In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by wild killer whales to give food to humans. These rare cases spanned four oceans and 20 years. Some happened near boats, others in open water or even from the shore. 



The events highlight the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">orcas</a>’ possible interest in humans and raise important questions about whale intelligence, communication, and social behavior.



“Orcas often share food with each other - it’s a prosocial activity and a way that they build relationships with each other,” said study lead author Jared Towers, of <a href="https://baycetology.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bay Cetology</a> in British Columbia, Canada. “That they also share with humans may show their interest in relating to us as well.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-lives-of-killer-whales">Social lives of killer whales</h2>



Orcas live some of the most complex social lives in the animal kingdom. They stick together in tight-knit family groups called pods, usually led by an older matriarch. 



These family units aren’t just casual gatherings - they’re lifelong bonds. Calves stay with their mothers for life, swimming, hunting, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/photographer-captures-killer-whales-wearing-fish-hats/">playing together</a>. 



In some regions, pods form larger communities or clans that share unique vocal dialects, kind of like cultural accents passed down through generations. This tight social structure helps them coordinate during hunts and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">protect each other</a> from threats.



But it’s not all business. Orcas socialize for the joy of it too. They engage in what clearly looks like play - tossing kelp, breaching dramatically, or nudging one another during underwater games. 



They form friendships beyond their pods and even flirt, showing preferences and personalities. These interactions suggest that orcas have emotional lives and a sense of identity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-orcas-gave-humans">What orcas gave humans</h2>



The 34 incidents involved six distinct populations of killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-helps-humans-have-20-minute-conversation-with-humpback-whale-named-twain/">whales</a>. They offered humans a total of 18 species: six fish, five mammals, three invertebrates, two birds, one reptile, and even one piece of seaweed.



In 97 percent of these cases, the orcas waited for a human response. Some hovered for several minutes. 



On several occasions, they tried again when the humans ignored or returned the offering. In two especially curious cases, whales retrieved birds after humans returned them, only to offer them again.



This behavior could be a form of interspecies curiosity, communication, or even social learning. As the authors suggest, these events might represent "generalized altruism" - an advanced trait observed in only a few social animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exploration-more-than-play">Exploration more than play</h2>



Though play was observed in 38 percent of the interactions, the researchers argue most cases were not playful. The age of the whales varied widely, and many offered whole, fresh prey. 



In over 75 percent of ignored cases, the whales later used the prey for themselves or their group. This suggests the offerings had purpose and value, not just entertainment.



Curiosity-driven behavior, distinct from play, seemed a stronger motivator. As the study explains, animals often explore to reduce uncertainty. 



Offering food to humans might help orcas learn how we respond, just as they would with unfamiliar members of their own <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-blow-bubble-smoke-rings-near-humans-to-communicate/">species</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deep-social-intelligence-at-work">Deep social intelligence at work</h2>



Some whales returned the same item to humans multiple times. Others acted in pairs or small groups. 



Most of the 34 events involved a single whale separating from a larger group. This suggests the act was not for show. Rather, it might reflect the whale's individual decision to interact.



Interestingly, killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-dolphin-brains-evolved-to-see-underwater-by-using-sound-echolocation/">whales</a> have also been documented cooperating with human fishers in places like Australia and Russia. The authors noted that this history could influence modern interactions, especially as human activity increases near their habitats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-may-view-humans-as-companions">Whales may view humans as companions</h2>



Killer whales rank second only to humans in brain-to-body ratio. They also show advanced emotional and social behavior. 



These traits support complex social learning, reciprocal behavior, and possibly even empathy.



“Offering items to humans could simultaneously include opportunities for killer whales to practice learned cultural behavior, explore or play and in so doing learn about, manipulate or develop relationships with us,” the researchers wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-should-not-approach-whales">Humans should not approach whales</h2>



Despite the remarkable nature of these encounters, the researchers urge caution. Orcas can show complex and sometimes unpredictable behavior. 



While no wild killer whale has killed a person, some interactions have been intense. They warn against seeking out such encounters or encouraging the behavior without proper permissions.



Most of these whales belonged to populations that hunt near the surface and share prey frequently. 



No deep-water, fish-only populations were involved. This suggests that cooperative surface hunting may lead to more frequent and visible interspecies interactions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-minds-of-whales-and-humans">Complex minds of whales and humans</h2>



The findings challenge our assumptions about human-animal relationships. If orcas are experimenting with ways to relate to us, it means they recognize us not as threats, but as potential social partners.



These whales are not just predators. They are thinkers, observers, and maybe, in some way, explorers of culture, curiosity, memory, learning, and emotion. 



Their actions suggest complex minds in both whales and humans, capable of choice, empathy, and communication.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-29805-001.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Comparative Psychology</a>. 



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Killer whales are attempting to bond with humans, according to scientists

In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by wild killer whales to give food to humans. These rare cases spanned four oceans and 20 years. Some happened near boats, others in open water or even from the shore. The events highlight the orcas’ possible interest in humans and raise important questions about whale intelligence, communication, and social behavior. “Orcas often share food with each other - it’s a prosocial activity and a way that they build relationships with each other,” said study lead author Jared...

It has been a long time since most humans have had to think about hunting animals for food – at least out of necessity, and given that you’re reading this on the internet that probably applies to you. Because of this, it’s easy to forget the dangers of hunting certain types of game. It’s also likely you’ve never been faced with a decision of which game to hunt for, unless you count standing amongst all the packaged meats at your local grocery store. So the phenomenon known as “prey switching” has likely never been a factor in many of our lives.

Prey switching has been observed amongst predacious species for a long time. It’s the tactic of changing the pursuit of one prey species for another, and can occur for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that a prey species may become less plentiful, so the predator switches to another, more abundant prey. For this reason alone, prey switching is ecologically important, as it helps stabilize wildlife populations.

But there are certain circumstances where a predator would rather hunt a scarce species than go after one that is abundant. 

<a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> researchers Aimee Tallian and Dan MacNulty observed this exact circumstance play out amongst the wolves in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-wild-bison-slaughter/">Yellowstone National Park</a>. The researchers found that Yellowstone wolves seldom hunt bison and instead pursue elk, even though the later is much more scarce.

“Prey switching has been observed in natural systems, where prey are small and generally helpless when attacked by a predator,” says Tallian. This, however, is not the case in Yellowstone. 

The researchers discovered the “data [revealed] wolves maintained a strong preference against bison, even when bison were twice as abundant as elk.” The reason for this: bison are incredibly dangerous game. An adult bull bison can weigh almost a ton.

“Hunting is hazardous business for wolves,” explains MacNulty. The researchers have observed wolves being kicked, gored, and stomped to death in the pursuit of large bison and other prey. “Wolves minimize the risk of injury by focusing on more vulnerable prey, which are generally rare.”

The study also revealed that wolves became increasingly resistant to hunting bison as the bison population increased. This is likely due to the fact that hunting bison becomes easier when the herd is smaller and wolves are able to target the more vulnerable and less dangerous calves.

Rather than hunting live bison, most wolves stuck to scavenging on bison carrion, which became more frequent as bison populations increased. Tallian believes an increase in bison carrion consumption also helps stabilize elk population dynamics, saying, “The ability of wolves and other predators to shift between hunting and scavenging is an under-appreciated behavior that may play an important role in the dynamics of ecological communities with dangerous prey.” 

Observations like the ones made in this study help us better understand the hunting behaviors and strategies of these predators, as well as how they impact the ecosystem as a whole.

--

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="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a>

Image: Daniel Stahler, NPS

Yellowstone wolves avoid hunting bison as a means of self-preservation

It has been a long time since most humans have...

Try not to worry about this too much as you check into a hotel or motel, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-remains-bed-bug/">bed bugs</a> are becoming ever-more resistant to insecticides – and the main cause is world travel. That’s according to a study conducted at <a href="http://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a> and published this month in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

The researchers used bed bugs contributed from the field and found significantly reduced susceptibility to the treatment chemical chlorfenapyr among three of the ten bed bug populations, and to bifenthrin among half of the populations. Reduced susceptibility was defined as when more than 25 percent of the bugs had survived after seven days’ exposure to the insecticide.

This is in addition to the already noted significant resistance shown by the common bed bug to the chemical deltamethrin and some other pyrethroid-based insecticides.

Organisms can develop resistance to chemical treatments after generations of exposure, so it takes continuous development of new chemicals to control a pest population. One factor to the bed bugs’ advantage is that their eggs aren’t vulnerable to the insecticides, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a>.

Travelers can pick up bed bugs in hotels and inadvertently take them home in shoes, clothing or luggage.

<a href="https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/do-it-yourself-bed-bug-control">The EPA offers this advice</a> on how to attempt to control the pests with and without insecticides, but be warned in advance – it ain’t fast or easy.

“There is a plethora of research that has shown that if insecticides are integrated with additional control measures such as vacuuming, steam or heat, mattress encasements, traps, and desiccant dusts, effective bed bug control can be accomplished and theoretically this should reduce the risk of resistance build-up in populations,” said Ameya D. Gondhalekar, Ph.D., research assistant professor at <a href="https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/urban/">Purdue's Center for Urban and Industrial Pest Management</a> and a member of the research team.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/110/2/i5/3574029/Journal-of-Economic-Entomology-April-2017-Volume?redirectedFrom=fulltext"> Journal of Economic Entomology</a>

Bed bugs becoming increasingly resistant to insecticides

Try not to worry about this too much as you...

Reef fish play a critical role in their environment by eating algae that may kill <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dead-zones-coral-reefs/">coral</a> or overtake a reef if left unchecked. This means that the more algae a fish eats, the more a fragile ecosystem like a coral reef can flourish and thrive.

A study from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> analyzed the social feeding behavior of reef fish and found that overfishing not only devastates the populations of algae-eaters, but also may cause the fish left behind to consume less algae.

The research team, led by Mike Gil, a <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> postdoctoral research fellow at <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">UC Davis</a>, conducted the study off the island of Mo’orea in French Polynesia. They remotely monitored reef fish through mounted arrays of video cameras in large stands that were placed inside the coral reef. From the video footage, they measured how fish responded to one another in both the presence and absence of predators.

The team found that fish actually react to social situations similar to humans. Fish tend to copy the behaviors of others, such as swimming to a particular area of the reef to eat algae or quickly fleeing from a predator. These observations lead scientists to believe that the feeding behavior of the reef fish community may be more complex than once thought.

“Even though these fish don’t swim in schools, our study shows that they’re influencing one another,” says Gil. “They eat more algae when they’re surrounded by more fish. We don’t know why that is, but it likely has to do with safety in numbers. These fish may perceive that their chances of getting killed by a predator, like a shark, are reduced when more prey are around.”

The researchers believe these results show that past predictive models, which don’t take fish social behaviors into account, could be mischaracterizing how certain reefs respond to fishing. This is an important revelation, as overfishing continues to decimate fish populations around the world. 

More information on this study can be found in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.</a>

--

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="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a>

Social lives of reef fish are crucial to saving coral reefs

Reef fish play a critical role in their environment by...

Comb jellies steal title of oldest animals, sparking outrage amongst the sponge community

Although the scientific community is generally supportive of most avenues of research and forms of methodology, there are some questions that put scientists at odds. For the last decade, zoologists in particular have been arguing over the question, “what is the oldest branch of the animal family tree?” 

It has been long thought that sponges were the earliest animals, as scientists have organized the animal family tree based mostly on their judgment of the relative complexity of groups of organisms – and it doesn’t get much less complex than a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dead-zones-coral-reefs/">sponge</a>. 

However, it has been argued that a group of marine predators called comb jellies – also known as ctenophores – were actually the first members of the animal kingdom. The answer to this question could have a significant effect on how scientists’ think about the evolution of the nervous system, digestive tract, and other basic organs that are necessary to our survival today.

A team of evolutionary biologists from <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a> and the <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> believe they have come up with the answer. The researchers designed a new approach specifically built to settle this phylogenetic tree-of-life argument – and the comb jellies won.

In the field of phylogenomics, scientists are causing a paradigm shift due to the wealth of information provided by the DNA of every living – and non-living – organism. Genetic information can be used to define and redefine evolutionary relationships. However, in some cases the bloom of available genetic information has only intensified controversies such as the sea sponge vs. comb jelly battle royale. 

In 2008, one of the earliest phylogenomic studies pointed to the comb jelly as the earliest member of the animal kingdom, sparking a controversy that ignited the zoological community more so than if it had been doused in gasoline. 

In response to the 2008 study, a corresponding study was published last month that included a massive amount of genetic data ultimately supporting the sponge’s claim to the first animal throne.

“The current method that scientists use in phylogenomic studies is to collect large amounts of genetic data, analyze the data, build a set of relationships and then argue that their conclusions are correct because of various improvements they have made in their analysis,” says Antonis Rokas, Professor of Biological Sciences at <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a>. “This has worked extremely well in 95 percent of the cases, but it has led to apparently irreconcilable differences in the remaining 5 percent.”

In an effort to shine some light on these darkened battlegrounds, Rokas and his collaborators focused on 18 of these controversial relationships. They did so by comparing the individual genes of the leading contenders in each relationship.

“In these analyses, we only use genes that are shared across all organisms,” explains Rokas. “The trick is to examine the gene sequences from different organisms to figure out who they identify as their closest relatives. When you look at a particular gene in an organism, let’s call it A, we ask if it is most closely related to its counterpart in organism B? Or to its counterpart in organism C? And by how much?”

The research team would perform this analysis with hundreds of thousands of genes, comparing the results from each gene to one of the two possible hypotheses. In the end, they found that comb jellies have significantly more genes that support their “first to diverge” status in the animal lineage.

It remains to be seen if this is the final word on the comb jellies vs. sea sponges front. However, it appears to be the most comprehensive argument to date. The researchers are confident that their analysis can be used to settle disputes such as this throughout the scientific community. “We believe that our approach can help resolve many of these long-standing controversies and raise the game of phylogenetic reconstruction to a new level,” says Rokas.

More information on this study can be found in the journal Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution.

--

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="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a>

Marine jellies were the first animals, not sea sponges

Comb jellies steal title of oldest animals, sparking outrage amongst...

A new study from the <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a> finds that the sensory system in fish fins evolves in parallel to the fin shape and mechanics. This means that the fin shape is actually specifically tuned to work with the fish’s swimming technique. This connection was found across a wide range of fish species.

In their study, researchers combined measurements of fin shape from hundreds of specimens of the Labridae family with recorded fin mechanical properties and neural responses from eight Labrid species – which are commonly known as wrasses.

They then mapped these measurements on an evolutionary tree of 340 wrasses in order to determine how the mechanical properties and nervous systems of the fins evolved over time. Brett Aiello, a PhD student in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and the lead author of the study, explains: “As pectoral fins evolve different shapes, behaviors, and mechanical properties, we've shown that the sensory system is also evolving with them. This allows the sensory system to be tuned to the different stimuli relevant to the locomotor behaviors and fin mechanics of different species.”

Animals rely on sensory feedback from their limbs to control motion, it’s what helps us walk and run effectively and is the reason we feel an immediate sense of terror when we miss that last stair. In fish, the nerves in their pectoral fins detect the fin rays’ position and how much they bend as they move through the water. This helps the fish get a sense of their speed and the relative position of their fins.

The shape of a fish’s fin also affects how a fish will move. Wrasses with wing-like fins tend to flap them to maximize efficiency and thrust as they propel themselves forward. Fish with broader, paddle-like fins use more of a rowing motion to maneuver around the bottoms of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-hurting-coral-reefs/">reefs</a>.

Mark Westneat – a professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and co-author of the study – used DNA from living fishes to construct a family tree of relationships between Labrid species. The researchers analyzed the fin shape of each species on the phylogeny, which allowed them to map the fin evolution from their ancestral state to the current living species.

This reconstruction of the ancestral state revealed patterns of convergent evolution, meaning that wing-like fins actually originated independently at least 22 separate times.

In comparing the evolutionary paths of wing-like fins and paddle-like fins, the researchers found that the sensory systems of the wing-like fins were more sensitive. They believe it might have evolved in these fins instead of the paddle-like fins because the wing-like fins needed to be more responsive to smaller movements.

This type of research was made possible through the collaboration of a multitude of researchers and scientific disciplines. “Collaboration among scientists with different perspectives and expertise can take research in whole new directions,” said Melina Hale, professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and senior author of the study.

Beyond simply helping biologists better understand the swimming mechanics of these fish, the results of this study may also be useful in helping engineers develop autonomous underwater vehicles. Evolution has helped shape the fins of every fish species to their specific purpose, why not incorporate some of these mechanisms into our own mechanical designs?

“If we start to look more towards bio-inspired technology and incorporating some of the things we see in nature in our engineered devices, I think it will help advance and solve some of these problems more quickly,” remarked Aiello.

More information on this study can be found in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

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.uchospitals.edu/index.shtml">University of Chicago Medical Center</a>

Photo Credit: Brett Aiello, <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a>

Fish nervous systems evolved along with fin design

A new study from the University of Chicago finds that...

It was a heartbreaking find at the Malaysian airport in Kuala Lumpur. Authorities, relying on a tip, seized 18 rhinoceros horns in the airport’s cargo warehouse crated as art objects, according to the Associated Press. The cargo had a fake air bill and presumably came from Mozambique.

Airport customs director Hamzah Sundang said the horns transited in Doha, Qatar. No arrests were made at this time.

In a report issued last year, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC called Malaysia a world transit hub, and a major link to Kenya and Uganda, for the flow of tons of illicit elephant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-ivory-trade-ban/">ivory</a> between Africa and Asia.

There’s a significant black market for rhinoceros horns because they’re prized throughout parts of Asia where they’re said to have medicinal as well as artistic value. As a result of illegal hunting of the rare savannah mammal, the worldwide rhino population, which was at around a half million just a few decades ago, has shrunk to 30,000.

In an article published in 2013, The Atlantic said that rhino horns traffic for as much as $300,000 in Vietnam because of such healthcare myths as the horn being a cure for cancer and hangovers. At a result, the value is literally more than the per-kilogram price of gold. The article also mentioned a $650,000 armed heist of a museum in Dublin, Ireland where only the horns were taken.

Prices had fallen considerably when China and other nations froze the market for the horns, but a resurgence occurred in 2008 when the false cancer elixir rumors started in Vietnam. Today, all five remaining rhino species are officially listed as Threatened, and three of the five species are Critically Endangered.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.apnews.com/f0da0eb77e924885a0b6ef454e66b73b/Malaysia-seizes-18-rhino-horns-from-Mozambique"> Associated Press</a>,<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino-horn-cost-300-000-because-vietnam-thinks-it-cures-cancer-and-hangovers/275881/"> The Atlantic</a>

Rhinoceros horns worth $3 million seized in Malaysian airport

It was a heartbreaking find at the Malaysian airport in...

Blackfish (2013)

“A whale has eaten one of the trainers.”

The shaky-voiced 911 call in Orlando in 2010 wasn’t accurate, but the killer whale Tilikum had indeed pulled veteran SeaWorld whale trainer Dawn Brancheau into the water and drowned her. Brancheau’s death would be the third associated with the orca, or killer whale.

As a cause-oriented documentary, Blackfish did indeed make a splash upon its 2013 release. It took on the entire SeaWorld business model of holding and training the whales for the entertainment of audiences. It made a case for the practice as being a risk to trainers and a tragedy for whales snatched from their social pods and contained in space too small for the needs of marine mammals who might travel a hundred miles or more in a single day in the wild. 

The film was certainly effective. SeaWorld stock dropped after its 2013 release, audience numbers plummeted and the entertainment company went out of its way to defend its treatment of the killer whales and the training and safety protocol of the animals’ trainers.  In 2014, SeaWorld announced that it would build larger enclosures with more natural elements for the whales. Two years later, the company announced that they were going to phase out its killer whale shows and build its first park without a killer whale presence from the start (in Abu Dhabi UAE). 

Whale hunt

Early in the film, we see 1970 footage of a heartbreaking whale capture off the coast of Washington State conducted on behalf of another orca show – not SeaWorld. Pursuers in boats and by air drop explosives into the water to drive the whales to a capture point, then separate mothers from their young. The whale show only wants the younger and lighter marine mammals to hold down shipping costs. We can hear the mother whales wailing as their panicky young are caught. Three whales are accidentally killed during the hunt. A grizzled contemporary diver who hired on for the roundup briefly loses his composure as he calls it one of the worst things he’s ever done. 

The film establishes the fact that killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/false-killer-whales-danger-extinction/">whales</a> are intensely social creatures who stay within visual sight of their mothers for life. Later in the film, when we learn of two instances of SeaWorld separating mother and child, and the company responds that no calves were taken away – that, in fact, the younger animals were twelve and four-and-a-half years of age – Blackfish viewers might wonder if that softens the impact.

Psychotic whale

When Washington State forbad further orca capture in its waters, the whale hunters moved to Iceland. That’s where the killer whale known as Tilikum was captured as a two-year-old in 1983. It was taken to Sealand of the Pacific, a dismal Canadian water show.

That’s where, in 1991, a trainer named Keltie Byrne was pulled into the water and drowned. There were several witnesses, but court testimony disagrees as to which of several orcas actually grabbed and drowned the trainer. However, two grown sisters who witnessed the events two decades in the past tell the camera it was definitely the male – Tilikum.

Later, when Sealand went under, Tilikum was sold to SeaWorld Orlando. Living in close quarters with two females out of his natural social pod, one of the many disdainful former SeaWorld trainers interviewed said that he was frequently bullied, his flesh raked bloody by the teeth of the others. 

In 1999, a man named Daniel Dukes apparently hid away in the park and was found dead the next morning, his nude lifeless body on Tilikum’s back. As with the previous death, it was impossible to conclusively state that the big orca had caused the fatality, but evidence pointed that way. 

The documentary points toward the capture, the training methods, the lack of freedom and unnatural social structure turning the mammal into a killer. Is that a too-easy anthropomorphic explanation – a way of attributing human characteristics to animals who can’t actually form thoughts or emotions that complex? 

SeaWorld responds

In its response to the popularity of Blackfish and the subsequent hit on its business, SeaWorld Entertainment responded to several key points. One key argument is that the critical former whale trainers hadn’t been with the company for many years, and some had little whale-training experience while with SeaWorld. 

The company also said that the scientists interviewed on-air had no captive whale experience and were active animal rights activists who brought a one-sided perspective. On the other hand, the Blackfish director said that SeaWorld refused involvement in the project.

Here’s where you can read the <a href="https://seaworldcares.com/the-facts/truth-about-blackfish/">SeaWorld rebuttal on Blackfish</a>. 

Blackfish has a definite point of view, and expresses it eloquently.  

--

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth.com Film Review, Blackfish (2013)

Blackfish (2013) “A whale has eaten one of the trainers.”...

A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a> recently identified the skeleton of the oldest known member of an extinct group of large, semi-aquatic reptiles – known as phytosaurs – that lived during the Triassic Period.

This group of animals, distantly related to crocodylians, lived approximately 200 to 250 million years ago. The new fossil pre-dates all other phytosaur fossils by about 5 million years, filling a critical evolutionary gap that now helps scientists understand how this reptile evolved.

The animal in question is known as Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis – an exciting name for an exciting creature. It had been previously labeled as a poposauroid, which is a group of animals that is more closely related to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/take-look-brand-new-species-crocodile/">crocodiles</a>. 

Michelle Stocker, lead author of the paper published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a> and assistant professor of geosciences at <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a>, saw a photo of the fossil in a paper published back in 2012. She then met with the other co-authors in China in 2015 in order to re-examine the bones.

According to Stocker, the shape of the reptile’s head, shoulder, and skeleton bones is what led to them linking the animal to the phytosaurs. Furthermore, the anatomical revelations of a shorter snout and smaller body size led researchers to conclude that phytosaurs evolved their long snout and large body size much later than previously thought.

“So much of our study of the fossil record is about filling in the gaps in our knowledge of how animals came to look as they do or live where they are, and Diandongosuchus does that for phytosaurs,” says Stocker. “We're never done filling in those gaps.”

--

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="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a>

Image Credit: Xiao-chun Wu

Ancient reptile skeleton helps fill critical gap in the fossil record

A team of researchers from Virginia Tech recently identified the...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.dkfz.de/en/">German Cancer Research Center</a> have turned to an unusual source for information about human metabolism and cold tolerance: obese fruit flies.

While the little insects carry extra weight differently than humans do – they do have an exoskeleton, after all – they share a genetic marker with humans called THADA. The gene helps the flies burn fat, and is also one of the key genetic markers that varies between people from the Arctic and tropical populations.

When the researchers knocked out the gene in the insects, they ended up with obese fruit flies that burn less energy.

The gene may offer a clue as to how human populations in northern latitudes have faster metabolisms than those in tropical regions.

Those in colder climes often have the THADA gene, while tropical populations generally don’t, the scientists said.

“When you remove THADA, then the cells store more fat and produce less heat. When you restore THADA function, the cells store less fat and burn more energy,” Dr. Aurelio Teleman, a study co-author, said in a press release. “It's a metabolic regulator that affects the balance between how much energy your body turns into fat versus how much of it gets burned.”

The researchers tested the flies’ ability to tolerate cold using a walk-in refrigerator. The obese fruit flies took longer to recover from freezing temperatures than the flies with their THADA gene intact.

“We suspected that fatter animals would have better insulation and be more resistant to the cold, but in this case, they were more sensitive to cold,” co-author Dr. Alexandra Moraru said. 

Though humans and fruit flies are different, the study reinforces observations about obesity and metabolism in human communities. In colder climates where the THADA gene is more common, the faster metabolism linked to it helps to keep cells warmer and better resist the cold. In tropical locales, where keeping warm isn’t an issue, faster metabolism isn’t as important for survival.

When the scientists restored the obese fruit flies’ THADA or added human THADA to their genomes, they regained their faster metabolism.

That indicates that the THADA gene plays a role in regulating metabolism in both humans and fruit flies, the researchers said.

“All the hints are there that THADA will probably be an important metabolic regulator in mammals as well,” Teleman said.

The team will now work with another group of researchers in the UK to study how the THADA gene is expressed in mice.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/fulltext/S1534-5807(17)30169-7">Developmental Cell</a>. It was funded by the <a href="https://www.krebshilfe.de/">Deutsche Krebshilfe</a> and the <a href="http://www.dfg.de/en/funded_projects/current_projects_programmes/index.jsp">Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB1118</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Obese fruit flies teach scientists about cold tolerance

Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center have turned to...

If you have a dog around your very young children, it could increase their level of bacteria – and that’s the good news. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/">University of Alberta</a> in Canada have found that children who are exposed to household pets  -- 70 percent of which were dogs – from when the child is in the womb to as late as about the first three months of age have an increase in their levels of ruminococcus and oscillospira. These two strains of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rain-moves-bacteria-across-borders/">bacteria</a> help build up kids’ immune systems and have been linked with protection against childhood allergies and obesity. But the researchers point back to the very narrow window of opportunity. It won’t do much good to get your kids a dog when they’re two or three or starting school.

But for the very young children born into a doggie household, the presence of these two protective bacteria is double over those found in the fecal matter of children not born into a family with pets, said study leader Anita Kozyrskyj, a University of Alberta pediatric epidemiologist and a leading researcher on gut microbes. Those are microorganisms or bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of humans and animals.

More good news. The enhanced bacterial presence even showed up in elevated levels in pet-owning households where the births involved scenarios in which immunity deficiencies are typically noted: when birth was by C-section, when antibiotics were used during birth and when breastfeeding was not practiced.

The study further suggested that pets in the household reduced the likelihood of the transmission of vaginal GBS (group B Strep) during birth, which causes pneumonia in newborns and is prevented by giving mothers antibiotics during delivery.

Kozyrskyj’s team examined fecal samples collected from infants registered in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development study to build upon twenty years of research that’s shown children who grow up with dogs have lower rates of asthma.

The working theory is that the early-life exposure to pets’ dirt and bacteria strengthens the immunity system.

Kozyrskyj said that her group’s findings might someday result in the development of drugs that replicate the protection provided by household pets and spur a greater presence of the protective bacteria.

“It's not far-fetched that the pharmaceutical industry will try to create a supplement of these microbiomes, much like was done with probiotics,” she said.

Results were published in the journal Microbiome.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/12/110746/research-shows-how-household-dogs-protect-against-asthma-and-infection"> Microbiome</a>

How your dog might protect your kids' health

If you have a dog around your very young children,...

Everyone loves animals, right? But on occasion, a species becomes so identified with a particular spot on the map that the animals form a symbiotic relationship with that place: free food and protection for the critters, tourism dollars for the place. Here are a few examples of animals who have really made their mark across the globe.

Burro-loving Oatman, Arizona – It’s really not an exaggeration to say there are as many burros as people in this small, hot, dusty dot on the map along the legendary Route 66. While technically wild, the burros stroll into town each morning, hustle the tourists for the hay cubes known as “burro chow” sold at just about every store, and stroll back out to sleep it off in the desert. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8nn1bgZRAU">Here’s a YouTube video</a>. 

Oatman’s heyday came about a century ago when gold was discovered. The burros worked the mines, but when the gold played out mine management simply released the burros. In fact, much of the state of Arizona is inundated with wild burros that enjoy federal protection. They out-graze the sheep, cause environmental damage and collide with road traffic. But they only cause cash registers to ring in Oatman.

If you visit this vintage Old West town, stay at the Oatman Hotel, in operation since 1902. It’s where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymooned. And buy plenty of burro chow.

Rabbit Island – Okay, so bunnies are cute. But they reproduce like, well, like rabbits. So Okunoshima, an island in Japan, has an abundance of them. And since dogs, cats and other predators are not allowed, and tourists are more than happy to feed them (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY-GncsZ-UE">see for yourself</a>), extinction won’t threaten this furry island population anytime soon. 

During World War II, Okunoshima, which is sometimes known as Usagi Shima (Rabbit Island) for obvious reasons, was used for poison gas development and housed test rabbits. Some stories say that the current herd (yep, look it up) are those survivors, but the Japanese government denies that. They say that these came from a few rabbits introduced after the war.

However they got here, they’re quite tame. And they love handouts. Visitors must take a train, a walk and a ferry to get here, but they certainly come. And they buy bunny food at the ferry station. If you visit, you might also check out the Poison Gas Museum and take in its cautionary message about mankind. 

The Cat Islands of Japan – What’s with the Japanese and their wild animal-dedicated spaces. And yes, it’s plural – islands. There are about a dozen islands located throughout the country that go by the collective title, Nekojima, which means exactly what you probably thought it meant: Cat Island. 

Many in the culture believe that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pooh-cat-walks-tall-new-bionic-legs/">cats</a> bring wealth and good fortune, which is one reason the feline populations have thrived in each of these places. One of the best known destination, Tashirojima, has shrines to cats. 

Just Google “cat islands of Japan” for more information. You’ll also see photos of cats looking pretty sleek and calm for their feral standing. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLLDOyZepY">See what we mean?</a>

Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple of Kathmandu – This complex of intricately carved Hindu and Buddhist temples and shrines sits atop a steep hill in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The first buildings here were constructed in the 5th century, and the site is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 

The holy monkeys are here – and protected – in all their irritating glory and wild enjoyment of life (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKlW-FIXHRI">check it out</a>) because of a Buddhist mythology that’s a bit more raw than most origin stories. They’re supposed to have sprung from the head lice of a god who apparently wasn’t much of a hygiene nut. So if you visit, duck your head, protect your belongings and eat quickly. You should also be aware that, while there’s a car route to Swayambhunath, a leisurely stroll up to the hilltop complex will involve the climbing of 365 stairs.

--

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Earth.com Feature: Animals and Places

Everyone loves animals, right? But on occasion, a species becomes...

If you’re an eastern grey kangaroo, you shouldn’t be in such a rush to leave home. Sticking around mom for longer will make you stronger and heavier (a good thing) and improve your long-term survival odds when on your own in the wild. Those are among the key findings of a research group studying a population of kangaroos in a park in Australia and reported in the pages of <a href="http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/behavioural/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</a>.

The study of 129 offspring and their moms took place over a six-year period at Wilson Promontory National Park, where the kangaroos are tagged and measured and weighed annually. Over that time, the researchers found that those young out-of-pouch kangaroos between the ages of ten and 13 months who stayed in close proximity to their mothers while still suckling were the likeliest to survive their period of weaning. (Hey, it’s a harsh world for ‘roos.) And those juveniles between 18 and 21 months who spent more time with mom had limbs that were six percent longer and they weighed 19 percent more after the age of two than those who strayed earlier.

Another revelation was that juveniles whose mother had another baby in the pouch – an event that can happen annually – tended to spend less time around the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-3-parent-babies-uk/">parent</a>.

The study shows how the familial social dynamics of the kangaroos could affect populations. “These aspects are relevant to conservation when mothers may be harvested or killed by vehicles, as is the case for many large herbivores," said lead author Dr. Wendy King of the <a href="https://www.biology.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences</a>.

Any human mom who’s raised kids will perhaps not be too surprised by this further observation of the research team: eastern grey kangaroo daughters tend to stick around mom longer than the sons, even after they’d been weaned.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2017/04/bouncing-between-social-commitments-harms-offspring"> University of Queensland</a>

Kangaroos do better when they live at home for longer

If you’re an eastern grey kangaroo, you shouldn’t be in...

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

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

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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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