The Baltic Sea, one of the world’s youngest bodies of water, has long been known to host Atlantic and Baltic herring - plankton-eating fish critical to northern marine ecosystems.&nbsp;



Yet new research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55216-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>, has uncovered a surprising adaptation in this environment: genetically distinct, fish-eating Baltic herring (Sardinops sagax caerulea). 



Conducted by scientists at <a href="https://www.uu.se/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uppsala University</a> in Sweden, the study challenges traditional assumptions about how Baltic herring evolved and found new ecological niches in brackish waters formed at the end of the last Ice Age.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-herring-in-the-baltic-sea">Herring in the Baltic Sea</h2>



Herring serve a crucial function in the Atlantic Ocean and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toxic-thallium-levels-are-rising-in-the-baltic-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Baltic Sea</a>, transferring energy from plankton up the food chain to predatory fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and humans. 



Previous studies by the Uppsala group had already established that herring populations adapt genetically to variations in climate, salinity, and spawning seasons.&nbsp;



However, the newly discovered fish-eating Baltic herring adds an intriguing twist: these larger individuals exhibit distinct biological and genetic characteristics that set them apart from the traditional plankton-eating varieties.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-baltic-herring-enigma">The Baltic herring enigma</h2>



Renowned Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus once defined the Baltic herring as a subspecies of the Atlantic herring, specifically adapted to the Baltic’s brackish waters. Over the centuries, scientists have consistently noted how Baltic herring are generally smaller and contain less fat than their Atlantic relatives.&nbsp;



But when a local fisherman near Uppsala spoke of a large herring “that always spawns just before midsummer and which is as big as the Atlantic herring,” questions arose as to whether a previously unidentified herring population existed within the Baltic.



The study was led by Leif Andersson, a professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University.



“When I learned that the locals are aware of a specific population of very large Baltic herring that always spawns in the same area year after year, I decided to sample and explore their genetic constitution,” said Professor Andersson.&nbsp;



“Now we know that this is a genetically unique population that must have evolved over hundreds, if not thousands, of years in the Baltic Sea.”&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-switching-to-a-fish-based-diet">Switching to a fish-based diet</h2>



By collecting samples of these large herring, researchers noticed striking differences from the smaller, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plankton-at-risk-global-warming-threatens-the-oceans-lifeline/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plankton</a>-eating Baltic herring. 



Physical examinations, growth measurements, and fat-content analyses revealed that the larger herring contain higher levels of fat and show signs of damaged gill rakers - features aligning with a switch from filtering plankton to eating fish such as the common stickleback, which has sharp defensive spines.



According to the scientists, the relatively low dioxin content makes this fish-eating Baltic herring interesting for human consumption. With a faster growth rate and lower pollutant load, the fish-eating herring may offer both ecological and nutritional advantages.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-uncovering-two-genetic-subpopulations">Uncovering two genetic subpopulations</h2>



Once it became clear that these larger Baltic herring were genetically distinct, the scientists expanded their focus, comparing samples of big herring from different Baltic locations. Whole genome sequencing confirmed that these fish fall into two separate subpopulations.



“Our genetic analysis demonstrates that there are at least two distinct subpopulations of fish-eating herring in the Baltic Sea; one occurs north of Stockholm, and the other occurs south of Stockholm,” said lead author Jake Goodall, a researcher at Uppsala University.&nbsp;



By identifying multiple genetic groups, the study reveals even greater diversity within the Baltic herring gene pool than previously thought.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-fish-eating-herring-evolved-in-the-baltic">Why fish-eating herring evolved in the Baltic</h2>



The Baltic Sea, with salinity levels far lower than the Atlantic’s, has existed for only around 8,000 years. Such an environment is inhospitable to many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-disrupts-the-distribution-of-marine-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marine species</a>, and only a select few have successfully established populations there. 



The researchers propose that fish-eating herring have emerged due to a scarcity of competing predators, making it advantageous for some herring to exploit fish as a food source.



“We hypothesize that fish-eating Baltic herring have evolved due to a lack of competition from other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-more-than-just-a-snack-for-predatory-fish/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predatory fish</a>, for instance, mackerel and tuna, which do not occur where we find fish-eating herring,” said Andersson.



“Thus, these herring take advantage of an underutilised food resource in the Baltic Sea.”



The ability to feed on smaller fish rather than plankton likely opened an ecological niche that larger herring could occupy, capitalizing on prey that other species could not exploit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-ecosystems-and-human-needs">Balancing ecosystems and human needs</h2>



The emergence of fish-eating Baltic herring underscores the Baltic Sea’s capacity to foster evolutionary innovations. As a keystone species, herring regulate energy flow in their ecosystem.&nbsp;



The discovery of these large, fish-feeding populations highlights the adaptability of herring to different diets, environmental pressures, and competition. It also suggests that such herring may provide a safer, fattier food option for consumers, given their comparatively lower dioxin levels.



These insights could inform <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-fishing-gets-a-boost-from-genomics-roadmap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fishery management</a> and conservation strategies, ensuring that as the Baltic continues to evolve, both ecosystem integrity and human consumption interests remain aligned.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rapid-evolutionary-change-of-baltic-herring-nbsp">Rapid evolutionary change of Baltic herring&nbsp;</h2>



Because the Baltic Sea is geologically recent, this discovery showcases how quickly species can adapt to novel conditions.&nbsp;



The fish-eating herring’s genetic distinctiveness, alongside significant physical and dietary differences, underlines the dynamic nature of evolution in brackish environments.&nbsp;



For scientists and policymakers, these findings serve as a reminder that even seemingly uniform species can harbor hidden diversity essential for resilience in changing waters.



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Rapid evolution in the Baltic Sea: How herring became fish-eaters

The Baltic Sea, one of the world’s youngest bodies of water, has long been known to host Atlantic and Baltic herring - plankton-eating fish critical to northern marine ecosystems.&nbsp; Yet new research, published in the journal Nature Communications, has uncovered a surprising adaptation in this environment: genetically distinct, fish-eating Baltic herring (Sardinops sagax caerulea).  Conducted by scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden, the study challenges traditional assumptions about how Baltic herring evolved and found new ecological niches in brackish waters formed at the end of the last...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-are-waking-up-too-early-from-hibernation/">honeybees</a> are not just looking for colors, but also patterns, while hunting for flowers to feed on.&nbsp;



Honeybees can see at a resolution that is about 100 times lower than humans. This low-resolution vision does not allow them to see a flower's pattern clearly until they are within a few centimeters.&nbsp;



But now, the Exeter team has discovered that bees can distinguish between different flowers by using a combination of color and pattern.



For the investigation, the researchers set out to gain a better understanding of how bees see flowers. In a series of tests, the bees rarely ignored flower patterns while foraging. This indicates that bees do not rely on color alone to find flowers.&nbsp;



"We analyzed a large amount of data on plants and bee behavior," said Professor Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, from Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour. "By training and testing bees using artificial patterns of shape and colour, we found they relied flexibly on their ability to see both of these elements."



"Showing how insects see color and learn color patterns is important to understand how pollinators may, or may not, create evolutionary 'pressures' on the colors and patterns that flowers have evolved."



"Our findings suggest that flowers don't need to evolve too many different petal colors, because they can use patterns to diversify their displays so bees can tell them apart from other flowers."



The experts also noticed one striking feature that consistently stood out to them among flowers: the outside edges usually contrasted with the plant's foliage, but this contrast was not found in the center of the flower. This may help bees identify color differences quickly.&nbsp;



Professor Hempel de Ibarra emphasized that understanding more about bees – and the threats they face – means that we need to see the world "through the eyes of a bee and the mind of a bee."



The research is published in a special issue of the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B</a>.



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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

Flower patterns help honeybees find food

A new study led by the University of Exeter has...

The crapemyrtle bark scale is an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pitcher-plants-harness-rain-energy-to-capture-insects/">insect</a> pest that destroys trees by feeding on their sap. The insect has long mouth parts that penetrate the tree bark, and a protective wax on its back that shields the pest from insecticides. After it was introduced from Asia to Texas in 2004, the invasive insect has rapidly spread across 17 states in the Southern US.



In a new study from the <a href="https://www.tamu.edu/">Texas A&amp;M</a> College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, researchers have developed a remote system to identify host plants of crapemyrtle bark scale. The monitoring system, which uses electrical penetration graph (EPG) and custom software, could potentially eliminate the need for intensive greenhouse studies.



According to the researchers, crapemyrtle sales have an annual economic value of $69.5 million. The crapemyrtle bark scale has managed to cut this market in half.&nbsp;



“It’s imperative to control this pest because it can spread quickly and potentially threaten the green industry and ecosystem,” said study lead author Dr. Bin Wu. “Our research is to figure out the host range, or what kind of plant species besides crapemyrtle are exposed to this."



Using the EPG monitoring system, the team can track the probing activities of the insect. The EPG waveforms allow the researchers to observe what nutrients the crapemyrtle bark scale insect extracts from its host.



“Through those observations and determining what nutrients were being taken away, we were able to consider which were most likely host plants,” explained Wu.



Study co-author Dr. Runshi Xie said scale insects such as the crapemyrtle bark scale are interesting species with diverse genetic systems, and some of them reproduce asexually.



“The female leads a very sedentary lifestyle,” said Xie. “They are pretty much waiting on the male, which is a fly, to instigate mating behavior. For the male to find a female, the female must release a sex pheromone. Our next research project will seek out what compounds are released, and how to use them to disrupt mating."



“Right now, the control of this insect is the use of systemic pesticides. But the insects are protected by scale covering, which makes spraying ineffective. To treat chemically, we need to drench the soil to deliver the chemicals into plants, and insects feeding on the sap will die. However, this practice is also detrimental to pollinators. Our focus will be to see if we can come up with novel systems that control insects without relying too much on pesticides.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/insects">Insects</a>.



---



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

Remote monitoring may save crapemyrtles from invasive pests

The crapemyrtle bark scale is an insect pest that destroys...

The close genetic link between humans and other great apes such as bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas or orangutans, makes these animals highly vulnerable to our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-heightens-risk-of-most-infectious-diseases/">infectious diseases</a>. In a new study, an international team of experts from Portugal, the UK, Uganda, and Germany has investigated the behavior and expectations of tourists visiting great apes regarding their willingness to comply with disease protection measures. This study was conducted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the researchers also created the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.protectgreatapesfromdisease.com/">Protect Great Apes from Disease</a>&nbsp;initiative.



The scientists asked nearly 1,000 tourists or potential future tourists to complete an online questionnaire. The analysis of their answers revealed that willingness to comply with disease prevention measures such as wearing masks depended upon several factors, including nationality, expectations about the visitor experience, and whether the participants believed that specific disease-risk measures were effective.



“We have developed visitor education and guide-training materials for use in African sites of great ape tourism,” said study lead author Ana Nuno, a research fellow in Sustainability at the <a href="https://www.unl.pt/en">NOVA University Lisbon</a>. “To do so, we first explored what factors seem to affect visitors’ compliance with disease mitigation measures.”



“This included asking them about their actions on previous visits, their willingness to comply in future, and exploring what factors should be promoted to increase their willingness to follow recommendations. To do so, we adapted a tool from the health literature which is commonly used for understanding why individuals may or may not act in the face of a threat to health.”



“Through this greater understanding of the visitors to wild African great ape tourism sites, we were able to identify ways of improving measures to reduce disease transmission,” added study co-author Kim Hockings, an expert in Ecology and Conservation at the<a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/"> University of Exeter</a>.



According to Dr. Hockings, this is important not only in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also to prepare for future pandemics, when information will initially be limited, but preventive action will be urgently required.&nbsp;



Compared to other disease-mitigation measures, participants expressed less willingness to be vaccinated against Covid-19, wear a mask during trekking, or quarantine after international travel before visiting the apes. Fortunately, most respondents seemed willing to wear masks when in the proximity of the animals. Believing that each specific measure was effective in preventing disease was crucial for participants’ willingness to follow that recommendation.



“In the face of growing threats from future pandemics, we must minimize disease transmission while ensuring that tourism and research promote long-term support for the conservation of great apes and their habitats, as well as maximizing benefits for local communities,” Dr. Hockings concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10396">People and Nature</a>.



---



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

Protecting great apes from tourists

The close genetic link between humans and other great apes...

Vertebrate evolution took a crucial turn about 320 million years ago, when early tetrapods transitioned from water to land, eventually giving rise to three major clades: the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-climate-change-drove-the-rapid-evolution-of-reptiles/">reptiles</a>, the birds (an evolutionary offshoot of reptiles), and the mammals. Due to their common ancestry, the brains of all tetrapods share a similar basal architecture established early in evolution. However, how variations in this common architecture contributed to clade-specific attributes remained a mystery for a long time.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://brain.mpg.de/home">Max Plank Institute for Brain Research</a> in Frankfurt, Germany, has attempted to clarify these issues by generating a molecular atlas of the brain of the Australian bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) and comparing it with that of mice. 



The widespread belief was that mammalian brains consist of ancient reptilian brains supplemented with new mammalian features. However, the study revealed that both mammalian and reptilian brains developed their own clade-specific neuron types and circuits, from a common ancestral set.



“Neurons are the most diverse cell types in the body. Their evolutionary diversification reflects alterations in the developmental processes that produce them and may drive changes in the neural circuits they belong to,” explained study senior author Gilles Laurent, the director at the Max Planck Institute.



“For example, distinct brain areas do not work in isolation, suggesting that the evolution of interconnected regions, such as the thalamus and cerebral cortex, might in some way be correlated. Also, a brain area in reptiles and mammals that derived from a common ancestral structure might have evolved in such a way that it remains ancestral in one clade today, while it is “modern” in the other. Conversely, it could be that both clades now contain a mix of common (ancient) and specific (novel) neuron types. These are the sorts of questions that our experiments tried to address.”



By using a cellular transcriptomic approach that employs single-cell RNA sequencing to detect large fractions of the RNA molecules – or “transcriptomes” – present in single cells, the scientists mapped and compared the brains of P. vitticeps with that of mice. 



“We profiled over 280,000 cells from the brain of Pogona and identified 233 distinct types of neurons,” said study first author David Hain, a graduate student in Professor Laurent’s lab. “Computational integration of our data with mouse data revealed that these neurons can be grouped transcriptomically in common families, that probably represent ancestral neuron types.”



Further analyses revealed that neurons in the thalamus can be grouped into two transcriptomic and anatomical domains, defined by their connectivity to other regions of the brain. These connected regions have different fates in mammals and reptiles, one of them being highly divergent. Comparing the thalamic transcriptomes of the two domains revealed that transcriptomic divergence matched that of the target regions.



“This suggests that neuronal transcriptomic identity somewhat reflects, at least in part, the long-range connectivity of a region to its targets. Since we do not have the brains of ancient vertebrates, reconstructing the evolution of the brain over the past half billion years will require connecting together very complex molecular, developmental, anatomical and functional data in a way that is self-consistent. We live in very exciting times, because this is becoming possible,” Professor Laurent concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8202">Science</a>.



---



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

Differences in the mammalian and reptilian brain revealed

Vertebrate evolution took a crucial turn about 320 million years...

Amber is formed when plant resin fossilizes, and sometimes this process preserves evidence of small animals that were trapped in the sticky substance as it oozed out of the plant, millions of years ago. In the past, most ants captured in amber have come from the northern hemisphere, giving rise to the assumption that ants evolved originally in North America or South Asia. But now scientists have analyzed and described an extinct ant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eight-new-species-of-gecko-discovered-in-madagascar/">species</a> that is new to science and that was trapped in amber of African origin.



The amber that was found in northwest Ethiopia is estimated to date from the early Miocene, and is between 16 and 23 million years old. &nbsp;Among the organisms trapped inside are 13 ants of a previously unknown extinct species. Using the X-ray light source PETRA III at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, researchers led by <a href="https://www.uni-jena.de/">Friedrich Schiller University Jena</a> examined these fossil remains and have now named and described the insect, which represents a brand new genus and species.&nbsp;



The name given to the new species and genus is †Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov. With this name, the scientists honor the two research institutions involved – DESY and Hereon – that contributed significantly to this find with the help of modern imaging techniques. Ultimately, it was only possible to identify the new species and genus through the combination of extensive phenotype data from scans, and recent findings from genome analyses of living ants.



Initially, the anatomical structures of the preserved ants led the scientists to place them in the subfamily known as Aneuretinae. This group currently consists mostly of extinct ants known only from fossils, although there is one living species that is found in Sri Lanka. However, after detailed and high-resolution images were obtained using synchrotron micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning, the researchers revised their identification and decided the new species was more appropriately placed in the ant subfamily Ponerinae.&nbsp;



“The complex waist segment and the large but rudimentary mandibles – the mouthparts – are more familiar to us from the Ponerinae, a dominant group of predatory ants,” said Brendon Boudinot, who is currently working at the University of Jena on a Humboldt Research Fellowship. “For this reason, we’ve assigned the new species and genus to this subfamily, even though it has a unique appearance, as the long waist and otherwise unconstricted abdomen are more reminiscent of the Aneuretinae.”



According to the research report, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13090796">Insects</a>, this piece of amber is exceptional in several ways. “The piece with these ants is from the only amber deposit in Africa, so far, that has featured fossil organisms in inclusions. Altogether, there are only a few fossil insects from this continent,” explained Vincent Perrichot from the University of Rennes. “Although amber has long been used as jewelry by locals in the region, its scientific significance has only become clear to researchers in the last 10 years or so.”



It was a complicated process to date the amber, and thereby the fossils enclosed within. Initial dating techniques gave an age of 95 million years, but this was revised to between 16 and 23 million years by determining the age of the fossil pollen and spores captured in the amber alongside the ants. According to Perrichot, “The specimen therefore offers what is currently a unique insight into an ancient forest ecosystem in Africa.”&nbsp;



The present research results also contribute to putting male ants more under the spotlight of evolutionary research. “Because they have such a different body shape compared to the worker ants, all of whom are female, research has neglected them for a long time. This is because males are simply too often overlooked because they cannot be properly classified,” said Boudinot.



“Our results not only update the literature on identifying male ants, but also show that by understanding male-specific features, such as the sex-specific shape of the mandible, we can learn more about the evolutionary patterns of female ants.” This is because in the present study, the researchers have identified a fundamental pattern that occurs in all ants, namely that male and female mandibles follow the same developmental pattern in most species, even if they look very different.



The analysis of these extinct and ancient ants was only possible with the use of state-of-the-art technology. Images of the external and internal anatomy of the ants were obtained using high-resolution imaging techniques, such as micro-CT, in which X-rays are used to look through all layers of the preserved ant bodies. This was particularly important as the genetic material of the ants could not be analyzed due to the fact that their bodies were embedded in rock-hard amber.&nbsp;



“Since the ants enclosed in amber that are to be examined are very small and only show a very weak contrast in classical CT, we carried out the CT at our measuring station, which specializes in such micro-tomography,” explained Jörg Hammel from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. “This provided the researchers with a stack of images that basically showed the sample that was being studied, slice by slice.”



Put together, these layered images produced detailed three-dimensional images of the internal structure of the animals, which the researchers could use to reconstruct the anatomy with precision. In this way, modern technology helped the researchers to look back into the distant past and identify the details that ultimately led to the identification of the new species and its genus.&nbsp;



&nbsp;---



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

New ant species discovered in ancient amber

Amber is formed when plant resin fossilizes, and sometimes this...

A research team led by scientists at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> has made a discovery that contests the long-held belief that changes in DNA sequences which occur in non-reproductive cells cannot be passed to offspring. For the first time, the researchers have determined that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dental-scanning-equipment-helps-monitor-young-corals/">corals</a> can pass mutations acquired during their lifetimes to their offspring,



"For a trait, such as growth rate, to evolve, the genetic basis of that trait must be passed from generation to generation. For most animals, a new genetic mutation can only contribute to evolutionary change if it occurs in a germline or reproductive cell, for example in an egg or sperm cell. Mutations that occur in the rest of the body, in the somatic cells, were thought to be evolutionarily irrelevant because they do not get passed on to offspring. However, corals appear to have a way around this barrier that seems to allow them to break this evolutionary rule," explained Professor Iliana Baums, who led the research.



Study co-author Kate Vasquez Kuntz explained how this might be possible: "In most animals, reproductive cells are segregated from body cells early in development. So only genetic mutations that occur in the reproductive cells have the potential to contribute to the evolution of the species. However, for some organisms, like corals, the segregation of reproductive cells from all other cells may occur later in development or may never occur at all, allowing a path for genetic mutations to travel from a parent's body to its offspring."



Because corals can reproduce asexually via budding and colony fragmentation, they were the ideal organisms for the study.



"This single-parent reproduction allowed us to more easily search for potential somatic mutations from the parent coral and track them into the offspring by simplifying the total number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring." said study co-author Sheila Kitchen.



The researchers hope that with the ability of parent corals to pass on potentially advantageous mutations, their offspring will have a better chance of survival.&nbsp;



"If these mutations can then be passed on to offspring – as we have now demonstrated – it means that corals have an additional tool that might be able to speed up their adaptation to climate change," said Professor Baums.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</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

Corals boost their own genetic diversity by passing on mutations

A research team led by scientists at Penn State has...

Phytoplankton are the foundation of life on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-production-affects-earths-natural-processes/">Earth</a>. Understanding how these organisms react to the ocean environment can improve our knowledge of the rest of the food web. The day/night light cycle - “diel cycle” - is critical for photosynthesis among the ocean’s primary producers. 



Biologists at the <a href="https://beta.nsf.gov/now-leaving-c9e063aa404fcf03c6aabc558e?external_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mbl.edu%2Fnews%2Fnew-model-sheds-light-daynight-cycle-global-ocean&amp;back_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeta.nsf.gov%2Fnews%2Fnew-model-sheds-light-daynight-cycle-global-ocean%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgovdelivery">Marine Biological Laboratory</a> in Massachusetts incorporated the diel cycle into a new global ocean model to investigate its effects on phytoplankton. The study is the first to investigate how the day/night cycle affects the biogeography and diversity of these primary producers.&nbsp;



The new model applied natural light and dark cycles over the global ocean to 15 simulated phytoplankton types. These simulations were compared to a control simulation to see how diel light cycles affected productivity and nutrient concentration dynamics.



The simulated phytoplankton were separated into two groups: "gleaners," or simulated smaller cells with high nutrient affinity (capturing nutrients out of the water column even if those nutrients were in low quantities) but slow growth; and "opportunists," or simulated larger cells with higher growth rates but low nutrient affinity (meaning they did better in nutrient-rich water).&nbsp;



The researchers found that the diel cycle did matter to the simulated phytoplankton. Diel cycles were associated with higher concentrations of limited nutrients.&nbsp; At lower latitudes, the simulated opportunists were more abundant than the gleaners. This became less important at higher latitudes, where the effects of the seasonal light cycle were stronger than the day/night cycles.



If scientists cannot understand how phytoplankton get their energy as primary producers, it's hard to understand the rest of the ocean food web -&nbsp; all the way up to humans.



By gaining insight into how the ocean works, experts can better predict how global warming will further affect our planet. Scientists make better ocean models to investigate possible solutions to climate change, while minimizing unintended consequences.



"This model contributes to advancing our understanding of how the ocean works," said Vallino. "Being able to predict how the distribution of phytoplankton will change has repercussions higher up the food web. If you can't get that base change right, you can't get anything that's connected to that above it right."



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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

New insights into the day/night cycle of the global ocean

Phytoplankton are the foundation of life on Earth. Understanding how...

The rate at which <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/the-terrifying-biology-of-zoonotic-diseases/">zoonotic diseases</a> infect humans has steadily risen over the last three decades. Emerging diseases, such as Covid-19 and monkeypox, have heightened the need to develop disease ecology tools to forecast when and where outbreaks are most likely to occur. Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida</a> (USF) has developed a new methodology that could predict disease transmission from wildlife to humans, as well as from one wildlife species to another, and determine who is at risk of infection.



This innovative methodology is based on a machine-learning algorithm which identifies the influence of several variables, such as geographical location or climate, on known pathogens. By using only small amounts of information, this system is able to identify community hotspots at risk of infection on both local and global scales.



“Our main goal is to develop this tool for preventive measures,” said co-principal investigator Diego Santiago-Alarcon, an assistant professor of Integrative Biology at USF. “It’s difficult to have an all-purpose methodology that can be used to predict infections across all the diverse parasite systems, but with this research, we contribute to achieving that goal.”



In order to test the reliability and accuracy of the models generated by this technique, the scientists examined three host-pathogen systems – avian malaria, birds with West Nile virus, and bats with coronavirus. Surprisingly, in all three cases, the species most frequently infected were not necessarily the ones most susceptible to the disease. Identifying relevant factors such as climate and evolutionary relationships appeared crucial to pinpoint hosts with higher risks of infection.



By integrating evolutionary, geographic, and environmental factors, the experts identified host species which have previously not been known to be infected by the pathogen under study, thus providing a reliable method to spot susceptible species, and ultimately mitigate infection risks by directing infectious diseases surveillance and field efforts. This cost-effective strategy would likely help medical authorities and governmental agencies to decide where to invest limited disease resources.



“We feel confident that the methodology is successful, and it can be applied widely to many host-pathogen systems,” Professor Santiago-Alarcon said. “We now enter into a phase of improvement and refinement.”



“Humanity, and indeed biodiversity in general, are experiencing more and more infectious disease challenges as a result of our incursion and destruction of the natural order worldwide through things like deforestation, global trade, and climate change,” added study co-author Andrés Lira-Noriega, a research fellow at the <a href="https://www.ecologia.unam.mx/web2/">Institute of Ecology</a> in Mexico. “This imposes the need of having tools like the one we are publishing to help us predict where new threats in terms of new pathogens and their reservoirs may occur or arise.”



In future research, the team will test the methodology on additional host-pathogen systems and extend the study of diseases transmission to predict future outbreaks. By the end of 2022, the scientists aim to make their tool easily accessible to the scientific community through a user-friendly app.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2122851119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Predicting disease transmission between wildlife and humans

The rate at which zoonotic diseases infect humans has steadily...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uniovi.es/en">University of Oviedo</a> in Spain has unlocked the genetic code of the “immortal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-eyes-catch-a-glimpse-of-evolutionary-history/">jellyfish</a>,” an animal capable of repeatedly reverting into a juvenile state after sexual reproduction. The experts hope that better understanding the factors leading to this creature’s unique longevity could offer new perspectives on human aging.&nbsp;



Although many species of jellyfish have some capacity to reverse aging and revert to a larval state, most of them lose this ability once they reach sexual maturity. However, Turritopsis dohrnii appears to be the only known species able to repeatedly revert back into a larval stage even after sexual reproduction. According to the experts, the immortal jellyfish uses this “superpower” to avoid predators, allowing it to revert to a cyst which turns into a polyp attached to the seafloor when threaten by other animals. Once the threat is gone, the creature starts to mature once again.



To better understand what makes T. dohrnii special, the scientists sequenced its genome and compared it to that of Turritopsis rubra, a close genetic relative which lacks the capacity to rejuvenate after reaching sexual maturity. The analysis revealed that T. dohrnii had twice as many copies of the genes associated with DNA repair and protection, which helps producing greater amounts of protective and repairing proteins. Moreover, this jellyfish also had unique mutations which stunted cell division and prevented telomeres (chromosomes’ protective “caps”) from deteriorating.



“Our results suggest that gene amplification and point variants unique of&nbsp;T. dohrnii&nbsp;could affect its replicative efficiency, as well as DNA repair and telomere maintenance activity, which may be pivotal processes for cell rejuvenation and proliferation,” the study authors explained.&nbsp;



“In addition, expansions and sequence variations of genes associated with DNA repair, mitochondrial dysfunction and intercellular communication could increase its capacity to maintain redox environment and reduce cellular damage during stress events.”



These findings could inspire developments in regenerative medicine and provide insights into age-related diseases such as cancer or neurodegeneration. However, as Monty Graham, a jellyfish expert and director of the <a href="https://www.fio.usf.edu/">Florida Institute of Oceanography</a> put it, “we can’t look at it as, hey, we are going to harvest these jellyfish and turn them into a skin cream.” Instead, exploring such gene variants in T. dhornii and other animals - including humans – could shed more light on the nature of aging, and help scientists slowly build an arsenal to combat its most unwanted effects.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118763119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Can the immortal jellyfish teach us how to reverse aging?

A new study led by the University of Oviedo in...

Scientists and European research institutions are calling for better protections for juvenile emperor penguins. This comes as the U.S. considers listing them under the Endangered Species Act and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) considers expanding Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean.&nbsp;



Juvenile emperor penguins are more vulnerable than adults as they have not fully developed foraging and predator avoidance skills. As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-climate-is-wiping-out-oyster-reefs-in-florida/">climate change</a> reduces sea-ice habitat, greatly expanded MPAs are crucial to protect this<a href="https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/emperor-penguins-increasingly-under-siege-by-climate-change/"> </a>threatened penguin species at every life stage.



The study tracked eight penguins with satellite tags over a year. Results showed that the young birds spend about 90 percent of their time outside of current and proposed MPAs. They were also found to travel over 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) beyond the species range.&nbsp;



“While everyone is looking at the adult population, the juvenile population – which leaves the relative safety of its parents at about five months - is neither monitored nor protected,” said Dan Zitterbart, an associate scientist at the <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a>.&nbsp;



“The current and proposed MPAs in the Southern Ocean only include the range of adult emperor penguins, which do not travel as far as juveniles. From a conservation perspective, it’s important to know where these juveniles go. It’s one more piece of the puzzle to protect their marine habitat.”



Protection of juveniles is critical as emperor penguins have low fertility rates. Without protecting juveniles, the population of breeding adults would be threatened.&nbsp;



The researchers are now conducting a long-term monitoring study of the Atka Bay emperor penguin colony on the Weddell Sea. The Weddell Sea is home to one-third of established emperor penguin colonies. Colonies in this region are less vulnerable to climate-induced melting than other areas of the Antarctic.



“Some of the Weddell Sea colonies are expected to still be present 50 to 100 years from now,” said study lead author Aymeric Houstin. “It’s important to preserve colonies that will be able to endure climate change, as they could become a refuge for the entire population of emperor penguins.”



The establishment of three new MPAs has been considered in the Weddell Sea. While this would preserve one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world and a critical zone for global ocean circulation, the authors say that the boundaries are inadequate to protect juvenile emperor penguins.



“The Weddell Sea MPA design, as the other MPAs around Antarctica, should include the distribution at sea of all age-classes of the emperor penguin population - not only the adults from a few study colonies,” said Céline Le Bohec, of CNRS/Université de Strasbourg France and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco. “Juveniles are currently clearly lacking protection and their presence in the Northern waters needs to be considered in the future, especially regarding the development of fisheries in those regions.”



The researchers plan to continue tagging both adult and juvenile penguins from the Atka Bay colony to track their movements and behavior as the environment changes. Long term data could help develop a “dynamic MPA” with shifting boundaries based on the predicted movement of penguins.&nbsp;



A dynamic network of MPAs could be essential, as is maintaining dialogue with the fishing industry to ensure sustainable resource management to preserve these unique and sensitive polar regions.&nbsp;



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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

Young emperor penguins need better protection

Scientists and European research institutions are calling for better protections...

Rising demands for renewable energy and electric vehicles are currently sparking a high demand for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-recover-energy-from-discarded-batteries/">batteries</a> which store generated energy and power engines. However, until now, the batteries behind these sustainable solutions are not sustainable themselves. To solve this problem, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> has created a zinc battery with a biodegradable electrolyte from a surprising source: crab shells.



“Vast quantities of batteries are being produced and consumed, raising the possibility of environmental problems,” said study lead author Liangbing Hu, an expert in Materials Innovation at the University of Maryland. “For example, polypropylene and polycarbonate separators, which are widely used in Lithium-ion batteries, take hundreds or thousands of years to degrade and add to environmental burden.”



Batteries use electrolytes to shuttle ions back and forth between electrically charged terminals. These electrolytes can be liquids, pastes, or gels, and many current batteries use highly flammable or corrosive substances for this function. However, the new battery – which can store power from large-scale solar and wind sources – uses a gel electrolyte made from a biodegradable material called chitosan.



“Chitosan is a derivative product of chitin. Chitin has a lot of sources, including the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of crustaceans, and squid pens,” Dr. Hu explained. “The most abundant source of chitosan is the exoskeletons of crustaceans, including crabs, shrimps, and lobsters, which can be easily obtained from seafood waste. You can find it on your table.”&nbsp;



Since it contains biodegradable electrolytes, two thirds of this battery could be broken down by microbes. Under the action of these microorganisms, the chitosan electrolyte itself can vanish completely in about five months, leaving behind the metal component – zinc, rather than lead or lithium, as in the case of older batteries – which could then be recycled. “Zinc is more abundant in Earth’s crust than lithium. Generally speaking, well-developed zinc batteries are cheaper and safer,” said Dr. Hu.



Next, the scientists aim to make even more environmentally-friendly batteries. “In the future, I hope all components in batteries are biodegradable. Not only the material itself but also the fabrication process of biomaterials,” Dr. Hu concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2022.07.015">Matter</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Scientists create sustainable batteries from crab shells

Rising demands for renewable energy and electric vehicles are currently...

An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> has recently named eight new species of day gecko in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-can-boost-biodiversity-in-madagascar/">Madagascar</a>. According to the study authors, all of the geckos are less than three inches in length - no longer than a pointer finger.&nbsp;



Over the last several decades, the researchers had studied the small geckos from the subgenus Domerguella and thought five separate species existed. However, DNA analysis has revealed there might be as many as 17 new species.&nbsp;



Madagascar is well known for its species diversity and endemism; over 150 new reptile species have been described in the last 30 years. Nevertheless, the researchers were surprised at the number of different species they had been studying without realizing it.&nbsp;



"These results highlight how important it is that we continue to collect samples across Madagascar, even of species we think we understand. There is still very much more to discover," said Dr. Frank Glaw, Curator of Herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung München in Munich, Germany.



Many of the recently described species in Madagascar have been small. Dr. Mark D. Scherz, the last author of the study, explained that smaller animals have more restricted movement.&nbsp;



"Domerguella are tiny, at just five to seven centimetres (or roughly two inches) from the nose to the tip of the tail. We think that their small size may play a role in the way they speciate. Because small animals are generally less able to move from one area to another, and are more likely to get isolated by barriers like rivers cropping up between populations. This could explain why we have seen these kinds of patterns in the tiny frogs, chameleons, and now also geckos that we have been studying in Madagascar," said Dr. Scherz.



Unfortunately, like many species found in Madagascar, these tiny lizards are threatened with extinction. Dr. Fanomezana Ratsoavina, manager of the Unit for Zoology and Animal Biodiversity at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, elaborated on the status of the newly discovered geckos.&nbsp;



"The five species we knew before were mostly thought to be unthreatened, but the eight new species are all either probably endangered or critically endangered. This shows how important it is to continue to work to discover, describe, and assess the conservation status of the wildlife of Madagascar."



The paper is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/">Zootaxa</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

Eight new species of gecko discovered in Madagascar

An international team of researchers led by the University of...

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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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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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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