Researchers recently revealed a stunning new species of sea slug glowing in the ocean's darkest depths. Known as the "mystery mollusk" or&nbsp;Bathydevius caudactylus, this nudibranch inhabits the ocean's midnight zone, one of Earth's least-explored realms.



This discovery is more than just a new name on a species list - it's an illuminating dive into our planet's vast, hidden ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mystery-mollusk-in-the-midnight-zone">Mystery mollusk in the midnight zone</h2>



The "mystery mollusk," Bathydevius caudactylus as the scientists officially named it, inhabits the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/highly-unusual-bacteria-discovered-in-deep-sea-corals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocean's deep abyss</a>, also known as the midnight zone.



But this isn't just about a new species - it's about an exciting lifeline into understanding our planet's largest habitat in more depth.



Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (<a href="https://www.mbari.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MBARI</a>) Senior Scientist Bruce Robison steered this explorative venture.



“Thanks to MBARI’s advanced underwater technology, we were able to prepare the most comprehensive description of a deep-sea animal ever made," noted Robison.



"We've invested more than 20 years in understanding the natural history of this fascinating species of nudibranch. Our discovery is a new piece of the puzzle that can help better understand the largest habitat on Earth."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-identifying-the-mystery-mollusk">Identifying the mystery mollusk</h2>



This unusual sea creature was first spotted in the year 2000, during an expedition using the institute's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named Tiburon. It was found gliding through the waters offshore of Monterey Bay at a depth of 2,614 meters (8,576 feet).



Confusion arose when the team initially struggled to identify this creature due to its anomalous appearance - a voluminous hood, a flat tail fringed with numerous, finger-like projections, and a set of colorful internal organs.



But after years of research and countless ROV sightings, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-pigs-unicumbers-strange-stunning-creatures-discovered-abyssal-plains-ccz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mystery</a> was solved - this strange creature is, in fact, a nudibranch or sea slug.



<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="rLItWTv9qr-4019991-12187" type="single"]</div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-nudibranch-unlike-any-other">A nudibranch unlike any other</h2>



The mystery mollusk isn't your ordinary nudibranch. It's the first of its kind known to dwell in the immense open waters of the bathypelagic zone, a region 1,000 to 4,000 meters (3,300 to 13,100 feet) below the ocean surface.



Also, the sightings of this fascinating creature span the Pacific coast of North America, from Oregon to as far south as Southern California. Plus, similar creatures spotted by NOAA researchers in the Mariana Trench hint at the mollusk's potentially widespread existence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-survival-techniques-of-the-sea-slug">Survival techniques of the sea slug</h2>



Surviving in such harsh environments is no easy feat. How does the mystery mollusk manage? Interestingly, it has evolved unique survival strategies.



For instance, unlike most sea slugs that feed by rasping prey off the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-life-100-new-sea-creatures-found-in-chile/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seafloor</a>, it uses its cavernous hood to trap crustaceans, much like a Venus flytrap plant would do.



Moreover, to avoid predators, it has a clear body that blends with the surrounding waters and can emit a bright bioluminescence to deter and distract hungry predators. 



“When we first filmed it glowing with the ROV, everyone in the control room let out a loud ‘Oooooh!’ at the same time. We were all enchanted by the sight,” said MBARI senior scientist Steven Haddock.



“Only recently have cameras become capable of filming bioluminescence in high-resolution and in full color. MBARI is one of the only places in the world where we have taken this new technology into the deep ocean, allowing us to study the luminous behavior of deep-sea animals in their natural habitat.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nudibranch-family-tree-expands">Nudibranch family tree expands</h2>



Beyond its captivating appearance and survival tactics, what really stood out during the research was the mollusc's genetic uniqueness. 



Detailed examination of specific gene sequences emphasized that the mystery mollusk is distinct enough from other known nudibranchs to merit the creation of a new family, Bathydeviidae.



"What is exciting to me about the mystery mollusk is that it exemplifies how much we are learning as we spend more time in the deep sea, particularly below 2,000 meters," said Haddock.



"For there to be a relatively large, unique, and glowing animal that is in a previously unknown family really underscores the importance of using new technology to catalog this vast environment. The more we learn about deep-sea communities, the better we will be at ocean decision-making and stewardship.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wealth-of-deep-sea-discoveries">Wealth of deep-sea discoveries</h2>



This discovery is just one exciting piece in the puzzle of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-deep-sea-squid-discovered-that-broods-giant-eggs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deep-sea exploration</a>. MBARI's state-of-the-art technology has unveiled over 250 previously unknown deep-sea species to date, encouraging us to plunge deeper into these fascinating, otherworldly realms.



“Deep-sea animals capture the imagination. These are our neighbors that share our blue planet. Each new discovery is an opportunity to raise awareness about the deep sea and inspire the public to protect the amazing animals and environments found deep beneath the surface,” said Robison.



Indeed, each new discovery brings us one step closer to fully understanding and protecting our fascinating blue planet. And with this latest revelation of the mystery mollusk, we get to marvel at another fascinating dweller of the deep.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063724001845?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Deep Sea Research</a>.



Image/ Video Credit: MBARI



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Mystery mollusk: Glowing sea slug found in the deep sea

Researchers recently revealed a stunning new species of sea slug glowing in the ocean's darkest depths. Known as the "mystery mollusk" or&nbsp;Bathydevius caudactylus, this nudibranch inhabits the ocean's midnight zone, one of Earth's least-explored realms. This discovery is more than just a new name on a species list - it's an illuminating dive into our planet's vast, hidden ecosystems. Mystery mollusk in the midnight zone The "mystery mollusk," Bathydevius caudactylus as the scientists officially named it, inhabits the ocean's deep abyss, also known as the midnight zone....

Woodland ants play an underestimated role in forest regeneration, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/">Binghamton University</a>. The experts report that ants in the genus Aphaenogaster are powerful seed dispersers that mutually support understory plants such as native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunflowers-use-an-internal-clock-to-bloom-at-optimal-times/">wildflowers</a>.



“Not a lot of people have heard of them, but they are the powerhouse of moving seeds and called ‘keystone dispersers,’” explained study lead author Carmela Buono.



The researchers noted that the majority of&nbsp; North American eastern deciduous forests have regenerated from previous disturbance in the form of clearing for agriculture. In these forests, woodland ants disperse seeds for flowering plants in the forest understory.



Buono said that northeastern North America is one of the major hotspots of ant-plant mutualism, although it also happens in parts of Europe, Australia, South Africa and in northeastern Asia.



“These plants evolved with seeds that have an appendage rich in fats attached to them, and that’s very attractive to woodland ants,” said Buono. “Ants need fats just as much as protein and sugar, and it’s hard to find foods rich in fats in the forest.”



Woodland ants take the fatty seeds to their nests, which are typically found beneath forest litter, inside of logs, or underneath rocks. Here, the seeds are protected from rodents and slugs. After the ants consume the fatty appendages, they disperse the seeds far from where they originated.



“There are so many interesting, intricate parts of this interaction depending on the types of seeds ants prefer, so you can get this beautiful mixing of flower species in forests,” explained Buono.



Compared to old growth forests, there are fewer woodland ants in secondary forests. This is partially due to competition with invasive slugs that are commonly found in regenerated woodlands.



Slugs often prefer forest edges, and secondary forests may be located closer to habitats that slugs prefer, such as open meadows or active farms, said Buono.



"In a large-scale natural experiment (20 sites), we measured seed removal, the abundance of mutualistic partners and other invertebrates interacting with seeds, myrmecochory cover, and diversity, along with ant habitat and forest structure," wrote the researchers. "We found lower and more variable seed removal in secondary forests compared with remnant forests."



Overall, the analysis revealed that mutualist abundance was the primary determinant of the variation in seed removal. The researchers conclude that,&nbsp; in order to restore newer forests to a healthier state, we need to look beyond the trees to the diversity of insects, which play a crucial role in the forest ecosystem.



“Ants are beneficial," said Buono. "They’re not as charismatic as butterflies or bees that help pollinate flowers, but they are just as important."



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3978">Ecology</a>.



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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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Tiny ants make a huge contribution to forest regeneration

Woodland ants play an underestimated role in forest regeneration, according...

A new study led by <a href="https://nau.edu/">Northern Arizona University</a> has revealed that cattle producers in 133 developing countries -&nbsp; including Kenya, Uganda, and India - are much more vulnerable to economic disruption due to livestock depredation by large carnivores. In such lower income areas, even the loss of one animal can have dire consequences.



“For most farmers, livestock represents a key - if not their only - income source. When that livestock is threatened by large predators, it can be financially devastating for them,” explained study senior author Duan Biggs.



The experts found that the amount of meat produced per animal in a developing country is about 31 percent less than that in a developed country, which makes a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/livestock-are-reservoirs-for-antimicrobial-resistant-pathogens/">livestock</a> loss more devastating. According to the research, the loss of a single cow or bull is comparable to a child losing nearly 18 months of calories.&nbsp;



"Our results mirror a lot of the conversations currently taking place in the climate change space; namely that developing economies from the Global South pay the biggest price for conservation, but in this case rather than protecting forests and providing an offset environment for big polluters, they are often the ones paying the price for living alongside species like African lions or tigers - species most of the world loves and wants to see being conserved,” said study lead author Alex Brackowski of Griffith University.



The researchers believe wealthy nations must increase their financial assistance beyond the multibillion-dollar ecotourism industry.&nbsp;



“Our research demonstrates the urgency of developing mechanisms like payments from wealthy urban areas in rich countries where people want predators like lions conserved, to the rural communities in the Global South that bear the costs and risks of living with these fierce and dangerous animals,” said Biggs.



Study co-author Sophie Gilbert takes a western-centric view of the human-animal relationship. She uses economics to stress that the only way for conservation to succeed is for local people to deem what is an acceptable level of wildlife.



“Our work helps show that to become truly nature positive, we need to consider both the benefits and the costs of wildlife to people, and ensure that those bearing the costs of living with wildlife are better supported, financially and otherwise," said Gilbert.



“Only when living with wildlife is stable and viable for local people will the conservation of creatures like large carnivores succeed.”



We can only hope that the local peoples of the Global South have a higher tolerance for predators than the people of many wealthy nations where large predator populations&nbsp; have historically been brutally decimated.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio/">Communications Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Large carnivores are much more costly to developing countries

A new study led by Northern Arizona University has revealed...

In the summer of 2022, reports of dead deer were on the rise in rural properties due to a viral illness. According to the <a href="https://www.urbanaparks.org/officials-suspect-drought-induced-illness-causing-deer-deaths-in-meadowbrook-park/">Urbana Park District</a>, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) occurs in white-tailed deer populations around the state of Illinois every few years. Once deer are infected, they die within days. Now, <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> scientists have identified gene variants in deer that are associated with susceptibility to the virus.



“This is the first time this gene has been sequenced completely in white-tailed deer. This is important because without the sequences, there's no starting point to do any kind of research,” said study co-author Alfred Roca, a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences.&nbsp;



The team sequenced the gene for Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3), a protein that spans membranes in immune cells and helps recognize double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses. When a dsRNA virus enters the cell, TLR3 activates immune defenses, triggering inflammation and priming the rest of the immune system.



The study found dozens of variable sites in the DNA, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Two of the SNPs were significantly more common in uninfected deer.



“Because we found mutations in TLR3 more frequently in EHD-negative animals, we think deer with these mutations are less susceptible to EHD,” said co-author <a href="https://ansc.illinois.edu/directory/yishida">Yasuko Ishida</a>.



Many white-tailed deer are exposed to EHD in their lifetimes, but only some will die from the disease. Outbreaks occur every three to five years, when environmental conditions favor the life cycle of midges that carry the virus.&nbsp;



Midges spend their larval stages in mud under the ponds and puddles that deer drink from during drought conditions. In the late summer, the water sources dry up, and the adult flies emerge to bite and infect deer. This cycle does not occur annually, as it is interrupted by rain or a cold snap.



There are no options available to wildlife managers to prevent outbreaks in natural habitats. The researchers say it's still helpful to understand the genetic underpinnings of the disease. This study will also help to inform the public on what the disease looks like and the severity of an outbreak.&nbsp;



The disease is an increasing threat to the state’s northern regions. Another recent study shows the disease has been slowly but steadily moving northward, either due to climate change or greater reporting.



Study lead author Jacob Wessels completed the research as part of his master’s degree and now serves as a conservation police officer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.



“It’s very complicated to respond to an outbreak of EHD because there are often large numbers of deer found dead near water," said Wessels. "People don’t know what to do when that happens, but we encourage the public to report potential EHD outbreaks to their local IDNR wildlife biologist for the surveillance and future study of the disease."



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14020426">Genes</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Some deer are protected from deadly disease by genetics

In the summer of 2022, reports of dead deer were...

Between 2007 and 2021, invertebrates at Rottnest Island off Western Australia experienced major declines in numbers. A new study from <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/">Curtin University</a> reveals that some molluscs and sea urchins declined in this region by up to 90 percent, and the experts believe that rising temperatures are to blame.



According to study lead author Professor Fred Wells, the west end of Rottnest Island has suffered a “catastrophic decline” in biodiversity.



“Since 1982, we have monitored biodiversity of marine molluscs and echinoderms including sea snails, clams, starfish and sea urchins on rocky reefs at Rottnest Island, Cottesloe, Trigg Point and Waterman,” said Professor Wells.



“Despite being sanctuary zones with the highest level of protection from human activities, we found that Radar Reef and Cape Vlamingh at Rottnest Island had suffered a catastrophic decline in biodiversity between 2007 and 2021, likely due to exposure to the warm Leeuwin Current."



“By contrast, the metropolitan coastline, which is not under the influence of the Leeuwin Current, was found to have well-preserved biodiversity and species richness."



“Overall, at the west end of Rottnest Island, the rocky reefs are badly depleted with a decline of 90 percent or more in biodiversity and density of molluscs."



Professor Wells explained that in recent years, a number of marine heatwaves on the coast of Western Australia caused abnormally high ocean temperatures which impacted the area’s marine plant and animal populations.



“Our surveys in 1982 and 2007 showed Radar Reef and Cape Vlamingh had a mixture of tropical, temperate and WA endemic species. With increased sea temperatures we expected to see the proportion of tropical species increase, but this did not happen at the West End of Rottnest where all three groups declined substantially,” said Professor Wells.



“These findings demonstrate that even with the high degree of protection from direct human activities, these areas are not immune to the effects of global climate change."



“As far as we know, molluscs and echinoderms on other rocky reefs at Rottnest and other areas off the metropolitan coast are in reasonable numbers and we hope that in the near future these can provide larvae for repopulating Radar Reef and Cape Vlamingh.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1075228">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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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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Rising temperatures are decimating marine life

Between 2007 and 2021, invertebrates at Rottnest Island off Western...

The history of life on Earth has experienced several mass extinctions, the greatest of them being the Permian-Triassic extinction event – also known as “the Great Dying” - which occurred 252 million years ago and wiped out 95 percent of life on our planet. Although most scientists agree on its causes – increased volcanic activity and a subsequent spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide that led to global warming, ocean acidification, and marine deoxygenation - precisely how this event unfolded and led to ecological collapse remains a mystery.&nbsp;



Now, in a study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.007">Current Biology</a>, an international team of researchers has analyzed marine ecosystems before, during, and after the mass extinction to clarify the series of events that led to severe ecological destabilization. The investigation revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-loss-weakens-ecosystem-functioning/">biodiversity loss</a> could be the harbinger of a more devastating ecological collapse, a worrisome finding considering the fact that the rate of species loss today is higher than during the Great Dying.



“The Permian-Triassic extinction serves as a model for studying biodiversity loss on our planet today,” said study co-author&nbsp;Peter Roopnarine, a curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology at the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/">California Academy of Sciences</a>. “In this study, we determined that species loss and ecological collapse occurred in two distinct phases, with the latter taking place about 60,000 years after the initial biodiversity crash.”



In order to recreate ancient marine environments, the scientists examined fossils from South China (a shallow sea during the Permian-Triassic transition) and, by sorting species into guilds – groups of species that exploit resources in similar ways – they analyzed predator-prey relationships and determined the functions various ancient species performed. Such simulated food chains helped the experts model the state of the ecosystem before, during, and after the extinction.



“Despite the loss of over half of Earth’s species in the first phase of the extinction, ecosystems remained relatively stable,” reported study lead author Yuangeng Huang, a paleontologist at the <a href="https://en.cug.edu.cn/">China University of Geosciences</a>. However, although inter-species interactions decreased only slightly in the first phase, they dropped significantly in the second one, pushing ecosystems to a tipping point from which they could not recover.



Since ecosystems are more resistant to environmental change when there are multiple species performing similar functions – a phenomenon called “functional redundancy” - biodiversity loss led to an insufficient number of species to perform essential functions and, later on, when global warming and ocean acidification increased, it caused a massive ecological collapse.



These findings highlight the importance of considering functional redundancy when assessing current conservation strategies, as well as the urgent need for action to mitigate biodiversity loss.&nbsp;



“We are currently losing species at a faster rate than in any of Earth’s past extinction events. It is probable that we are in the first phase of another, more severe mass extinction. We cannot predict the tipping point that will send ecosystems into total collapse, but it is an inevitable outcome if we do not reverse biodiversity loss,” Huang concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Biodiversity loss can lead to total ecosystem collapse

The history of life on Earth has experienced several mass...

Melting,Ice,Near,Sirmilik,National,Park,On,Bylot,Island.,Pond

Bowhead <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-threatened-by-lack-of-high-quality-food/">whales</a> are the only whales to spend their entire lives in the Arctic and sub-Arctic, where they use their massive baleen plates to filter out planktonic crustaceans and other prey from the water. They are known to have the largest mouth of any living animal, and the greatest longevity of any mammal – they may live to well over 200 years.



The population of bowhead whales that is found off Alaska spends the winter months in the southwestern Beiring Sea and migrates northwards through the Beiring Strait in spring, as the sea ice opens up. The group spends summer and fall in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, and in the Beaufort Sea off Canada. Since the movements of the whales depend on there being gaps in the sea ice, it is possible that their migration patterns may be changing as global warming affects the extent and timing of sea ice formation.



The Arctic has experienced more rapid climatic change than the global average, with near-surface air temperatures increasing four times faster since 1979, and annual minimum sea ice extent decreasing by 13 percent per decade in the same period. Sea ice that was once perennial in the Chukchi Sea is now considered annual – meaning that the ice is no longer surviving through the melt season.



A new study by researchers from the Marine Mammal Institute at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> has now investigated whether the migratory patterns of the western Arctic bowhead whales is being affected by these changes in sea ice. This group is also known as the Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort (BCB) group of bowhead whales and its migration pathway has already been well established from multiple sources of data, including aerial surveys, satellite tagging, acoustic monitoring, and Indigenous knowledge.



Sea ice is believed to play an important role in the bowheads’ survival. Slow-moving animals may use sea ice as shelter from potential predators, and the ice-covered water might also lend itself to improved communication among the individuals. In the past, the whales would follow the sea ice south through the Bering Strait to their wintering grounds. The Strait would close up again as ice formed in the Chukchi Sea.&nbsp;



But warming temperatures in the Arctic over the past decade have led to sea ice decline and kept the Bering Strait open increasingly into the winter months, said the study’s lead author,&nbsp;<a href="https://mmi.oregonstate.edu/people/angela-szesciorka">Angela Szesciorka</a>, a research associate at the Marine Mammal Institute. The researchers had also received information for the first time that some of the BCB bowhead whales had spent the entire 2018–2019 winter at what is normally their summer foraging grounds in the Amundsen Gulf and eastern Beaufort Sea.



In order to investigate the ways in which whale migratory patterns might have changed, the researchers analyzed 11 years of recordings of bowhead whale calls and songs, made using passive acoustic monitoring devices placed in the Chukchi Sea near the entrance to the Beiring Strait. These recordings were made between 2009 and 2021 and they captured the songs and the simple, low frequency sounds made by whales as they keep in contact with one another.&nbsp;



“Bowheads make a number of non-singing calls, but in the fall, winter and into spring, they are singing,” Szesciorka said. “We think it’s the males who are singing, and that the songs are for courtship purposes. They sing many different songs and they don’t tend to repeat. It’s beautifully complex.”&nbsp;



A total of roughly 22,235&nbsp;h of bowhead song, and 4,669 h of simple, non-song calls was recorded during the study period. These calls gave the researchers an indication of when the whales were present in the vicinity of the Beiring Strait, each year over 11 migration cycles. Data on daily sea ice extent in the Beiring and Chukchi Seas was derived from Sea Ice Index V3.



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5">Movement Ecology</a>, showed that the timing of the whales’ southward movement through the Beiring Strait in fall was significantly correlated with the amount of sea ice cover in the Chukchi Sea. If there was a lot of sea ice present then the southward passage took place early, but it was delayed in years when the extent of sea ice cover was less. In recent years, the diminishing ice cover has also been linked to the first documented cases of whales remaining in their summer grounds throughout the winter.



“The Strait is the only gateway between the Arctic and the Pacific – anything going between the two has to pass through there, like a turnstile,” said study co-author&nbsp;<a href="https://mmi.oregonstate.edu/people/kathleen-stafford">Kathleen Stafford</a>, an associate professor at the&nbsp;<a href="https://mmi.oregonstate.edu/">Marine Mammal Institute</a>, “Not all of the bowheads are passing through this turnstile anymore.”



The researchers also found that spring northward migration was earlier in years when there was less sea ice. Indigenous Traditional Knowledge also suggests that less ice and more open water has shifted the timing of the spring migration by about a month. Those changing migration patterns could impact the Indigenous communities that rely on bowhead whales for nutritional, cultural and spiritual subsistence, the researchers said.



“Bowheads have been hunted for millennia by Arctic peoples, but in the fall of 2019, there were no whales in reach of Indigenous hunters in Utqiagvik, Alaska,” Stafford said. “That has the potential to decrease food security in these communities, and that is problematic.”



“The lack of ice means they are losing this critical habitat, and as a result, we’re seeing that these whales are not leaving the Arctic anymore for the winter,” Szesciorka said. “Without that ice, there could be changes in bowhead availability for the Indigenous people who rely on the whales. The lack of ice also opens the door for other species to move into the Arctic, resulting in competition for resources, potential predation and increased human interaction due to ship strikes or entanglement in fishing gear.”



“There are some big questions for future study: Will bowheads be at increased risk of ship strikes or fishing gear entanglement if the lack of sea ice leads to increased fishing or other ship traffic? Bowheads aren’t typically around vessels, and they may not know how to respond,” Szesciorka said.



“This change is happening very quickly, and it is unclear what the potential impacts might be as the Arctic continues to warm.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Bowhead whales are delaying migration as Arctic ice declines

Bowhead whales are the only whales to spend their entire...

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of flight have a specialized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-wing-shape-is-driven-by-environment-and-behavior/">wing</a> structure called the propatagium, without which they could not fly. For a long time, the evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery. Now, by conducting statistical analyses of arm joints preserved in fossils of nonavian dinosaurs, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> has found that this structure may have first emerged in these prehistoric creatures.



Scientists have long known that modern birds evolved from various lineages of dinosaurs, which had some of the features now unique to birds, such as feathers or particular types of bone structures. The recent discovery of the possible origins of the propatagium sheds new light on the origins of bird flight.



“At the leading edge of a bird’s wing is a structure called the propatagium, which contains a muscle connecting the shoulder and wrist that helps the wing flapping and makes bird flight possible,” said study senior author Tatsuya Hirasawa, an associate professor of Evolution and Vertebrate Paleontology at Tokyo.&nbsp;



“It’s not found in other vertebrates, and it’s also found to have disappeared or lost its function in flightless birds, one of the reasons we know it’s essential for flight. So, in order to understand how flight evolved in birds, we must know how the propatagium evolved. This is what prompted us to explore some distant ancestors of modern birds, theropod dinosaurs.”



Theropod dinosaurs - such as the well-known Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor – had arms instead of wings and were incapable of flight. Thus, if scientists could find evidence of the existence of the propatagium in these dinosaurs, it would help explain the evolutionary transition from arms to wings. However, since the propatagium consists of soft tissues that don’t fossilize well, scientists needed an indirect method of identifying the presence or lack of this structure in theropods.&nbsp;



“The solution we came up with to assess the presence of a propatagium was to collect data about the angles of joints along the arm, or wing, of a dinosaur or bird,” said lead author Yurika Uno, a graduate student from Hirasawa’s lab. “In modern birds, the wings cannot fully extend due to the propatagium, constraining the range of angles possible between connecting sections. If we could find a similarly specific set of angles between joints in dinosaur specimens, we can be fairly sure they too possessed a propatagium. And through quantitative analyses of the fossilized postures of birds and nondinosaurs, we found the telltale ranges of joint angles we hoped to.”



This method revealed that the propatagium most likely evolved in a group of dinosaurs called maniraptoran theropods, which included the Velociraptor. This hypothesis was confirmed when the experts identified this structure in preserved soft tissue fossils of the feathered oviraptorosaurian&nbsp;Caudipteryx&nbsp;and winged dromaeosaurian&nbsp;Microraptor.&nbsp;



Although it is now known when the propatagium emerged, a more difficult question which will need further research has to do with the reasons for its emergence and further development in non-flying prehistoric creatures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40851-023-00204-x">Zoological Letters</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

What is the evolutionary origin of birds’ wings?

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of...

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually clear that their furry friends enjoy the experience due to their positive reactions. This is not only the case for popular <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pets-are-unrecognized-victims-of-climate-related-disasters/">pets</a> such as dogs and cats, but for all kinds of animals, including calves.&nbsp;



In fact, not only do calves exhibit positive reactions to physical contact from humans, but a new study has concluded that as little as five minutes of socialization can make them happier and healthier.&nbsp;



The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Florida Department of Animal Sciences, specifically studying the behaviors exhibited by calves after being fed. According to lead investigator Dr. Emily K. Miller-Cushon, calves often show distressed behavior after being fed, such as sucking or chewing on their housing pens or bedding, on their pen-mates or human handlers.



The researchers randomly assigned 28 Holstein heifer calves to individual or paired housing from birth, standardizing human contact with them for seven weeks through health exams and feeding.&nbsp;



During the weaning period at around six weeks into the study, additional human contact was introduced throughout a four-day study period. Each calf received extra human contact on two of these days, and an extra five minutes of neck scratches on the other two days.&nbsp;



The enjoyment that calves get from neck scratches is curious, but there is an explanation. “We know from previous research that calves seem to enjoy tactile contact including brushing from humans," explained Dr. Miller-Cushon.&nbsp;



“This kind of contact can reduce their heart rates, and calves lean into the scratches and stretch out their necks for more. Calves are active and seek stimulation following milk-feeding, so providing more things to do, like brushing, may calm calves, reducing sucking behaviors after feeding and increasing rest."



After the study period, the researchers analyzed video recordings of the calves and their behaviors, concluding that both human contact and socialization with other calves positively impacted the well-being of each animal. Sucking behaviors were reduced and this resulted in them resting more, ultimately helping to promote calmness and overall health.&nbsp;



While the study’s results were clearly positive, the experts noted that there was no evidence to show that human contact could completely eradicate sucking behaviors in calves.&nbsp;



“Our findings showed benefits of human contact, but the results also suggest that our work is not done in finding the most beneficial and natural methods of feeding and housing our dairy calves," said Dr. Miller-Cushon.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.jdscommun.org/">JDS Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</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.

Human contact reduces stress in dairy calves

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually...

Today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/linking-national-parks-could-help-mammals-survive/">mammals</a> range in body size from pygmy shrews, with a mass of around 2g, to blue whales that weigh 180 tons. These vastly different body sizes are associated with different growth rates. Not only do large mammals grow faster than reptiles, they also grow faster than small mammals. However, this is not the case with dinosaurs.&nbsp;



The meat-eating theropod dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth also had wildly differing body sizes. Some were likely only a few kilograms in mass, while others, such as the giant T. rex, weighted in at around 8 tons. Recently, scientists investigating differences in growth rates between dinosaur species found, to their surprise, that there was no relationship between body size and growth rate in these dinosaurs.&nbsp;



“Most animals are thought to evolve to be larger by growing faster than their ancestors, but this study shows that it’s just as likely that bigger and smaller animals grew for longer or shorter periods of time during growth spurts,” said Michael D. D’Emic, a paleontologist at Adelphi University and lead author of the study.



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adc8714">Science</a>, makes use of data from fossil bones to estimate the growth rates of different species of dinosaurs. The bones of dinosaurs show lines of arrested or slowed growth every year, leaving marks like tree rings that indicate the animal’s age and can be used to estimate the rate of growth.&nbsp;



“Rings like these are called cortical growth marks,” said D’Emic. “Widely spaced rings indicate faster growth and narrowly spaced rings tell us that an animal was growing more slowly.”



D’Emic, along with <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/">Ohio University</a> professor Patrick O’Connor and Ph.D. student Riley Sombathy, and a team of international researchers, measured about 500 growth rings in the fossilized bones of about 80 different species of theropods.&nbsp;



“We found that there was no relationship between growth rate and size,” said D’Emic. “Some gigantic dinosaurs grew very slowly, slower than alligators do today. And some smaller dinosaurs grew very fast, as fast as mammals that are alive today.”&nbsp;



This made sense to co-author Thomas Pascucci, whose graduate thesis contributed to the project: “Extinct animals like dinosaurs inspire awe because of how different they seem from our modern world, but they were animals that grew under similar constraints and environmental factors as those that exist today,” he said.



According to O’Connor, this study opens the door to future investigations of how animals regulate their growth. “Alteration of different growth control mechanisms, at molecular or genetic levels, likely accounts for the range of developmental strategies our team observed in theropod dinosaurs. Future studies of living organisms provide an opportunity to elucidate mechanisms related to the evolution of body size in vertebrates more generally.”



Sombathy hopes to take up some of those investigations in future: “One of the things that interests me most about the results is the apparent decoupling between growth rate and body size. My Ph.D. dissertation will investigate the impacts of growth rate and body size on bone shape and function.”



“This has really important implications because changes in rate versus timing can correlate to many other things, like how many or how large your offspring are, how long you live, or how susceptible to predators you are,” D’Emic added. “Hopefully this research spurs investigations into other groups, both alive and extinct, to see what developmental mechanisms are most important in other types of animals.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Large dinosaurs did not necessarily grow faster

Today’s mammals range in body size from pygmy shrews, with...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-malaria-colder-areas/">Malaria</a> is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) that is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes. In humans, symptoms usually start out mild (fever, chills, and headaches), but the infection can sometimes turn lethal within 24 hours. Although scientists have long been aware that apes can also be infected with this parasite, little has been known about how malaria affects them and how deadly it is.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="http://archive">Washington University in St. Louis</a> (WUSTL) has found that many species of great apes get malaria and – according to evidence from wild bonobos – the disease appears to harm them too.



“We don’t yet have a good handle on the symptoms and mortality risk,” said study lead author Emily Wroblewski, an assistant professor of Biological Anthropology at WUSTL. “The number of infected animals in captivity that have exhibited disease symptoms has been limited. Sometimes they show symptoms like fever and other things that might be associated with infection, and sometimes not. And in the wild these things are very difficult to track.”



Analyses of DNA in apes’ feces has revealed that malaria is widespread across the geographical ranges of wild chimpanzees and gorillas, with these species of great apes harboring at least 12 Plasmodium species, seven of which are closely related to the parasite causing about 95 percent of human deaths. However, bonobos appeared to have escaped infection in all but two locations where scientists have studied them in the wild.&nbsp;



This provides experts the opportunity to compare infected populations – in which 38 percent of bonobos had detectable malaria parasites in their feces – to uninfected bonobos from ten other regions across their natural range in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to better understand some basic facts about how malaria impacts the health and mortality of great apes.



The scientists discovered that, in areas where the parasite was detected, bonobos were more likely to have particular variants of an immune gene (Papa-B), which are very similar to a human variant (HLA-B*53) that is associated with protection from developing severe and more deadly disease, suggesting that humans and bonobos may share similar immune mechanisms.&nbsp;



“To us, this means that there is a selective advantage to individuals having these protective variants, because those individuals are more likely to survive their infection and reproduce, causing that variant to rise in frequency,” Wroblewski explained.



“Seeing infected populations differ from uninfected populations in this immune trait suggests that bonobos experience increased mortality or costs to their reproductive success because of their infection. The differences between the bonobo populations provides the first evidence of any kind, albeit indirect, that a wild great ape suffers any sort of consequences from their infection.”



Further research is needed to investigate how this particular immune gene variant protects both bonobos and humans. Better understanding these protective mechanisms could lead to the development of new treatments and vaccines for humans. Moreover, since many great apes are already endangered by anthropogenic factors, clarifying how diseases affect them is important for their future protection.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36623-9">Nature Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

How does malaria impact wild African apes?

Malaria is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne...

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> has recently investigated the effects of a <a href="https://www.ncagr.gov/">N.C. Department of Agriculture</a> (NCDA) three-year effort (2016-2018) to conserve and improve bee populations by installing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinator-populations-have-experienced-dramatic-changes/">pollinator</a>-friendly flowers on 16 agricultural research stations from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina. The analysis revealed that, although bee abundance and diversity increased in the studied areas, the quality of the habitat – which could be affected by the way these areas are maintained over time - also played a significant role in these positive effects.



The scientists visited all 16 sites four times each year and caught bees in nets and cups which were painted to imitate the UV reflection of flowers. By analyzing over 16,000 bees from 128 different bee species, they found that bee abundance increased over time, while bee diversity increased in 2017 and then slightly dropped in 2018 (although both years showed significant improvements compared to 2016).



“We were really happy to see increases in the abundance and number of bee species found over time,” said study lead author Hannah Levenson, a postdoctoral fellow in Entomology at NC State. “It was also exciting to see how many species we documented, especially for studying one kind of habitat. This study was limited to agricultural areas but we still found nearly 130 bee species.”



The investigation also revealed that the quality of flowers was a critical driver of bee abundance and diversity, with areas of higher flower quality attracting more bees and bee species, while poorly maintained areas with degraded flowers, weeds, and grasses lagging behind.&nbsp;



“North Carolina has 564 species of bees and they have very different life cycles from each other. Some are active in early spring when flowers are just starting to come up. Other species are active in summer. The end of summer is when most bee species are active but have the fewest resources available – it’s called the dearth. So it’s important to develop seed mixes that bloom across the seasons so we can support as many of North Carolina’s bees as possible,” Levenson explained.



Surprisingly, the researchers also found several bee species showing up in unexpected areas. For instance, squash bees – a species of economically important pollinators – were found in plots with no squash plants. In addition, they discovered high numbers of a particular bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) which is currently under review for potential addition to the endangered species list.&nbsp;



“We found a high abundance of them, so it’s possible that they’re attracted to agricultural areas more than other areas. We submitted the data to Fish and Wildlife so it can be used to help make the decision on whether it should be listed as endangered or not,” Levenson reported.



“I want to give credit to the NCDA. To our knowledge it was the first government organization to do test plots like these, and hopefully what we found could encourage more government programs to take actions to protect the environment. Even though the habitats weren’t perfect, they still made a difference,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1060834">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Flower quality is a critical driver of bee abundance

A team of scientists led by the North Carolina State...

An international research team has recently discovered that Daurian redstarts, a passerine bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/among-californias-bird-species-there-are-winners-and-losers/">species</a>, have evolved a strategy to avoid cuckoo brood parasitism. Cuckoo birds and other brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species to be incubated and raised.



Cuckoo birds are weary of people and usually nest far from human-dominated environments. The researchers found that Daurian redstarts in northeastern China purposefully choose nesting sights near or even inside human settlements. As a result, their risk of becoming a host is reduced.&nbsp;



The Daurian redstart has two breeding periods per season. During the first breeding event, cuckoos are not present. However, the cuckoos migrate to the area during the second breeding event.



The researchers noticed that the Daurian redstarts nested farther away from human settlements during the first breeding period, and then moved closer to human settlements in the second period when cuckoos were present. The experts concluded that the birds moved their nests closer during the second breeding period to avoid parasitism.



Moreover, the researchers were able to elicit this anti-parasitism strategy by presenting cuckoo models and artificial calls. Although these simulations were conducted during the first egg-laying period, the Daurian redstarts were motivated to move closer to human environments in response to the simulations. This suggests that the Daurian redstarts change their nesting behavior in response to the presence of cuckoos, regardless of the breeding period.



“We were able to show experimentally for the first time that Daurian redstarts adapt their nesting behavior depending on whether they notice cuckoos in the area,” said Jinggang Zhang, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.bi.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence</a>.&nbsp;



We must wonder about the ecological impacts of this interaction in an ever-changing environment.&nbsp;



“Urbanization affects habitats and animal populations around the world in many ways. Cuckoos may have to adapt to this development by venturing closer to human settlements as well, or by expanding the range of host species,” said Bart Kempenaers, a director at the institute.&nbsp;



A second study conducted by the researchers demonstrates the cuckoo’s adaptability. Daurian redstarts have two colored eggs - red and blue. The research team found that female cuckoos showed a “clear preference for nests with blue eggs”&nbsp; in the hopes that the foster parents will not reject the parasitic egg.



“We were surprised to find such a clear preference for nests with blue eggs," said Kempenaers. "Our observations suggest that cuckoo females are quite sensitive to characteristics of the nest and do not just dump their eggs in any host nest they can find."&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.047">Current Biology.</a>



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Birds move closer to humans to avoid brood parasites

An international research team has recently discovered that Daurian redstarts,...

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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

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features 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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features 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

[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 



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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



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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



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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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