Honey, often described as “liquid gold,” has captivated civilizations for millennia. Long prized for its sweetness, it has also been used in diverse cultures and traditions to soothe sore throats, support wound healing, and even address infections.&nbsp;



While honey’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties have earned it a place in both kitchens and home remedies, questions remain about the science behind these claims.&nbsp;



What exactly gives honey its therapeutic potential, and how do the microorganisms within it influence its benefits and safety?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-microbiology-of-honey">The microbiology of honey</h2>



When people think of honey, they usually picture a sticky, golden sweetener ready to drizzle on toast or stir into tea. Yet behind this simplicity lies a rich microbial community.&nbsp;



Honey carries a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-laid-the-foundation-for-early-life-on-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microorganisms</a> that together create a microscopic ecosystem. This local microbiome in honey prompts inquiries about its safety, particularly regarding how honey is produced, whether it’s consumed raw or pasteurized, and the risks it may pose for certain individuals, such as infants.



Honey primarily consists of sugars (mainly fructose and glucose), water, and organic compounds produced by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-are-making-less-honey-and-five-decades-of-data-reveals-why/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bees</a>. While the western honeybee, Apis mellifera, is the dominant species in large-scale honey production, at least eight other bee species - including Apis cerana and Apis nigrocincta - are also known to produce honey.&nbsp;



Each species, along with environmental and floral variations, can influence the composition of the honey they create.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-microbes">The role of microbes</h2>



Bees generate honey through a multifaceted process involving the collection of nectar and honeydew from flowers and subsequent enzymatic transformations within the hive.&nbsp;



During this process, microorganisms - such as Bacillus, Saccharomyces, and Aspergillus - are introduced to the honey via the bees’ digestive tracts and from external sources like air, soil, and plant matter.



Some microbes, particularly lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are beneficial. They can contribute to honey’s acidity and preserve it against spoilage.&nbsp;



Conversely, certain yeasts, such as Candida and Saccharomyces, may thrive in honey that has excessive moisture, potentially causing fermentation or spoilage. Thus, honey’s microbial profile is shaped by the floral environment, geographic location, bee health, and other situational elements.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-bees-face-a-multitude-of-complex-stressors-in-the-field/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">honeybee</a> gut microbiome itself plays a critical part in shaping honey’s characteristics. In addition to lactic acid bacteria, microbes like Enterobacter and Klebsiella help maintain bee health.&nbsp;



If this beneficial microbial community becomes unbalanced - due to factors such as disease or environmental stress - bees can become susceptible to infections, including fungal pathogens like Aspergillus fumigatus.&nbsp;



This fungus can harm both immunocompromised humans and bee larvae, emphasizing the shared health interests of bees and humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honey-s-remarkable-self-preservation-abilities">Honey’s remarkable self-preservation abilities</h2>



Despite harboring an assortment of microbes, honey naturally resists spoilage and pathogenic bacteria. One central reason lies in the enzyme glucose oxidase, which worker bees secrete from their hypopharyngeal glands.&nbsp;



When bees combine this enzyme with glucose in the nectar, it produces hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and water. The resulting hydrogen peroxide remains encased in the honey, helping lower its pH to levels unfavorable for bacterial growth.



Additionally, honey’s high sugar content and minimal water availability (i.e., low moisture) create an osmotic environment hostile to many microorganisms. These traits together form a potent natural defense that helps honey avoid quick spoilage, even when stored at room temperature for extended periods.



Still, honey’s acidity can vary according to seasonal flora and the particular flowers the bees visit. More than 300 honey varieties exist around the world, each uniquely shaped by local botanical and environmental factors.&nbsp;



In the United States alone, one can find distinct honeys like buckwheat honey in the Midwest or citrus blossom honey in Florida and southern California.&nbsp;



Globally, the famed Manuka honey originates from Leptospermum scoparium flowers in New Zealand and Australia and is celebrated for its heightened antibacterial effects, often attributed to methylglyoxal (MGO).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-medicinal-properties-of-honey">Medicinal properties of honey</h2>



Manuka honey is one of the most researched types, largely due to the presence of MGO, which is formed from dihydroxyacetone (DHA) in Manuka flower nectar.&nbsp;



Studies suggest that Manuka honey is more potent against certain bacteria, like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, than generic honeys. However, evidence shows that various constituents of Manuka honey, including hydrogen peroxide and an osmotic effect, work together to amplify its antimicrobial strength.



While Manuka honey has garnered attention for wound care and infection control, clinical research on its effectiveness for broader health issues - such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-tool-detects-changes-in-gut-health-to-help-prevent-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gut health</a>, diabetes, or cancer - remains limited.&nbsp;



A few clinical trials point to Manuka honey’s potential to ease throat discomfort in chemotherapy patients, but these studies have not conclusively shown that honey surpasses existing treatments.&nbsp;



Further investigations are needed to determine whether honey’s properties can be harnessed reliably in mainstream healthcare.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-benefits-and-safety">Balancing benefits and safety</h2>



One key distinction in honey is whether it’s raw or pasteurized. Raw honey undergoes minimal filtration and retains more of its natural microbes, including pollen particles and other hive components.&nbsp;



Some argue this confers extra health advantages, like enhanced antioxidant and probiotic qualities. However, raw honey also poses allergy risks to individuals sensitive to pollen or bee-derived proteins.



Pasteurized honey, processed at high temperatures to lower its microbial load, can be safer in terms of minimizing fermentation or spoilage. Yet pasteurization may also reduce honey’s beneficial enzymes and microbes, potentially lessening any therapeutic qualities.&nbsp;



Regardless of processing, improper honey storage - especially exposure to moisture, heat, or air - can trigger spoilage or microbial growth, underscoring the need for careful handling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honey-consumption-risks">Honey consumption risks</h2>



While honey is generally considered safe, one well-known concern is the presence of Clostridium botulinum spores. Though relatively rare, these spores can produce a potent neurotoxin that induces botulism, a serious condition marked by muscle weakness and possible paralysis.&nbsp;



Infants under one year old are particularly vulnerable because their developing digestive tracts are ill-equipped to counteract C. botulinum spores. Consequently, pediatric and public health guidelines strongly advise against giving honey to infants less than 12 months of age.&nbsp;



Although botulism risk in older children and adults is minimal, the possibility of contamination underscores the importance of following storage and processing recommendations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honey-s-role-in-health-and-research">Honey’s role in health and research</h2>



As scientists deepen their understanding of honey’s chemistry and the interplay of its microbial inhabitants, possibilities emerge for broader applications.&nbsp;



Honey’s mix of sugars, enzymes, and natural compounds could prove relevant in addressing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-create-viruses-to-combat-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">antibiotic-resistant</a> infections, improving wound healing, and perhaps even aiding in metabolic or gastrointestinal disorders. However, robust, large-scale clinical trials remain necessary to confirm many of these potential benefits.



Still, anecdotal evidence and limited studies already support honey’s use in alleviating mild conditions, like sore throats or minor cuts. Traditional medicine in many cultures has leveraged honey’s soothing properties for centuries.&nbsp;



Modern science is now trying to define these uses more precisely, distinguishing home remedies from evidence-based healthcare solutions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-spectrum-of-varieties">A spectrum of varieties</h2>



Honey is incredibly diverse, owing to factors like bee species, local flora, and environmental conditions. Orange blossom honey from Florida, for example, differs not only in taste from avocado honey in California or buckwheat honey in New York, but also in antioxidant capacity and potential microbial composition.&nbsp;



Globally, Manuka honey remains the most studied, but dozens of specialty honeys in various regions hold cultural and medicinal significance, reflecting how nature’s subtleties shape each batch.



Understanding this variety can guide consumers seeking specific flavors or purported health benefits. It can also inform researchers studying how different nectar sources yield distinct antimicrobial or antioxidant properties in honey, potentially expanding its role in food science and medicine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-ahead-honey-s-future-as-a-resource">Looking ahead: Honey’s future as a resource</h2>



Honey stands as an intriguing intersection of biology, chemistry, ecology, and culinary art. While marketed primarily as a sweetener, its composition reveals a wealth of complex interactions among sugars, enzymes, microbes, and floral compounds.&nbsp;



These interactions contribute to honey’s distinctive flavor profiles, antimicrobial resilience, and prospective therapeutic potential.



Ongoing research into honey’s properties - including how it fights certain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/intestinal-bacteria-could-help-you-live-a-very-long-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bacteria</a>, whether it can bolster wound healing, and its broader impact on human health - reflects a growing recognition of nature’s capacity to inspire and innovate.&nbsp;



As studies become more rigorous, honey’s status in modern integrative medicine and food science may continue to rise, provided that researchers address the gaps and ensure consumer safety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honey-as-a-natural-marvel-nbsp">Honey as a natural marvel&nbsp;</h2>



Honey’s enduring popularity stems not only from its sweet taste but also from the remarkable benefits attributed to it over centuries of traditional use.&nbsp;



Contemporary investigations highlight how honey’s microbial makeup, enzymatic processes, and sugar chemistry coalesce to create a product that is both delicious and potentially health-affirming.&nbsp;



Although definitive scientific consensus on many of honey’s medical applications remains elusive, its low-risk nature and storied past suggest that honey will continue to delight and possibly heal.



By bridging knowledge from microbiology, beekeeping, environmental science, and clinical research, scientists stand poised to uncover additional facets of honey’s significance.&nbsp;



Whether stirred into tea or considered for more formal therapeutic roles, honey’s multifaceted profile ensures that it remains a subject of fascination in culinary, cultural, and medical contexts.



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Nature's sweet remedy: Honey is a microbial marvel

Honey, often described as “liquid gold,” has captivated civilizations for millennia. Long prized for its sweetness, it has also been used in diverse cultures and traditions to soothe sore throats, support wound healing, and even address infections.&nbsp; While honey’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties have earned it a place in both kitchens and home remedies, questions remain about the science behind these claims.&nbsp; What exactly gives honey its therapeutic potential, and how do the microorganisms within it influence its benefits and safety? The microbiology of honey When...

This year, the United Kingdom experienced record heatwaves and one of the worst droughts in a century, leading some counties, such as Kent or Essex, to introduce water restrictions. These included bans on hose pipes, filling paddling pools, or even washing cars. 



However, in a small part of West Sussex, a highly different method of combating drought is under way. In February, a pair of Eurasian <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/why-do-beavers-build-dams/">beavers</a> were introduced to the <a href="https://knepp.co.uk/home">Knepp Wildland</a>, a pioneering rewilding project on what used to be farmland. During the recent heatwaves, the dams these animals built have kept ponds full and lands marshy, and helped lower the air and land temperatures.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We’ve seen really amazing results just in the five months they’ve been here,” said Penny Green, a resident ecologist at Knepp Wildland. “The beavers have already made a little network of ponds from the damming that they’ve done, they’ve been chewing back some of the vegetation in the ponds and we’ve got little beaver lawns.”



“But the most interesting thing for us at the moment is that even though we’re in a huge drought year, and most of the little streams either side of the enclosure are running dry, here in the beaver pen it is the most amazing wetland oasis all around us.”



The sprawling system of ponds and channels connecting them helps branches take root and start growing again, while also attracting a huge range of wildlife, including dragonflies, damselflies, reed warblers, chiffchaffs, as well as a wide range of amphibians, insects, and bats. Moreover, the water backing up above the dams has given rise to further wetlands outside of the fenced area, where larger mammals such as deer, cows, and pigs often come to quench their thirst.



Surprisingly, the very imperfection of beavers’ dams is a key aspect in the fight against drought and biodiversity loss. “They’re providing opportunities during the summer months because they have slightly leaky dams,” explained Green. “There will be a bit of water trickling out when there perhaps wouldn’t be so much water in our landscapes during drought years like this year. So they’ll be letting a little bit of water out of these dams throughout the summer.”



Beavers’ activity has a crucial role in cooling the environment too, as deeper water with lower temperatures spills out in the surrounding landscape, and its evaporation from the large surface areas of the ponds helps cool the air itself.&nbsp;



As Green argues, many benefits extend well beyond the hot summer months. “Beavers create all sorts of wonderful habitats for other wildlife, but in turn they also provide lots of ecosystem services that helps us as humans. They help to alleviate flooding by holding back water especially in heavy downpour events where we get heavy rain. They are holding on to water and slowing the flow down, which is great.”



Considering these various climate benefits that beaver activity gives rise too, the UK government has finally given these resilient ecosystem engineers legal protection, forbidding people to deliberately capture, kill, and injure them, or damage their lodges and dams. In our fight against climate change, these fascinating creatures may be some of our most unexpected, yet stronger allies.



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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;

Beavers are key allies in the fight against droughts

This year, the United Kingdom experienced record heatwaves and one...

Plant growth in arid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mangrove-forest-reveals-ancient-climate-change-effects/">mangroves</a> is often limited by a lack of precipitation, poor nutrient availability, and high soil salinity. Soil bacteria play a crucial role in processes that sustain plant growth, such as transforming dead vegetation into useful nutrients. However, regardless of its importance for the health of mangrove habitats, the sediment microbiome of these ecosystems has been largely overlooked in previous scientific studies.&nbsp;



Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/">King Abdullah University of Science &amp; Technology</a> (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has found that fiddler crabs burrowing beneath arid mangrove forests help bring beneficial bacteria to ecosystems in dire need of nutrients.



&nbsp;“Mangroves are the most efficient ecosystem in the world at absorbing carbon dioxide and therefore fighting climate change,” said study lead author Marco Fusi, a marine scientist at KAUST. However, since global warming puts increasing pressure on these already vulnerable ecosystems, Fusi and his colleagues embarked on a quest to understand how their resilience could be improved.



The scientists investigated whether soil disturbance, or “bioturbation” by fiddler crabs affects the sediment microbiome and consequently plant growth&nbsp;in an arid mangrove ecosystem on the Red Sea. “The rationale behind this research is that the continuous soil reworking by the ‘animal engineers’ creates an ‘oxygenation halo’ around the burrows, which makes the sediment more hospitable to bacteria that, in turn, help the plant with nutrients,” explained study senior author Daniele Daffonchio, a professor of Marine Science at KAUST.



By analyzing ten plots isolated by fences, with five of them containing extra crabs brought in from nearby mangroves, the researchers found that the enriched plots contained more beneficial bacteria, including several&nbsp;Gammaproteobacteria&nbsp;and&nbsp;Alphaproteobacteria&nbsp;which&nbsp;produce chemicals essential for trapping iron in the sediment. Since Red Sea mangroves are iron deficient, bacteria that help deliver iron to the trees can significantly improve their growth.



Moreover, increased fiddler crab activity also improved soil pH and salinity. “We found a strong effect of bioturbation on soil pH and salinity,” said Fusi. “In some cases, bioturbation can reduce salinity, thereby alleviating the salt stress on the plant.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



In future research, the scientists aim to assess whether bioturbation can also impact the settling and growth of mangrove seedlings. According to Fusi, “understanding how bioturbation affects the microbial community is extremely important to drive nature-based solutions to protect, restore and conserve mangroves.”&nbsp;



“Our findings suggest that maintaining conditions that favor fiddler crabs could help arid mangroves thrive under changes imposed by global warming,” concluded co-author Jenny Booth, a marine microbiologist at KAUST.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01117-22">Microbiology Spectrum</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;

Burrowing crabs bring beneficial bacteria to mangrove forests

Plant growth in arid mangroves is often limited by a...

Southern,Right,Whale,With,Gull

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are native to oceans in the southern hemisphere and a breeding population exists around Aotearoa New Zealand and its sub-Antarctic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-types-of-islands-attract-migratory-birds/">islands</a>. The whales, known locally as tohorā, used to be more common in the region, and are known to have come inshore in the past to use sheltered harbors for calving and mating. The large numbers that were present in earlier times were dramatically reduced by whaling activity and by the time the killing of this species was banned in 1937, southern right whales were almost extinct, globally.&nbsp;



As a result of the hunting, there was no sighting of a southern right whale for 35 years in the waters around mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, with the remnant population persisting only around the remote sub-Antarctic islands. However, by 2009 there were an estimated 2,200 of these whales in the region, indicating a slow but steady recovery in the population. Individuals move between mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, including Stewart Island (Rakiura), and the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku). Sightings are still very rare and may number no more than one or two in total, in some years.&nbsp;



A new study, led by Annabelle Cranswick of the <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en.html">University of Auckland</a>, has made use of posts on Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist to bolster the data on whale sightings and help monitor the population of southern right whales in Aotearoa New Zealand waters.&nbsp;



By using sightings data from 2011 to 2021 recorded in the New Zealand Department of Conservation's <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/marine-mammal">Marine Mammal</a>&nbsp;Database, and supplementing these with crowd-sourced sightings reported on Facebook and iNaturalist, the researchers were able to increase the spatiotemporal extent of sampling for this rare and whale species.



“Photos supplied on social media and by citizen scientists are proving so important for us to monitor populations of these recovering whales,” said Cranswick. “We can assess that yes, this is a southern right whale, and discover how long a whale stayed in a particular area. “Even a distant photo, showing just part of a whale, can be helpful,” says Cranswick. “We can pick a southern right from just the white patches called callosities on the head, their flat back which lacks a dorsal fin, or even their large paddle-shaped pectoral fins.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



In total, there were only 116 sightings of southern right whales in New Zealand waters from both the Department of Conservation and the social network sources, reported over the 11-year research period (2011–2021). Since all the social media sightings were accompanied by photos that enabled species identification, these posts increased the overall number and quality of sightings and provided new information on the fine-scale movement and residency times of the whales.&nbsp;



“We went through ten years of social media data to extract these sighting reports,” said Hannah Hendriks, a marine biologist with the Department of Conservation. “There are very few whale researchers and rangers scattered across the country, so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears.”



Bobby Phuong, a mailman in Christchurch who’s an enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer, shot one of the images to feature in the study. He drove for nearly an hour to see a whale and calf at Sumner in August last year, sharing his photos via Facebook. “They were remarkable to witness and I’m glad my photos have helped in some way,” he says. In Gisborne, Wainui Beach resident Ian Ruru captured images of a southern right whale frolicking in the waves, meters away from surfers, in September 2018. “She sat directly in front of our home for eight hours that day … I guess she wanted her story to be told ... Paikea we called her,” said Ruru.



The results of the analysis, published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ocean-and-coastal-management">Ocean &amp; Coastal Management</a>, indicate that, although numbers of whales have increased slowly in the region during the study period, the numbers around mainland New Zealand have not grown in the past decade. The authors hypothesize that this may due to the loss of so many female whales during the time of whaling, that the collective memory about making use of the mainland waters has been lost.&nbsp;



This study highlights the way in which social media may be put to good use to supplement knowledge and data gaps in traditional ecological monitoring programs. Whales are charismatic megafauna that often appear on social network posts and are ideal for public outreach sightings data.&nbsp;



“Social media provided detailed information from areas with lots of people and lots of cameras,” said study co-author Dr. Emma Carroll. “Where there are fewer people, like the west coast of Te Waipounamu (the South Island), information from the public and Department of Conservation rangers recorded in the national database was more important,” she explained.



The researchers stress that, although photographs and sightings of inshore whales are invaluable sources of important data, would-be citizen-scientists are reminded that photographers must stay 50m from adult whales and 200m from whales with calves, so as not to disturb them.&nbsp;



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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

Social media posts help monitor rarely sighted whales

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are native to oceans in...

Scientists are finding an ecological and economic balance between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-loss-weakens-ecosystem-functioning/">biodiversity</a> and vanilla cultivation in Madagascar. A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Göttingen</a> has found a way to cultivate a cash crop while preserving biodiversity in Madagascar.&nbsp;



Although the vanilla industry in Madagascar brings positive and negative outcomes to the local Malagasy, it cannot be denied that the enterprise is a significant source of income for those fortunate enough to have the land to grow vanilla and resources to protect it.



"In northeastern Madagascar, the export of vanilla is an important source of income for tens of thousands of smallholder farmers and the widespread cultivation is a way to escape from poverty," explained study first author Dr. Annemarie Wurz.



The research team found vanilla cultivated on fallow land (agricultural land left unworked for some time) was better for biodiversity than vanilla cultivated in forests. For example, the experts found that vanilla grown in the forest led to a 47 percent decrease in endemic species. This number is depressing, especially considering that Madagascar is known for its unique species.&nbsp;



The study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30866-8">Nature Communications</a>, was focused on biodiversity in Madagascar's northeastern area, a region known to be the world's largest vanilla producer. Wildlife examined for the study included trees, herbaceous plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, and ants.



The researchers discovered that growing vanilla on fallow land does not sacrifice economic gain since fallow land production and forest cultivation produce similar yields.



"The good news is that farmers do not have to clear land to achieve high yields. In fact, they can add value for biodiversity to fallow land by cultivating vanilla there," said Dr. Annemarie Wurz.



However, it should be noted that the density and length of the vanilla plants themselves could harm some aspects of biodiversity. The study found that denser and longer plants were better for crop yields but harmed tree and reptile species.



Nevertheless, the findings of this study could be crucial in conserving the biodiversity and economy of this delicate country.&nbsp;



"Promoting vanilla cultivation on fallow land is ecologically and economically significant," said study co-author Professor Ingo Grass. "This contributes to the current UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration. In addition, this study illustrates possibilities for promoting and conserving biodiversity outside protected areas."



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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

Vanilla cultivation can boost biodiversity in Madagascar

Scientists are finding an ecological and economic balance between biodiversity...

On the eve of <a href="https://worldelephantday.org/">World Elephant Day</a> (August 12), an analysis of social media posts led by <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/">Griffith University</a> in Australia has highlighted how the type of attention <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elephants-have-personality-traits-that-help-them-solve-problems/">elephants</a> receive on Twitter does not align with the most pressing threats to wild elephants. This phenomenon may have negative consequences for elephant conservation and lead to resentment from the local communities that live with elephants.&nbsp;



According to the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN), the most pressing threats elephants currently face are habitat loss, human-elephant conflict, and poaching, with the magnitude of each threat varying between the three species of elephants (the African Forest Elephant, the African Savanna Elephant, and the Asian Elephant).&nbsp;



“The key highlights were that of the three main threats to wild elephants – being poached, habitat loss, and human-elephant conflict – there was a lack of attention on Twitter specifically around habitat loss and human-elephant conflict,” said study lead author Niall Hammond, a doctoral student in Wildlife Conservation at the Griffith University.&nbsp;“Our Twitter analysis revealed these major threats were infrequently discussed, with habitat loss being the most infrequently discussed (less than one percent of all tweets).”



The analysis showed that the most frequently discussed aspects were elephant welfare issues, such as tourist elephant rides (23 percent). Users from non-elephant range regions were the dominant voice on Twitter (72 percent), with posts largely focusing on elephant welfare concerns and trophy hunting (which, in fact, is not a threat to elephant conservation). By contrast, users from African Elephant range countries (14 percent) were more likely to discuss human-elephant conflict and poaching, as well as to promote elephant tourism, while those from Asian Elephant range countries (13 percent) posted more about human-elephant conflict and elephant tourism, but were less likely to tweet about poaching.



“Human-elephant conflict is a major issue. Our study found that the lack of acknowledgement of the impact of human-elephant conflict on local people often leads to resentment from people within elephant range countries, where peoples’ safety and livelihoods are often at risk due to elephants. For example, in India it is estimated that 100 people are killed by elephants each year and 40-50 elephants are killed during crop raiding,” Hammond explained.



Thus, the location of the tweets’ origins highlighted a divide in the understanding and lived experience of those living in countries with elephants and those without. “When we watch nature documentaries, elephants are often portrayed as living in areas where there are no people, but that is not the reality.”



“The reality is that in many areas, elephants and people live in shared spaces, where there are no fences to separate people and wildlife. It is important to acknowledge the sacrifices these communities make on a daily basis in co-existing with elephants and advocate for greater rights for communities to manage their wildlife sustainably because without their continued support the conservation of elephants would not be possible,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12785">Conservation Science and Practice</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;

Elephant tweets often misrepresent conservation issues

On the eve of World Elephant Day (August 12), an...

In many animals – and most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-dinosaurs-died-in-the-springtime/">dinosaurs</a> – the eye sockets are circular holes in the skull housing the eyeballs. However, according to a new study led by Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager, a senior lecturer in Paleobiology at the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>, large dinosaur predators, such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, evolved different, elliptical or oval shapes of eye sockets in order to better deal with forceful bites.



Dr. Lautenschlager analyzed the shape of the eye sockets of over 500 different dinosaurs and related species. “The results show that only some dinosaurs had eye sockets that were elliptical or keyhole-shaped,” he said. “However, all of those were large, carnivorous dinosaurs with skull lengths of one meter or more.”



By using computer simulations and stress analysis, Dr. Lautenschlager investigated what purpose such unusual eye socket shapes could have, and discovered that a skull with circular eye sockets was more prone to high stresses during biting. However, if these were replaced with elliptical or oval eye sockets, the stress during biting was considerably reduced, allowing major predators to evolve high bite sources that would not compromise their skull stability.



While most herbivorous dinosaur species and juvenile individuals retained circular eye socket shapes, large carnivores such as T. Rex adopted different morphologies, including elliptical, keyhole-shaped, of figure-of-eight-shaped sockets. “In these species, just the upper part of the eye socket was actually occupied by the eyeball. This also led to a relative reduction of eye size compared with skull size,” explained Dr. Lautenschlager.



“These morphologies are beneficial in mitigating and dissipating feeding-induced stresses and require only little investment in reinforcing the bony structure of the skull. Conversely, the development and maintenance of large circular orbits and corresponding eyes would be physiologically costly and likely outweigh potential benefits for visual acuity,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03706-0#Sec6">Nature Communications Biology</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;

Dinosaurs evolved different eye sockets for stronger bites

In many animals – and most dinosaurs – the eye...

Early days of the COVID-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pandemic-restrictions-had-a-lasting-effect-on-behavior-patterns/">pandemic</a> were a stressful time marked by fear, isolation, and uncertainty. But for birds, the reduction in noise and commotion created a wider range of habitat in cities.



A new study from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> reports that many birds were just as likely to be found in highly developed urban areas as they were in less-developed green spaces during COVID-19 lockdowns in the Pacific Northwest.



“Our findings suggest that some birds may have been able to use more spaces in cities because our human footprint was a little lighter,” said Olivia Sanderfoot, who completed the study as a doctoral researcher and is now a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles.&nbsp;



“For about half of the species we observed, neither land use nor canopy cover had an effect on their site use. That’s very interesting, because we would expect that whether a habitat was mostly covered in concrete or vegetation would tell you something about what birds would be there,” said Sanderfoot.



In the spring of 2020, more than 900 community scientists were recruited to participate in the study. The volunteers chose their own monitoring sites such as backyards and parks, and recorded the birds they observed at least once a week. This allowed researchers to gather data despite the lockdowns and gave many volunteers a welcomed distraction from the stresses of the pandemic.



Among the 35 species that showed the strongest changes in behavior were some of the Pacific Northwest’s most iconic, including chickadees, great blue herons, downy woodpeckers and Wilson’s warblers. The researchers focused on 46 bird species overall and completed more than 6,000 individual surveys.



To compare bird observations to human activity, the team used data from Google’s Community Mobility Reports, which track the relative amount that people moved around at various points during the pandemic.



As people returned to public spaces and human activity increased, volunteers recorded an increase in sightings of several bird species in green spaces. While the birds may have been elsewhere during lockdowns enjoying the absence of human disturbance, they returned to green spaces when activity picked up again.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This could tell us how important it is to build green spaces into our cities. That’s the biggest takeaway for me.” said Sanderfoot.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.



Image Credit: Holly Hauser



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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

Birds expanded into quieter cities during Covid lockdowns

Early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were a stressful time...

Every year, trillions of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pitcher-plants-harness-rain-energy-to-capture-insects/">insects</a> in Western Europe undertake seasonal migrations; usually they move southward towards the Mediterranean and North Africa at the end of the northern summer, and return northward during the spring or early summer. The same pathway is followed by many species of moths, butterflies and hoverflies; vast numbers of these insects cross the Alps in order to fly as directly as possible to their overwintering destinations.&nbsp;



Although these enormous migrations are understood on a population level, very little is known about how individual insects manage to navigate their way through the considerable obstacles, or what methods they use to locate their destinations. This gap in understanding is due, mostly, to the challenge of tracking these small animals as they fly, surprisingly rapidly and often at night.&nbsp;



A new study on migrating death’s-head hawkmoths (Acherontia atropos) has now used miniscule tracking devices and a light aircraft to track seven individual moths as they migrated across the Alps at night. The study, published by the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> (AAAS), reveals that these hawkmoths make use of complex migratory strategies to stay on track.&nbsp;



The death’s-head hawkmoth, known for the sinister skull-shaped marking on its thorax, is the largest lepidopteran in Europe, weighing in at up to 3.5g. It is a long-distance Afro-Palearctic migrant that arrives to breed in Europe, north of the Alps, in spring each year. The subsequent generation returns south the following autumn to winter-breeding regions in the Mediterranean Basin and sub-Saharan Africa, covering a distance of up to 4,000km.&nbsp;



The researchers fitted tiny, very high frequency radio transmitters to the backs of 14 hawkmoths and recorded their precise GPS locations from a light aircraft at regular intervals (every 5 to 15 min, when possible) throughout their migration. They obtained detailed tracks for seven of the moths. The moths all started their migratory flights shortly after sunset, and were followed by the researchers for between 1 and 3.7 hours. During this time, the moths flew a mean distance of 63.7km, with the longest distance being 89.6km. This represents the longest distance over which any insect has been continuously tracked in the field.



A team led by Dr. Myles Menz&nbsp;from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior discovered that the moths did not just fly in a direction with favorable tailwinds, as had been proposed by other scientists in the past. Instead, the moths flew in the most direct straight line to their destination, but were able to correct their specific flight headings constantly, as they came across disruptive winds and specific features of the terrain.&nbsp;



The hawkmoths traveled at a mean ground speed of 33.8km/hour, and they all travelled in straight lines along their entire flight paths, which lasted tens of kilometers. This direct line was maintained, despite the presence of winds of varying strengths and directions throughout their course.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to the researchers, maintaining a consistently straight flight trajectory and flight speed throughout the night under variable wind conditions strongly suggests that the moths have an internal compass mechanism. This, along with the insect’s exceptional night vision, indicates that the hawkmoths likely use a combination of visual landmarks and Earth’s magnetic field to navigate considerable distances during migration.



Interestingly enough, the moths chose pathways through the mountains that had topographical features (such as high-altitude passes) which allowed them to avoid the very highest altitudes when crossing the Alps. One of these pathways involved using a wide valley running west-southwest that enabled the moths to circumvent the Alps altogether.



The research, published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/">Science</a>, sheds new light on the complex and sophisticated behavior of hawkmoths while on seasonal migrations. "To maintain such straight trajectories over long periods of time, as seen here, the moths must regularly update their positions relative to whichever navigational cues they rely on," wrote the study authors. The results show that complex migratory strategies are not the preserve of vertebrates alone, but can be found in these remarkable insects as well.&nbsp;



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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

How death’s-head hawkmoths navigate the Alps at night

Every year, trillions of insects in Western Europe undertake seasonal...

Scientists have long known that, just like humans, many species of mammals and birds experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep – a type of deep sleep during which most dreaming occurs. However, until recently, not much attention has been given to the sleeping patterns of spiders.&nbsp;



Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en">University of Konstanz</a> in Germany has recorded over 30 baby <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jumping-spiders-know-the-difference-between-animals-and-objects/">jumping spiders</a> (Evarcha arcuata) during their resting states, and found that they displayed periodical bouts of retinal movements coupled with limb twitching and leg curling, suggesting that they might experience REM sleep too.



While many species similar to spiders do not have movable eyes, which makes it difficult to investigate their sleep cycles, jumping spiders are fierce predators that move their retinal tubes around constantly to redirect their gaze when they hunt.&nbsp;



Moreover, baby jumping spiders have a see-through outer layer which gives scientists a clear window into their bodies. “Sometimes as a biologist, you just get really, really lucky,” said study co-author Paul Shamble, an evolutionary biologist at <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a>.&nbsp;



By filming the baby spiders while they were resting, the researchers were surprised to find that they exhibited similar movements and behaviors as other species known to experience REM sleep.&nbsp;



“Here, we report evidence for an REM sleep-like state in a terrestrial invertebrate – periodic bouts of retinal movements coupled with limb twitching and stereotyped leg curling behaviors during nocturnal resting in a jumping spider,” the study authors reported.&nbsp;



“Observed retinal movement bouts were consistent, including regular durations and intervals, with both increasing over the course of the night.&nbsp;This report provides direct evidence for an REM sleep-like state in a terrestrial invertebrate – an arthropod – with clear parallels to REM sleep in terrestrial vertebrates.”



However, scientists are still not sure whether the spiders are technically asleep while they are in these resting states. Experts such as Jerry Siegel, a sleep researcher at the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a> (UCLA), remain skeptical that spiders are in fact capable of REM sleep. “There may be animals that have activity in quiet states. But are they REM sleep? It’s hard to imagine that they could be the same thing,” he said.



Further research is needed to better understand the sleeping patterns of spiders and other similar animals, and clarify how widespread REM sleep is in the animal kingdom, and what evolutionary purposes it might serve. “Comparisons across such long-diverged lineages likely hold important questions and answers about the visual brain, as well as the origin, evolution, and function of REM sleep,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2204754119">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;

Jumping spiders may experience REM sleep

Scientists have long known that, just like humans, many species...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a> (UCLA) has found that female white-faced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/age-rated-genes-help-capuchin-monkeys-live-longer/">capuchin monkeys</a> living in the tropical forests of northwestern Costa Rico that are better integrated into social networks with other adult females tend to survive longer.



“As humans, we assume there is some benefit to social interactions, but it is really hard to measure the success of our behavioral strategies,” said study senior author Susan Perry, a field primatologist at UCLA. “Why do we invest so much in our relationships with others? Does it lead to a longer lifespan? Does it lead to more reproductive success? It requires a colossal effort to measure this in humans and other animals.”



Together with her research team, Professor Perry tracked the female capuchin monkeys’ social interactions with other females, males, and companions of any sex and age, based on 18 years of data. Interactions taken into account in the study included giving and receiving grooming, foraging nearby, and taking part in coalitionary conflicts, such as intervening to help one another in conflicts by fighting, chasing, or producing aggressive sounds and facial expressions.



While the analyses revealed no evidence that heterosexual relationships provided any survival-related benefits to females, they clearly shown that social integration into networks with other female adults significantly improved their chance of survival. 



“We found the strongest evidence that social integration into female networks predicts survival. Females who frequently engaged in grooming and foraged in close proximity with other females experienced improved survivorship,” the authors explained.



“We also found marginal support that females who frequently provided and received coalitionary support from other females possibly experienced survival-related benefits. The fact that female interactions with other females across all behavioral domains show at least some evidence of beneficial impact on survival suggests that females cultivate strong relationships with each other.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Further research is needed to better understand why relationships with other females have the greatest impact on the survival of female capuchin monkeys, and to investigate whether this phenomenon can be found in other species of monkeys.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/33/4/807/6598784">Behavioral Ecology</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;

Female monkeys with strong friendships survive longer

A new study led by the University of California, Los...

Sponges are ancient filter-feeding animals that rely on maintaining a flow of water through their bodies to obtain suspended food and dissolved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oxygen-may-have-come-from-ancient-rocks-of-early-earth/">oxygen</a>. They do not have a nervous, digestive or circulatory system, and remove waste products by releasing them into this same flow of water. However, a new study that analyzed videos of sponges over extended time periods has identified a special technique that they use to get rid of unwanted material from inside their bodies.&nbsp;



As one of the oldest multicellular organisms in existence, a sponge spends most of its life stuck to the substratum and cannot move away when conditions become unpleasant. Under these circumstances it may take in unwanted particles of sediment with its constant inflow of water. These waste particles would soon clog up a sponge’s filtration system and so they need to be removed. And the sponge does this by undergoing an extended contraction, referred to as a “sneeze.”



"Our data suggest that sneezing is an adaptation that sponges evolved to keep themselves clean,” said study senior author Jasper de Goeij, a marine biologist at the <a href="https://www.uva.nl/en">University of Amsterdam</a>.



While biologists have known about the contraction behavior, the authors of this paper show that these sneezes get rid of materials the sponges cannot use. “Let’s be clear: sponges don’t sneeze like humans do. A sponge sneeze takes about half an hour to complete. But both sponge and human sneezes exist as a waste disposal mechanism,” says de Goeij.



The researchers used time-lapse videos of sponges to show that these organisms do not simply dispose of waste and unwanted particles with water that flows away through the outlet pores. They actively secrete mucus, often against the direction of water flow, onto their outer surfaces. They then expel unwanted particles through their pores and these become aggregated in the stringy clumps of mucus. Every now and then, the sponge goes through a contraction (sneeze) that loosens the strings of mucus and accumulated particulate matter, dispatching them into the water column.



What is a sponge’s waste is a fish’s windfall. Fish hang around the sponges waiting for these strings of mucus to be shed so that they may eat them.



“We also observed fish and other animals feeding off of the sponge mucus as food,” explained study first author Niklas Kornder. “Some organic matter exists in the water surrounding the coral reef, but most of it is not concentrated enough for other animals to eat. Sponges transform this material into eatable mucus."



The researchers noted this “sneezing” behavior in two species of sponges, the Caribbean tube sponge&nbsp;Aplysina archeri&nbsp;and another Indo-Pacific species of the genus&nbsp;Chelonaplysilla.&nbsp;



“We actually think that most, if not all, sponges sneeze. I’ve seen mucus accumulate on different sponges while diving and in pictures taken by other scientists for other purposes,” said Kornder. 



“Our findings highlight opportunities to better understand material cycling in some of the most ancient Metazoans,” wrote the study authors.



There are still many aspects about sponge “sneezes” that remain to be investigated. “In the videos, you can see that the mucus moves along defined paths on the surface of the sponge before accumulating. I have some hypotheses, but more analysis is needed to find out what is happening,” said Kornder.



“There are a lot of scientists that think sponges are very simple organisms, but more often than not we are amazed by the flexibility that they show to adapt to their environment,” said de Goeij.



The study is, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.017">Current Biology</a>.



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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

Sponges “sneeze” to get rid of unwanted waste

Sponges are ancient filter-feeding animals that rely on maintaining a...

How did enormous dinosaurs like Brontosaurus carry so much weight on land? A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> has finally solved this mystery. Using 3D modeling, the experts digitally reconstructed the foot bones of various <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-sauropods-walked-more-like-hippos-than-elephants/">sauropods</a> to test their function. 



Dr. Andréas Jannel conducted the research during his PhD studies at UQ’s Dinosaur Lab. He said the team discovered that the hind feet of sauropods had a soft tissue pad beneath the "heel" that added cushioning to absorb their immense weight.



“We’ve finally confirmed a long-suspected idea and we provide, for the first time, biomechanical evidence that a soft tissue pad – particularly in their back feet – would have played a crucial role in reducing locomotor pressures and bone stresses,” said Dr. Jannel. “It is mind-blowing to imagine that these giant creatures could have been able to support their own weight on land.”



It was once assumed that sauropods were semi-aquatic and that water buoyancy took literal tons of weight off their relatively small legs. This theory was contradicted in the mid-twentieth century when scientists analyzed sauropod tracks that were found in deposits on land.



Sauropods were also once believed to have feet similar to a modern-day elephant, noted study co-author Dr. Olga Panagiotopoulou of Monash University.



“Popular culture - think Jurassic Park or Walking with Dinosaurs - often depicts these behemoths with almost-cylindrical, thick, elephant-like feet,” said Dr. Panagiotopoulou. “But when it comes to their skeletal structure, elephants are actually ‘tip-toed’ on all four feet, whereas sauropods have different foot configurations in their front and back feet."



“Sauropod’s front feet are more columnar-like, while they present more ‘wedge high heels’ at the back supported by a large soft tissue pad.”



This was because sauropods and elephants had different evolutionary origins, explained study co-author Professor Steve Salisbury.&nbsp;



“Elephants belong to an ancient order of mammals called proboscideans, which first appeared in Africa roughly 60 million years ago as small, nondescript herbivores. In contrast, sauropods – whose ancestors first appeared 230 million years ago – are more closely related to birds," said Professor Salisbury.



“They were agile, two-legged herbivores and it was only later in their evolution that they walked on all fours. Crucially, the transition to becoming the largest land animals to walk the earth seems to have involved the adaptation of a heel pad.”



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

Mystery solved: how massive dinosaurs carried their weight

How did enormous dinosaurs like Brontosaurus carry so much weight...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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