from the movie Alien – and if those teeth should become visible, prey will immediately shy away. But we speculate that the teeth are transparent because it helps the predator.”

The researchers believe that the transparent teeth make it harder for prey to see the fish’s wide-open mouth headed their way – which is good for the dragonfish, but bad for any other smaller fish nearby. With the results of this study, the research team is now raising funds to create transparent materials inspired by dragonfish teeth, using a combination of nanocrystals and ceramics.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Audrey Velasco

No time for reflection: Why the deep-sea dragonfish has transparent teeth

The fearsome dragonfish looks a lot like the type of...

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem. If you walk past a fence post in an open prairie or a small patch of trees amidst a grassland in North America, you might find a small sign of the remnant bison populations. On these upright posts or tree trunks, tufts of dark brown fur cling in shaggy clumps. 

Bison are known for scratching themselves on any number of upright objects and their fur gets easily caught in the cracks or bark. Once bison were despised for (among other things) knocking over telegraph poles planted across the prairie. It’s possible that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bison-american-survival-story/">bison</a> were also significantly important in keeping trees out of the prairies by knocking them over when scratching.Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem 

Bison fur is often used by birds for nest material and the hair was used by Native Americans for making cordage, something that can still be done. Sometimes genetic studies are done simply by leaving hair traps to catch the fur of an animal like a brown bear (or potentially bison) that rubs against a tree or are attracted to bait. 

Footprints are the most obvious and readily noticed sign of animals in a landscape, but other signs like fur or scat often give greater context to an animal and connect it more deeply to the landscape.

Dung can tell you a lot about an animal. Some scat is easily assigned to an animal. In Australia, little cubes of dung, one of the strangest shapes for droppings, are made by wombats. Hiking in the US, the apple-like dung from wild horses is obvious as are pats of dung from cattle or bison. Some scat requires looking closer to identify. As repugnant as dung may be, it gives interesting clues to the life of an animal.

Sometimes scat appears to be little more than a tangle of fur, one of the animal parts not easily digested. Fur in scat is sure evidence that the scat came from a carnivore. In survival situations, it might be a useful clue to examine droppings and determine what other animals are eating, although this isn’t foolproof. Droppings also show the ecological importance of an animal. Seeds found in droppings show one way in which a plant is dispersed across a landscape. Delicate bone shards can show the truth of a predatory relationship. Fresh scat may alert you to the near proximity of an animal, perhaps even an animal carefully watching you from a hiding spot. For many animals, dung is a way to track down prey.

Animals like sloths climb from trees to bury their waste, so as not to attract unwanted predators to their tree. Others like some caterpillars have evolved the ability to shoot their ‘frass’ (dung) long distances to avoid attention from predators or wasps that inject them with their eggs to be eaten from the inside out. When you see dung, remember that it’s an important insight into the animals life, so important that animals want to hide that data from those who would eat them.

Similar to dung are owl pellets that you may have poked through in school. Owl pellets are the harder elements of an owls food that are vomited up after digestion. Other birds create pellets but what makes owls so special is that their stomach acid is mild enough to leave more bones and fur intact, so you can actually make reasonable guesses as to what the owl was eating. 

When I collected data on sea birds in Alaska, startled chicks would sometimes vomit a chunky, fishy stew which we collected. It turns out vomit can be important for science, as it’s one of the easiest ways to see what an animal was eating and fear often leads to vomiting in birds. Ditching a bit of weight can mean that much faster getting off the ground for adult birds or a distraction. Carefully following animal traces like vomit or scat allow you to see through the eyes of a predator carefully teasing out clues of prey.

Predators themselves leave interesting and unique clues. Coyotes don’t usually hide their scat like the sloth. Instead, <a href="https://urbancoyoteresearch.com/coyote-info/signs-coyote-presence">Urban Coyote Project</a> points out that scat is used by coyotes to communicate. Coyote scat is often left in the middle of trails (including hiking trails which they sometimes use) and can be found even piled on rocks to make them more obvious. Coyote scat sometimes delineates a sort of territorial boundary for the canids.

Another sign of a predator is vertical scratches along a tree trunk. It may be that mountain lions are simply grooming their claws as many house cats do on sofas, but the <a href="https://mountainlion.org/featurearticlesign.asp">Mountain Lion Foundation</a> reports that some researchers also think this behavior is used for communication. Unfortunately scratches in a tree, it isn’t enough evidence that a mountain lion is nearby. Bears also mark trees with their claws. Sometimes bears also <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm03242832/page01.htm">strip the bark</a> from trees to get a carbohydrate rich snack in the green wood below the bark right as well. 

Tracks are sometimes quite obvious. Raccoon prints pressed into the drying mud around a small pond are hard to miss. It’s easy to stare at blurred, large dog tracks, wanting them to be mountain lion tracks before you notice the claw marks that make them obviously canine. Other traces left in the mud or dust of the earth are less obvious. 

The weird tracks of a sea turtle on the beach are reminiscent of tracks made by tanks before they’re washed away in the tide. Snakes leave sinuous trails in the dirt and sometimes lizards leave long drag marks from their tails. Even insects leave small tracks in the earth. Some like leaf cutter ants leave obviously groomed but minuscule trails, even through dense rainforests. 

Some trackers claim to glean enormous amounts of information from tracks, including the health of an animal or its intentions. But even without these abilities, looking closely at animal traces is a way to imagine yourself in the skin of another.               

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in...

The rich biodiversity of Costa Rica makes its varied coastal, mountainous, and forest covered terrain a hotspot for species diversity and conservation. 

While Costa Rica’s many parks and reserves promise environmental protections, it’s a different story for working landscapes including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/habitat-fragmentation-extinction/">fragmented forests</a>. 

Luckily, a new study has found that if landowners properly manage these working landscapes such as forest patches, cropland, and even towns, native species can still thrive. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis </a>found that working landscapes can support just as many vulnerable bird populations as protected nature reserves. 

The study was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. 

Over a two-year period, the researchers surveyed Neotropical birds at 150 sites in Costa Rica. Cropland housed a range of bird species, but these were different from those found in protected parks and reserves. 

In privately owned fragmented patches of forests, the researchers found the same species of birds that thrived in nearby reserves. 

These degraded habitats were used for logging, hunting, and had been cleared by fires, but the researchers still found ample bird populations particularly in wetter regions. 

The researchers say that conservation priority should be given to the wettest fragmented habitats as these could allow for more significant population growth for bird communities and diversity. 

“With sufficient forest cover, working landscapes-- even if degraded and fragmented-- can maintain bird communities that are indistinguishable from those found in protected areas,” said Daniel Karp, the lead author of the study. “This means that private landowners have great power to improve the conservation value of their lands through reforestation.”

Forest cover in Costa Rica is bouncing back after decades of decline, and studies like this can help inform future conservation and management programs. 

“Tropical birds respond very strongly to the amount of forest in their immediate vicinity,” said Karp. “That’s encouraging because it means forest restoration on a small scale, even in small patches, can be really effective in safeguarding vulnerable bird species.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Daniel Karp/UC Davis

How birds can still thrive in the fragmented forests of Costa Rica

The rich biodiversity of Costa Rica makes its varied coastal,...

The same team of researchers that discovered that bees <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bee-brains-can-understand-the-concept-of-zero/">understand the concept of zero</a> and can perform basic math have now found that the pollinating insects can link mathematical symbols to their corresponding quantities.

It’s an exciting find that potentially opens up new pathways for communicating with and researching animals. 

The discovery also shows that despite possessing less than one million neurons in their brains, bees have highly efficient processing powers that could help advance computer processing systems. 

Researchers led by the <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/">RMIT University</a> are responsible for the findings, which were recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

Humans have been using symbols to represent numeric quantities for thousands of years, and we use Arabic numerals every day. 

Past research has shown that primates and birds are capable of learning these numeric connections, but this is the first study of its kind to show that insects have complex cognitive capabilities as well. 

“We take it for granted once we’ve learned our numbers as children, but being able to recognise what ‘4’ represents actually requires a sophisticated level of cognitive ability,” said Adrian Dyer, a co-author of the study. “Studies have shown primates and birds can also learn to link symbols with numbers, but this is the first time we’ve seen this in insects.”

For the study, the researchers designed an experiment using a Y-shaped maze. Bees were trained with the maze to match a character with a quantity. 

Once the association was learned, the researchers tested the bees by switching up the elements used to represent a character.

In another test, bees were trained to associate numbers and characters in the reverse order to the first group. 

Once the associations had been learned, the bees could not go back and learn the other way around.  If a bee had first learned to connect a character to a quantity, it could not learn to connect the quantity to a character later. 

“This suggests that number processing and understanding of symbols happens in different regions in bee brains, similar to the way separate processing happens in the human brain,” said Scarlett Howard, the lead author of the study. “Our results show honeybees are not at the same level as the animals that have been able to learn symbols as numbers and perform complex tasks.”

The study sheds new light on the processing powers of the bee brain and shows that insects may be more cognitively capable than we realize and the results could advance our understanding of cognition in humans and animals alike. 

“Discovering how such complex numerical skills can be grasped by miniature brains will help us understand how mathematical and cultural thinking evolved in humans, and possibly, other animals,” said Dyer. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: RMIT University

Bees are capable of connecting numbers to symbols

The same team of researchers that discovered that bees understand...

Netflix’s Our Planet, an eight-part series, may seem like just your average nature documentary with stunning footage of sweeping forests, aerial shots of herds of elephants trekking across the Savanna, and schools of fish leaping from the waves. 

None other than award-winning nature narrator Sir David Attenborough is the sole voice of the series, would may lead the casual viewer into thinking that it’s nothing you haven’t seen before in Planet Earth or Blue Planet. 

These comparisons make even more sense when you see that the show was produced by Alastair Fothergill, who produced the first Planet Earth BBC series. 

But while other series offer a glimpse at nature, Our Planet delivers a strong warning at a time when Earth has never been more vulnerable due to climate change.

This isn’t just an educational program leading you on a trip around seven of our planet’s vast ecosystems from forests to oceans. It’s a series that highlights how connected everything is, from the phytoplankton in the seas to the ants that march in droves across the jungle floor. 

Through Attenborough’s soothing voice, we learn all life on Earth is connected and dependant on its respected habitats. Add a wrench to the mix, like deforestation, droughts due to climate change, or overfishing, and those delicate ecosystems are thrown out of balance resulting in habitat and species declines. 

Research has shown that millions of plants and animals could soon <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-hunted-6th-extinction/">face extinction</a> directly related to human activities and climate change, but Our Planet gives you both a macro and micro perspective of how exactly ecosystems are being impacted. 

In this way, Our Planet offers what few nature documentaries have before it, a chance to directly see the impact that humans are having on the natural world. 

In Borneo’s jungle, we learn that orangutans take a long time to become independent apes, spending most of their early years observing and learning from their mothers. 

We then hear that 100 orangutans die every week due to their jungle habitats being transformed into monocultures of oil palms and that the orangutans we just spent time getting to know could soon be the last generation to live in the wild. 

Perhaps the biggest takeaway of the series is that what we do now to protect and manage our natural resources will determine the fate of all life on Earth. 

As David Attenborough says in the first installment of the series, there has never been a more critical time to understand how our planet works. The first episode gives an overarching view of the series and delves into how the Earth’s climate systems and weather benefit different ecosystems as well as our globe’s incredibly rich biodiversity. 

For example, off the coast of Peru we see masses of sea birds and dolphins diving in and out of nutrient-rich waters to feed on shoals of anchovies. The anchovies are an abundant food source thanks to wind patterns and ocean currents that bring nutrients to the region. 

Cut to the vulnerable poles where the impacts of climate change are felt with increasing severity and the audience is presented with awe-inspiring footage of glacier calving where massive chunks of glaciers split and break off into the ocean. 

Starting with a calving glacier in the Arctic helped anchor the primary message of the series -- how human activities and climate change are reshaping the poles which, in turn, impacts global currents, wind patterns, climate systems, and weather patterns. 

It was also an ambitious scene to shoot, and producers of the show contacted a glacier expert to find just the right calving event to film. 

“The starting point was that we wanted to illustrate, through natural phenomena, climate change and that the Arctic is increasingly warming,” Keith Scholey, a producer of the series, told <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/our-planet-netflix-david-attenborough_uk_5ca7964ce4b0dca033011273?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGajbhQnm6LkhyO9JMVaZQ9cKPekksSEne1uaCnnDaUdpJiLGFllRuioTKhg2RHYT50eXfER6gnIwnjAPsaWW0Q5yHxCH6rCUeyZE1HQBNIOumir0Rd0uceZF2TlM0lLys5RRJNuhFlLPp0bY-Vks4TUqaH2UqhGeelW25dxlK_L">Huffington Post</a>. “People have often filmed glaciers with bits falling off, but in the moment you’re referring to, when a huge skyscraper block breaks away and does that huge rotation, it’s never really been filmed properly before.”

The care and attention to detail shine through from the opening credits to the final shot. Our Planet was a mammoth undertaking that took years to film, involved 600 crew members, and was filmed in over 50 countries. 

Each episode tackles a different ecosystem from jungles, to coastal seas, forests, and deserts and in each installment of the series, the majestic panning nature shots, aerial shots, and close-ups are unparalleled. 

You’ll feel like you’re swimming along with dolphins on the high seas trying to evade their killer whale predators. 

A harrowing scene of wildebeests being chased by cheetahs in the Serengeti will have you at the edge of your seat. In the polar north, you’ll see a mother sea lion look in vain for her pup which was triumphantly snatched up by a polar bear only to understand that the melting sea ice is making it harder for both sea lions and polar bears to thrive. 

One of the more gruesome scenes involves walruses tumbling to their deaths from cliffs forced onto beaches in droves by the thousands due to retreating sea ice. 

The famous scene, which has since <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/04/why-are-walruses-walking-off-cliffs/586510/">raised questions about its relation to climate change</a>, shows walruses bouncing, rolling, leaping, and plummeting to their deaths in an attempt to get back to the water. 

It’s only one of the many shocking and uncomfortable moments in the series. 

Our Planet invites the viewer to witness how our actions are changing the very landscapes we depend on for food, fuel, and medicine.

Climate change and human activities are taking the delicate balancing act that is mother Earth and throwing everything off kilter, forcing species to adapt to inhospitable habitats, driving species to extinction, and decimating marine ecosystems. 

When priority is given to conservation, Our Planet also highlights how degraded habitats have a surprising resilience and can bounce back when given the chance.

Whether it’s Polynesian shark nurseries, increasing humpback whale populations, or the incredible transformation taking place in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chernobyls-exclusion-zone-wildlife-refuge/">Chernobyl exclusion zone</a> where forests are overtaking the abandoned cities and buildings around the plant, wolves have returned, and animals are thriving in areas untouched by humans for years. 

Our Planet’s message is certainly a call to action set against some glorious scenery. It’s an important message that must hit home if we are to mitigate the impacts of climate change, prevent mass extinction, and create a sustainable future for generations to come. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Netflix

‘Our Planet’ delivers stunning images and an ominous warning

Netflix’s Our Planet, an eight-part series, may seem like just...

While the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/home">US Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) recently <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/statement-fda-commissioner-scott-gottlieb-md-and-director-fdas-center-biologics-evaluation-and-0">issued a warning</a> against companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/young-blood-transfusions-open-accepting-paypal-payments-cities-ambrosia-2019-1">Ambrosia </a>which provide anti-aging therapies in the form of blood infusions from young donors, a new study has shown that young blood may be beneficial to fighting age-related decline after all. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://med.stanford.edu/">Stanford University School of Medicine</a> injected the blood of young mice into old mice and were able to identify the specific proteins responsible for promoting synapse formation and reversing declines in the brains of the older mice. 

In a study published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/05/29/1902672116">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, the researchers found that blood taken from young mice provides a “fountain of youth”-like effect on the brains of old mice. 

The two key proteins that increased brain cell growth were thrombospondin-4 THBS4 and SPARC-like protein 1 (SPARCL1). These two compounds helped bolster and increase synapses in the brain which are nerve connections that deteriorate over time. In dementia and Alzheimer's, synapse loss is accelerated. 

“Here, we asked whether young blood is enriched in factors that act directly on neurons to promote synapse formation,” the researchers wrote in their study. “We show that serum from young but not old mice indeed directly boosts synapse formation in cultured neurons, and identify two factors, thrombospondin-4 and SPARCL1, that are enriched in young blood and mediate these effects.”

It will be some time before researchers start working on human trials, as there are still many unknown factors to contend with. 

Even though the researchers were able to identify the key compounds in young blood that promote synapse formation, how these proteins increase cell growth is still not well understood. 

If the researchers do find that the compounds could bolster human brain cell growth, there is still the matter of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-lampreys-brain-treatments/">blood-brain barrier</a> which could prevent the proteins from reaching the brain. 

-- 

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Injecting old mice with young mouse blood improved memory, learning

While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued...

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...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

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Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" 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> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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