Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws.



Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young.



This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-twist-in-fish-jaw-evolution">Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution</h2>



Roughly 400 million years ago, fish ruled the seas. Two big groups stood out: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coelacanth-ngamugawi-wirngarri-new-species-living-fossil-fish-survived-over-400-million-years/">lobe-finned fishes</a> and ray-finned fishes. 



Lobe-finned fishes had fleshy, muscular fins that helped them move in different ways. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/319-million-year-old-fish-holds-clues-about-brain-evolution/">Ray-finned fishes</a> had lighter, more flexible fins supported by thin spines.



Today, ray-finned fishes dominate the oceans, rivers, and lakes. They include about 33,000 species - from goldfish to tuna. 



Lobe-finned fishes, on the other hand, are nearly extinct. Only eight species are known to exist today, including the coelacanth and the lungfish. But a new study from the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a> flips the story.



The research shows that between 359 and 423 million years ago, lobe-finned fishes were the ones leading the evolutionary race. 



Their jaws were changing fast, adapting in all sorts of new ways. Meanwhile, the ray-finned fishes were evolving far more slowly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-answers-in-ancient-jaw-bones">Finding answers in ancient jaw bones</h2>



The researchers used CT scans to create 3D models of 86 fossilized fish jaws from the Silurian and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/at-least-two-of-earths-mass-extinctions-caused-by-massive-supernova-explosions/">Devonian Periods</a> - dating back to around 443 million years ago. That’s older than the first forests.



The team digitally mapped these jaws to study both their shape and how they worked. To measure the strength of a fish's bite, they calculated something called mechanical advantage.



Emily Troyer is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study. She explained that essentially, the higher the mechanical advantage of the jaw, the stronger the bite force.



The results showed something no one expected. "This is a really striking result, primarily because <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lungfish-genome-discovery-explains-how-fish-first-walked-onto-land/">lungfish</a> and coelacanths today are represented by only eight living species, with not much jaw diversity going on," Troyer said. 



"However, if we look back in time 400 or so million years, we see this striking inversion. During the Devonian, we have a lot more species and a lot more innovation within their jaws." 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1s.webp" alt="Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan" class="wp-image-1984595"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Click image to enlarge. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lungfish-jaws-lead-the-way">Lungfish jaws lead the way</h2>



Lungfish jaws, in particular, went through a major shift during the Devonian Period. Their jaws became larger, thicker, and packed with powerful muscles. This likely helped them crush hard-shelled prey, like early clams and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-crustaceans-have-what-it-takes-to-survive-climate-change/">crustaceans</a>.



"With their really hefty jaws, they were able to eat really hard food," Troyer said. "We think these new feeding strategies might be causing jaws to need to be shaped like this, and that some of these major innovations are associated with their ecosystems during this time."



Rafael Rivero-Vega, co-first author of the study and a recent doctoral graduate, scanned nearly every complete lobe-finned fish jaw fossil available. 



He mapped out their key features to study something called adaptive radiation. That’s when animals quickly evolve into many different forms because their environment pushes them to adapt.



Rivero-Vega saw clear patterns. "Some fishes were diversifying their jaws rapidly in shape and size, only later to stay essentially unchanged once they filled a specialized niche," he said. 



"Others had similar characteristics but a wider variety of shapes and sizes, and yet others had similar form but wouldn't change until after they had already transitioned onto land."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-jaw-innovation-changed-the-future">Fish jaw innovation changed the future</h2>



This research shows that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-can-be-predicted-pangenome-genetic-history/">evolution</a> doesn’t follow a straight line. Just because a group is successful now doesn’t mean it always was. 



Lobe-finned fishes once led the way in jaw innovation, helping set the stage for major changes in vertebrate life - including the eventual rise of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.



"When you're looking at evolution, you can learn so much from looking at the past," Troyer said. "Without the fossil record, we would have no idea of this inverted role reversal."



The study also highlights the importance of old bones. Even though only a few lobe-finned fishes are still around, their ancient fossils tell a story that would otherwise have been be lost.



"It's a great example of how innovations in shape, form, and function can be explored by different fish groups at their own pace, as long as they experience the appropriate evolutionary pressures," said Rivero-Vega. 



"All of this happened hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs. Fishes are awesome."



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225010395" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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How ancient fish jaws built the path to modern land animals

Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws. Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young. This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way. Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution Roughly 400 million...

As the autumn season begins, more and more birds will begin to be making their annual migrations. September is a peak month for bird migrations and billions of birds will soon be flocking to the skies to begin their journey.

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> and <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> developed a new bird migration forecast model that could help with bird conservation and predict major bird migrations as soon as seven days beforehand.

These journeys, although critical for the birds, are not easy. It’s a taxing flight and human activities have only made it worse. City lights <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/light-pollution-luring-birds/">can distract birds</a> or they can end up crashing into tall buildings, cell towers and power lines as urban areas expand, and loss of habitats for the birds means fewer feeding stops along the way.

Sometimes when the birds reach their destination, they are too tired to mate or take longer to restore their energy and mating is put off until later, leaving fewer resources for the young. 

Having a way to predict migrations and identify regions where major populations of birds are expected could help improve conservation efforts and make the journey less perilous. 

To do this, the researchers used bird migration data and weather forecasting radars to help create a system for forecasting bird migrations. 

“Most of our songbirds migrate at night, and they pay close attention to the weather,” said Benjamin Van Doren, the lead author of a study outlining the bird migration forecast model. “Our model converts weather forecasts into bird migration forecasts for the continental United States.”

The study was published in the journal Science. 

The researchers quantified 23 years of spring bird migrations data across the United States using 143 weather radars.

Then, the team trained a machine learning computer model to predict bird migrations around the US based on atmospheric conditions. The model was able to explain eighty percent of variation in bird migration intensity. The researchers were also able to project nightly migratory movements across the country. 

“We used 12 variables to model the distribution of migratory birds across the continent,” said Van Doren. “Temperature was the most important variable. Migration intensity was greatest on warm nights, probably because warm temperatures generally bring favorable winds and the emergence of leaves and insects.

Bird forecasts based on this research have been available to the public for some time and the forecasts, which are found on the website <a href="http://birdcast.info/">birdcast.info</a>, are updated every six months. The forecasts also project bird migration movements up to three days in advance. 

“The capacity to forecast where and when birds are likely to be flying is instrumental for conservation goals,” said  Kyle Horton, a co-author of the study. “Radars have been illuminating the movement of birds for nearly 75 years -- there are still integral discoveries to be made. With migration coming into full swing, we're excited to deliver autumn forecasts for the first time.”
--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bird migration forecasts can help back conservation efforts

As the autumn season begins, more and more birds will...

A recent study published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10071">Animal Cognition</a> has found that toddlers use some of the same gestures as chimpanzees and gorillas to communicate. Of the 52 limb and body movements used by one and two year olds to communicate, many of these movements are also observed in great apes.

“'Wild chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans all use gestures to communicate their day-to-day requests,” says Dr. Catherine Hobaiter of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">St. Andrews University</a>. “But until now there was always one ape missing from the picture – us.”

In a first of its kind study, Hobaiter’s international team of researchers used the same method of recording gestures for both species. They filmed <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-learn-tools/">chimpanzees</a> in the Budongo Forest in Uganda, and recorded 13 young children interacting with their peers, caregivers, and relatives at home, in nurseries, and during shopping trips in Germany and Uganda.

According to Hobaiter, chimpanzees and humans are the only species that have a system of communication where they intentionally send messages to another individual. Analysis of the chimpanzees and children found that, of the 52 distinct gestures used by children, 46 of them are present in the chimpanzees’ communication as well. This included actions such as reaching with an outstretched palm, raising, waving, or shaking the arm, clapping, and shaking or throwing objects.

“‘Of the six remaining, four of the gestures used by children: “Hit self,” “Object on head,” “Rub” and “Tapping self,” are present in the gorilla repertoire and two gestures: “Arm bend” and “Hand wave,” were specific to children,” explains Hobaiter. “Like chimpanzees, children used them both singly, and in sequences, and employed individual gestures flexibly towards different goals. We thought we might find a few of these gestures – reaching out your palm to ask for something or sticking your hand up in the air. But we were amazed to see so many of the “ape” gestures used by the children.”

The researchers found that children used these motions in a similar way to young apes when communicating with parents or peers, and even used combinations to ask for different things. However, there were some distinct differences. For example, children point significantly more than young apes, and it appears that hand waving to say “hello” or “goodbye” is unique to humans.

“Since chimpanzees and humans shared a common ancestor around five to six million years ago, we wanted to know whether our evolutionary history of communication is also reflected in human development,” says first author Dr. Verena Kersken of the <a href="http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Gottingen</a>.

While we humans would go on to develop a complex language, these findings show that we still share an ancient gestural heritage. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Toddlers and chimps share many of the same gestures to communicate

A recent study published in Animal Cognition has found that...

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily helping humans for centuries. Today, donkeys fill many roles for humans from agricultural animals to beloved pets. But now, donkeys are increasingly filling an unexpected role as a medicinal good.

The market for donkey skins is driven by demand for ejiao, a medicine made from donkey skins that is used for a wide variety of purposes, from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/anti-aging-hormone/">anti-aging</a> to increased libido and cancer treatment. Ejiao has been around for 2,500 years, but its popularity has recently grown as a result of marketing campaigns and new uses for the product. 

According to a<a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sites/uk/files/2017-11/under_the_skin_report.pdf"> 2017 report</a> by The Donkey Sanctuary, an estimated 1.8 million donkey skins are traded every year. Like many animal products used for traditional medicine, ejiao is seen as a luxury good.

Sadly, the lives of the donkeys used for their skins is often far from luxurious. Donkeys are either killed in illicit slaughterhouses or taken to legal operations to be slaughtered and skinned.

These donkey slaughterhouses are often marked by poor living conditions including lack of food and water, exposure to infectious diseases and inhumane slaughter techniques. Some donkeys are even skinned while they are still alive, likely enduring extreme pain and distress. After the donkeys are skinned, their carcasses are sometimes simply dumped in a pile or buried outside creating potential public health concerns.

The National Council of SPCAs notes one especially horrific case at a donkey slaughterhouse, “The Bloemfontein SPCA investigated an issue involving 70 sick, weak and emaciated donkeys on a plot outside the city. According to workers, the donkeys had been on the property for two weeks without food or water. Some had aborted and dead foetuses were found on the ground.”

 Now, certain regional donkey populations are dwindling as donkeys cannot keep up with demand. China, who is a large consumer of donkey skin products, experienced a decline in donkey populations from<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-22/ejiao-threatens-donkey-populations/9282138"> 11 million in 1990 to 3 million in 2017</a>. To help with this decline, donkeys are exported to China from developing countries where donkeys are common.

The sudden and overwhelming demand for donkeys adversely affects farmers who depend on donkeys for their livelihood. Since the donkey skin market has exploded, the price for donkeys has increased in countries such as Niger and Kenya.<a href="https://spana.org/"> SPANA</a>, the international working animal charity, states that the price of a donkey in some African countries has inflated up to four times its normal price. If farmers can still afford to buy donkeys, they risk having their donkeys stolen for the donkey skin trade. Almost 1,000 donkeys were stolen in Kenya from December 2016 to April 2017 alone.

Farmers in countries such as Tanzania and Kenya are now receiving help from non-profits groups such as <a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/">The Donkey Sanctuary</a> and <a href="https://www.thebrooke.org/">The Brooke</a> in protecting their donkeys and preventing theft. 

In addition to community level actions, some African and Asian countries are fighting back and banning donkey skin exports from their countries. As illegal donkey slaughterhouses continue to proliferate, country-wide bans of donkey exports should be followed by increased enforcement efforts.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Increased demand for donkey skins has created a horrific market

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily...

The death of the last known <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-hunt-outrage/">grizzly bear</a> in Colorado is only part of a sad history in the western US and across the continent as a whole.  Once grizzly bears ranged across all of western North America. Today, a grizzly bear range map shows a few pitiful remnant populations, mainly near Yellowstone but also in the Cascades of Washington.  Of course there are large and healthy populations of grizzly bears in Alaska and Canada, but as someone once said, ‘saving bears for Alaska is like saving angels for heaven, one may never get there’. Most Americans live in landscapes free from grizzly bears and quite a few live apart from black bears as well.  

In his book, The Animal Dialogues, author Craig Childs tells the story of Colorado’s last brown bear.  Childs tells how a bow hunter claimed that a grizzly sow charged him and he killed her in defense.  Later, Craig Childs visited the Denver Museum of Natural History (now the museum of Nature and Science) and saw the skeletal remains of the bear himself with the word “…Last grizzly bear shot in Colorado”: 

“I looked at these words for a moment, skull in hand.  Then I looked to Elaine. She nodded softly. It was taken in 1979 by a bow-hunting party, by a man who said he was charged… Advanced stages of arthritis had taken her body, so much so that it was painful to see.  Her spine had developed calcium cobs and spurs common to chronic arthritis. Her entire skeleton had begun to reshape. ‘This bear did not charge anyone,’ Elaine said, and her voice sounded delicate, sad. ‘She was slow and old.’ … She had been killed without warning.”

Following a long history of persecution, grizzly bears were eventually afforded some official protection.  In 1975, grizzly bears were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.15/latest-grizzly-hunt">High Country News</a> reports that now grizzlies have been delisted as threatened, opening up the possibility of hunting the brown bears in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.  Of the three states, Montana opted out of allowing grizzly hunting. Idaho will issue one grizzly bear hunting permit this fall and Wyoming is set to issue 22 hunting permits in a lottery system.  The Wyoming hunt is highly contested and has been delayed from opening on the first of this month for fourteen days by a judge. Some of the hunting permits have been awarded to protestors who plan to only photograph the bears.

Delisting grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act is controversial to begin with.  The population of bears remaining in the lower 48 states is a small fraction of the historical population of grizzlies.  <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/grizzly_bear/natural_history.html">The Center for Biological Diversity</a> says that between 1850 and 1970, grizzlies were eradicated from 98% of their original range.  Estimated grizzly population highs of 50,000 are now down to around 1,500 individuals. According to <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.8/as-delisting-looms-grizzly-advocates-prepare-for-a-final-face-off">High Country News</a> only around 700 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the bears now targeted for hunting in Wyoming and Idaho.  The decline of whitebark pine due to non-native fungi and pine beetles also hurts the bears who eat the whitebark pine nuts. Many feel the bear is already embattled enough without being hunted as well.                              

I’m writing this article from a coffee shop in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The Black Hills is known for fights between Plains Amerindians and the federal government as well as gunfighters, gamblers and TV shows like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/">Deadwood</a>.  South Dakota has its own history of bears.  Recently over a beer in a paleontology workshop, a friend told me that black bears have been spotted on camera traps in the Black Hills.  

Seeing a black bear in South Dakota is only news because black bears were eradicated from the state long ago.  One legend says that General Custer, a man known for his genocidal clashes with Native Americans, shot South Dakota’s last black bear himself.  

There are plenty of articles and speculation about the possible return of Black Bears to South Dakota.  <a href="https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/black-bears-in-the-black-hills-could-happen/article_8509ee94-9793-11df-a373-001cc4c002e0.html">The Rapid City Journal</a> reported that repopulation of the state with Black Bears is possible.  Black Bears have been spotted in the Wyoming Black Hills just across the border from South Dakota and bears sometimes move east from Wyoming’s Big Horns.  Bears do move long distances and it is possible that left alone, bears will spread and establish themselves where they once were again. There is still a lot of development and growth of human population in places where bears once lived.  It remains uncertain how much habitat is left for bears to regain. 

The truth is all bears have declined in populations from historic highs.  <a href="https://defenders.org/black-bear/basic-facts">Defenders.org</a> reports that there are around 600,000 black bears in North America, about half of those residing in the United States.  Black Bears live throughout most of their historic range in Canada but have mostly been killed off in Mexico. 

In the US, there are remnant populations of black bears but large areas where they’ve been eradicated.  Mostly, black bears live in the south and the western US but also remain in places like <a href="https://www.adirondack.net/wildlife/black-bears/">Adirondack State Park</a> where approximately 50 to 60% of New York’s black bear population of 6-8,000 live.  Black Bears had a much larger historic range than grizzlies, occupying the whole of North America, while they’re larger cousin only lived in the western portion.  

Humans have long had a mixed relationship with bears.  On the one hand bears are often shown respect, even reverence.  Bears are used for symbols of strength and nobility. At the same time, European humans have shown a reluctance to adapt themselves to a peaceful co-existence with bears, especially the more dangerous brown bears.  Once, the federal government of the US actively worked to eradicate bears throughout the country, especially grizzlies in the west. Aldo Leopold wrote about the historic killing of a grizzly in New Mexico, in his essay Escudilla:

“No one ever saw the old bear, but in the muddy springs about the base of the cliffs you saw his incredible tracks.  Seeing them made the most hard-bitten cowboys aware of bear. Wherever they rode they saw the mountain, and when they saw the mountain they thought of bear. Campfire conversation ran to beef, bailes, and bear.  Bigfoot claimed for his own only a cow a year, and a few square miles of useless rocks, but his personality pervaded the country.” 

In Leopold’s essay, the bear and the mountain are the same, to diminish one is to diminish the other and the death of the bear has tragic but subtle consequences, Leopold tells us how the landscape is diminished:

“Escudilla still hangs on the horizon, but when you see it you no longer think of bear.  It’s only a mountain now.” 

The landscape, west and east, is forever changed by the lingering gap left by once thriving populations of bears, both brown and black.  It’s a tragedy that many people will never sleep in the woods just a little bit uncomfortable over the possibility of bears outside their tents.  

When I worked in fisheries management in Alaska, I spent two months sleeping in a remote cabin on Afognak Island.  Early into my stay there, a supervisor was spending a couple of nights in the cabin. In the middle of a night, my supervisor sat up on her bunk and loudly screamed, “bear!”. It turned out my supervisor was only dreaming of bears, but it illustrates how bears seep into your psyche when they’re around.  In bear country, you walk more carefully; you consider your actions more closely. You act in accordance to the presence of bears. Bears can keep a person humble. 

The loss of bears is a loss of an ancient part of humanity.  Once we lived with caution as we shared a world with lions, bears, wolves, elephants and mammoths.  We act as if we’ve tamed the world but in reality we’ve brutally killed much of it. 

When I worked in Alaska I woke on another night, hearing a small splashing noise from a creek behind the cabin.  I quietly made my way outside and stood on our porch, where I could see the creek. In the creek was a Kodiak brown bear, fishing.  In the long, lingering twilight of Alaskan summer, I watched the bear fishing. Quietly I watched for a long time. I suspect our ancestors not only lived with fear of large, dangerous animals.  I suspect our ancestors were also filled with awe of those large animals. To know what we’re losing when we threaten bears and other similar animals, you have to see them for yourself. You can sense a little bit of the loss without seeing a bear though because they’re part of the rich tapestry of life that humans also sprang from.

Now in places like Wyoming and Idaho, we’re once again faced with the question of how much humans, who are used to taking everything are willing to give up for bears.  For the bears it’s a matter of survival. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

The dramatic loss of bears across the American landscape

The death of the last known grizzly bear in Colorado...

While studying the evolution of staphylococcus bacteria, researchers at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> discovered that cows are a source of resistant bacterial strains that cause infections in humans.

The Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), often referred to as a superbug, is a bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics and can cause serious infections, including life-threatening sepsis, pneumonia, or toxic shock syndrome.

According to Professor Jukka Corander, these bacteria are also known for spreading and have done so in hospitals nearly worldwide. Professor Corander was part of an international research team that mapped the evolution of the staphylococcus over several thousands of years. 

The experts sequenced the entire genomes of superbugs obtained from both animals and humans. This made it possible for the team to analyze any genetic changes that enabled the bacteria to continuously adapt to new host organisms.

The study revealed that humans were likely the original hosts of MRSA bacteria, which developed the ability to colonize domestic animals around the time that the first animals were cultivated as livestock. The researchers also found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-zealand-cull-cows/">cows</a> remain a source of MRSA today, which means that cows could be contributing to infections in humans across the globe. 

“Our observations give emphasis to the importance of detailed epidemiological monitoring, so that strains with the potential to cause epidemics can be discovered as early as possible,” said Professor Corander.


The investigation showed that the bacteria hijacks new genes when it moves to a new host to help it adapt and thrive.
These genes often provide the bacteria with resistance to commonly-used antibiotics, which empowers them to develop into superbugs.

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development, and can affect anyone, of any age, in any country.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cows may be helping to spread antibiotic-resistant superbugs

While studying the evolution of staphylococcus bacteria, researchers at the...

Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica captured and kept animals for more than just food, according to a new study.

Domesticating and herding livestock played an important role in our early ancestors’ transition from hunting and gathering in nomadic groups to forming permanent settlements and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/goat-genome-domestication/">cultivating the land for food and resources. </a>

New research shows that on top of captive animals being used for important resources like food or clothes made from animal skins, some civilizations traded wild animals through a large network to serve a variety of purposes. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a> discovered evidence of wild animals like pumas and jaguars being traded in the Maya city of Copan in Honduras which dates back to 426 to 822 AD. 

The findings were published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202958">PLOS ONE. </a>

Mesoamerican cultures traded wild animals as a symbolic display of power, for rituals, and also to be used for important resources like venison or crafts. 

The capture and trade of wild animals in ancient Mesoamerica dates back to the Teotihuacan culture in what is central Mexico today. 

However, it was not well understood how large a role wild animal trade and management played at the time due to the scarce evidence of domesticated animals in archaeological excavations. 

For this study, the researchers analyzed animal samples that were found in five different ritual sites in Copan. 

Stable isotope analysis performed on the samples showed the diet and geographical region of the animals. The researchers found that many of the samples were likely used in rituals or made into goods and the animals were from far regions of the Copan Valley. 

“Encoded into the bones of jaguars and pumas at the Maya site of Copan was evidence of both captivity and of expansive trade networks trading ritualized carnivores across the dynamic Mesoamerican landscape,” said Nawa Sugiyama, the lead author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: N. Sugiyama

Wild animals were traded for rituals in ancient Mesoamerica

Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica captured and kept animals for more...

Research has shown that climate change is linked to earlier spring arrival, which has a wide array of effects on more than just your spring wardrobe. A recent study, published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>, has found that the early advance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dementia-symptoms-winter-spring/">spring</a> is not generating a uniform response from many migratory bird species. This difference in response threatens to put many species out of sync with their habitats.

Eric Waller of the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">US Geological Survey</a> in California and his colleagues compared published data on the first appearance of leaves and flowers on deciduous trees for nearly 500 US National Wildlife Refuges and four major North American bird migratory routes, between the years 1901 and 2012. Their goal was to better understand how the variance in timing of spring events may impact the behavior of migratory birds.

Results showed that spring is arriving early in 76 percent of wildlife refuges across the country, and is arriving extremely early in 49 percent of refuges, when compared to the early 20th century. Three of the four migration flyways experienced an advance that was more rapid at higher latitudes than lower latitudes – but the Pacific flyway, which includes the west coast of North America ranging from Alaska to Baja, California, had no latitudinal pattern.

The research team also assessed the rate of spring advance for breeding and over-wintering grounds of two species: the Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) and Whooping Crane (Grus americana). They determined that, while the breeding sites have shown significant advances of spring arrival, wintering sites have not.

Why is this important? Well, inconsistencies in the timing of events throughout a birds’ migration route may result in the species struggling to find food, among other seasonal changes. 

“When considering breeding and non-breeding habitats of migratory birds – such as the whooping crane and the blue-winged warbler – continental-scale shifts in the onset of spring have species- and flyway-specific ramifications,” explains Waller. 

This new information may be able to help conservationists plan strategies for vulnerable migratory birds, and better protect their migration routes where they may be at risk.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Spring is arriving earlier but unevenly, disrupting animal rhythms

Research has shown that climate change is linked to earlier...

One of the fastest declining mammal species in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hedgehog-populations-decline-uk/">UK</a> is being reintroduced to a stretch of water in which they have been absent for over three decades. According to the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/">National Trust</a>, around 150 European water voles are being released in Somerset, where they were last spotted in the 1980s.


The rodent was made famous as a character in “The Wind In The Willows” named Ratty. 

As part of a project to restore five rivers across England and Wales, the water voles are being placed in the River Aller in the Holnicote Estate on Exmoor. There is hope that the voles will promote wildlife among the region's waterways. 

In the last few decades, the water vole has declined in great numbers due primarily  to habitat loss. The loss has also been largely due to American mink - predators that were released or escaped from fur farms. 

In Holnicote, the water voles are thought to have vanished because of the mink, which eventually died out after killing off the water voles. The National Trust said that recent surveys of the estate's streams have found no presence of the mink.

The first 150 water voles to be released have been bred from British animals and are being introduced in groups of siblings and breeding pairs at six sites along the river. Another 150 will be released in the spring.

Alex Raeder is a conservation manager at the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/days-out/regionsouthwest/south-west">National Trust South West</a>.

“I remember being enchanted by these creatures as a child, and hugely welcome their return,” said Raeder. “They were once a vital part of the Holnicote ecosystem, and could be again.”

“This ambitious project not only brings back to its rightful home a much-loved small animal, which sadly became extinct due to human activity, but also adds to the whole wealth of wildlife and enjoyment of this wild and stunning estate.”

“In true Wind In The Willows-style, these voles should soon be busy burrowing into the muddy banks and creating more natural-looking edges to streams with shady pools that are great for so many other small creatures.”

Read more about the effort by the National Trust to protect water voles <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/water-voles.">here</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Endangered water voles are making a comeback in the UK

One of the fastest declining mammal species in the UK...

Juvénile de tortue verte, "Chelonia mydas", âgé de quelques mois, en bassin de grandissement. Dans l

The Earth's sixth <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warning-imminent-mass-extinction/">mass extinction</a>, which has been previously referred to as the “biological annihilation” of wildlife, has not only persisted over the last few decades but is also accelerating. According to some estimates, species are becoming extinct hundreds of times faster than they would without the influence of human activities. 

Meanwhile, critics are arguing that conservation scientists have no viable solutions to rescue wildlife and preserve biodiversity. There are some who even claim that researchers are so pessimistic that their warnings have become counterproductive.

Two experts at the <a href="http://www.cnrs.fr/index.html">French National Centre for Scientific Research</a> (CNRS) set out to investigate these claims. The researchers examined 12,971 articles published in the main scientific journals dedicated to conservation during the last 15 years.

The team has now proposed the first extensive, evidence-based assessment of the background and output of conservation science that describes the threats, solutions, and the current status of biodiversity.

The initial finding is that the current threats to biodiversity today were already identified nearly four decades ago. 

These threats, known as the “evil quartet,” include habitat destruction, the overexploitation of resources such as  overhunting and overfishing, the introduction of invasive species; and the co-extinctions that may be triggered by these factors. 

The growing threat of climate change can now be added to these four well-established threats, which puts even more pressure on natural environments.

The study authors ultimately found that conservation science is not generally pessimistic or optimistic, but is simply realistic.


According to the researchers, many sustainable and human-friendly solutions are already available for protecting wildlife. The biggest hurdle is that the demand for governments to allow resource exploitation is greater than the push for nature conservation.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/trends-in-ecology-and-evolution">Trends in Ecology and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Thomas Vignaud/Te Mana O Te Moana/Centre for Island Research and Environmental Observatory (Perpignan)/CNRS Photo Library

Paid for by <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a>

The biggest hurdle in protecting biodiversity? Political action

The Earth's sixth mass extinction, which has been previously referred...

If you were a baby bird, when would you decide to leave the nest and attempt to fend for yourself? It may be tempting to stay in the nest as long as possible, but that actually increases predation risk – not to mention getting the stink eye from mom and dad. In the past, it has been difficult for scientists to determine when and why fledglings leave their nests, but a new study in <a href="http://www.americanornithology.org/content/auk-ornithological-advances">The Auk: Ornithological Advances</a> used miniature video cameras to monitor more than 200 grassland bird nests in Alberta, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota to help determine fledgling behavior.

Christine Ribic of the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a> and her colleagues tested two hypotheses about fledgling decision making. The first was that baby birds might leave the nest early in the day to increase the amount of time they have to find a safe spot to hide from predators before the sun sets. The other was that once their siblings begin to leave the nest, the other birds might want to nest longer in order to take advantage of reduced competition for the food their parents provide. 

The researchers looked through their video data, and found that the larger the number of siblings in the nest, the longer it took for individual birds to fledge. This was consistent with the idea that some baby birds may stay longer to take advantage of increased opportunity for food. The videos showed that 20 percent of nests took over a day to completely finish fledging. 

“It was exciting to see events naturally occurring in an area of avian biology where very little is known, and was only possible due to the use of video surveillance systems,” says Ribic. “It seems fledging is more complex than we previously thought. We were surprised by the span of time over which grassland bird species fledge, with some species starting to fledge in the early morning and others closer to noon, and by the frequency of fledgings that spanned multiple days.”

Overall, fledging behavior varied between species and varied over the course of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/puffins-migrate-struggle-breeding/">breeding</a> season. Why this is remains unknown, but could be the subject of future studies.

“There are relatively few existing ideas for what influences the timing of nest departure by young birds, and Ribic and her colleagues put forth an interesting idea about the potential role of food availability in influencing fledging,” says T.J. Benson of the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a>, an expert on bird nesting behavior who was not involved in the study. “Use of video technology to examine nest predation has become widespread, and this paper provides a great example of the other interesting aspects of breeding biology that can be examined in such studies.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mini cameras give rare glimpse into when baby birds leave the nest

If you were a baby bird, when would you decide...

Bagheera, the clever panther in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, is perhaps the most famous black animal in history. His coat is described as “inky black all over” and “like the pattern of watered silk” for its subtle, shadowy spots, visible only the when the sun strikes him at the right angle. In fact, Bagheera is a black Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca). The word “panther” is actually general, colloquial term also used to describe mountain lions (Puma concolor), a species native to the Americas. In Kipling’s masterpiece, the wily Bagheera instructs the young man cub Mowgli in the ways of the jungle.

Indeed, black, or melanistic, leopards are common in Indian forests.  As most people will know, leopards are typically golden-colored, with black rosettes. Melanistic specimens are black all over, but their spots can usually be seen in bright light. And leopards are far from the only animals to display atypically black coloration. Melanism, the incidence of unusual amounts of melanin resulting in black fur, feathers, or scales, is widespread in the animal kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek melanos, for dark-colored. It is considered a polymorphic characteristic; that is, one that appears in some, but not all members of a species.

Melanism has been a useful focus for genetic studies because of the clear visibility of the trait. Melanistic animals are often striking in contrast to their normally colored brethren and thus easy to pick out. The genes coding for the melanistic phenotype may be recessive or dominant. In comparing them to the genotypes of normally colored animals, melanistic genes have been relatively easy to isolate. 

One of the most well known examples of melanism is that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature17951">found in the peppered moth</a> (Biston betularia) of England. The story of the moth, and the ascendance of the melanistic form, is also a classic parable illustrating evolution in action. Following the Industrial Revolution, peppered moths, which as their name suggests, are typically white and black spotted, began turning black, especially in urban areas. Due to the high use of coal and other <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-york-fossil-fuels/">fossil fuels</a>, thick soot coated many surfaces in cities such as London, including the trunks of the trees on which peppered moths rested during the day. 

Because their coloration had evolved to help them blend in with the natural coloration of the bark, rather than with the coal-blackened surfaces that became prevalent as a result of air pollution, normally colored moths became easy pickings for predatory birds. Melanistic moths, once uncommon for the same reason prior to the Industrial Revolution, soon became the dominant phenotype. Genetic analysis has dated the rise of this color form to 1819, correlated nearly exactly to the start of massive coal smoke emissions. So, a once disadvantageous mutation became the salvation of the species due to a changing environment. 

Other species have utilized melanism in similar ways. This change can occur relatively quickly. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21884054">A 2011 study</a> demonstrated that melanistic pygmy grasshoppers (Tetrix subulata) were more common in areas that had burned the previous year, leaving a dark substrate. This neat little trick has been evocatively dubbed “fire melanism.” 

A similar phenomenon <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/100/9/5268">occurs in rock pocket mice</a> (Chaetodipus intermedius) that inhabit areas of lava flow, which is darker than the typical habitat of the species. In some cases, melanism has resulted in the mistaken classification of specimens as a separate species, as in the <a href="http://boc-online.org/bulletins/downloads/boc1371-vanGrouw.pdf">case of the gray partridge (Perdix perdix)</a>, which is darker colored in areas with dark colored peat substrate. In fact, this was simply an adaptive polymorphism within the species. 

A <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(17)30810-2">2017 Labex Corail &amp; Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie study</a> indicated that turtle-headed seasnakes (Emydocephalus annulatus) in polluted bays of New Caledonia tended to be melanistic. Strikingly, this adaptation does not appear to be a deterrent to predation. Rather, melanistic snakes appear to be able to concentrate pollutants in their skins, allowing them to rid themselves of the poisons the accumulate when they shed. This was confirmed by the higher concentrations of pollutants found in the shed skins of melanistic individuals. 

A <a href="http://www.cebc.cnrs.fr/publipdf/2008/LAR29.pdf">2008 study of sea kraits</a>, another type of marine snake, however, found no apparent adaptive benefit to melanism. Occasional melanism in animals as diverse as <a href="https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v055n03/p0518-p0519.pdf">black-crowned night herons</a> and <a href="https://www.qdma.com/melanistic-whitetails-heres-know/">white-tailed deer</a> also appears to be the result of a genetic fluke rather than any adaptive pressure selecting for the mutation.

Among the most studied melanistic animals are Bagheera’s cohort, the Felidae. Of the 37 species of cats, big and small, 13 are known to exhibit melanism. The melanistic mutation appears to have arisen <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0050386">at least five times</a> in this family. The most well known mutations causing melanism in cats are the loss of function in the ASIP gene, which codes for the agouti pattern, and a gain in function of the MC1R gene, which is involved in the production of melanin.  In most cases, some adaptive purpose has been identified. 

In leopards, <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/books/big-cats/ecology-and-evolution-of-melanism-in-big-cats-case-study-with-black-leopards-and-jaguars">melanism appears in five subspecies</a> and is most common in those of Southeast Asia. This appears to be due to the camouflage properties offered by a darker coat in the dense forests of the region. In fact, <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00731.x">a 2010 study</a> indicated that a large proportion of leopards in peninsular Malaysia are melanistic. Though melanism does occur in leopards from Africa and other regions, it is not as useful in open habitat and is thus less common. For this reason, black Amur leopards, from Russia and China, are <a href="http://zoonooz.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/black-beauty/">not used in zoo breeding programs</a> for reintroduction into the wild. Similarly, melanistic jaguars (Panthera onca) are less common in open terrain than in dense jungle. 

Adaptive effects have been noted in small South American cats such as the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004892">kokod (Leopardus guigna), pampas cat (L. colocolo), and Geoffroy’s cat (L. geoffroyi)</a> as well. Another South American cat, the oncilla (L. tigrinus) was <a href="http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S1519-69842014003000019">shown to differ in habits</a> depending on whether or not it was melanistic. Melanistic specimens preferred to hunt on brightly lit nights, while normally colored specimens preferred darker conditions, presumably because their coats were less visible to potential prey.

Wolves in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article-abstract/35/5/1190/4913657?redirectedFrom=fulltext">North America</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-013-0703-1">Europe</a> have also provided illuminating areas of study in regards to melanism. Melanistic wolves are thought to have resulted from ancestral cross-breeding with domestic dogs. As with cats, melanistic wolves are more common in heavily forested regions.

Much remains to be learned about the functions of melanism and associated mutations. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jeb.12450">One study</a> suggested that melanistic barn owls (Tyto alba) had different sleep cycles and were more vigilant than their normally colored counterparts. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=4u-VroUwC6QC&amp;pg=PA39&amp;dq=melanism+mammals&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwib-sig96DdAhUOSq0KHQnOBaQQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&amp;q=melanism%20mammals&amp;f=false">And it has been proposed</a> that melanism may in some ways be deleterious in that it blocks sunlight from the skin, decreasing vitamin D production. 

One thing is sure: like Bagheera, these shadowy creatures are “no man’s plaything,” persisting in the face of, and perhaps because of, the wild and furious pressures of natural selection.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Inky black all over: The evolutionary implications of melanism

Bagheera, the clever panther in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book,...

An international team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> has explored one of the deepest regions of the ocean, the Atacama Trench, which is off the coast of Peru and Chile. In the pitch black <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-emissions-pacific-ocean-flows/">Pacific</a> waters, the experts captured rare footage of what is thought to be three new species of snailfish. 

“There is something about the snailfish (fish of the family Liparidae) that allows them to adapt to living very deep. Beyond the reach of other fish they are free of competitors and predators,” said Dr. Thomas Linley.

“As the footage clearly shows, there are lots of invertebrate prey down there and the snailfish are the top predator, they seem to be quite active and look very well-fed.”

[caption id="attachment_1646689" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-10-at-8.45.26-PM.png"><img class="wp-image-1646689" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-10-at-8.45.26-PM-1024x606.png" alt="" width="700" height="414" /></a> Image Credit: Newcastle University/SWNS.com[/caption]

“Their gelatinous structure means they are perfectly adapted to living at extreme pressure and in fact the hardest structures in their bodies are the bones in their inner ear which give them balance and their teeth. Without the extreme pressure and cold to support their bodies they are extremely fragile and melt rapidly when brought to the surface.”

The small, translucent fish have been temporarily named “the pink, the blue and the purple Atacama Snailfish.” Video footage shows the fish interacting and feeding around 7,500 meters below the surface of the ocean.

The team managed to catch one of the new snailfish species when it followed its amphipod prey into one of their traps. The single specimen is currently being described by the Newcastle team in collaboration with colleagues from the United States and the Natural History Museum in London.

[caption id="attachment_1646690" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-10-at-8.45.37-PM.png"><img class="wp-image-1646690" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-10-at-8.45.37-PM-1024x626.png" alt="" width="700" height="428" /></a> Image Credit: Newcastle University/SWNS.com[/caption]

For the investigation, the team deployed a baited camera system 8,000 meters down to the seafloor, capturing more than 100 hours of video and 11,468 photographs during 27 deployments. In addition to the snailfish, the team obtained some incredibly rare footage of Munnopsids, long-legged isopods which are about the size of an adult hand.

“We don't know what species of munnopsid these are but it's incredible to have caught them in action in their natural habitat - especially the flip they do as they switch from swimming to walking mode,” said Dr. Linley.

The research will be featured at the <a href="https://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/challenger-2018/">Challenger Conference 2018</a> this week at Newcastle University.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a>/<a href="https://swns.com/">SWNS.com</a>

Three new species discovered in the deepest parts of the Pacific

An international team of scientists led by Newcastle University has...

<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.

<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://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







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.

<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://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[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"

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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

[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

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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...

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