A new executive order aimed at deregulating the U.S. seafood industry is raising red flags among scientists and policy experts. While the order claims to boost competitiveness and cut red tape, critics warn it could do more harm than good - weakening the very systems that protect seafood sustainability.



Scientists from <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">UC Santa Barbara</a> and the University of Washington outlined their concerns in a recent paper. They argue that the executive order misses the mark, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inside-the-seafood-deregulation-order">Inside the seafood deregulation order</h2>



Signed in April 2025, the order - titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” - claims that U.S. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-seafood-industry-has-been-hit-hard-by-the-covid-19-pandemic/">seafood markets</a> are held back by overregulation and unfair trade practices. It calls for reducing regulatory burdens, eliminating unsafe imports, and strengthening the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seafood-spoilage-hidden-dangers-in-the-cold-chain/">seafood supply chain</a>.



However, the researchers say the plan is moving too fast and with too little support. They describe it as a policy that risks unraveling decades of scientific progress.



“(It’s) a significant escalation in undoing federal regulatory frameworks, weakening scientific authority and deemphasizing aquaculture development,” said Halley Froehlich of UC Santa Barbara and Jessica Gephart of the University of Washington.



“Instead of reform, it’s dismantling regulations in a very short amount of time,” added Froehlich, the paper’s lead author.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-noaa-s-role-under-threat">NOAA’s role under threat</h2>



The scientists point to cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a major concern. NOAA oversees roughly 500 commercial fishery stocks in the U.S. It plays a key role in managing, monitoring, and protecting marine resources.



Under the new directive, NOAA faces budget cuts, staff reductions, and tighter controls on communication. That’s a serious blow to its ability to coordinate sustainable fishing, especially across regions where fish migrate between countries.



“It’s quite problematic because NOAA is so central to how we manage our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bleaching-effect-coral-loss-threatens-fisheries-and-livelihoods/">fisheries</a>,” Froehlich said. “Data collection, monitoring, oversight, you name it, NOAA is part of that, and a really important part.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-plan-ignores-the-ocean-s-limits">The plan ignores the ocean’s limits</h2>



The executive order is supposed to help boost domestic seafood production. But the researchers argue that the ocean has limits - and we’re already close to reaching them.



“We are not going to get more out of the ocean,” Froehlich said. “We’re already near ‘peak fish,’ meaning maintenance and recovery of our stocks.”



Wild fisheries - both in the U.S. and globally - are already producing at or near their maximum sustainable levels. That leaves <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aquaculture-now-produces-more-food-than-wild-fishing/">aquaculture</a> as the only real path for growth. 



However, the new order gives little attention to farmed seafood and offers even less support to the agencies that regulate it. The scientists call it a mismatch between promises and practical outcomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cutting-data-cutting-capacity">Cutting data, cutting capacity</h2>



One of the most troubling issues is the potential loss of data. The researchers warn that NOAA’s online databases, climate research, and monitoring tools may be defunded or decommissioned.



Without this data, managing fisheries becomes guesswork. It also makes it harder to prepare for climate-driven shifts in marine ecosystems.



“Without the data, expertise and capacity to study and understand these systems we run the risk of fishery collapses becoming more common and long-lasting,” the authors wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trade-conflicts-and-mismatched-markets">Trade conflicts and mismatched markets</h2>



The executive order also makes assumptions about seafood markets that don’t align with reality. 



Much of the seafood farmed in the U.S. isn’t what consumers demand most. And a large portion of seafood caught in U.S. waters is processed overseas before being sold back into the domestic market.



If tariffs are imposed on imported or foreign-processed seafood, prices for high-demand products like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrimp-crisis-alarming-virus-threatens-global-seafood-supplies/">shrimp</a> could rise sharply. Right now, only about 10% of shrimp eaten in the U.S. comes from domestic sources.



“In disrupting the market dynamics we do have, especially with trade wars with our trading partners, it’s likely that we’re going to have the opposite effect of creating opportunity long-term,” Froehlich said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-alternative-to-seafood-deregulation">An alternative to seafood deregulation </h2>



The paper was submitted as evidence in a recent hearing by the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. The scientists hope their findings will influence how Congress approaches <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seafood-will-help-feed-earths-future-population-of-10-billion/">seafood policy</a> moving forward.



“When it comes to any shifts in production, these high levels of uncertainty are not a beneficial thing to happen for the sector,” Froehlich said.



While deregulation may sound appealing to some, the authors argue that a stable, well-regulated system - backed by science and data - is what actually keeps seafood both sustainable and competitive. In their view, cutting corners now could cost the industry far more in the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X25002106">Marine Policy</a>.



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Why seafood deregulation may hurt more than help

A new executive order aimed at deregulating the U.S. seafood industry is raising red flags among scientists and policy experts. While the order claims to boost competitiveness and cut red tape, critics warn it could do more harm than good - weakening the very systems that protect seafood sustainability. Scientists from UC Santa Barbara and the University of Washington outlined their concerns in a recent paper. They argue that the executive order misses the mark, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term stability. Inside the seafood deregulation order Signed...

What are the reasons that shoppers may prefer free-range chicken eggs over eggs from caged hens? This is the question that researchers at the <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a> answer in a new study on free-range eggs published in the journal <a href="http://anthrozoos.expressacademic.org/login.php">Anthrozoös</a>, the journal of the <a href="http://www.isaz.net/isaz/">International Society for Anthrozoology</a>. 

In order to collect data for their study, the researchers conducted focus groups and interviewed 73 participants of mixed age and gender. After compiling their responses, they then categorized the different reasons that individuals gave for why they choose one egg type over the other.

The most common motivations for purchasing free-range eggs were that they were viewed as being higher quality, more nutritious, and safer to eat. Also, participants emphasized trying to avoid “industrialized” food.

Interestingly, although many participants described caged-egg farming as “cruel,” they did not often point to animal welfare reasons as paramount in their egg-purchasing decisions. Rather, a number of people thought that free-range <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prehistoric-egg-layers-secret/">chickens</a> might be “happier,” and thus create a better quality egg. Researchers say this finding shows consumers are more likely to buy a product if it is both “ethical” and assumed to be of higher quality – not just ethical reasons alone.

“Taste and quality are strong motivations for purchasing and may be part of the reason why people are prepared to pay a higher price,” says lead author Heather Bray of the <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a>. “More importantly these findings suggest that consumers think about animal welfare in a much broader way than we previously thought, and in particular they believe that better welfare is connected to a better quality product."

The results of the study also showed that there is a high level of awareness among participants for caged-egg production, compared to other types of animal farming. Furthermore, despite their unease at supporting caged-egg farming, participants who bought free-range or cage-free eggs did not necessarily also buy their meat in the same ethical scope. This was due to the price difference between egg types being much smaller than those between different sources of meat. 

Moving forward, the authors believe more research can be done to help further understanding of consumer motivations for purchasing products with ethical production claims. Further information could lead to more purposeful production methods or product labeling that is directed at attracting consumers. In the meantime, feel free to join the few participants of the study who said they produced their own free-range eggs by keeping their own hens. They make great pets and an even better breakfast.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://taylorandfrancis.com/">Taylor &amp; Francis Group</a>

Most choose free-range eggs for nutrition over ethical reasons

What are the reasons that shoppers may prefer free-range chicken...

Beaver dams may help lower stream temperatures, helping cold-water fish such salmon and trout, a new study says.

Although previous research has suggested that beaver dams raise stream temperatures, the study by Nicholas Weber from <a href="http://ecologicalresearch.net/">Eco-Logical Research, Inc., USA</a> and colleagues found the opposite. They monitored water temperatures along 34 kilometers of the John Day River in Oregon over eight years and assessed the impact of artificial beaver dams on water temperature along four reaches of Bridge Creek.

Juvenile steelhead salmon in Bridge Creek experience extreme stress at about 25°C, and the researchers found that maximum daily temperatures in much of the study stream exceed this temperature for much of the summer.

But temperatures rarely exceeded 25°C after the proliferation of beaver dams, possibly because they dams help moderate temperatures both by increasing water storage and encouraging surface water and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changing-monsoon-patterns-india/">groundwater</a> exchange. Beavers and salmon were once more abundant and widely distributed in North America, and beaver dams could help mitigate the thermal degradation that can threaten sensitive species, according to the study published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.  

“Beaver are often considered a keystone species, and their propensity to build dams plays an integral role in maintaining biodiversity and enhancing aquatic processes that benefit an array of aquatic and terrestrial organisms,” Weber said. 

Increasingly, beavers and artificial beaver dams are being used as low- cost tools in stream and river restoration efforts, Weber added.

The new study demonstrates that beaver dams could also be used to lower stream temperatures,  mitigating “thermal degradation that can threaten sensitive species,” Weber said.

[caption id="attachment_450650" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/140260.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-450650" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/140260-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Credit: Weber et al., 2017[/caption]

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>

Image Credit: Weber et al., 2017

Beaver dams may protect cold-water fish from warming temperatures

Beaver dams may help lower stream temperatures, helping cold-water fish...

For newborns, breast-feeding is a critical part of their development. Factors such as the duration of breast-feeding and when solid food is introduced to their diet can be important to an infant’s future health.

But this isn’t just important for humans. Primates also breast-feed their young, and the specifics of these feeding tendencies – while not well understood – can have a significant effect on primate populations.

A recent study in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a> now reveals that biomarkers in the teeth of wild orangutans show how breast-feeding patterns are related to food fluctuations in their natural habitat. These findings may help us delve deeper into the evolution of breast-feeding in humans as well.

Primate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extinct-giant-salmon-teeth/">teeth</a> contain growth patterns – similar to tree rings – which allowed researchers to determine the concentrations of maternal elements in an young primate’s teeth as it developed. This was able to reveal details on their dietary and nursing patterns.

“Early-life dietary transitions reflect fundamental aspects of primate life, history, and evolution,” explains Christine Austin, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/">Griffith University</a> in Australia.

Analysis of deceased Sumatran and Bornean orangutan teeth revealed that these primates exclusively consume milk for their first year, after which they cycle between more and less milk consumption. This breast-feeding may occur until they are eight or nine years old – a behavior that would be considered quite bizarre in humans. 

Researchers believe this cycling behavior is a result of the changing availability of fruit, which may cause young orangutans to turn to breast milk when fruit availability is low.

The research team is confident these findings will lead to future studies on how food availability and certain environmental factors affect the nursing patterns of primates.

But this research can be connected to human behavior as well, says Austin: “By first studying nursing patterns of our primate cousins, we can apply these findings to future studies in humans. This method can be used to reconstruct the diet histories of contemporary humans in order to reliably and accurately study the relationship between infant diet and health outcomes in childhood or later life, as well as inform models of population growth.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital/<a href="http://icahn.mssm.edu/">Mount Sinai School of Medicine</a>

Orangutan breast-feeding sheds light on human evolution

For newborns, breast-feeding is a critical part of their development....

Approximately 130 million years ago, India split off from the supercontinent Gondwana. It drifted north - moving at a rate of approximately 15 centimeters a year. Eventually, India collided with Asia and formed the Himalayan Mountains. This collision also buried Cambay amber that is giving scientists incredible new insight into the mystery of India’s drift. 

Embedded in the 54 million-year-old Indian amber are the fossils of three new species of fungus gnats. The newly-discovered insects are closely related to fossils found in Europe. In fact, the fossils in the Cambay amber have a striking resemblance to their relatives encased in the European Baltic amber. 

The long-beaked fungus gnats, or Lygistorrhinidae, have been previously  identified in the younger Baltic amber. These tiny tropical flies are extremely rare, and only two species of the insects were preserved in the Baltic amber. The unearthing of three species in the Indian amber are an unprecedented find. 

The significance of this discovery is that it may disprove the theory that India became an isolated subcontinent after it drifted. This and other faunal connections to Europe suggest India was not a solitary island. 

Exactly how the insects were exchanged is unclear, but experts theorize there may have been an island chain linking Europe and <a href="https://www.earth.com/plants/west-indian-nightshade-solanum-ptychanthum/">India</a>. 

The biodiversity of early India is not very well documented. The study, published in <a href="https://peerj.com/">Peerj</a>, sheds new light on the origin of India's insects which could lead to a better understanding of the country's geological evolution.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="https://peerj.com/">Peerj</a>

Image Credit: Frauke Stebner

Insect fossils found in Indian amber may solve ancient mystery

Approximately 130 million years ago, India split off from the...

In the bird world, successful courtship usually involves a combination of ideal coloration, plumage, and mating moves. Scientists know that a male bird’s courtship behavior can be affected by factors such as size and hormone levels. But ornithologists have recently delved more into the effects of social context on male mating behavior in birds.

A new study published in <a href="http://www.americanornithology.org/content/auk-ornithological-advances">The Auk: Ornithological Advances</a> shows how male dark-eyed juncos change their courtship behavior based off their social landscape. This involves whether or not the male already has a mate and if other birds are present to witness this behavior.

The researchers found that while both paired and unpaired males are out to capture the attention of any female in their eye line, they often use different tactics. Dustin Reichard of <a href="https://www.owu.edu/">Ohio Wesleyan University</a> and his colleagues compared the behavior of unpaired males with paired males when mates were present and paired males when mates were absent.

Reichard and his colleagues made these observations at the Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia. They placed caged female juncos in front of uncaged males and analyzed the male’s reactions.

Their findings revealed that paired males actually approach <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-spiders-eaten-females/">females</a> much quicker and spent more time in close proximity with the female. These same males were more active and had their body feathers erect for a longer period of time than unpaired males. Paired males also sang fewer long-range songs than the unpaired males, which the researchers think may be due to the paired males not wanting other birds to overhear. 

Interestingly for paired males, the presence or absence of their mates had no effect on their behavior. This was not the case for the behavior of their mates, as Reichard observed that “Often the male’s mate would respond aggressively to the caged female, diving at the cage while pausing occasionally to chase her mate away from the area.”

Despite this apparent marital hiccup, Reichard says that none of the pairs in their study divorced after the research was finished. “People called me a ‘junco homewrecker’ during these experiments, but there's little evidence to support that accusation.”

Whatever marital discord this study may have caused among the junco population, scientists believe the results were worth the risk. <a href="http://www.auburn.edu/">Auburn University’s</a> Geoffrey Hill, an expert on mate choice in birds who was not involved in the research, says “This study shows the potential for extremely complex behavioral interactions in birds that were long thought to be bland monogamists.”

[caption id="attachment_450592" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/140300.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-450592" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/140300-300x165.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="165" /></a> Image Credit: J. Welklin[/caption]

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.americanornithology.org/content/aos-publications">American Ornithological Society Publications Office</a>

Certain birds may not be as monogamous as previously thought

In the bird world, successful courtship usually involves a combination...

Animals with large families and strong social ties live longer, new research suggests.

"Our study supports the idea that social ties promote survival," said Dr. Lauren Brent, of the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>.

The study analyzed a large dataset spanning 21 years and including 910 adult female rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico.

Brent found that female rhesus macaques with many female relatives have better <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/big-gaps-life-expectancy/">life expectancy</a>. The effect fades with age, however, as older females learn to "navigate the social landscape" and have less need for social ties.

The research found that each extra female relative reduced a prime-aged female macaque's chances of dying in one year by 2.3%.

"Older females were still involved in society but seemed better able pick and choose their involvement,” Brent said. “The experience and social skills females gain with age could mean they no longer need to rely on help from their friends and families to get by."

The research could be "hugely important in understanding humans,” Brent said. "Just like these monkeys, we spend a lot of time navigating the social world." 

Humans and macaques last shared a common ancestor about 25 million years ago, and “we can take clues from these distant cousins about how humans might have existed in pre-industrial societies,” she said.

The research, carried out in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> and the <a href="http://www.upr.edu/">University of Puerto Rico</a>, is published in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>. 

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

Image Credit: Lauren Brent

Study: Animals with large families live longer

Animals with large families and strong social ties live longer,...

Sex makes female fruit flies more aggressive towards each other, according to a new <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> study.

The flies start headbutting each other after <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/alligator-bellows-mating-season/">mating</a>, becoming significantly more aggressive and intolerant, the study found.

A variety of proteins in semen stimulate the dramatic behavioral and physiological changes in females. Other changes include increased ovulation, rejecting male advances and loss of interest in sex, according to the study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>. .

“A lot is known about male fruit fly behavior and what affects their levels of aggression, but very little has been published about competition among females,” said Dr Stuart Wigby, Research Fellow at Oxford University. “Even taken on its own, our study is useful. If these behavioural changes occur in fruit flies, it is highly likely that they are happening in other insects.”

Now that the relationship between mating and aggression in females is better understood, the research teams intend to conduct further analysis into the effects of the behavioral change. Pinpointing the exact time that their intolerance intensifies, and how long the effects of the sex-peptide last.

Many insect control programs involve releasing sterile males into the wild.

“It could be that mating with these sterile males also affects female aggression levels,” Wigby said. “Further research will help us to understand exactly how such effects could help or harm populations, and therefore whether or not they can have a wider use.”

New research will also work to determine whether the effects carry positive or negative benefits to males and females, who the behavioral change benefits and if it is linked to spousal or offspring protection, said Oxford’s Dr Eleanor Bath. 

“'Knowing whether female aggression benefits females in the wild could help us to understand fruit fly population dynamics,” she said. “Potentially having more aggressive females might result in females doing less well in the wild, meaning that we could potentially use female aggression as a behavioural tool to control pest insect populations.”

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>

Study: Female fruit flies more aggressive after sex

Sex makes female fruit flies more aggressive towards each other,...

They’ve been referred to as the “pandas of the sea,” as they are both incredibly cute and also severely endangered. Vaquitas are porpoises that, according to the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a> (WWF), are the world’s most threatened marine animal with only 30 of them left.

Vaquitas are found in Mexico’s Gulf of California but have been devastated by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tech-solutions-emerge-fight-overfishing/">illegal fishing</a>. Their population has dropped by a shocking 90% since 2011, prompting the WWF to urge lawmakers to take action.

Too often, vaquitas get caught in fishing nets called gillnets, which are used to trap other fish such as totoaba, whose bladders are considered a Chinese delicacy. Though a two-year ban on gillnets was put into law, that ban is set to expire soon. The WWF has called on the Mexican government to extend the ban indefinitely, or else vaquitas could go extinct by the end of 2017.

“We need the public's help now to motivate the Mexican government to act to protect the species and the World Heritage site that provides home to the vaquita,” said Chris Gee, Head of Campaigns for the WWF UK. 

“The last hope for the species is the Mexican government immediately putting in place and properly enforcing a permanent ban on gillnets. This will also help safeguard this precious World Heritage site and the livelihoods of the local people who depend on it.”

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a>

Image Credit: Greenpeace, Marcelo Otero

Pandas of the sea: vaquitas could go extinct this year

They’ve been referred to as the “pandas of the sea,”...

An asteroid that hit the Gulf of Mexico 66 million years ago, wiping out dinosaurs, “could not have hit a worse place on Earth,” the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39922998">BBC</a> reported in a documentary about scientists who drilled into the impact crater.

The researchers recovered rocks from under the Gulf of Mexico that were hit by the asteroid.

The shallow Gulf caused massive volumes of sulphur (from the mineral gypsum) to be injected into the atmosphere, extending the "global winter" period that followed the immediate firestorm, the BBC said. 

"This is where we get to the great irony of the story – because in the end it wasn’t the size of the asteroid, the scale of blast, or even its global reach that made dinosaurs extinct – it was where the impact happened," said Ben Garrod, presenter of  “The Day The Dinosaurs Died.” 

If the asteroid had instead hit the deeper Atlantic or Pacific oceans, there would have been far less vaporized rock, including gypsum, the BBC said. 

"The cloud would have been less dense and sunlight could still have reached the planet’s surface, meaning what happened next might have been avoided,” Garrod said. “In this cold, dark world, food ran out of the oceans within a week and shortly after on land. With nothing to eat anywhere on the planet, the mighty dinosaurs stood little chance of survival." 

Much of the crater is now buried offshore. Scientists on a drill rig last year off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, recovered rock cores 1,300 meters beneath the Gulf. The lowest sections of this material were from a feature within the crater called the peak ring.

Through analyzing the crater, the research team aims to trace how the asteroid impact played out and how it altered the environment.

Scientists know the energy that went into making the crater when the asteroid struck is equivalent to 10 billion Hiroshima A-bombs, the story said.

On the day of the impact, there was a massive death of creatures, the BBC said, citing a quarry in New Jersey where 25,000 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-footprints-recovery-extinction/">fossils</a> have been recovered.

"All these fossils occur in a layer no more than 10 cm thick," palaeontologist Ken Lacovara told the BBC. "They died suddenly and were buried quickly. It tells us this is a moment in geological time. That's days, weeks, maybe months. But this is not thousands of years; it's not hundreds of thousands of years. This is essentially an instantaneous event."

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39922998">BBC</a>

Asteroid that killed dinosaurs struck the “worst possible place”

An asteroid that hit the Gulf of Mexico 66 million...

Authorities have seized 330 exotic tortoises from Madagascar that were being smuggled into Malaysia, <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MALAYSIA_MADAGASCAR_TORTOISES?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-05-15-06-23-11">AP</a> reported.

The live tortoises, valued at $276,721, were packed into five boxes and labeled as stones, said Deputy customs director Abdull Wahid Sulong. He said 325 Indian Star tortoises and five Ploughshare tortoises, usually kept as pets, arrived via Etihad Airways from Antananarivo Airport in Madagascar on Sunday.

Acting on a tip, customs officials found the boxes at the Kuala Lumpur <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rhinoceros-horns-malaysian-airport/">airport</a> cargo warehouse on the same day, Abdull Wahid said.

Importing exotic tortoises requires a special permit from Malaysia's Wildlife Department. No arrests were made and the case is still under investigation, Abdull Wahid said.

Airport customs officials two weeks ago seized African pangolin scales worth $2.1 million at the airport cargo warehouse. Last month, they confiscated 18 rhino horns worth $3.1 million believed to have been flown in from Mozambique and declared as art objects.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MALAYSIA_MADAGASCAR_TORTOISES?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-05-15-06-23-11">AP</a>

Malaysia seizes 330 exotic tortoises at airport

Authorities have seized 330 exotic tortoises from Madagascar that were...

Using animal fossils as clues, paleoanthropologists are piecing together what the environment that gave rise to early humans might have looked like.

Researchers with Arizona State University’s <a href="https://iho.asu.edu/">Institute of Human Origins</a> have been piecing together the puzzle of the ancient ecology of Ethiopia’s lower Awash Valley for years. The site in eastern Africa is where <a href="http://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State</a> anthropologists discovered the oldest known evidence of the Homo genus, a jawbone estimated to be 2.8 million years old, in 2013.

Since then, paleoanthropologists have used animal fossils to try and infer the environment that was home to this ancient human ancestor.

The fossil record of an area can help scientists piece together ancient environs, based on the primary adaptations of most of the animals that once lived there. For example, if most of the animal fossils in the area from that time period show adaptations for wooded areas – teeth that are adapted for eating leaves, long necks, prehensile tails or paws meant for climbing – that offers clues to an environment that may no longer exist.

The Awash Valley is desert scrubland now, but animal fossils from 3.5 to 1 million years ago show the area may have been a verdant grassland at the time the ancient jawbone’s owner was alive, the ASU researchers found.

Almost all of the animal fossils from the same time period found with the Homo jawbone in the lower Awash show evidence that the animals they came from fed on grass, according to the researchers. This was true even of animals that they knew fed on leaves before that time period, they said.

Researchers used stable isotopes to properly date the fossils they studied.

The shift in the region from woodlands to grasslands indicates a cooling period that coincides with the disappearance of Australopithecus and the rise of early human ancestors. 

However, unlike the surrounding animals, early humans’ diet didn’t seem to change much as it shifted from one genus to another.

"We weren't necessarily surprised that the diet of early Homo was similar to Australopithecus, but we were surprised that its diet didn't change when those of all the other animals on the landscape did,” co-author Dr. Christopher Campisano said in a press release.

Still, the change in environment seems to have played some role in the evolution from Australopithecus to early human.

"Although Lucy's species persisted through many environmental changes in the Hadar sequence, it seems the species was unable to persist as really open environments spread in the Afar during the late Pliocene," said co-author John Rowan, a graduate student at ASU.

The researchers plan to use the same methodologies to see if other early hominin sites show similar environmental shifts.

The study will be published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>. Research was funded by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.templeton.org/">John Templeton Foundation</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image credit: Josh Robinson, Institute of Human Origins

Animal fossils give anthropologists key to recreating early human environment

Using animal fossils as clues, paleoanthropologists are piecing together what...

Climate change is interfering with the delicate seasonal clocks of North American songbirds, which could threaten their survival, a new study says.

Birds leaving their winter homes in Central and South America for the north need to arrive in time to take advantage of the early-season boom in insects that emerge with springtime plant growth.

But in many regions, warming temperatures are triggering plants to begin their growth earlier or later than normal, disturbing biological cycles and seasonal clocks, according to the study published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

"It's like 'Silent Spring,' but with a more elusive culprit," said Stephen Mayor, a postdoctoral researcher with the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a> at the<a href="http://www.ufl.edu/"> University of Florida</a> and first author of the study. "We're seeing spring-like conditions well before birds arrive. The growing mismatch means fewer birds are likely to survive, reproduce and return the following year. These are birds people are used to seeing and hearing in their backyards.”

A multi-institutional team led by Mayor analyzed data from satellites and citizen scientists to determine how quickly the interval between spring plant growth and the arrival of 48 songbird species across North America changed from 2001 to 2012. The researchers found the gap lengthened by more than a half a day per year across all species on average, a rate of five days per decade. However, for some species, the mismatch is growing at double or triple that rate.

As climate change shifts the timing of when plants put out new leaves - a temperature-driven process known as green-up - migrating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-challenges-gulf-mexico/">birds</a> become more likely to reach breeding grounds when temperatures are still frigid and food is scarce or after insect numbers have begun to dwindle.

The researchers found green-up is beginning earlier in eastern North America and later in the West. Birds that breed primarily in eastern temperate forests tended to lag behind green-up while species that breed in western forests reached breeding grounds too early.

Most of the species studied adjusted their arrival dates,but  the study suggests the rate of change could be outpacing their efforts.

The next phase of the research will be to o determine whether population numbers of bird species that are not adapting to the shift in green-up are falling.

"The natural world is very complex," Mayor said. "When you kick it with a big change by altering the climate, different parts of that natural world respond in different ways. We're just beginning to understand the consequences of this grand unnatural experiment."

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a>

Climate change is altering birds' seasonal clocks

Climate change is interfering with the delicate seasonal clocks of...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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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...

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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"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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