Imagine a world where animals, like humans, form friendships that endure for years. A world where alliances are forged not through blood ties but through acts of mutual aid. 



This world exists all across Earth, but especially with a bird species called African starlings. They engage in reciprocal "helping" behavior, a concept once thought exclusive to humans.



A new study led by Alexis Earl, a former PhD student at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Columbia University</a> in Professor Dustin Rubenstein’s lab, has cracked open the complex social world of these birds. The findings challenge long-held assumptions that kinship alone drives cooperative behavior.



Instead, the study reveals that starlings form lasting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sparrows-have-fewer-friends-as-they-age-just-like-most-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">friendships</a>, built on the expectation that help given today will be returned tomorrow.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-african-starlings-more-than-family-groups">African starlings: More than family groups</h2>



African starling societies are anything but simple. These aren’t just tight-knit family groups. They’re intricate networks of related and unrelated individuals, living together, helping each other, and occasionally switching roles. 



“Starling societies are not just simple families,” Rubenstein said. “They’re much more complex, containing a mixture of related and unrelated individuals that live together, much in the way that humans do.”



The research team observed these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-birds-are-at-great-risk-from-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a> over 20 years at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. During 40 breeding seasons, they documented thousands of interactions among hundreds of birds. By collecting genetic data, they could trace familial ties and map out the social networks within each group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birds-help-non-relatives">Birds help non-relatives</h2>



The data revealed a striking pattern. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-extinctions-shatter-the-harmonious-balance-of-nature/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Birds</a> weren’t just helping relatives, they were helping non-relatives too.



And not just once - over and over again. These birds were forming relationships based on reciprocity, where the expectation wasn’t immediate repayment but long-term support.



Rubenstein emphasized the significance of these findings. “Many of these birds are essentially forming friendships over time,” he said. 



But why help a non-relative when a relative is nearby? For the starlings, the answer appears to lie in building a network of allies, a safety net that extends beyond family bonds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-role-reversals-and-unexpected-alliances">Role reversals and unexpected alliances</h2>



Starlings don’t stick to one role. They don’t remain helpers or breeders for life. Instead, they switch roles throughout their lifetimes, a phenomenon rarely seen in cooperative breeders. 



The researchers found that individuals frequently moved between helper and breeder roles, sometimes even after raising their own offspring.



This role-switching opened the door for reciprocal helping. A bird that helped another during one breeding season might later become a breeder and receive help from that same individual. 



The study tracked 528 helper-breeder pairs, and in 142 pairs, the same two birds swapped roles and helped each other over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bird-friendships-form-through-reciprocal-helping">Bird friendships form through reciprocal helping</h2>



Kin selection is a well-established concept in evolutionary biology. Helping family members ensures the survival of shared genes. But the researchers observed a different kind of bond in starlings - one based on reciprocity, not kinship.



Resident males typically helped relatives. Immigrant males, however, helped both kin and non-kin. In fact, the researchers found that the helping rate for reciprocating pairs was 242 percent higher than for non-reciprocating pairs. 



Clearly, these birds were forming alliances that went beyond genetic ties.



But kinship wasn’t entirely irrelevant. Resident females rarely became breeders, so they had fewer opportunities for reciprocal helping. Immigrant females, on the other hand, often moved between helper and breeder roles, forming bonds with specific non-relatives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-power-of-long-term-data">Power of long-term data</h2>



The depth of this study lies in its duration. Twenty years of observations, over 12,000 recorded helping interactions and more than 500 individual birds. 



This long-term dataset allowed the researchers to detect subtle patterns that would have been invisible in a shorter study.



Rubenstein believes these findings have broader implications. “I think this kind of reciprocal helping behavior is likely going on in a lot of animal societies, and people just haven’t studied them long enough to be able to detect it,” he said.



Without such extensive data, the role of reciprocal helping might have remained hidden beneath the more obvious kin-based helping patterns. The study underscores the importance of sustained observation in uncovering the intricacies of animal behavior.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-animal-social-networks">Implications for animal social networks</h2>



Why would a bird help a non-relative, even when a relative is nearby? The answer may lie in the unpredictability of life in the African savannah. Food scarcity. Predator threats. Uncertain breeding success.



In such an environment, forming bonds with non-relatives could serve as a form of insurance. Birds that help today may receive help tomorrow when conditions worsen. It’s a strategy that maximizes survival, not just for the individual but for the entire group.



The researchers observed that these reciprocal bonds sometimes lasted for years. And in some cases, they were even stronger than bonds formed through kinship. 



By maintaining these alliances, birds could increase their chances of receiving support during critical breeding periods.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reciprocal-helping-in-other-birds">Reciprocal helping in other birds</h2>



This phenomenon isn’t limited to African starlings. Other bird species, such as green woodhoopoes and white-fronted bee-eaters, also exhibit reciprocal helping. However, the evidence of such behavior in non-relatives is rare.



The researchers argue that reciprocal helping may be more common than previously thought. The problem is that detecting it requires long-term observation - years, even decades. And that kind of data is difficult to obtain.



In the case of African starlings, the data revealed that reciprocal helping relationships sometimes persisted for multiple breeding seasons. Birds that helped each other one year often maintained that relationship, swapping roles and continuing to support one another over time.



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



What drives birds to choose specific partners for reciprocal helping? How do they recognize reliable allies? Are there cues - vocal signals, visual displays, prior interactions - that indicate trustworthiness?



The study raises more questions than it answers. The researchers plan to expand their observations to other species within the same environment. By doing so, they hope to determine whether reciprocal helping is a widespread strategy among cooperative breeders or a unique trait of African starlings.



Additionally, they aim to explore the impact of environmental factors on reciprocal helping. Does food scarcity strengthen these bonds? Do predator threats prompt birds to seek new allies?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-redefining-animal-cooperation">Redefining animal cooperation</h2>



The findings of this study challenge the conventional view that cooperative behavior in animals is driven solely by kin selection. While helping relatives remains a vital strategy, reciprocal helping may play an equally significant role in stabilizing social groups.



For the African starlings, reciprocal helping is a way to build alliances, secure support, and hedge against future uncertainties. It’s a strategy that mirrors human friendships - complex, enduring, and sometimes unpredictable.



“I think this kind of reciprocal helping behavior is likely going on in a lot of animal societies, and people just haven’t studied them long enough to be able to detect it,” Rubenstein said.



The study, published in Nature, provides a rare glimpse into the hidden world of animal friendships. It shows that even in the harsh and unpredictable environment of the African savannah, social bonds can form, endure, and evolve. 



And in the end, the birds that help today may just be the ones receiving help tomorrow.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08958-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Birds observed exhibiting many behaviors that resemble human friendships

Imagine a world where animals, like humans, form friendships that endure for years. A world where alliances are forged not through blood ties but through acts of mutual aid. This world exists all across Earth, but especially with a bird species called African starlings. They engage in reciprocal "helping" behavior, a concept once thought exclusive to humans. A new study led by Alexis Earl, a former PhD student at Columbia University in Professor Dustin Rubenstein’s lab, has cracked open the complex social world of these birds. The...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a> have investigated dog bites by watching over a hundred videos on YouTube. While most research is based on information gathered after a dog bite occurs, this study allowed the experts to observe and analyze some of the circumstances leading up to an attack.

“Online videos present us with an unexplored opportunity to observe dog bites first-hand, something which is just not possible using other methods,” said study lead author Sara Owczarczak-Garstecka. 

“Making more use of this type of shared content for research could help us better understand how and why bites occur and contribute to the development of bite prevention strategies."


The team used search terms such as “dog bite” and “dog attack” to retrieve 143 YouTube videos, which were uploaded between January 2016 and March 2017. 

The characteristics of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-humans-common/">dog</a>, bite severity, context of bites, and the victim were documented for each video. In addition, 56 of the videos showed the behavior of the humans and dogs in the moments just before the incident.

The features of the dogs and the victims identified in the videos corresponded with those found in previous studies. 

Dog breeds most commonly involved in the attacks were Chihuahuas, German Shepherds, Pit bulls, and Labrador Retrievers. More than half of the bite victims were children and infants, and around 70 percent of the dogs were male.

For this particular study, the researchers did not scrutinize the human behavior which may have caused the dogs to snap. However, the study authors noted that some of the behaviors that they observed preceding the attacks were consistent with human behaviors previously linked to dog bites. 

For example, the experts found that physical contact with a dog increased approximately 20 seconds before a bite. Standing or leaning over a dog also triggered a violent response within seconds.

“These findings could offer some valuable new insight for the development of bite prevention strategies,” said Owczarczak-Garstecka. “Prevention messages could emphasise the risk of leaning over a dog and simply advise avoiding contact with a dog when possible or in doubt.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

YouTube helps researchers study dog bites to improve prevention

Experts at the University of Liverpool have investigated dog bites...

The Bahamian anole lizard is a popular exotic pet, and its knack for escaping captivity has allowed anole populations to pop up throughout the Western Hemisphere. With its ability to live within such a large geographic range – not to mention its abilities as an escape artist – it seems like the anole would be equipped to adapt and thrive in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">changing climate</a>. However, a new study published in <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a> has found that the opposite could be true.

Michael Logan, a post-doctoral fellow at the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> in Panama, studies the brown anole throughout its home range in the Bahamas. In his most recent study, he found that the anole’s genetic makeup is shockingly ill suited for future climate scenarios. His results have led him to believe that the anole is unlikely to adapt quickly enough in order to keep pace with the current rate of environmental change.

“Brown anoles have huge population sizes and therefore should have loads of genetic variation in most traits, permitting rapid adaptation,” says Logan. “Instead, we found that genetic variation in several traits that are critical under climate change is basically zero.”

Like all lizards, brown anoles are ectotherms, meaning they rely on the temperature of their environment in order to control their body heat. In this study, Logan and his colleagues captures brown anoles from two distinct, isolated habitats in the Bahamas. One is relatively cool and forested, while the other is a hot, sunny peninsula. Under laboratory conditions, they raised hundreds of offspring from the two populations, and then tested them in certain experiments once they reached adulthood.

The researchers used gel packs and heating lamps to create an environment ranging from 20°C to 48°C, and recorded where the lizards moved and how they adjusted to temperature changes. They also ran a series of analyses to better understand the offspring’s inherited traits and their potential to evolve. 

Their results were surprising, especially since the lizards they originally found had been from different, isolated populations in contrasting environments. The researchers did find evidence that populations were adapted to their local environments, but genetic results indicated that the lizards had little built-in capacity to inherit traits that would allow them to evolve with climate change. The author’s note that one possible explanation for this is that strong selection pressure in the past – which caused them to adapt to different environments in the first place, eliminated future genetic variation.

This research has important implications for the future of other ectotherms as well. “If genetic variation in thermal traits is rock bottom for a species like the brown anole that has huge population sizes and a super-wide geographic distribution,” ponders Logan, “what will it be for most other species that typically have much smaller population sizes and live relatively isolated, specialized lifestyles?”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Even Earth’s most resilient lizards may succumb to climate change

The Bahamian anole lizard is a popular exotic pet, and...

How ants work together to carry food around obstacles. Ants have an impressive ability to lift objects much heavier than their own body weight and have an incredible social structure within their colony where every ant serves a purpose.  

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ants-explode-fight-intruders/">Ants</a> also work together to carry food back to their nest and can problem solve when they come across obstacles. 

When faced with an obstacle, the ants will try squeezing their cargo through a hole or use a side-side movement to go around whatever is in their way. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.weizmann.ac.il/pages/">Weizmann Institute in Israel</a> provides insight into what drives these two type of problem solving motions and what conditions prompt the ants to choose one over the other. 

The results were published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006068">PLOS Computational Biology</a>. 

For the study, the researchers created a mathematical model that simulated ant behavior and how groups of ants worked together to get around a barrier with a narrow hole in it. 

The model showed that ants randomly choose between two different motions, either staying near the hole to try and pass the food through or going around. This ensures that the ants don’t get stuck on just one plan of action. 

The size of the groups of ants also factored into what influenced the ants' movements according to the simulations. 

The model predicted that large groups carrying large food items will spend more time on a sideways motion, preferring to get around the obstacle whereas smaller groups will spend more time near the hole.

After working with the models, the researchers tested the simulations’ predictions using experiments with real ants. 

The ants were given cargo ranging from one centimeter to four centimeters in diameter to carry.

The researchers set up a barrier with a narrow hole that the ants would have to get around somehow. The model’s predictions were correct and the smaller groups carrying the smaller pieces of food focused more on getting through the hole.  

Ants are impressive problem solvers and this study shows the lengths ants will go to get around obstacles without getting stuck or stalling on a plan that isn’t working. 

The researchers next hope to study ants carrying cargo through more complex terrain that mirrors the natural world in order to better understand these movements and behaviors. 

“Many social animals--from bird flocks to schools of fish to troops of baboons--perform cooperative tasks, such as foraging, hunting, and migrating,” said Nir Gov, the study’s senior author. “Our results could provide inspiration for similar understanding of other collective animal behavior systems that exhibit coexisting modes.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Jonathan Ron, Ehud Fonio

How ants work together to carry food around obstacles

How ants work together to carry food around obstacles. Ants...

A deadly fungus – known as chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) – has been devastating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/concerns-reptiles-amphibians-pets/">amphibian</a> populations around the world for years. It’s been a direct cause of the decline and extinction of species of frogs, toads, newts, and other amphibians on several continents. While this fungus – also known as Bd – is distributed around the world, it was unknown where the deadly strains of the pathogen first originated… until now. 

New research published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> reports that the fungus may have first emerged in East Asia. This fungus passes from animal to animal, spreading rapidly and causing chytridiomycosis, which attacks the animal’s skin and affects their ability to regulate water and electrolyte levels, leading to heart failure.

Researchers at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and their partners at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a> – along with almost 40 other institutions around the world – gathered samples of the pathogen from around the world. They sequenced the samples’ genomes, and combined the data with genomes from past Bd studies, resulting in a total collection of 234 samples.

The researchers looked at differences in the genomes of these samples, and identified four main genetic lineages of the fungus. Three of these lineages are distributed globally, while the fourth lineage was only found in Korea, on frogs native to the region. The fungi of Korean lineage were determined to contain much more genetic diversity than any other lineages. Further analysis of this lineage showed no history of global outbreaks within their genomes, which suggests that Korean Bd strains were native to the region, and most closely resemble the ancestry of all modern Bd.

Through analysis of the genetic data, the researchers estimated that the killer strain of Bd currently threatening amphibian species diverged from its most recent common ancestor. Rather than dating back thousands of years, the range of the disease expanded greatly between 50 and 120 years ago, which coincides with the rapid global expansion of intercontinental trade.

The study’s authors believe that humans have contributed heavily to the spread of this fungus, largely through the international pet trade of these amphibians. They provide strong evidence that a ban on trade in amphibians from Asia would be a positive move for mitigating the further spread of the fungus.

“Our research not only points to East Asia as ground zero for this deadly fungal pathogen, but suggests we have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg of chytrid diversity in Asia,” says Matthew Fisher, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College. “Therefore, until the ongoing trade in infected amphibians is halted, we will continue to put our irreplaceable global amphibian biodiversity recklessly at risk.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Frank Pasmans

Killer fungus wiping out amphibians originated in Asia

A deadly fungus – known as chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)...

The remains of the second oldest baleen whale ever found has revealed that early whales may have not actually had baleen. The 34-million-year-old whale skull from Antarctica has well-developed gums and teeth, with no evidence of the baleen plates used in filter feeding.

Study co-author Felix Marx is a researcher at the <a href="https://www.naturalsciences.be/">Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences</a>.

“Llanocetus denticrenatus is an ancient relative of our modern gentle giants, like humpback and blue whales,” said Marx. "Unlike them, however, it had teeth, and probably was a formidable predator."

Study co-author R. Ewan Fordyce added, “Until recently, it was thought that filter feeding first emerged when whales still had teeth. Llanocetus shows that this was not the case.”

Modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-discovery-baleen-whales/">baleen whales</a>, or Mysticetes, support their enormous body size by ingesting huge volumes of small prey and seawater, using baleen plates in their mouths as a strainer to hold the food in as the water is filtered back out. 

Llanocetus had distinctive depressions on the roof of its mouth, which are characteristic of modern whales. These grooves usually indicate the presence of baleen, but in Llanocetus they gather around tooth sockets, suggesting that baleen would have been useless and would have likely been crushed.

“Instead of a filter, it seems that Llanocetus simply had large gums and, judging from the way its teeth are worn, mainly fed by biting large prey,” said Marx. “Even so, it was huge: at a total body length of around 8 meters, it rivals some living whales in size.”

The researchers theorize that large gums in whales like Llanocetus became more complex over time and eventually gave rise to baleen. This evolution likely happened after whales became toothless and switched from biting to sucking in small prey like many of today's whales and dolphins. 

The experts explained that baleen may have evolved as an improved method of keeping small prey from escaping the mouth.

Fordyce and Marx found that Llanocetus had sharp, widely-spaced teeth with markings which indicated they were used to bite and shear prey. The grooves, which are commonly interpreted as evidence for baleen, instead clustered around the bony tooth sockets.

According to the researchers, the findings of this study demonstrate that the evolution of filter feeding is not as straightforward as previously believed.


“The giants of our modern ocean may be gentle, but their ancestors were anything but,” said Marx. “Llanocetus was both large and a ferocious predator and probably had little in common with how modern whales behave.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Carl Buell

Second oldest known baleen whale actually had teeth

The remains of the second oldest baleen whale ever found...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> have discovered why bees tend to stay fixated on a certain flower until all of the nectar is gone. The team has found that bees have a pair of interacting neurons that make the taste of sugar intensely pleasurable for up to ten seconds. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hive-bound-bees-pesticides/">Bees</a> use nectar for energy and to help feed their colonies. Taste neurons on the proboscis, or the mouthparts, are activated when bees come into contact with food.

As long as the taste neurons are activated, the bee will continue feeding from the same source of nectar. When the stimulation declines, the bee will seek out a different feeding point.

Study co-author Geraldine Wright is a professor of Insect Neuroethology at the Institute of Neuroscience.

“We demonstrate in bees that, like in humans, the first taste of something sweet such as a lollipop is incredibly intense but then becomes less interesting. This is so our sensory neurons don't get overloaded and burn out,” explained Professor Wright.

“What we've found in bees is that the initial intense sweetness of sugar can last up to 10 seconds - so they will stay on the same sugar source.”

“This makes sense if you think a worker bee is not just collecting for its own use but is storing it for others in the hive. It also means the bee will find a flower and drink all the nectar before other bees can intervene and take it.”

The researchers discovered two taste neurons within each taste bud that work as a team to sustain the perception of sweetness.

“Other insects have one type of taste neuron that is activated by sugars. We have discovered however, that bees have two different types of sugar-activated neurons,” explained study lead author Ashwin Miriyala.

“The first neuron exhibits intense activity when in contact with sugar. The second neuron intermittently inhibits the activity of the first neuron for short durations of time. This inhibition allows the first neuron a sort of ‘resting period’ so it can recover and maintain its intense activity for longer periods of time.”

“Our data show that the interaction between these two sugar neurons is a result of electrical connections between them. This is the first evidence for this kind of connection in any insect taste neuron.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bees get an intense sugar high from nectar due to special neurons

Researchers at Newcastle University have discovered why bees tend to...

For the first time, researchers have found that animals can retrieve and replay past events from memory. The ultimate goal of the study, which was conducted by a team of neuroscientists at <a href="https://www.iu.edu/">Indiana University</a>, is to develop new medications to treat <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/twice-americans-alzheimers-2060/">Alzheimer's disease</a>.

“The reason we're interested in animal memory isn't only to understand animals, but rather to develop new models of memory that match up with the types of memory impaired in human diseases such as Alzheimer's disease," said lead author Jonathon Crystal.

The majority of clinical trials have been focused on how potential Alzheimer's drugs impact spatial memory in animals. However, the type of memory loss that causes the most debilitating effects in Alzheimer's patients is episodic memory.

“If your grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer's, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the disease is that she can't remember what you told her about what's happening in your life the last time you saw her,” said study first author Danielle Panoz-Brown. 

“We're interested in episodic memory - and episodic memory replay - because it declines in Alzheimer's disease, and in aging in general.”

Episodic memory is the ability to recall specific experiences and events. The capacity to place certain events in chronological order is referred to as “episodic memory replay.”

People would not be able to make sense of most scenarios if they could not remember the order in which they occurred, explained Professor Crystal.


Over the course of a year, the research team trained 13 rats to memorize a list of up to 12 different odors. Ultimately, the rats showed that they were able to identify odors based on the order of the list and not just by the scent itself.

According to Professor Crystal, the rats successfully completed their tasks in the correct order around 87 percent of the time, which strongly indicates that the animals were utilizing episodic memory replay.

Further analysis showed that the rats’ memories were long-lasting and resistant to the interference of other memories. In addition, the study revealed that brain activity was stimulated in the hippocampus, which is the brain region that controls episodic memory.


New genetic tools are making it possible to create rats with neurological conditions similar to Alzheimer's disease, and not just mice. This creates an urgent need to find reliable methods of studying episodic memory replay in rats.

“We're really trying push the boundaries of animal models of memory to something that's increasingly similar to how these memories work in people,” said Professor Crystal. “If we want to eliminate Alzheimer's disease, we really need to make sure we're trying to protect the right type of memory.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Animals have complex memories that can replay past events

For the first time, researchers have found that animals can...

Scientists at the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> are reporting that beavers can dramatically improve the quality of water in rivers while preventing the loss of valuable soils from surrounding farms and fields.

In collaboration with the <a href="http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/">Devon Wildlife Trust</a>, the researchers conducted an experiment which revealed that enclosures constructed by beavers can reduce the input of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotics-soil-killing-superbugs/">soil</a> and nutrients into water systems by the tons.

The study was focused on a single family of beavers, which have lived within a fenced site in West Devon since 2011. A total of 13 dams built by the beavers have slowed the flow of water and created a series of deep ponds.

The researchers found that the dams had trapped more than 100 tons of sediment, 70 percent of which was soil from grassland upstream. Further analysis revealed that the sediment contained high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are nutrients that cause issues for wildlife found in rivers and streams.

Richard Brazier is a professor of Earth Surface Processes and the lead author of the study.

“It is of serious concern that we observe such high rates of soil loss from agricultural land, which are well in excess of soil formation rates,” said Professor Brazier. 

“However, we are heartened to discover that beaver dams can go a long way to mitigate this soil loss and also trap pollutants which lead to the degradation of our water bodies.”

“Were beaver dams to be commonplace in the landscape we would no doubt see these effects delivering multiple benefits across whole ecosystems, as they do elsewhere around the world.”


Devon Wildlife Trust has also been conducting a second project that is focused on wild beavers in the River Otter. Peter Burgess is the Director of Conservation and Development at the wildlife charity.


“Our partnership with Exeter University working on both our fenced and unfenced beaver trials is revealing information which shows the critical role beavers can play, not only for wildlife, but the future sustainability of our land and water,” said Burgess. “It is truly inspiring to have our observations confirmed by detailed scientific investigations.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10969837">Earth Processes and Landforms</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: Michael Symes/Devon Wildlife Trust

Beavers help reduce water pollution and soil erosion

Scientists at the University of Exeter are reporting that beavers...

Sharks are smarter than you think, can associate music with food. A new study has found that sharks are not just mindless predators driven purely by instinct, but rather, they are intelligent and can even learn to associate signals or sounds with food rewards. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://thefishlab.com/">Macquarie University Fish Lab </a>who trained young Port Jackson sharks to make a connection between jazz music and food. 

Published in the journal Animal Cognition, the results provide new insight into the intelligence and learning abilities of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-shaped-airplanes-zeppelins/">sharks</a>. 

Previously, it was suggested that sharks could potentially be conditioned to associate sounds with food as sound plays such a critical role for fish in aquatic environments. 

Fish are highly sensitive to sounds like boat engines and other fish nearby which can help protect against predators or reveal where prey is located. 

“Sound is really important for aquatic animals, it travels well under water and fish use it to find food, hiding places and even to communicate,” said Catarina Vila-Pouca, the study’s lead author.

The researchers tested this idea by training the baby sharks to swim to a designated feeding station for a reward when they heard jazz music. 

“Sharks are generally underestimated when it comes to learning abilities – most people see them as mindless, instinctive animals,” said Vila-Pouca. “However, they have really big brains and are obviously much smarter than we give them credit for.”

Even though the sharks picked up on the jazz cue quickly, when the researchers tested to see if the sharks could learn the difference between jazz and classical music, the sharks were not sure where to go for their reward. 

The researchers tried to have the sharks associate different feeding stations with the two different genres, but this proved a difficult task for the young sharks. 

“It was obvious that the sharks knew that they had to do something when the classical music was played, but they couldn't figure out that they had to go to a different location,” said Culum Brown, leader of the Fish Lab. “Perhaps with more training they would have figured it out.” 

The study puts sharks in a different light and the researchers hope that understanding more about how sharks can learn and behave will help with conservation efforts. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sharks are smarter than you think, can associate music with food

Sharks are smarter than you think, can associate music with...

Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, came across a group of birds in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-galapagos-islands-are-struggling-from-the-growth-of-ecotourism/">Galapagos Islands</a> during an 1835 expedition that would help shape his theory of natural selection. 

Darwin noticed that some birds, which he called finches, had different beak shapes compared to mainland finches. The Galapagos Finches’ beak shapes had evolved to complement the food they ate on the island. 

Darwin’s Finches have become a textbook example of evolution and are still one of the most studied groups of birds today. However, it has always been unclear where the birds originated from. 

A new study conducted by researchers from<a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/"> San Diego State University</a> has discovered two equally likely hypotheses for where the subfamily of birds Coerebinae, which includes Darwin's Finches, first came from.

The results were published in the journal The Auk: Ornithological Advances. 

In order to the determine the ancestral biogeography of Coerebinae, the researchers used statistical software to model two different origin hypotheses. 

The models divided the Galapagos, South America, and the Caribbean into subregions based in which areas had the same plants and animals. One model had eight subregions and the second had five. 

This number dictated where the birds originated and the results differed between the two models. 

With eight subregions, the model showed that Darwin's Finches and their relatives originated in the Caribbean. The other model with five subregions showed that the South American mainland was the likely origin of the birds. 

Both the Caribbean and the South American Mainland could potentially be the jumping off point for these birds before they made their way to the Galapagos. 

“The results...were a bit surprising, because they suggested a dispersal pattern that was not necessarily the most 'straightforward' explanation for how these birds arrived in the Galápagos,” said Erik Funk, a co-author of the study. “I think one of the big take-away messages here is the possibility that biogeographic events, like dispersal, may not necessarily happen like logic tells us they should.”

No matter where they first originated from, the researchers say that the reason the birds were able to successfully colonize the Galapagos Islands is that the ancestors of Darwin's Finches were predisposed to wander, thus encountering the Galapagos. 

The finches’ ancestors shared similar genetic variation in bill size and shape, which made it easier to evolve based on the available food in the Galapagos. 

“Darwin's finches are such a highly studied group, and it is often taken for granted they arrived from mainland South America, but hopefully our results show readers that there is no more support for this hypothesis than there is for a Caribbean origin,” said Funk.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit: S. Taylor

Where did Darwin's Finches first originate?

Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, came across a group...

Lemurs can only be found in the forests of Madagascar – a large island off the east coast of Africa. These forests are becoming increasingly fragmented, placing almost all species of lemur at risk of extinction, which is further exacerbated by habitat loss on the island as well. 

Despite this threat, the independent effects of forest loss and forest fragmentation are not well understood. In an effort to determine the relative impact of these threats, researchers from the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a> surveyed lemurs in fragmented dry deciduous forests in Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar.

Researchers Travis Steffens and Shawn Lehman observed six lemur species in 42 forest fragments. Using incidence function models, they examined whether the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smarter-lemurs-friends/">lemurs</a> formed metapopulations – spatially-separated populations within a species – in a fragmented landscape and under different forest fragmentation conditions.

The results of the study, published in the open-access journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>, showed that three of the lemur species did form metapopulations in forest fragments. Both forest fragment size and isolation affected the occurrence of these metapopulations. Although both were factors, it appears that fragment size is actually the most important of the two in determining lemur occurrence, and larger forest patches are associated with increased lemur occurrence.

“Some lemur species are capable of tolerating high levels of habitat loss and fragmentation by forming metapopulations,” says Steffens. “In metapopulations occurrence probability is positively related to habitat area for each species while isolation has species-specific positive, negative and neutral impacts on occurrence probability.”

This research helps scientists determine how lemurs are responding to the increasing forest fragmentation. The study’s authors believe that using the metapopulation approach for studying lemurs could be helpful for future research. Furthermore, maintenance of this habitat area will likely be critical to protecting lemur populations on Madagascar. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Travis S. Steffens

Lemur populations threatened by increasing forest fragmentation

Lemurs can only be found in the forests of Madagascar...

Based on over 30 years of documentation, a team of experts is reporting that wild species which rapidly adapt to human activities are in jeopardy. The researchers found that when human practices suddenly change, dependent species can disappear.

In 1993, the research team theorized that a large population of North American butterfly would become locally extinct after being introduced to a European weed that the species had grown to rely on. Just as the experts predicted, the butterflies vanished when humans no longer made the plant available to them.

The rise of cattle ranching more than 100 years ago set this eco-evolutionary trap into motion, and biologists believe that this process is the underlying cause of many local <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farming-hunting-birds-extinction/">extinctions</a> across Europe.

The current investigation was focused on changes in the diet of Edith's checkerspot, Euphydryas editha, in a spring-fed meadow on a ranch in Nevada. 

The narrow-leaved plantain, which was introduced to the United States in hay brought from Europe, likely arrived in Nevada 100 years ago and has thrived alongside cattle-grazing.


Butterflies discovered right away that their caterpillars survived better on the plantain compared to their traditional host, Collinsia parviflora. By around 2005, the butterflies had become completely dependent upon the plantain.

When the cattle were removed, the plantains became embedded in the grasses that were no longer being grazed and the butterflies soon disappeared.


The Collinsia was unaffected by the removal of the cattle, which means the butterflies could have survived if they had not evolved so rapidly in response to the introduction of the plantain.

Around five years after the extinction, Edith's checkerspots recolonized the meadow and were all found feeding on Collinsia. Scientists believe this colony represents a new population, and that the previous lineage of butterflies no longer exists.

Study lead author Michael C. Singer is a professor at the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a> who has been studying the diet of Edith's checkerspot for more than 50 years.

“This is a clear example of how humans are able to change habitats faster than even rapidly-evolving species can change their behavior. This cannot be not an isolated phenomenon, so unless we become aware of the potential consequences of such actions we will continue to inadvertently cause population extinctions of native species, without recognizing what we are doing. Species-level extinctions are possible when human activities are synchronized across wide areas.”

Study co-author Camille Parmesan is a lead contributor to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>. She explained that the findings of the study have implications beyond the scope of changes to farming practices.

“Climate warming is another form of anthropogenic change that is occurring faster than past natural changes, and is likely to cause problems for species whose evolution is unable to keep pace. If climate change were natural, it is likely that many wild species would be able to adapt, both through current evolution and through flexible changes in behaviour and life history. But human-driven climate change is occurring at a much faster rate than most past major climatic shifts.”

“Ecologists have long been arguing that this is likely to lead to more extinctions than have happened with past climatic changes and this study supports the arguments that rapid climate change will prove detrimental to biodiversity both in the short and long term.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Michael C. Singer/<a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a>

Wild species go extinct after fighting to adapt to human changes

Based on over 30 years of documentation, a team of...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" 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.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" 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> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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