For the first time, scientists have shown that global warming has overtaken every other human-caused pressure on wildlife protected by the Endangered Species Act. 



Drawing on a new analysis of 2,766 at-risk plants and animals across the United States and its territories, researchers report that 91 percent of federally listed species are now harmed by symptoms of climate change including rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and other climate-linked disruptions.



“With the addition of comprehensive climate sensitivity data, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss-are-one-indivisible-global-health-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a> is just as prevalent a stressor to ESA-listed species as land and sea use change; this trend likely applies more broadly as well,” the authors wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-threats-to-endangered-species">Climate threats to endangered species</h2>



The study, led by <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Defenders of Wildlife</a> scientist Talia E. Niederman, set out to determine how the five dominant drivers of biodiversity loss - climate change, land and sea use change, pollution, invasive species and overexploitation - interact across taxonomic groups.



Previous national syntheses relied heavily on the threats listed in original ESA documents or in the global <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN Red List</a>, both of which can lag behind current knowledge. To correct that shortfall, the team merged those data with a suite of recent climate-sensitivity assessments that evaluate species’ exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to warming.



Incorporating this third layer revealed thousands of cases in which climate stress had gone unreported, vaulting global warming to the top of the threat ledger. 



The researchers caution that historical listing decisions and many IUCN accounts vastly underrepresent the number of species affected by climate change and urge agencies to explicitly include climate sensitivity in ESA listing decisions and management plans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cascading-risks-for-endangered-species">Cascading risks for endangered species</h2>



Although climate change now dominates, it is rarely acting alone. Over 86 percent of the species in the data set face two or more of the five drivers at once, creating dangerous feedbacks that can accelerate decline.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/without-tackling-climate-change-coral-restoration-efforts-are-insufficient/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Corals</a> and other cnidarians are hit by an average of almost five threats each, while bivalves and amphibians typically contend with more than three. Habitat conversion remains the number-one menace to freshwater organisms, whereas marine species suffer most from overexploitation.



Overall, land and sea use change still endangers 82 percent of U.S. imperiled species, and invasive species trouble more than half. Pollution and direct exploitation each jeopardize roughly a third, but their true influence may be larger because both pressures are chronically under-documented.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-numbers-stack-up"><a></a>How the numbers stack up</h2>



Among terrestrial vertebrates, 75 percent of birds, 92 percent of mammals and 83 percent of reptiles are already affected by a warmer, less predictable climate. Freshwater groups are equally vulnerable: 88 percent of assessed fish and 75 percent of amphibians show high sensitivity to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-will-cut-world-gdp-by-a-staggering-40-percent-if-nothing-changes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">temperature</a> or hydrological shifts.



Even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-how-climate-change-will-alter-plant-growth-cycles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant</a> taxa, sometimes assumed to be more buffered, reveal striking exposure, with nearly 78 percent of flowering plants and over 90 percent of conifers triggered under at least one climate-sensitivity metric.



By contrast, initial ESA listings cited climate threats for fewer than half of these groups, and the IUCN captured only about a quarter, largely because many U.S. species have never been reassessed under the Red List’s newer climate criteria.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-urgent-need-for-updated-assessments"><a></a>Urgent need for updated assessments</h2>



The authors highlight glaring information gaps: echinoderms, corals, and mollusks suffer from outdated or missing IUCN evaluations, while federal five-year reviews - required under the ESA - often arrive late or omit emerging climate data.



Without current assessments, managers can underestimate extinction risk and fail to deploy adaptive conservation tools such as assisted migration, habitat corridors or proactive fire management. 



Expanding rapid, standardized climate-vulnerability screenings, they argue, would give agencies a clearer map of where limited resources can do the most good.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-policy-pathways-to-prevention"><a></a>Policy pathways to prevention</h2>



Even under today’s daunting statistics, the team stresses that decisive action can still prevent losses. They recommend targeting the full suite of human pressures at once - curbing greenhouse-gas emissions while also restoring degraded habitats, controlling <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/growing-threat-of-invasive-species-requires-immediate-action/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">invasive species</a>, reducing pollution and enforcing sustainable harvests.



Doing so, they contend, will yield co-benefits for people, from safeguarding fisheries and water supplies to buffering communities from extreme weather. 



"We need no further research to know that biodiversity is facing multiple persistent threats. Addressing the five drivers of biodiversity loss promptly across all affected taxa will be critical to preventing further extinction," the researchers concluded. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-climate-affects-endangered-species">How climate affects endangered species</h2>



The findings arrive as the United States prepares its first National Nature Assessment, a report intended to guide conservation investment through the mid-century. 



By demonstrating that climate change has already become the most pervasive danger for endangered species, the new study provides a sobering benchmark - and a potent call to integrate climate adaptation into every level of species recovery planning. 



Whether policymakers heed that call may determine how many of today’s imperiled species can still be saved for future generations.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaf019/8115311?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth System Dynamics</a>.



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Climate change is the largest threat to U.S. endangered species

For the first time, scientists have shown that global warming has overtaken every other human-caused pressure on wildlife protected by the Endangered Species Act. Drawing on a new analysis of 2,766 at-risk plants and animals across the United States and its territories, researchers report that 91 percent of federally listed species are now harmed by symptoms of climate change including rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and other climate-linked disruptions. “With the addition of comprehensive climate sensitivity data, climate change is just as prevalent a stressor to ESA-listed species...

Ever wonder how Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Revenant would have fared during that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ecological-traps-pose-big-risks-grizzly-bears/">grizzly bear</a> attack if he had been able to transform into a pack of wolves? Thanks to spectacular photographs from British vacationer Tom Littlejohns, you can almost picture it.

On a snow covered hilltop in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, a lone deer nibbles on the foliage of an evergreen. Deer are browsers, feeding primarily on young leaves and soft twigs.

The serenity of the scene swiftly gives way to violence as a pack three wolves ambush the deer, cornering her on a clearing near the edge of a cliff. She tries to run back into the thicket of the woods, but they have her surrounded. There is no escape.

Moments later, the three wolves feed greedily on the carcass of the deer. 

Thanks to expanding human populations, North American gray wolves had almost disappeared from the continental United States by the 1940s. However, a program based in central Idaho and Yellowstone Park proved successful in reintroducing the species to regions in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, northern Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and Montana.

One of them moves too close to the deer leg in another’s mouth on and a brawl ensues. Noise from the fight and the smell of the deer’s fresh blood attract the attention of a six and a half foot long grizzly bear.

The wolf not involved in the tussle turns and moves to pounce on the would-be plunderer. But she quickly discovers she is no match for the lumbering giant and runs off to hide the woods.  

The other two wolves move in to defend their food, but even at their most ferocious, the wolves cannot match the grizzly’s size and strength. The bear chases the wolves away and enjoys the fresh deer dinner.

All that is to say Leonardo’s character would have still lost.

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.12.40-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130388" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.12.40-PM-300x199.png" alt="screen-shot-2017-01-16-at-3-12-40-pm" width="300" height="199" /></a>

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.07-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130386" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.07-PM-300x184.png" alt="screen-shot-2017-01-16-at-3-13-07-pm" width="300" height="184" /></a>

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.19-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130385" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.19-PM-300x198.png" alt="screen-shot-2017-01-16-at-3-13-19-pm" width="300" height="198" /></a>

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.12.52-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130387" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.12.52-PM-300x219.png" alt="screen-shot-2017-01-16-at-3-12-52-pm" width="300" height="219" /></a>

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.41-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130384" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.13.41-PM-300x223.png" alt="Photos taken by a British vacationer capture wolves hunting down a deer, only to have their meal stolen by a hungry grizzly bear." width="300" height="223" /></a>

--

Photos: Tom Littlejohns

Written by Darryl Joseph, Earth.com Staff Writer

Grizzly bear caught stealing dinner from wolves

Ever wonder how Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Revenant would...

When you look at the tree of life, some species have lots of branches, while others have only a few, or most of the branches have broken off. What makes one group an evolutionary success, while other lines lose most of their branches?

Trying to find a pattern to survival is more difficult than it might appear at first. The kingdom Animalia has been divided up into 30 phyla, divisions based on certain traits.

That’s where things start getting complicated. The phylum Placozoa has only one species: Trichoplax adhaerens, a tiny, flat organism with no internal structures or even organs. The phylum Anthropoda contains multitudes – more than 80 percent of known animal species, including crabs, lobsters, insects, spiders, and more.

Dr. Tereza Jezkova and Dr. John Wiens, both of the <a href="http://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>, set out to look for any patterns that might explain the stunning range of diversity in Anthropoda and other phyla, and the stunning lack of it in those like Placozoa.

The goal was to try and get an idea of why one phylum might be an evolutionary success while another seems to be barely hanging on.

To do this, they created a database to keep track of 18 different traits. The characteristics they tracked ranged from internal anatomical structures, to the type of habitat an animal can survive in, to how quickly a species reproduces.

Three traits were most connected to evolutionary success, the scientists discovered. The most successful phyla contain organisms that live on dry land, have a skeleton, and mooch off other organisms as parasites.

Other traits that might seem important to humans, such as having organs and a head, aren’t actually all that vital for species survival, it turns out.

One reason parasites are so successful is that other species tend to do the work of evolution for them, the scientists noted. If a species of gazelle has a dozen parasites, and two population evolve away from each other into separate species, the parasites evolve with them, they said. That leads to 24 parasite species instead of 12.

The research can help scientists understand which animal species are more fragile and which are better survivors.

For example, phyla that survive in the water, especially the oceans, tend to be less robust. They’re also disappearing rapidly due to pollution, ocean acidification, and other issues, Jezkova and Wiens said.

The scientists have published their research in the journal <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/an/current">American Naturalist</a>.

Scientists wonder: what traits add to evolutionary success?

When you look at the tree of life, some species...

Want to make sure your pet pooch can keep up with your active lifestyle? The new Fitbark can help.

The health monitor is the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/awww-looks-just-like-dog/">doggy</a> version of the popular Fitbit, the wearable tech that keeps humans on the move.

“We're on a mission to get dogs and humans healthy together,” the <a href="https://www.fitbark.com/explore/">website devoted to the device</a> proclaims.

Fitbark is a bone-shaped clip-on for canine collars. It connects to a smartphone app, where owners can fill out information about their dogs for a better reading.

Then, the new Fitbark goes to work, monitoring your dog’s activity – through miles traveled and calories burned – and sleep patterns. It works with any mobile device that can connect to Bluetooth devices, as long as they’re running either iOS 8, Android 5, or above.

FitBark can be used with any dogs, according to the device’s creators.

“FitBark is so tiny that it won’t bother dogs of any size, including 3-pound Chihuahuas and 200-pound Leonbergers,” they wrote on their website.

It can even be used with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/non-profit-instagram-big-cats/">cats</a>, pigs, and other pets, but the app doesn’t provide baseline data for animals other than dogs, they said.

FitBark can also help to monitor some health conditions seen in dogs as they age, such as osteoarthritis.

The creators of FitBark are also using it to add to our understanding of dogs’ health. They’ve discovered some interesting trends in the data collected by dogs owners who have adopted the new FitBark tech.

For one, they learned that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deal-puppy-talk/">puppies</a> only spend about 11 to 13 hours a day sleeping. Human babies, on the other hand, sleep an average 16 to 20 hours a day.

They found that Maltese dogs are more restless during fireworks, while beagles and golden retrievers tend to be calmer. They even found that 6 p.m. is the most popular time for people to walk their dogs, and Swiss dogs are the most active.

—

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

New Fitbark promises to keep canines active

Want to make sure your pet pooch can keep up...

You may think you’ve been feeding puss perfectly with gourmet cat food twice a day – but scientists beg to differ and have outlined a new cat feeding schedule. The proper feeding schedule for your furry friend is actually closer to five bite-size meals a day, which more closely replicates how kitty dines in the wild.

Large meal sizes mean that our favorite pets are getting overweight and sluggish, and suffering from diseases like diabetes in their older years.

The new report suggests that:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Cats should be fed five times a day, which includes a night feed.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Dining on many small meals throughout the day stops cats from overeating.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Eating “little and often” replicates the way that cats naturally eat in the wild.</li>
</ul>
Chomping down on large-portioned meals means a cat overrides its inclination to stop eating when it feels full. As our feline companions are active after dark, scientists also suggest using timed feeders to assure cats get their energy after we go to bed. 

In addition to adopting the new cat feeding schedule the experts also suggested gamifying meal times to give the impression of a hunt. In the wild, cats can hunt for up to 12 hours a day. Without the stimulation of the hunt, cats become bored and frustrated, and engage in attention-seeking behaviours.

The scientists suggested creating “puzzle feeders” for the pets to help stimulate them mentally.

Puzzle feeders were the subject of a recent <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/loi/jfm">Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery</a> review. These nifty tools helped reduce feline stress, curbed weight loss, reduced aggressive behavior, and eliminated attention seeking. The same journal also advised to keep water bowls separate from food, as in the wild cats prefer to drink water far away from a food source. It is presumed that water near food is considered contaminated by the cats.

Feline behavior specialist Sarah Ellis said: “The way we feed our cats generally does not match the lifestyle they were designed for. Cats have undergone little in the way of selective breeding during the domestication process and therefore have an instinctive need to hunt. This modern lifestyle could be dangerous to pets, but by making a few simple changes to the way we feed them, we can help our cats to live longer, healthier and happier lives. The plan, based on scientific evidence, helps every cat owner mimic the conditions cats would usually contend with to get their food.”

This research and the subsequent cat feed plan was authored by Dr. Sarah Ellis and Dr. Lizzie Rowe for the charity <a href="http://www.icatcare.org/">International Cat Care</a>. You can read all their excellent tips for taking care of your nearest and dearest furry friend on their website. Follow this new cat feeding schedule and see your pussy prosper!

By Frances Levine/ Earth.com Editor-in-Chief

What's new pussycat? Science suggests new cat feeding schedule

You may think you’ve been feeding puss perfectly with gourmet...

The Asian shot hole borer has a name longer than it is. This tiny bug has a big appetite, though, and a new favorite food: avocado trees.

The little beetles are native to southeast Asia, but traveled to Los Angeles in 2003. More than a dozen years later, they’re expanding into other areas of Southern California.

Among those areas are the avocado tree orchards of Ventura County.

“Shot hole borers will bore into almost everything, including avocado trees, which is why they are getting a lot of attention,” graduate student Shelley Bennett said in a <a href="http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2017/017516/holy-guacamole">press release</a>. “But these beetles also affect many native tree species.”

Bennett works in the <a href="http://rivrlab.msi.ucsb.edu/">Riparian InVasion Research Laboratory</a> at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The lab studies invasive insect species, among other topics. One team has been tracking Asian shot hole borers in California.

The two species of shot hole borer seen in the state are tiny – usually less than a tenth of an inch. They have a big appetite, though.

Worse, both species of beetle carry a pathogenic fungus that causes a disease called Fusarium dieback.

For the beetles, the fungus is vital. It’s carried by pregnant females, who plant it beneath a tree’s bark before laying their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, which eat the fungus as they grow to adulthood.

Once they’re adults, each females collects some fungus of her own before heading out into the world.

But for trees that are susceptible to Fusarium dieback, the fungus that causes it is devastating. The disease affects the vascular systems of more than 130 tree species, cutting off the flow of nutrients that keep them alive.

Aside from the avocado trees, the beetle has been spotted in oak and sycamore trees in Santa Barbara County, and along the Santa Clara River which runs through parts of Southern California.

The spread of the invasive insects could lay waste to Southern California’s avocado groves, valued at more than $400 million.

Worse, they could cause damage to the state’s riparian habitats – natural areas along rivers that offer habitat for native animal and plant species.

The <a href="http://www.ucsb.edu/">UC Santa Barbara</a> researchers are working with scientists from the <a href="http://ucanr.edu/">UC Cooperative Extension</a>, the <a href="https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/">California Department of Food and Agriculture</a>, and other agencies to come up with a solution.

—

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

Tiny shot hole borers want our guacamole!

The Asian shot hole borer has a name longer than...

Chimps enjoy their casual flings, but when it’s time to settle down, they don’t want just any mate. Opposites attract, scientists said.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.tanzaniaparks.go.tz/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=28&amp;Itemid=186">Gombe National Park</a> in Tanzania have found that when it comes time to have babies, chimps want a mate who is as genetically different from themselves as possible.

The researchers ran DNA tests of feces from 150 chimpanzees to see how similar each male-female pair was. Not that similar, they found out.

While most wild animals appear to avoid breeding with close relatives, chimps take it a step farther.

They avoid not only their siblings and close cousins, but also strangers who are genetically similar, the researchers said.

The scientists aren’t sure yet how the chimps can tell. They think the primates may base their choices on appearance, smell, and the sounds they make, and how different they are from each other.

“Our results suggest that, as expected for a slowly reproducing species in which females invest heavily in each offspring and sometimes reside with close relatives, several mechanisms promote inbreeding avoidance and mate choice in chimpanzees,” they wrote in their study.

In other words, it’s quite literally a case of opposites attract.

The drive behind their choices may be a phenomenon called “inbreeding depression,” the scientists said.

In the rare cases where a chimpanzee does mate with a parent, sibling, or other close relative, the babies are less likely to survive to adulthood, the scientists said. That’s because inbreeding can allow recessive genes to be expressed, leading to health problems.

“Inbreeding can adversely affect fitness through numerous pathways, notably via early death or reproductive disadvantage,” the scientists wrote.

Usually, this is avoided by female chimps moving out of their family group once they reach their teen years.

But even among a new group of chimps she hasn’t met before, a female chimp is more likely to choose a genetically different mate, the scientists said. When tested, female chimpanzees who had migrated to a new group often had more genetic differences with their chosen mate than with other males in the group, they said.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/1/160422">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

When chimps want to start a family, opposites attract

Chimps enjoy their casual flings, but when it’s time to...

Usually it’s safe to talk about your career at the dinner table. If you’re a researcher in the field of fart science, though, maybe save it for after dessert.

Dr. David Steen of <a href="http://www.auburn.edu/">Auburn University</a> and a number of other scientists are investigating the subject of which animals pass gas.

The project was inspired by a <a href="https://twitter.com/DaniRabaiotti/status/818208792269717510">tweet</a> from Dani Rabaiotti, a <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> researcher and doctoral student. It was directed at Steen’s Twitter account: “[A] family member asked me the other day if snakes fart and [I] did not know the answer to their question. So do they?”

The question sparked a hashtag: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/doesitfart">#DoesItFart</a>.

It also led the science side of Twitter to live up to its reputation. Doctoral student Nick Caruso created a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19gMMn4Wmw3BNLWMojEy7kgrjnjVB2JlMSwd1s-nYyUc/edit?usp=sharing">spreadsheet</a> with Steed and Rabaiotti titled “Does it fart?” The spreadsheet lists dozens of animal species, whether or not they pass gas, and research to support the claim.

The foray into fart science expanded, as a “Does it puke?” tab was added to the spreadsheet.

Most of the “research notes” are tongue in cheek. For example, among the farters:
<ul>
 	<li>Snow leopards: “Their floofy bottoms help to muffle the sound.”</li>
 	<li>African wild dogs: “Any self-respecting canine does.”</li>
 	<li>Burmese pythons: “Often silent but deadly. Thick, and … meaty? If it were a color it would be brownish-yellow.”</li>
</ul>
Dogs do fart, but are more often blamed for human farts than their own. Birds don’t fart, but could if they wanted to. Mastodons don’t fart – anymore.

Science Twitter was quick to jump aboard.

“For the record, spotted #hyenas fart, burp and puke. A real treat to work with them!” <a href="https://hyena-project.com/">The Hyena Project</a> tweeted out on the organization’s account.

Geologists pointed out that volcanoes fart, and it’s extremely dangerous. Even astronomers got in on the fart science game, describing the gas-passing habits of black holes, moons, and comets.

As the hashtag caught on, Rabaiotti was quick to pin a caveat to her account: “To my new followers: I [don’t] normally tweet about farts.”

She has, however, posted a few contenders for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bestcarcass">#BestCarcass</a>.

— 

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

Researchers dive into the wind-breaking field of fart science

Usually it’s safe to talk about your career at the...

It sounds like a science fiction plot. Using lasers, scientists brainwash an unwitting subject to stalk and kill its prey. But for these hapless zombie killer mice, it’s all too real.

A team of scientists from <a href="http://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> and the <a href="http://www5.usp.br/english/?lang=en">University of São Paulo</a> have been studying which parts of the brain control hunting behavior in vertebrates. Their goal was to figure out if the amygdala played a role in hunting behaviors.

To test their theory, they created aggressive zombie mice with a virus and some lasers.

They injected each mouse’s brain with a light-sensitive virus. Then, they watched until the virus spread that light-sensitivity to the amygdala. Using a thin optic fiber and a blue laser, they were able to turn hunting-focused neurons on and off at will.

This turned the mice into hunting machines.

Using the laser, the scientists could “program” the mouse to chase down prey like grasshoppers and to attack. In other words, they could turn timid mice that were normally the targets of predators into bold hunters themselves, the researchers said.

When the laser was turned off, the mice behaved normally. When it was turned on, they ran around looking for targets, attacking everything from grasshoppers to bottle caps.

However, the scientists’ brain control was not complete. Unlike fictional human zombies, the zombie mice did not attack or eat their own kind. They also were much less aggressive if they weren’t hungry, the scientists said.

That speaks to hunting behaviors being food-driven and not violence-focused, at least in mice.

The researchers also found that if they created lesions on the neurons in the amygdala associated with the biting and killing reflexes, mice would still chase their prey, but they would not kill it.

The research is still in its infancy, but isolating the neurons that control hunting and food-driven behaviors in mice could offer clues to how hunting behaviors evolved in other mammals. It could even offer clues into why some humans struggle with overeating, the researchers said.

However, that would require a lot more study, they said.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(16)31743-3">Cell</a>. 

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

Image credit: Ivan de Araujo

Scientists create food-driven killer mice

It sounds like a science fiction plot. Using lasers, scientists...

Everyone can relax. We finally know where the Hyolith sea creature belongs on the tree of life.  
The first fossil of the ocean floor dwelling creature was discovered 175 years ago.  The mysterious animal, with its cone-shaped shell, tentacles, and appendages for walking, has eluded scientific classification until now.
Scientists say the Hyolith belongs to an invertebrate group that includes the horseshoe worm.
“Hyoliths are small cone-shaped sea dwelling animals. They are known from all around the world, mostly from fossils of their shells, “ Joseph Moysiuk of<a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/"> University of Toronto</a> told<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news"> BBC News</a>.
Moysiuk analyzed more than 1,500 specimens excavated from rocks found in Canada and the U.S. to reach this conclusion about the animal’s classification.
“They appear in the fossil record about 530 million years ago and survived until about 250 million years ago.”
“But the question of where Hyoliths actually fit into the tree of life has been somewhat of a mystery for the last 175 years, since they were first described.”
Hyoliths had long been assumed to be related to today’s common mollusks – like squid, octopus, clams, and snails. However, the new research published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html">Nature</a> suggests that they are more closely related to another group of organisms known as lophophorata, which also include lamp shells (brachipods).
Researchers involved in the study analyzed soft tissue preserved in fossils from a site called Burgess Shale in Canada.
“Being able to place them on the tree of life, it solves this long paleontological mystery about what these creatures are,” said Moysiuk.
He adds, “We have been able to discover some new features of a very old group of fossil animals, and it’s allowed us to reveal the evolutionary history of this group of animals and where exactly they sit on the tree of life.”
Dr. Martin Smith of the <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/">University of Durham, UK</a>, also analyzed the fossils. He believes that understanding how the ancient creatures lived can offer insight into the impact of mass extinction events.
The Hyolith, which lived during the Cambrian period nearly 540 million years ago, was wiped out (along with most animal life) during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, 252 million years ago.
“Understanding the effects of such mass extinctions on ecology and diversity is particularly important as we seek to appraise and mitigate the implications of the current mass extinction event brought about by human activity,” said Dr. Smith.

Ancient Hyolith sea creature joins the tree of life

Everyone can relax. We finally know where the Hyolith sea...

While fossils can help shed light on the physicality of ancient humans, it is a much trickier task to figure out what our ancestors may have sounded like. But according to a new study by a collaborative team of researchers, the sounds of baboons may offer clues about the origins of ancient human speech.

The team of scientists from six different academic institutions, led by Dr. Louis-Jean Boe of <a href="http://www.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/en/main-missions/international/international-2060.kjsp">Grenoble Alpes University</a>, published their findings in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">Plos One</a>. According to their research, the mating calls and grunts of Guinea baboons contain distinct, human-like vowel sounds.

Previous theories suggested that ancient human speech developed only after our humans developed a low larynx. But the new research suggests that the human vocal system evolved from abilities already present in our primate ancestors like the Guinea baboon.  

The researchers studied the acoustics of 1,335 baboon sounds and the physicality of their tongues. They found that baboon tongues and human tongues both shared the ability to make vowel sounds.

"Language is a key difference between humans and the rest of the natural world, but the origin of our speech remains one of the greatest mysteries of science," said the team. 

"The evidence developed in this study does not support the hypothesis of the recent, sudden, and simultaneous appearance of language and speech in modern Homo sapiens. It suggests that spoken languages evolved from ancient articulatory skills already present in our last common ancestor ... about 25 million years ago." 

Last year, a similar study involving monkeys identified five different vowel sounds, indicating a possible link to the origin of ancient human speech.  

Professor Scott Moisik from the <a href="http://www.mpi.nl/">Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics</a> told the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/658e37e1f9da45dcab1955c2685fe066/Scientists-hear-voice-of-ancient-humans-in-baboon-calls">AP</a> that these new findings fit with previous research, as well as his own experience listening to primates.  

"When I hear a cat on YouTube produce a vocalization that very much sounds like 'oh long Johnson,' or the 'no no no' cat, or a dog that gets pretty-darned close in imitating 'I love you' ... I am led to believe that, to use the words of Boe and company, 'speech precursors' (however rudimentary or limited) go back further than 25 million years ago," he said.

--

By Rory Arnold / Earth.com staff writer

Baboon mating calls hold clues about ancient human speech

While fossils can help shed light on the physicality of...

Philadelphia Zoo has been the home of AJ, the oldest aardvark in the U.S., for years.

On Thursday, however, that was no longer true. AJ passed away due to age-related heart failure, the zoo announced on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/philadelphiazoo/">Facebook page</a>.

“AJ will be remembered for his love of back rubs and his selective palate – although aardvarks are insect eaters, AJ preferred ants and termites over crickets and meal worms,” the zoo wrote.

Aardvarks eat as many as 50,000 insects in a single day, according to the zoo.

AJ was the oldest aardvark in captivity in the United States.

He was born on November 4, 1988 at the <a href="http://cincinnatizoo.org/">Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden</a>. The aardvark moved to Philadelphia on November 15, 1989.

AJ shared his Philly digs with Sunshine, a transplant from the <a href="http://www.montgomeryzoo.com/">Montgomery Zoo</a> in Alabama. Aardvarks in the wild tend to be loners, but the zoo said AJ and Sunshine got along well.

Aardvarks are short, stocky creatures with spade-like nails ideal for digging into ant and termite nests, according to the <a href="http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/Animals/Mammals/Other-Mammals/Aardvark.aspx">Philadelphia Zoo</a>. They can fold their large ears back to prevent dirt from getting into them. They have a flexible snout and a long tongue for chasing down fleeing bugs.

They’re nocturnal, the zoo added, and sleep in deep burrows. They’re found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, except for in rainforests.

“In African folklore, the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants,” the zoo’s website notes.

Philadelphia Zoo has been home to a number of animals that outlived expectations.

In November, the zoo announced that Kesho the okapi had passed away after an illness. The 24-year-old okapi was the fourth oldest in the world, and had outlived the species’ typical lifespan of 17 years. Kesho had been at the zoo for 16 years, after stints in San Diego and the Bronx.

In December, the zoo was forced to euthanize the 25-year-old lioness Zenda after her health began to fail badly. The standard life expectancy of a lion is also 17 years. She was the oldest lion in a U.S. zoo.

—

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

Philadelphia Zoo mourns loss of oldest aardvark in U.S.

Philadelphia Zoo has been the home of AJ, the oldest...

Some of the most adorable and lovable animals from your favorite movies may suffering in abhorrent living conditions. A former employee of leading Hollywood animal supplier <a href="http://www.birdsandanimals.com/screen-credits/feature-credits/">Birds &amp; Animals Unlimited</a> has reported the organization to <a href="http://www.peta.org/">PETA</a> with shocking allegations of animal abuse.

Birds &amp; Animals Unlimited (BAU) has rented out animals to such high profile films as Marley &amp; Me, The Hangover, and Pirates of the Caribbean. But according to an eyewitness who worked at the organization between August and November 2016, many of the animals were denied food, clean shelter, and veterinary care.

In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&amp;v=trL-n1h_Ah4">YouTube</a> video released by PETA, an owl named Crash, who appeared in several of the Harry Potter films, is seen kept in a cage that is covered in six weeks worth of feces. 

According to PETA, three pigs from the film College Road Trip were found emaciated, one with bloody sores running down the side of her body.

Two cats from the upcoming film Benji were starved for days on end after being considered “too fat.” In five days, they lost 5% of their body weight.

BAU employees also allegedly showed up to shelters posing as families looking to adopt a pet dog. But instead of taking them home, they would take the dogs to work on film sets. In the evenings, the dogs were left outside in freezing conditions without any bedding.

The BAU also reported to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> that a kangaroo in their care had been relocated to Texas. But a manager later admitted that the kangaroo had broken its jaw and couldn’t eat, and then died under BAU’s watch. 

The former employee reported that this was no isolated incident. Allegedly, many animals died at the facility having been denied access to veterinary care, sometimes for an entire month.

PETA has filed an official complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the alleged animal abuse at Birds &amp; Animals Unlimited. 

“Animals used for film and television have been neglected, left hungry, and treated like disposable props,” said Lisa Lang, senior vice president at PETA. “The only way to ensure that a production is humane is to keep it animal-free.”

--

By Rory Arnold / Earth.com staff writer

Photo: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&amp;v=trL-n1h_Ah4">PETA/YouTube</a>

Animal abuse allegations at leading Hollywood animal supplier

Some of the most adorable and lovable animals from your...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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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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