A new global assessment has identified 25 primate species that are now the most endangered on Earth. Many survive as only a few hundred - or even a few dozen - individuals, and without swift intervention several could vanish within the next decade.



The biennial list, “Primates in Peril 2023-2025,” was prepared by the <a href="https://iucn.org/our-union/commissions/group/iucn-ssc-primate-specialist-group" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group</a>, the <a href="https://internationalprimatologicalsociety.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Primatological Society</a> and <a href="https://www.rewild.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Re:wild</a>, working with more than one hundred scientists.



The report replaces 15 names from the previous roster to spotlight equally desperate cases and spreads the alarm of endangered primates across Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and South America.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-on-the-endangered-list">Changes on the endangered list </h2>



The editors emphasize that dropping a species does not mean its outlook improved. Instead, the panel wanted to highlight relatives facing the same grim future.



Indonesia and Madagascar each host four of the newly listed species, while China, Vietnam, and Nigeria follow with three apiece. Habitat loss, hunting, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/primates-face-an-uncertain-future-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a>, and the illegal wildlife trade remain the shared drivers of decline.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-endangered-species-in-peril">The endangered species in peril</h2>



In Sumatra’s upland Batang Toru forest only about 767 Tapanuli <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-unlock-the-mysteries-of-orangutan-communication/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">orangutans</a> endure, making this ape the rarest great ape ever recorded. 



Researchers calculate that the species now occupies barely 2.5 percent of its nineteenth-century range, and even that sliver is being chipped away by mining and a hydro-electric dam.



West Africa’s Cross River <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-gorillas-get-sick-from-being-too-social/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gorilla</a> is in even steeper trouble. Fewer than 250 mature animals survive in eleven hill sites straddling the Nigeria-Cameroon border, where renewed civil unrest adds to logging and farming pressures. 



Conservation plans have created new reserves and cross-border patrols, but the loss of one adult can erase years of local progress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smallest-endangered-primate">Smallest endangered primate </h2>



Madagascar adds the world’s smallest endangered primate to the list. Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur weighs a mere thirty grams yet has lost more than eighty percent of its population in ten years as slash-and-burn agriculture fragments its dry forest home.



“This species has also disappeared from most of the remaining intact forests, which points to frightening consequences for possible conservation measures," said Peter Kappeler, head of the field station in the Forêt de Kirindy. "This could be the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/visually-striking-primate-features-ease-tension-and-reduce-conflict/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">primate</a> we lose forever in the 21st century, as there are no captive populations either."



Even endangered species once thought safe enough to drop from the list can slip back. The limestone-dwelling Cao-vit gibbon of China and Vietnam, revived to public attention this year, actually numbers closer to ninety individuals than the hundred-plus once assumed, because older surveys double-counted groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shared-threats-different-landscapes"><a></a>Shared threats, different landscapes</h2>



Forest conversion for timber, farms, mines, and dams erases habitat on every continent. In Sumatra, satellite data show that lowland forest below 500 meters - prime orangutan territory - shrank sixty percent between 1985 and 2007.



In Madagascar’s Menabe region, forest cover has fallen more than thirty percent since 2012, splitting lemur populations into isolated fragments. For Cross River gorillas, a patchwork of villages, roads, and fields now separates once-connected sub-populations by distances no animal can safely cross.



Hunting and trafficking add a second blow. Although the Tapanuli orangutan lives in steep country, juveniles are still caught for the pet trade, and adults die in crop conflicts or snare traps. In West Africa gorilla poaching had fallen, but political violence since 2016 may be reviving the market for bushmeat.



Climate change lurks behind every local crisis. Longer dry seasons stress fruit-bearing trees, and fiercer storms flatten coastal forests - effects already noted in gibbon and lemur habitats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-urgent-action-is-needed">Urgent action is needed</h2>



“The situation is dramatic. If we don't act now, we will lose some of these species forever," warned Christian Roos, a geneticist at the <a href="https://www.dpz.eu/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">German Primate Center</a>. “But there is hope - if science, politics, and society take action together.”



The report demands rapid expansion of protected areas, but equally stresses enforcement on the ground, where illegal logging and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saving-parrots-in-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-with-dna-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife trade</a> still thrive. It calls on governments to tighten laws, stop land grabs, and involve Indigenous and local communities as full partners.



Funding must move beyond short grants. Long-term patrol salaries, ecological restoration and, where numbers crash, carefully managed translocations or ex-situ colonies are all needed.



“Every primate species that we lose not only means an irreparable loss for nature, but also for us humans,” Roos said. “Because primates are not only fascinating animals - they are also key species of our ecosystems.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hope-for-endangered-species">Hope for endangered species</h2>



Conservation can still tip the balance. Cooperative work by China and Vietnam secured two reserves for the Cao-vit gibbon and involved villagers in patrol jobs; the tiny population is now stable and even forming new groups.



In Nigeria camera-trap images of Cross River gorilla infants prove that, when forests are left standing and snares removed, the apes will breed again.



Success stories share three traits: local stewardship, legal implication, and money that lasts long enough to rebuild forests. The new list shows exactly where those ingredients must be applied first. 



It is not a roll-call of hopeless cases. It is an emergency action plan, and the next edition will reveal whether the global community has chosen rescue over remembrance.



The report can be found <a href="http://www.primate-sg.org/storage/pdf/Top_25_Primates_2023-2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.



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Most endangered primate species identified in new report

A new global assessment has identified 25 primate species that are now the most endangered on Earth. Many survive as only a few hundred - or even a few dozen - individuals, and without swift intervention several could vanish within the next decade. The biennial list, “Primates in Peril 2023-2025,” was prepared by the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, the International Primatological Society and Re:wild, working with more than one hundred scientists. The report replaces 15 names from the previous roster to spotlight equally desperate cases and...

It turns out that there are far more mammal species on Earth than was previously thought. A new report has found that in the last 12 years, over 1,000 new species of mammals have been discovered.

The study, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, reports that new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-mammals-climate-change/">mammal species</a> are being discovered at a rate of approximately 25 per year.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a>, <a href="https://www.boisestate.edu/">Boise State University</a>, and the <a href="http://www.unm.edu/">University of New Mexico </a>conducted the research to update the count of mammal species worldwide and provide an accurate, easily accessible database of that information. 

Other current records and lists, such as the <a href="https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/">Mammal Species of the World’s</a> (MSW), don’t always keep up with the most current number of new species discovered, as the most recent edition of the MSW was published in 2005. 

The number of new mammalian species included in the updated list mirrors the increased number of amphibious species discovered. 

Now, thanks to the researcher’s efforts, a publicly accessible website, the <a href="https://mammaldiversity.org/">Mammal Diversity Database</a>, will aid taxonomy research and make it easier to include new species discovered. 

For the study, the research team examined over 1,200 taxonomic publications appearing after the 2003 cut off date for the Mammal Species of the World. 

The researchers added over 1000 new species to the website that were described and studied in the past 12 years. 

The number of species had increased from 4,631 species in 1993 to 6,495 species in 2018, at a rate of almost 25 species per year. Ninety-six of these species have gone extinct within the last 500 years, and the number of new discoveries includes 14 new families of mammals. 

The study shows how unreliable records and taxonomic lists have been, and points out that out-of-date information can be detrimental to conservation efforts trying to accurately measure biodiversity in a specific area. 

“Mammals have lagged behind other groups in their taxonomic record-keeping,” said Nathan Upham, the study's senior author. “Which is surprising given their relevance as models for disease and human origins. It's convenient to ignore taxonomy, so many people do--but it's the essential language for how researchers communicate through time to study biological diversity.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Over 1,000 new mammal species discovered in the last dozen years

It turns out that there are far more mammal species...

A scientist in Myanmar discovered one of the most complete bird fossils ever found trapped in amber and being sold for jewelry. 

Lida Xin, the scientist who made the find, was able to acquire the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preparing-fossils/">fossil</a>, even though sometimes amber deposits containing precious fossils are sold for more than labs, museums, and scientists can afford. 

The fossil is remarkable as it allowed scientists to examine the bird’s skeletal system, skull, and soft tissue, shedding light on the bird’s biology and inner workings.

“This Myanmar fossil deposit is clearly game-changing. It's arguably the more important breakthrough for understanding bird evolution right now,” said Julia Clarke, a bird evolution expert told <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/dinosaurs-birds-trapped-amber-fossils-paleontology-science/">National Geographic</a>.

Xing and a team of co-researchers published their research in Science Bulletin. 

Measuring only 2.4 inches long and likely only a little older than a hatchling, the bird is thought to be an enantiornithine, a species of bird now long extinct. 

The fossil came from Myanmar’s Hukawng Valley, an area that is famous for its amber deposits. 

The bird was born 99 million years ago and comes from the Cretaceous period, which ended with the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. 

The research team believes that the bird fell in tree resin, and then later, bird’s bones were crushed. The researchers were able to polish the amber until parts of the chest cavity and skull were exposed. 

“A subsequent resin flow sealed the remains to protect them from further weathering or dissolution, but the amber was later squished, shattering many of the bones,” Ryan McKellar, co-author of the study, told National Geographic. “All of this is now trapped in a wafer of amber about as large as a belt buckle.”

The find is an important addition to the rare collection of bird fossils in amber deposits and sheds light on the inner workings of certain ancient Cretaceous birds. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: Xing Lida, China University of Geosciences

Source: <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/dinosaurs-birds-trapped-amber-fossils-paleontology-science/">National Geographic</a>

Most complete dinosaur-era bird fossil found in amber

A scientist in Myanmar discovered one of the most complete...

Humans, at least in western culture, are extremely quick as a whole to draw black and white, irrevocable lines between themselves and other animals.  “Humans use tools," they say, ignoring primates, birds and even polar bears who’ve done the same.  One such thing a person might intone to imply human superiority is human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/benefits-urban-agriculture/">agriculture</a>.  Humans are not alone in being agriculturalists though.  In fact an order of animal which participates in agriculture is all around us, in our gardens, on our sidewalks, perhaps even in your kitchen.  Ants do in fact herd and ‘milk’ other insects.  Ants do in fact grow crops.

I’ve watched a line of ants carrying small pieces of cut leaves through the forest in Ecuador.  Near Mindo, I watched ants using a barbed wire fence as part of their route through the dense vegetation of cloud forest.  The ants marched along the perfectly straight wire of the fence.  In other places, an entire caste of ants is dedicated to cleaning and maintaining what can only be described as trail systems.  

Tiny but clear as day, trails lead from the ant colony through the forest to trees where leaves are clipped.  One of the more amazing parts of the system is that the ants don’t actually eat the leaves themselves.  Instead, the leaves are used as a mulch to grow a fungi which the ants farm and then eat.  Some leaves in tropical forests have fungicides built into them, ants must be careful.  Ants can often detect the fungicides in leaves and then ignore them but just to be careful, new plants are used in small test batches before being introduced to the whole fungi farm.  

Another type of ant builds small “barns” around weevils that suck sap from plants.  The weevils produce a sugar water type of waste called ‘honey dew’ that ants love.  The ants protect the weevils from predation with their barns and also attack anything that threatens them.  In turn, the ants collect the honey dew and bring it back to their colonies.  Often the ants are in a mutualistic relationship with the plant the weevil is feeding on.  The plant provides ‘extra floral nectaries’ that is organs that produce nectar.  The nectaries are designed to attract ant colonies, which generally help prevent animals from eating the plant.  Ants can be bribed by weevils and others.  Caterpillars feeding on plants sometimes have specialized ‘ant organs’ that secrete a sugar water substance.  Ants encountering the sugar water of caterpillars know a good thing when they see it.  Usually an ant will kill any insect feeding on a host plant but the sugar ‘bribes them’.  

Beyond simply being allowed to live, caterpillars have vibrating organs to call ants to their rescue.  Not so much a noise, as a vibration sent through the substrate of the plant, ants come running to the caterpillar at the alarm.  Ants will attack things like parasitic wasps determined to lay eggs in the caterpillar’s body all for the sweet sugary secretion.

Beyond ants, it’s not hard to see honey bees as being close to agriculture themselves.  Bees don’t plant flowers it’s true but their gathering of nectar and pollen in a systematic way for the survival of a whole colony is far from simple grazing either.  

Humans should keep in mind that ants growing fungi have been around much longer than human farmers and in some cases inspired them.  In Nicaragua there’s a Baile del Zompopo, or leaf cutter ant dance.  The dance is a slightly Christianized celebration of Xolotl, an indigenous harvest god.  Dances celebrate their crops being saved from red ants by Xolotl, and march like leaf cutter ants, waving branches above their heads.  It seems even the ants must have worshipped the god of agriculture, whatever you consider that to be.                

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

It’s not just humans: Animals practice agriculture, too

Humans, at least in western culture, are extremely quick as...

Ecosystems and the species within them rely heavily on the timing of the changing of the seasons, making the predictability of temperature and weather patterns extremely important for the survival of many species.

Unfortunately, a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a> has found evidence that animal species are changing the timing of their seasonal activities – known as phenology – at different rates in response to shifting seasonal temperatures and precipitation patterns.

These effects on the daily functioning of ecosystems can also have significant impacts on human food supplies and the spread of diseases. 

“We rely on honeybees to pollinate seasonal crops and migratory birds to return in the spring to eat insects that are crop pests and vectors of human diseases,” explains lead author Jeremy Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="http://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida</a> Department of Integrative Biology. “If the timing of these and other seasonal events are off, ecosystems can malfunction with potentially adverse effects on humans.”

After the researchers reviewed thousands of records of phenological shifts, dating back to the 1950s, they discovered some interesting patterns. The results showed that cold-blooded species and species with smaller body sizes are breeding or aggregating earlier than warm-blooded or large-bodied species in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earlier-spring-carbon-emissions/">spring</a>. 

“Our research elucidates the drivers of phenological responses and the traits of organisms that influence their ability to track changing climates,” says co-author Jason Rohr, PhD, a professor at the <a href="http://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida</a>. “We expect these findings to improve our ability to forecast the locations, systems and species that might be at the greatest risk from climate change and ideally mitigate any adverse effects that these changes might have on the services that ecosystems provide to humans.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Jeremy Cohen, PhD, <a href="http://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida</a>

Shifting seasons and changing weather are altering ecosystems

Ecosystems and the species within them rely heavily on the...

Fire ants, one of the world’s most invasive species, are more than just a nuisance. Native to South America, the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has spread all over the world and can be found in Australia, China, and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-megadroughts/">United States</a>. 

Their venom produces painful stings, and they can disrupt agricultural operations, damage equipment and crops

According to the <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/the-threat/imported-fire-ant/imported-fire-ant">United States Department of Agriculture</a>, imported fire ants can sting a person or animal repeatedly, and they are quick to respond to perceived threats. 

But the species is also one of the most difficult to control, and removing infestations can be costly and often ineffective. 

Researchers have tried to pinpoint why common methods of pest control aren’t as effective on the fire ant, but now a new study may have finally found a solution.

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/">Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University</a> in China and published in the journal eNeuro. 

The results show that certain natural, plant-derived compounds repel fire ants by activating an ion channel in the antennae and leg of fire ants. 

The researchers examined the antennae, legs, and transient receptor potential (TRP) channel of fire ants and found that the channel works as a sensor, detecting threats or harmful conditions in the ant's environment. 

This channel is also found in the honey bee, but the honey bee’s TRP is much more sensitive and is activated by 24 natural compounds, compared to the eight compounds that repel fire ants. 

The researchers suggest that this difference in sensitivity means that fire ants, although derived from a common ancestor with the honey bee, evolved a decreased sensitivity to certain compounds. 

The results could help control invasive fire ant colonies and effectively keep them away from residential and agricultural areas.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New methods to control invasive fire ants

Fire ants, one of the world’s most invasive species, are...

A new study from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> has revealed that 16 percent of all species on the planet have the potential to be alien species. The experts are reporting that the further invasion of non-indigenous species will have unpredictable impacts.

The researchers found that there is a steadily rising number of newly emerging <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/non-native-frogs-hawaii/">alien species</a>. These species can significantly modify ecosystems and can be detrimental to biosecurity interventions.

Strategies to control the spread of alien species primarily depend on information about where the species have invaded before, which means that newly emerging species can easily go undetected.

In order to investigate the advancement of alien species worldwide, the research team focused its study on a global database of 45,984 records of thousands of alien species from 1500 to 2005. 

The scientists discovered that, between 2000 and 2005, a quarter of the species in the database were seen for the first time as alien. 

“While most new records do relate to the spread of species we already knew were aliens, the fact that one in four relates to a completely new alien species is both surprising and troubling,” said study co-author Tim Blackburn.

The team established that the proportion of non-native plant, mammal, and fish species has remained constant over the past 150 years, but the overall number of alien species has risen.

"Humans have been moving species to new places for thousands of years, so we might have expected that most species that have the potential to become aliens would already have done so,”said Blackburn. “Instead, it seems the pool of new aliens is far from dry.”

The most notable increase in non-native species was found in insects and other invertebrates, while birds showed the lowest proportions of emerging alien species.

“These findings will be extremely helpful for horizon scanning studies that aim to identify ‘door knocker’ species, which are those not yet recorded but are suspected of presenting a high risk of arrival and detrimental impacts,” said Blackburn.

The study is published in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Alien species invading new areas with an unpredictable impact

A new study from University College London has revealed that...

The remains of a previously unknown arachnid have been discovered in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ticks-trapped-amber/">amber</a> from Myanmar. The specimen, which resembles a spider with a tail, dates back 100 million years to the mid-Cretaceous age.

Paul Selden of the Paleontological Institute and Department of Geology at the <a href="https://www.ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a> was part of the international research team that described the insect.

“There's been a lot of amber being produced from northern Myanmar and its interest stepped up about ten years ago when it was discovered this amber was mid-Cretaceous; therefore, all the insects found in it were much older than first thought,” said Selden. 

“It's been coming into China where dealers have been selling to research institutions. These specimens became available last year to Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology.”
The new animal has many features that belong to spiders including fangs, male pedipalps, four walking legs, and silk-producing spinnerets. Unlike a spider, however, it has a long flagellum or tail.

Four tiny new specimens have been found, measuring only about 2.5 millimeters in length aside from a nearly 3-millimeter-long tail.

“Any sort of flagelliform appendage tends to be like an antenna,” said Selden. “It's for sensing the environment. Animals that have a long whippy tail tend to have it for sensory purposes.”

The species was named Chimerarachne after the Greek mythological Chimera, a hybrid creature composed of the parts of more than one animal. At this point, not much is known about the creature’s behavior.

“We can only speculate that, because it was trapped in amber, we assume it was living on or around tree trunks,” said Selden. “Amber is fossilized resin, so for a spider to have become trapped, it may well have lived under bark or in the moss at the foot of a tree.”

Selden explained that, despite the fact the tailed spider had spinnerets, it is unlikely that it spun webs.

“We don't know if it wove webs,” said Selden.. “Spinnerets are used to produce silk but for a whole host of reasons -- to wrap eggs, to make burrows, to make sleeping hammocks or just to leave behind trails. If they live in burrows and leave, they leave a trail so they can find their way back. These all evolved before spiders made it up into the air and made insect traps. Spiders went up into the air when the insects went up into the air. I presume that it didn't make webs that stretched across bushes. However, like all spiders it would have been a carnivore and would have eaten insects, I imagine."

The study is published in <a href="https://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

Image Credit: University of Kansas | KU News Service

Strange spider with a tail found in 100 million-year-old amber

The remains of a previously unknown arachnid have been discovered...

Do woodpeckers ever sustain brain damage from drilling against such hard surfaces? 

This was the question asked by researchers from the <a href="https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/">Boston University School of Medicine</a>, who set out to examine the possibility of trauma in woodpecker brains.

Woodpeckers do not peck lightly, and each peck is equivalent to the force of 1,200 to 1,400 gs. A person could get a concussion from just 60 to 100 gs of force to the head. 

Not surprisingly, the immense capabilities of woodpeckers to withstand such force has led to manufacturers and designers modeling helmets and safety gear after the woodpecker’s skull. 

“There have been all kinds of safety and technological advances in sports equipment based on the anatomic adaptations and biophysics of the woodpecker assuming they don't get brain injury from pecking,” said Peter Cummings, co-author of the new study. “The weird thing is, nobody's ever looked at a woodpecker brain to see if there is any damage.”

In the study, published in the journal PlOS ONE, researchers examined woodpecker brains in order to fully determine whether or not they suffered brain damage from their pecking. 

The results showed that woodpeckers have an accumulation of protein that in humans indicates brain damage, but the researchers say this doesn’t conclusively prove one way or another if pecking causes damage. 

For the study, the research team analyzed bird brains from bird specimens in the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum </a>and the<a href="https://hmnh.harvard.edu/"> Harvard Museum of Natural History</a>, looking specifically for a buildup of tau proteins. 

Both woodpecker and red-winged blackbird brains were removed from the preserved birds themselves, and the researchers cut the brains into incredibly thin pieces and stained the samples silver in order to show the tau proteins. 

Tau proteins are an important part of the brain’s functioning as it can protect and stabilize brain cells, but an accumulation of the proteins after an injury can disrupt neural communication and cause problems in cognitive functioning. 

The woodpecker brain samples had far more tau proteins than the blackbirds which were used as a control group for the study.  The findings, however, don’t necessarily prove that woodpeckers get brain damage. 

“We can't say that these woodpeckers definitely sustained brain injuries, but there is extra tau present in the woodpecker brains, which previous research has discovered is indicative of brain injury," said George Farah, the lead author. 

The study highlights the possibility that the tau buildup is a protective measure on the part of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/animals/magellanic-woodpecker-campephilus-magellanicus/">woodpeckers</a> and keeps the brain from being harmed. 

The results are interesting as it raises more questions about the inner workings of woodpecker brains and could further help improve helmet design and sporting equipment. Cummings also notes that the results could help with researching new treatments for neurodegenerative disease.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Do woodpeckers get brain damage?

Do woodpeckers ever sustain brain damage from drilling against such...

The living world is one of movement; movement vast and tiny.  Reindeer or Caribou make enormous migrations across a vast and to many terrifying landscape.  Migrations like this don’t exclude humans either.  The Sami people of Scandinavia actually herd Reindeer in a sort of recreated natural migration.  

One can easily think of traditional cattle herding in the US (and elsewhere) in the same way.  Cattle moved from a summer grazing area to a wintering area are essentially migrating in a similar way to wild animals.  There is even a word for nomadic pastoralism with migrations involved: Transhumance.  I’ve personally seen cows being moved on foot along roads in Madagascar where the cattle men sleep by campfires at night.  Seen from the windows of a public transportation van, fires of the herdsmen give the night an otherworldly flavor.  

The difference between herdsmen and people who merely follow game can be a bit blurry as with the reindeer, which are essentially a wild animal being herded.  North American plains natives have long followed the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bison-american-survival-story/">Bison</a> for their livelihood, making the animal a deep part of their cultural identity.  There is a darker side to human interference in migrations.  As Joy Williams recounts in the essay wildebeest in her book, Ill Nature:

“In Botswana in the 1970’s they died by the tens of thousands during the drought, and their populations have never recovered.  It was not that there was no water.  It’s that the wildebeest and many other wild animals were prevented from reaching it by a fence…A hundred thousand wildebeest which had been spread out across a vast wilderness were forced by the fence to take the same migratory route to water that they would never reach…Their heads hanging, they tottered and fell, their eyes plucked out by vultures while they still lived, their ears and testicles chewed off by scavengers while their legs still moved, as though they were moving still toward the water.”

If the bison weren’t already mostly eradicated in North America, one might easily wonder if today they’d face the same fate due to cattle fencing. 

There are migrations everywhere though.  The documentary film Elk River shows the impressive annual journey of elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.  The mammals travel over 10,000 foot mountain passes and swim through chilly rivers.  For something even closer to home for most people, find a duck pond or a corn field and watch for Canada Geese or Mallard Ducks.  Canada Goose migrations can be as long as 2-3,000 miles.  However the availability of waste grain and grass in the forms of lawns and golf courses have caused more geese to stay in one area year round than was previously possible.  Satellite tracked mallard ducks travelled on average as individuals almost 875 miles during fall migration according to Ducks Unlimited.  

A great migration that holds a special place in my heart is that of the Sandhill Crane.  While my partner Erin and I were living in South Dakota, we figured we were as close as we were ever likely to be to the famed Sand Hills of Nebraska.  The Sand Hills are a prairie habitat of rolling, sandy hills covered in dense grass.  The area is overtaken by farming and in some places the landscape is forbiddingly empty dominated by cut fields when we visited in the fall.  The Platte River dominates the area and is beautiful near Kearney Nebraska.  If you get up early in the morning in March to brave the crisp air or wait for sunset near the river, you won’t be disappointed.  Standing on a bridge over the river, it seems like a never ending procession of cranes is flying overhead.  We didn’t get close but the v’s of red headed birds poured over us in wave after wave.  The air was filled with the trill, unmistakable and indescribable call of the Sandhill Crane.  

Nebraska is not the end or beginning of the Sandhill Crane, just a convenient and popular stop over.  The birds are flying from wintering grounds in Arizona and New Mexico to breeding grounds in the Arctic.  In the past native grasses and abundant aquatic wildlife of the river valley provided food for hungry cranes flying enormous distances.  Now the cranes largely subsist on leftover grains from agriculture, mainly corn.  It saddens me to think of these birds being now so dependent on what we as humans consider our garbage or our excess.  In my mind though, I’m standing in the hush chill of Nebraska, I close my eyes and listen carefully to the first early morning trilling in the darkness  and I know all the wildness of the crane isn’t yet gone.  Some creatures still move by the ancient patterns of season and wind and wildness.                           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The magic of great migrations

The living world is one of movement; movement vast and...

A large chunk of rock discovered in a <a href="http://nasa.gov">NASA</a> parking lot has preserved the ancient footprints of at least 70 different mammals and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-dinosaurs/">dinosaurs</a> from over 100 million years ago. The scientists are reporting that the massive piece of sandstone, which measures 8.5 feet in length, is the largest known slab containing animal tracks anywhere in the world.

In 2012, paleontologist Ray Stanford was dropping his wife off for work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, when he spotted the rock. 

Stanford had found a loose rock with the footprint of a small theropod at this same site a few years earlier. The brownish stone was made of iron-rich sedimentary material that Stanford recognized when he saw it again.

Experts found approximately 100 prints on the rock, including those from early squirrel-like mammals, an armored nodosaur and her baby, and theropod dinosaurs.

Study co-author Martin Lockley is a Geology professor at the <a href="http://www.ucdenver.edu/">University of Colorado Denver</a>.

“I know of four or five sites in the whole age of dinosaurs that have mammal tracks and some of them only have one or two,” said Lockley. “Here, we've got approximately 100 footprints on it. It's amazing.”

The scientists were able to determine that the animals passed over this particular area in a relatively short period of hours or days due to the fact that none of the tracks overlapped. 

“It’s unusual to have such a large concentration of different kinds of tracks and small tracks in such a small space,” said Lockley.

While the patterns of the prints suggest the dinosaurs may have been hunting for food, this cannot be confirmed.

The scientists were most interested in the distinctive footprints of early mammals, which are a rare find. Lockley said this was one of only two sites where dozens of mammal footprints from this era had been found.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Rebecca Roth/NASA/GSFC

Parking lot stone preserved 100 million year old animal tracks

A large chunk of rock discovered in a NASA parking...

If you have ever been bitten by a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/puppies-talk-older-dog/">dog</a>, it may have had something to do with your personality type, according to a new study.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-and-global-health/">Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool </a>assessed the number of dog bites that occurred in a town in northern England in order to accurately determine the frequency of dog bites and how often they required treatment. 

The results also showed that certain personality types were more at risk of being bitten than others, as anxious people showed a higher percentage of dog bites. 

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 

In the United Kingdom there are 8.5 million dogs, and over 6,500 people require hospital treatment for dog injuries annually. 

The research team wanted to isolate dog bites from other dog-related injuries that are reported by hospital record statistics, and found that the number of dog bites may be much higher than people realize. 

According to the research, 694 people across 385 households were asked about any dog bite instances, if treatment was needed, if they owned a dog themselves, and if they knew the dog that bit them. 

The study participants were also given the<a href="https://gosling.psy.utexas.edu/scales-weve-developed/ten-item-personality-measure-tipi/"> Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) </a>which measures emotional stability and personality type. The researchers wanted to see if there was a correlation between dog bites and certain personality traits. 

The TIPI scores did show a link between anxious personality traits and an increased risk of a dog bite.

Every point increase in the TIPI scores which showed higher emotional stability was associated with a 23 percent decreased risk of being bitten. 

The results also showed men were twice as likely to have been bitten as women, and 1 in 4 of the study participants reported being bitten at one time or another. 

Owning a dog drastically increased the likelihood of having been bitten, but a little over half of the study participants reported that they had been bitten by a dog they didn’t know. 

The researchers then used these results to create a likely national average of dog bites per 100,000 people in the UK. Current hospital records say that dog bites occur in 740 per 100,000 people, but the results of the new study put those numbers at 1,873. 

There are limitations to the study and researchers say that the results may not apply to rest of the world, and important factors like breed and age of the dog in question were not considered. 

The results still suggest that dog bite statistics may need to recalculated and more research should be done looking at dog bite prevention methods based on risk factors and personality type. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Anxious people are more likely to get bitten by a dog, study says

If you have ever been bitten by a dog, it...

As the Atlantic Forest shrinks, scientists are concerned that species are vanishing faster than they can be studied. The Atlantic Forest once covered roughly 463,000 square miles of habitat, but only around 12 percent of the original habitat remains today.

The Atlantic Forest is the second most biodiverse forest system in South America, spanning the Atlantic coast of Brazil into eastern Paraguay and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whatsapp-heart-attack-treatment/">Argentina</a>. Deforestation in this region is a major threat to native species of plants and animals, and habitat loss is the main driver of extinction among mammals.

A group of nearly 100 scientists teamed up to bring awareness to the issue of habitat loss in the Atlantic Forest by reporting on the condition of mammals native to the region. The experts compiled trait information such as body mass on 39,850 individuals from 279 different mammal species.

Study co-author Noe de la Sancha is a research associate at the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> in Chicago.

“This is the first comprehensive dataset of this forest system's mammalian trait data,” said de la Sancha. “We wanted to create a resource so that scientists wouldn't have to dig through every natural history museum in the country to find these data. It's a stepping stone for future research, putting that out for everybody to use - it's a really big change in science.”


Lead author Fernando Goncalves agreed that this paper creates more opportunities for future zoological and ecological research.

“Ninety-six authors accepted the challenge to go back to their field notes and send as much information on mammal morphological traits as they could,” said Goncalves. “And thanks to them, we'll be able to provide raw data for ecological and evolutionary studies for researchers all over the world.”

The scientists hope their work can draw attention to the Atlantic Forest as a region to protect, so that they can conduct further research to learn more about the impacts on mammal species from climate change and human activities.


“There's still a great deal we don't know about our biodiversity - and as a consequence, we don't know what we're losing,” said de la Sancha. 


“Hopefully if these types of papers start getting attention, people will start to value what they have in their backyards. This paper highlights the importance of this forest system, and that could potentially get locals pumped about conserving it.”

The paper is published in the journal <a href="http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1939-9170/">Ecology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image (c) Noé de la Sancha, The Field Museum.

Protecting animals in the Atlantic Forest amidst deforestation

As the Atlantic Forest shrinks, scientists are concerned that species...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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