In a refreshing attempt to understanding animal consciousness and emotions, a group of researchers from various disciplines have come together to share their thoughts.



The research team was led by Dr. Marcela Benítez, assistant professor of anthropology at Emory University. 



"As far as we know, this is the first assessment of how animal behavior researchers across a range of disciplines think about emotions and consciousness in non-human animals," said Professor Benítez.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quantifying-animal-emotions">Quantifying animal emotions</h2>



The research shows that a majority of the researchers ascribed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-emotions-evoke-different-responses-in-dogs-and-pigs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a> to non-human primates (98%), mammals (89%), birds (78%), and even to octopus, squids, and cuttlefish (72%), and fish (53%). 



Incredibly, sentiments are even expressed towards invertebrates (71%) and insects (67%).



Anthromorphism - projecting human experiences onto <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-feel-our-emotions-through-our-heart-rate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animals</a> - and anthropodenial - the denial of any human characteristics in animals - were identified as hazards in animal behavioral research.



Surprisingly, 89% of the respondents thought anthropodenial was more problematic compared to only 49% who thought anthromorphism posed a risk. "That seems like a significant shift," said Professor Benítez.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-history-of-animal-emotion-studies">History of animal emotion studies</h2>



The question of whether animals experience emotions has kept thinkers busy since Aristotle and Descartes. 



Charles Darwin also addressed this topic, writing that “the lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery.” 



However, mid-20th-century behavioral theorists dismissed the study of animal emotions since these feelings were seen as scientifically unquantifiable.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-study-of-animal-cognition">The study of animal cognition</h2>



The late primatologist Frans de Waal, an emeritus professor of psychology at Emory, revolutionized the study of animal cognition through his profound studies. 



"Frans de Waal definitely helped kick open the door," said Benítez, crediting him for enabling new scientists to question the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chick-emotions-shed-new-light-on-animal-welfare/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">inner lives of animals</a>.



Matthew Zipple, a neurobiologist at <a href="https://www.cornell.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cornell University</a>’s Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, is the paper's first author. Emory postdoctoral fellow Mackenzie Webster and philosopher Caleb Hazelwood were also part of the team.



Professor Benítez, whose research focuses on cooperation and other social behaviors in capuchin monkeys, recognizes the influence of de Waal's work in her career.



"A key component of cooperation often involves forming <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/recognizing-emotions-in-horses-can-improve-their-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotional bonds</a> with one another. So, I can’t shy away from considering emotions in my research," she said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-survey-on-animal-emotions">Survey on animal emotions</h2>



To examine researchers' perceptions on animal emotions, Professor Benítez and her team developed a meticulous survey that was distributed to graduate school programs in animal behavior research across various disciplines.



The respondents included several specialities - behavioral ecologists, evolutionary biologists, neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, biological psychologists, and more.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-in-defining-emotion-in-animals">Challenges in defining emotion in animals</h2>



Towards the end of the survey, respondents were asked to define "emotion."



“I don’t have a clear definition either,” said Benítez. “I see emotions as a sort of internal process in responding to external stimuli that has an impact on how a situation is perceived. I go to the most basic definition because that allows us to explore that capacity in non-human primates.”



Animal studies present unique challenges. A key issue in lab experiments is replicating the animal's natural environment. In the wild, it's difficult to design and control the experiment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-innovative-solutions-for-age-old-challenges">Innovative solutions for age-old challenges</h2>



Professor Benítez is pioneering a new approach to bridge this gap. She co-directs the Capuchins de Taboga Costa Rica project, which studies both captive and wild capuchins.



Her team is using AI techniques, facial recognition software, and touch screen computers on presentation platforms in the wild to better understand capuchin monkey behavior.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ethical-implications-of-animal-studies">Ethical implications of animal studies</h2>



The exploration of animal consciousness and emotions extends beyond the realms of science and ethics, challenging the moral considerations and treatment of animals across various settings. 



Researchers must navigate complex ethical terrains, balancing scientific inquiry with the welfare and respectful treatment of the animals involved. 



The understanding that animals might possess emotions akin to humans necessitates humane treatment protocols and raises questions about the ethical implications of using animals in research, entertainment, and agriculture. 



As research in this field progresses, there remains an ongoing dialogue regarding the responsibility of scientists to advocate for policies that protect animal rights while advancing scientific knowledge.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-animal-emotion-research">The future of animal emotion research</h2>



Looking ahead, the future of animal emotion research promises to integrate even more advanced methodologies and cross-disciplinary collaborations that push the boundaries of our understanding. 



As AI and machine learning continue to evolve, these technologies offer new ways of analyzing and interpreting animal behaviors at unprecedented scales, providing deeper insights into their emotional lives. 



Additionally, promoting collaborations between behavioral scientists, technologists, ethicists, and policymakers can help develop innovative approaches that are scientifically rigorous and ethically sound. 



Embracing these future directions can drive the field toward more holistic understandings of non-human animals, ultimately transforming how society views and interacts with the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-animal-day-2024-building-a-legacy-of-compassion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animal kingdom</a>.



“We’ve only scratched the surface of exploring what animals are capable of experiencing,” said Professor Benítez.



“Understanding the evolution of emotions is integral to understanding our own ancestry. In what ways are we a unique species? It’s an exciting time as new methods may help us better understand how an animal may be feeling and how that links to the decisions they make.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241255" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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Animals, possibly even insects, have emotions

In a refreshing attempt to understanding animal consciousness and emotions, a group of researchers from various disciplines have come together to share their thoughts. The research team was led by Dr. Marcela Benítez, assistant professor of anthropology at Emory University. "As far as we know, this is the first assessment of how animal behavior researchers across a range of disciplines think about emotions and consciousness in non-human animals," said Professor Benítez. Quantifying animal emotions The research shows that a majority of the researchers ascribed emotions to non-human...

Papua New Guinea (PNG) and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-can-two-species-of-dolphins-coexist-in-australia/">Australia</a> were once part of a larger continent and home to an incredible diversity of now-extinct mammals. Kangaroos that hopped on four legs, the Thylacine, which went extinct in a Tasmanian zoo, and giant panda-like marsupials all inhabited this place. Australia, Tasmania, and Papua New Guinea became separate landforms before humans arrived, isolating populations of the remaining megafauna.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“New Guinea is a forested, mountainous, northern part of the formerly more extensive Australian continent called ‘Sahul’ but our knowledge of its faunal and human history is poor compared with that of mainland Australia,” said Professor Denham, who initially undertook fieldwork in the PNG Highlands in 1990.



Now, researchers from Flinders University and Australian National University have re-analyzed bones from Nombe Rock Shelter to elucidate the history of PNG’s megafauna. The shelter was long occupied by humans and contains remains of many large and now extinct mammal species, many unique to PNG. It appears that many of these large mammals survived much later than their counterparts in Australia.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The analysis shows that thylacines and Hulitherium tomasettii, large bear-like marsupials, were still extant when humans arrived as early as 60,000 years ago. Two extinct kangaroos were still alive 40,000 years ago as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“If these megafaunal species did indeed survive in the PNG Highlands for much longer than their Australian equivalents, then it may have been because people only visited the Nombe area infrequently and in low numbers until after 20,000 years ago,” said Tim Denham, ANU Professor and co-lead author of the research published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/arco.5274">Archaeology in Oceania</a>.



The researchers point out that much of the timeline for megafaunal extinctions is based on assumption, which isn’t always helpful.&nbsp;



“Although it is often assumed that all of the megafaunal species in Australia and New Guinea became extinct coast to coast by 40,000 years ago, this generalisation is not based on very much actual evidence,” said Professor Prideaux. “It is probably more harmful than helpful in resolving exactly what happened to the dozens of large mammals, birds and reptiles that were living on the continent when people first arrived.”



This research is one more piece of the puzzle to understanding the history of life on Earth and our place in it.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Megafauna in New Guinea outlived their Australian relatives

Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Australia were once part of...

Many silk-based materials today are used in the biomedical field as material for stitches and surgical mesh. Producing silk strong enough for these purposes has been a challenge. Most silk comes from silkworms, but their silk is not as strong as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-spiders-transfer-more-sperm-when-mating-with-cannibals/">spider</a> silk.



Unfortunately, harvesting silk from spiders is more difficult due to their aggression. There is a process in which spider DNA is incorporated into silkworms to make their silk more robust. However, this procedure is costly and hard to grow in the desired quantities.



A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(22)00517-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590238522005173%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">Matter</a> describes an alternative method for producing strong materials by boiling silkworm silk in a chemical bath to remove the outer layer of silk glue. Then, the strands are fortified by bathing them in metals and sugars. By using this process, the researchers found that silk naturally produced by silkworms can be made 70 percent stronger than spider silks.



"Dragline silk is the main structural silk of a spider web. It is also used as a lifeline for a spider to fall from trees," explained study senior author Zhi Lin, a biochemist at Tianjin University.



"Since silkworm silk is very structurally similar to eggcase spider silk, which has previously been demonstrated to do well in a mix of zinc and iron baths, we thought to test this alternative method to avoid hazardous conditions used elsewhere. Sucrose, a form of sugar, may increase the density and viscosity of the coagulation bath, which consequently affects the formation of the fibers."



Once these artificial silk fibers have been spun, they are nearly the same length as spider silk, and are "smooth and strong" enough to resist physical force, according to Lin.



"Our finding reverses the previous perception that silkworm silk cannot compete with spider silks on mechanical performance," said Lin. "We hope that this work opens up a promising way to produce profitable high-performance artificial silks."



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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

Scientists discover how to make stronger silkworm silk

Many silk-based materials today are used in the biomedical field...

People are likely (often without even realizing it) to pick a dog with a personality that is similar to theirs, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/">Kennel Club</a> – the UK’s largest organization dedicated to dog health, welfare, and training. However, even if their personalities match, people do not always choose the right dog for their actual lifestyle.



The researchers ranked over 1,500 current and past dog owners of 16 popular dog breeds against several key personality traits, such as openness, extroversion, agreeableness, or emotional stability. The analysis revealed that, quite frequently, people choose dogs that match such personality traits.



For instance, people who enjoy new experiences, have many hobbies, and enjoy taking risks are more likely to own whippets, while those who are positive and happy often had golden retrievers. Owners with strong organizational skills who preferred to stick to the rules had miniature schnauzers, and people ranking the highest on agreeableness and extroversion owned Pomeranians. Finally, those who ranked themselves as being most affectionate tended to pick Staffordshire bull terriers, while owners of Jack Russell terriers (often described as very friendly dogs) described themselves in similar terms.



“It appears that we can often tell a lot about a person from the type of dog that they own, with the dominant personality traits of Jack Russell owners - owned by the likes of King Charles - being their loyalty, generous spirit for helping others, and their trustworthiness,” said Bill Lambert, a spokesperson for the Kennel Club.



“Each breed has distinct characteristics, traits and care needs, which helps would-be owners understand more about whether they might be a good fit for them. It is quite striking to see how many people unconsciously select dog breeds with personalities that match their own character, showing that birds of a feather really do flock together.”



However, the analysis also revealed that, while owners often choose breeds which they have similar traits with, they are not always very good at picking ones that match their lifestyle. For example, 63 percent of the participants reported they picked their favorite dog based on looks or “following their heart,” and 50 percent claimed they can’t offer their dogs everything that they need. However, among people who did considerable research to understand their chosen breed before getting the dog, 88 percent claimed their pet was a perfect match for their personality and lifestyle.



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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

People select their dogs according to their own personality

People are likely (often without even realizing it) to pick...

Squirrel,Monkey,,Saimiri,Oerstedii,,Sitting,On,The,Tree,Trunk,With

A large-scale international study of 47 species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-monkeys-with-strong-friendships-survive-longer/">monkeys</a> and lemurs has found that climate change and deforestation are currently driving these tree-dwelling primates to the ground, where they are at higher risk due to lack of proper food and shelter, and increased negative interactions with humans and other animals.



The scientists – 118 researchers from 124 institutions – examined over 150,000 hours of observational data on 32 monkey species and 15 lemur species at 68 sites in the Americas and Madagascar. “This study began with a discussion among colleagues about how we’d noticed certain populations of arboreal primates spending more time on the ground, yet at sites with relatively less disturbance, members of the same species may never descend to the ground,” explained study lead author Timothy Eppley, a postdoctoral fellow at the <a href="https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/">San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance</a>.



According to Dr. Eppley and his colleagues, primates that consume less fruit and live in larger social groups were more likely to change their habitat, moving closer to the ground. Moreover, those living in hotter environments with less canopy cover were also more prone to adapt to such changes by shifting towards more extensive ground use.&nbsp;



However, while primates consuming a more generalized diet and living in larger groups may efficiently adapt to a terrestrial lifestyle, other species could face significant problems. “It’s possible that spending more time on the ground may cushion some primates from the effects of forest degradation and climate change; however, for the less-adaptable species,&nbsp;fast and effective conservation strategies will be necessary to ensure their survival,” Dr. Eppley warned.



The study also revealed that primate populations closer to human establishments and infrastructures were less likely to descend to the ground. “This finding may suggest that human presence, which is often a threat to primates, may interfere with the natural adaptability of the species to global change,” said study co-senior author Luca Santini, an expert in Ecology and Conservation at the <a href="https://www.uniroma1.it/it/">Sapienza University of Rome</a>.



While the transition from an arboreal to a terrestrial lifestyle has occurred previously in primate evolution, today’s rapid climatic and environmental changes are a serious threat.&nbsp;



“Though similar ecological conditions and species traits may have influenced previous evolutionary shifts of arboreal primates, including hominins, to ground living, it is clear that the current pace of deforestation and climate change puts most primate species in peril,” concluded the other senior author, Giuseppe Donati, a primatologist and biological anthropologist at <a href="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/">Oxford Brookes University</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



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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

Climate change is driving tree-dwelling primates to the ground

A large-scale international study of 47 species of monkeys and...

Herbivorous insects eat leaves and can damage a plant’s ability to photosynthesize if enough leaves are eaten. This relationship goes back for as long as there have been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ozone-pollution-threatens-the-health-of-plants-and-pollinators/">plants</a> and leaf-eating insects on Earth. According to new research led by scientists from the <a href="http://www.uwyo.edu/">University of Wyoming</a>, today’s insects are doing more damage to the forests than their ancient ancestors did.&nbsp;



The first-of-its-kind study compares the damage due to insect herbivory on modern-era plants with damage identified on fossilized leaves from as far back as the Late Cretaceous period, nearly 67 million years ago. The findings are published in the prestigious journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202852119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



“Our work bridges the gap between those who use fossils to study plant-insect interactions over deep time and those who study such interactions in a modern context with fresh leaf material,” says lead researcher Lauren Azevedo-Schmidt. “The difference in insect damage between the modern era and the fossilized record is striking.”



The researchers examined fossilized leaves with evidence of insect feeding damage from the Late Cretaceous through the Pleistocene era, a little over 2 million years ago. The results were compared with leaves collected by Azevedo-Schmidt from three modern forests. The analysis considered three different types of damage caused by insects, and in all three categories the damage was more prevalent in modern leaves than in those from the fossil record. &nbsp;



“Our results demonstrate that plants in the modern era are experiencing unprecedented levels of insect damage, despite widespread insect declines,” wrote the scientists, who suggest that the disparity can be explained by human activity.



“We hypothesize that humans have influenced (insect) damage frequencies and diversities within modern forests, with the most human impact occurring after the Industrial Revolution. Consistent with this hypothesis, herbarium specimens from the early 2000s were 23 percent more likely to have insect damage than specimens collected in the early 1900s, a pattern that has been linked to climate warming.”



The authors state, however, that climate change doesn’t fully explain the increase in insect damage. They highlight the need for more research to determine the precise causes of increased insect damage to plants, but the scientists say a warming climate, urbanization and introduction of invasive species are all likely have had a major impact.



“This research suggests that the strength of human influence on plant-insect interactions is not controlled by climate change alone but, rather, the way in which humans interact with the terrestrial landscape,” the researchers concluded.



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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

Insect damage to plants is more severe now than ever before

Herbivorous insects eat leaves and can damage a plant’s ability...

Currently, fewer than 300 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/judge-us-failed-protect-red-wolves/">red wolves</a> survive in the world today, mostly in captivity. While these animals once roamed the southern and eastern United States from Texas to New England, by the early 1900s, they had been virtually wiped out by hunters and farmers who considered them as threats. Today, the red wolf is a federally protected endangered species.&nbsp;



Now, <a href="https://www.brookgreen.org/">Brookgreen Gardens</a> – a nature preserve in South Carolina established in 1931 – is expecting to receive three red wolves from a zoo in Ohio as part of an effort to revive this critically endangered species in South Carolina and other states. The plan is to breed these wolves in captivity for displays at zoos or even release in eastern North Carolina and, possibly, in the low country of South Carolina.



“These animals are disappearing and if we don’t do something to help them, you’re going to just be looking at pictures or cadavers in a museum,” said Andrea DeMuth, an animals curator at Brookgreen Gardens. “You’re not going to be looking at the real thing.”



The initial three wolves going to Brookgreen will be young males, to be followed by two breeding pairs of wolves. “We started very similar,” said Eric Albers, the curator of animal operations at the <a href="https://www.akronzoo.org/">Akron Zoo</a> in Ohio, from which the wolves will be brought to South Carolina. “We had a pair of (females) to let us get used to working with red wolves and handling them before we got a breeding pair. With a new facility, it makes a lot of sense.’’



Since today only 21 red wolves are living in the wild at the Alligator River (down from 120 in 2012), increased efforts are needed to restore this population. Another possible place for releasing some of the captive wolves include the 259,000-acre Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina. However, many fear that releasing these animals into the wild is problematic, since they tend to breed with coyotes.



“We’re going to make our coyotes about 25 pounds larger, your turkey population is going to get decimated, your white-tailed deer population is going to get decimated,” said David Strickland, a Lowcountry hunter interested in tracking the red wolf situation. “Your bobcats are going to lose all of their prey species. They are going to become a targeted species.’’



Other scientists and conservationists, such as Ron Sutherland, the chief scientist at the <a href="https://wildlandsnetwork.org/">Wildlands Network</a> conservation organization, consider such recovery plans necessary. “The recovery plan calls for a total of three (separate) populations, so that could certainly bring South Carolina back into play. Francis Marion-Cape Romain still seems like a pretty good spot to me to think about red wolf recovery,” he 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

Rare wolves headed to South Carolina from Ohio

Currently, fewer than 300 red wolves survive in the world...

Hybrids are rare in nature. Many mechanisms, including genetic, behavioral and physiological, usually prevent two different species from reproducing successfully. But in June of 2020, Stephen Gosser, a self-described “diehard birder,” identified an unusual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-seabirds-fly-into-the-eye-of-the-storm-to-survive/">bird</a> out in the woods of Western Pennsylvania. It sang like an elusive and beautiful scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) but looked more like a rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus). Both these species are found in the area, but they have different habitat preferences. Gosser immediately took some photographs and then called for a team from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh to help clarify his conundrum.



The ornithologists helped catch the strange bird and took a blood sample to use for DNA analysis. Researchers, led by a team from Penn State, then used a variety of different methods, including low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, analysis of vocalizations, and inferences from natural history, to investigate the unusual bird.&nbsp;



Their results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9152">Ecology and Evolution</a>, show that this was indeed a hybrid bird, formed as a result of reproduction between a male scarlet tanager and a female rose-breasted grosbeak. Although hybridization between bird species is not uncommon, this usually takes place between closely related species. In contrast, the new bird is the first record of hybridization between these two species that are from lineages that diverged more than 10 million years ago.&nbsp;



“I love this story, because it starts with a little mystery and ends with a surprising discovery,” said David Toews, lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a>.



The researchers have no idea how the two parental birds managed to breed, as tanagers typically hide away in the canopy cover of mature forests while rose-breasted grosbeaks are happy out in the open, along the edges of woodlands. Toews explained that the two species have very divergent nesting preferences, making their successful breeding attempt all the more mysterious.&nbsp;



In addition to the DNA analysis, the researchers investigated the acoustic characteristics of the hybrid’s song. It sounded like a tanager when it sang, and this was confirmed by comparison of the bioacoustics of both species. Since songbirds usually learn their calls from the father, this finding implied that the male tanager had been around the nest at least until the offspring had learned to imitate its call.&nbsp;



“Something people may not understand is that when we analyze birdsongs, we're not actually listening to them. We're looking at them,” said Toews. “We're looking at wavelengths of the sound&nbsp;– or the ‘spectrogram’ is a more accurate term&nbsp;– and we’re actually measuring visual components of a soundwave to analyze the song.”



The researchers emphasize the usefulness of using combined evidence from visual, bioacoustic, and genetic analyses to confirm that the bird was indeed a hybrid and that the parents were a rose-breasted grosbeak and a scarlet tanager. They stress that this is a straightforward method that can be used effectively to assign ancestry for any putative hybrid individuals, given that whole genome sequences are now available for more and more bird species.&nbsp;



“We used the same tools that we’ve used to identify other hybrids, but we typically have more ambiguous answers that are a bit more esoteric,” said Toews. “In this case, we identified the species. We know who the parents were and we have a somewhat satisfying conclusion at the end. I find this story resonates with more than just your average ornithological nerd like myself.”



Although the hybrid was judged to be a healthy male at the time of its detection and capture, a thorough search for it on the same territory the following breeding season came up negative. It will never be known whether this unusual hybrid was able to pass its genes on to future generations.



Image Credit: Stephen Gosser



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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

Rare hybrid songbird traced to two very different species

Hybrids are rare in nature. Many mechanisms, including genetic, behavioral...

View,From,Above,Of,Dense,Pine,Forest,With,Canopies,Of

Attempting to decipher all the factors that influence the behavior of complex ecological communities can be a very difficult task. However, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has discovered that the behavior of these ecosystems can be predicted based on solely two pieces of information – the number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/non-native-species-can-have-unexpected-benefits/">species</a> in the community and how strongly they interact with one another.



The dynamics of natural ecosystems are notoriously difficult to study. Scientists can make observations about how species interact with one another, but they generally cannot perform controlled experiments in the wild. This led the MIT researchers to use microbes such as bacteria and yeast to analyze interspecies interactions in a controlled way, hoping to learn more about how natural ecosystems behave.



By creating communities ranging from two to 48 species of bacteria, controlling the number of species by forming different synthetic communities with different sets of species, and strengthening the interactions between the species by increasing the amount of food available, the scientists were able to define three phases of ecological communities and calculate the necessary conditions for them to move from one state to another.&nbsp;



Initially, each ecological community existed in a phase called “stable full existence,” with all species coexisting without interfering with one another. However, as either the number of the species or interactions among them increased, the communities entered a new phase called “stable partial coexistence” in which populations remain stable, but some of the species become extinct. Finally, as the number of species or strength of interactions further increased, the communities entered a third phase, featuring more dramatic fluctuations in population. In this stage, ecosystems became unstable, and populations persistently fluctuated over time.



“While we cannot access all biological mechanisms and parameters in a complex ecosystem,&nbsp;we demonstrate that&nbsp;its diversity and dynamics may be emergent phenomena that can be predicted from just a few aggregate properties of the ecological community: species pool size and&nbsp;statistics of interspecies interactions,” said study lead author Jiliang Hu, an engineer at MIT.



These findings could help ecologists make predictions about what might be happening in complex ecosystems such as forests, even with little information available, since all they need to know is the number of species and their degree of interaction.



“We can make predictions or statements about what the community is going to do, even in the absence of detailed knowledge of what’s going on. We don’t even know which species are helping or hurting which other species. These predictions are based purely on the statistical distribution of the interactions within this complex community,” concluded senior author Jeff Gore, an MIT physicist.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm7841">Science</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

Ecosystem stability can be predicted by species interactions

Attempting to decipher all the factors that influence the behavior...

Herd,Of,Nelore,Cattle,Grazing,In,A,Pasture

Due to climate change, agricultural producers all over the world must adapt to new, often more extreme, weather patterns. While much previous research has focused on mitigation strategies for crop production, a recent study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> (U of I) has now investigated the unique challenges <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/feed-livestock-reduce-land-use/">livestock</a> producers in Brazil face, and the way they respond to climate change.



Since the dry season in Brazil is increasing up to 0.6 days per year, cattle face increased stress, and ranchers are more likely to sell them earlier. “Through talking with cattle ranchers, I kept hearing about ways they had to change their production to cope with the dry season. They are used to a dry season every year, but they noticed it was getting worse,” said study author Marin Skidmore, an assistant professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at U of I.



“Every year the animals gain weight in the rainy season, they lose weight in the dry season, and then they gain weight again [a phenomenon referred to as “the accordion effect”]. This takes a toll, of course, but they had been able to make do with the dry season as it was. As it got worse, the weight loss got worse, and they were seeing animal losses and profit losses.”



By conducting interviews with Brazilian ranchers and gathering data from a large database of cattle movements in Brazil, Skidmore found evidence of increased animal sales in preparation for extremely dry seasons. “A rancher who would keep their animals in their own pasture through a normal dry season will instead will be more likely to sell them if they expect that the dry season will be severe,” she&nbsp;explained.



Ranchers often make decisions about the upcoming dry season by observing rainfall patterns. While during the rainy season it rains every day, later on rain becomes intermittent, and ranchers will observe how sporadic the rain gets and how early this happens. In anticipation of the dry season, they have several options.



“They can sell the animals for slaughter, and then it is no one's responsibility to feed anymore. But potentially you have an animal that isn’t at a weight for slaughter yet,” Skidmore said. “Then you can sell the animal to a confinement operation, where they are feeding an animal on grain. This decouples the food source from the current weather; it can be grain that was grown in the region in the previous season, or grain that’s being transported from another region.”



Since pasture-based production is generally susceptible to drought and current production technologies are not equipped to deal with heat stress, investing in better management practices to improve pastures and deal with heat is essential.



“A lot of the climate change literature looks at crop producers. But the difference is that animals have lives, and this opens up a whole other set of adaptive strategies to livestock producers. Ranchers are making use of that, and it can really affect the structure of the supply chain,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12333">American Journal of Agricultural Economics</a>.&nbsp;



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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

How do cattle ranchers in Brazil cope with climate change?

Due to climate change, agricultural producers all over the world...

Pelagic seabirds, which spend most of their lives in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/how-the-ocean-and-climate-influence-each-other/">ocean</a>, are in many ways still mysterious compared to our land dwelling species. Direct observation of these birds is challenging, except for the brief window of time when they venture onto land for nesting and rearing chicks.&nbsp;



A new study from <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a> in the UK opens a window into one aspect of pelagic seabird life - how they survive storms. The research was specifically focused on shearwaters in the Sea of Japan.&nbsp;



The team was led by Professor Emily Shepard and Dr. Emmanouil Lempidakis, from Swansea and included scientists from Nagoya University, the University of Leeds, and Nagoya Institute of Technology. The researchers tagged adult shearwaters with GPS trackers over a period of 11 years.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



When the GPS data was analyzed and compared to wind movement, the team was surprised by what they found. It appeared that the shearwaters were heading into the eyes of storms.&nbsp;



“We were astonished when we saw from the GPS tracks that shearwaters were flying towards the eye of the storm, and sometimes tracking it for several hours. This is unlike any response to storms that has been seen before in seabirds," said Professor Shepard.



The scientists believe that the shearwaters are exhibiting this behavior to avoid being blown to land and possibly injured or killed.&nbsp;



“Shearwaters, like albatrosses, are adapted to windy conditions, as their flight style enables them to fly without much flapping when it’s windy, but there comes a point where their flight speed cannot match the wind speed," explained Dr. Lempidakis. "When this happens birds start to drift with the wind, which is why we were surprised that they fly towards some of the strongest typhoon winds.”



The researchers found that some birds avoided storms by flying around the edges, but only when they were far out at sea with no danger of striking land. This behavior could explain why many young birds wash up after storms. These birds simply don't have the experience to know where land is located.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2212925119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Some seabirds fly into the eye of the storm to survive

Pelagic seabirds, which spend most of their lives in the...

Each year, mule <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tick-carrying-deer-are-living-in-the-suburbs/">deer</a> migrate in the American West to follow the green-up of plants as they sprout at various elevations – a phenomenon biologists call “surfing the green wave.” The deer rely on this surfing behavior to find the freshest and most nutritious plants that help them recover from winter and put on fat in preparation for the next lean season. However, according to a new study led by the <a href="http://www.uwyo.edu/">University of Wyoming</a> (UW) in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a> (USGS), when energy development disrupts their migration corridors, deer often lose their ability of foraging with the wave of the most nutritious springtime plants.



“Mule deer are known for how precisely they match their movements with spring green-up, so this result was particularly striking,” said study lead author Ellen Aikens, a UW PhD graduate, currently working at the USGS South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. “The gas wells caused them to let the best food of the year slip away from them.”



The researchers followed a herd of migratory deer that winters in sagebrush basins and summers in the Sierra Madre Mountains for 14 years. During this period, dozens of new wells were drilled for coalbed methane extraction in the middle of a deer corridor. The analysis revealed that, as development intensity increased over time, the deer began to “hold up” when reaching natural gas wells, pausing their spring migration, and letting the wave of green vegetation pass them by, thus becoming decoupled from their best food resources at a critical time of the year. The development of these wells resulted in a 38.65 reduction in green-wave surfing.



These findings can help wildlife managers understand how intact corridors must be in order to retain their ecological functionality, and devise strategies for sustaining mule deer migrations. “The impact is quite clear, but also points to conservation solutions that will allow us to retain viable migrations for generations to come,” explained study co-author Matt Kauffman, a researcher at the USGS Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW. “Once migrations have been mapped, development can be planned in a way that minimizes the disruptions to migrating herds, whether in Wyoming, the American West, or wherever landscapes are rapidly changing.”



“This new research provides the most convincing case, so far, that efforts to minimize development within migration corridors will benefit their long-term persistence amid changing landscapes,”&nbsp;he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01887-9">Nature</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

Energy development disrupts mule deer migration

Each year, mule deer migrate in the American West to...

According to a new <a href="https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46437">assessment</a> by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gray-whales-are-dying-in-alarming-numbers/">gray whales</a> which migrate along the West Coast of North America continued to decline over the past two years, the population being now down 38 percent from its peak in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, as an accompanying <a href="https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/46436">report</a> explained, the whales also produced the fewest calves this year since counts began in 1994.



Although this decline from a peak of about 27,000 whales in 2016 to 16,650 this year resembles past fluctuations in the eastern North Pacific population, it warrants continued monitoring. “Given the continuing decline in numbers since 2016, we need to be closely monitoring the population to help understand what may be driving the trend,” said David Weller, the senior author of the reports and director of the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/marine-mammal-and-turtle-division-southwest-fisheries-science-center">Marine Mammal and Turtle Division</a> at NOAA. “We have observed the population changing over time, and we want to stay on top of that.”



A significant increase in gray whale strandings led NOAA Fisheries to declare an “Unusual Mortality Event” (UME) in 2019, prompting an investigation into the possible causes of this population decline. According to the scientists, some of the contributors include changes in the Arctic seafloor and the amphipods and other invertebrate species that gray whales feed upon in the summer, predation by killer whales, or accidents involving ships. Since the number of strandings spiked in 2019 and subsequently fell, most of the gray whale population decline probably occurred in the years before the UME was declared.



“There is no one thing that we can point to that explains all of the strandings,” said Deborah Fauquier, a Veterinary Medical Officer at NOAA Fisheries’ <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/marine-mammal-health-and-stranding-response-program">Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program</a>, who coordinates the UME investigation. “There appears to be multiple factors that we are still working to understand.”&nbsp;



Since many gray whales migrate between their feeding grounds in the Arctic during summer and lagoons in Baja Mexico in the winter where they nourish their newborn calves – a 10,000 miles-long roundtrip – they most likely encounter many stressors along the way, a factor which led to population declines in previous decades too. These stressors affecting whale survival also had a major impact of their reproductive capacities, leading to lower calf production.



Fortunately, after most of the previous declines, the number of gray whales increased again.&nbsp;“The population has rebounded multiple times from low counts in the past,” said Tomoharu Eguchi, the lead author of the reports and an expert in Cetacean Health at NOAA. “We are cautiously optimistic that the same will happen this time. Continued monitoring will determine whether and when they rebound.”&nbsp;



&nbsp;“What we hope to see in the next few years is that the abundance stabilizes and then starts to show signs of increase. We will be watching closely,” concluded co-author Aimee Lang, a research scientist at NOAA.



Image Credit: NOAA Fisheries



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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

Gray whale populations continue to decline

According to a new assessment by the National Oceanic and...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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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



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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



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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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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