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...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a>, experts have confirmed that scent dogs can be trained to accurately detect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cognitive-loss-from-severe-covid-equates-to-20-years-of-aging/">coronavirus</a> in human skin swabs. A field experiment conducted in Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport showed that the dogs could accurately identify Covid-positive individuals with a success rate of 92 percent.



Initially, the dogs were trained for several weeks to sniff out coronavirus in random skin swab samples. The Covid status of all the skin sample donors had been confirmed by PCR prior to the experiment. During the field study, the dog handlers and researchers did not know which of the samples were positive or negative. 



According to the researchers, the dogs correctly identified the Covid-positive samples more than 90 percent of the time. They say the study confirms previous reports suggesting that scent dogs can reliably identify individuals with a coronavirus infection.



“Our study set-up was of a high scientific standard. The sample sizes were sufficiently large, and all dogs sniffed an identical set of samples, allowing comparison of their performances," said Anna Hielm-Björkman, leader of the DogRisk research group.



"The dogs also had to successfully indicate sample sets containing only negative samples – an important trait when screening individuals. Another significant advantage was that samples were collected from outpatients instead of hospital patients. In addition, the testing was performed under real-life conditions rather than in a laboratory."&nbsp;



Professor Anu Kantele said she was particularly impressed by the fact that dogs performed worse with samples that had been collected from patients who were infected with a coronavirus variant. 



"The explanation is simple: the dogs had originally been trained with the initial wild-type virus, and thus they did not always identify the variant samples as positive. This reveals their incredible ability of discrimination," said Professor Kantele.



"Scent dogs can provide an invaluable tool for limiting viral spread during a pandemic, serving for example at air- and seaports. Such a reliable, cheap approach to rapidly screen a vast number of samples or to identify passing virus carriers from a large crowd is of value particularly when the testing capacity with traditional approaches is insufficient."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/">BMJ Global Health</a>.



---



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

Dogs can accurately detect coronavirus on human skin

In a new study from the University of Helsinki, experts...

Cnidocytes are specialized stinging cells that shoot a venomous "harpoon" into the unwary. These cells are common to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-eyes-catch-a-glimpse-of-evolutionary-history/">jellyfish</a>, anemone, corals and hydrae - known collectively as cnidarians.&nbsp;



A new study from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> shows that cnidocytes might be important for understanding the origins of new cell types, from an evolutionary perspective. The research, led by professor Leslie Babonis, revealed that cnidocytes evolved from neurons found in a pre-cnidarian ancestral animal.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"These surprising results demonstrate how new genes acquire new functions to drive the evolution of biodiversity," said Babonis. "They suggest that co-option of ancestral cell types was an important source for new cell functions during the early evolution of animals."



Interestingly, during cnidarian development, stem cells "decide" to become either neurons or cnidocytes, showing the evolutionary history of the latter. Many animals have neurons but stinging cells are entirely unique to cnidarians. Babonis and colleagues set out to study sea anemones to investigate how a neuron can be reprogrammed to become a cnidocyte.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"One of the unique features of cnidocytes is that they all have an explosive organelle (a little pocket inside the cell) that contains the harpoon that shoots out to sting you," said Babonis. "These harpoons are made of a protein that is also found only in cnidarians, so cnidocytes seem to be one of the clearest examples of how the origin of a new gene (that encodes a unique protein) could drive the evolution of a new cell type."



Looking at the genomics of a sea anemone, the scientists were able to determine that stinging cells develop by a single gene being turned off for the expression of a neuropeptide. Moreover, a single gene turns off the neuron function and turns on the development of a cnidocyte.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"There is a single gene that acts like a light switch -- when it's on, you get a cnidocyte, when it's off you get a neuron," Babonis said. "It's a pretty simple logic for controlling cell identity."



The researchers plan to expand their study to other animals to see how common a simple on/off genetic switch is in the development of new cell types.&nbsp;



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



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

Stinging cells shed light on the early evolution of animals

Cnidocytes are specialized stinging cells that shoot a venomous "harpoon"...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.gsu.edu/">Georgia State University</a> (GSU) has created genetically-edited hamsters in order to shed more light on the mechanisms structuring social behavior. By using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to eliminate the actions of a neurochemical signaling pathway which plays a critical role in regulating social behavior in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-change-their-schedules-to-adapt-to-city-life/">mammals</a>, the experts reached a startling, unexpected conclusion about the biological underpinnings of social interaction.



Scientists have long known that the hormone vasopressin, together with the receptor that it acts on (called Avpr1a) regulate a wide range of social phenomena, including cooperation, pair bonding, social communication, dominance, and aggression. Now, the researchers discovered that knocking out the Avpr1a receptor in hamsters, and thus eliminating vasopressin’s action on it, fundamentally altered the expression of social behavior in highly unexpected ways.



“We were really surprised at the results,” said study senior author H. Elliott Albers, a professor of Neuroscience at GSU. “We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication. But the opposite happened.”&nbsp;



Surprisingly, hamsters without this receptor showed much higher levels of social communication behavior than those with intact receptors. Moreover, the typical sex differences structuring aggressive behavior were eliminated, with both male and female hamsters displaying high levels of aggression towards their same-sex conspecifics.&nbsp;



“This suggests a startling conclusion,” Professor Albers said. “Even though we know that vasopressin increases social behaviors by acting within a number of brain regions, it is possible that the more global effects of the Avpr1a receptor are inhibitory.”



“We don’t understand this system as well as we thought we did. The counterintuitive findings tell us we need to start thinking about the actions of these receptors across entire circuits of the brain and not just in specific brain regions.”



Since the social organization of hamsters is far more similar to humans than that observed in mice (the most common animal used in laboratory experiments), these results could help clarifying the mechanisms of human social interaction, better understanding how a wide range of neuropsychiatric conditions develop, and developing innovative treatments of such disorders.&nbsp;



“Developing gene-edited hamsters was not easy. But it is important to understand the neurocircuitry involved in human social behavior and our model has translational relevance for human health.&nbsp;Understanding the role of vasopressin in behavior is necessary to help identify potential new and more effective treatment strategies for a diverse group of neuropsychiatric disorders ranging from autism to depression,” Professor Albers concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2121037119">Proceedings of the Royal 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

Hamsters reveal new clues about social behavior in mammals

A new study led by Georgia State University (GSU) has...

A recent study led by the <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/">University of Hull</a> highlights another grim consequence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-supercharge-forest-disturbances/">climate</a> change. The researchers have found that shifting climate conditions are disrupting chemical communication within marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.



The researchers have demonstrated that climate change affects interactions among organisms across different types of ecosystems in similar ways. Disruptions in chemical communication can wreak havoc on a species and an ecosystem. They affect mating patterns, predator/prey systems, and the ability of animals to find food.



"Chemical communication is the ubiquitous language of life on earth - but this is being jeopardized by global change. There's no talking with words for life underwater, so aquatic organisms' talk' in chemical signals. But this fine-tuned 'language' is in peril," said study co-author Dr. Patrick Fink.



In the paper, the international team of researchers demonstrates that climate change has a similar impact on communication in terrestrial and aquatic environments, even though both environments have different stressors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Although a growing number of studies suggest that climate change-associated stressors cause adverse effects on the communication between organisms, knowledge of the underlying mechanisms remains scarce," said study lead author Dr. Christina C. Roggatz.



"We urgently need a systematic approach to be able to compare results and fully understand the potentially disruptive impact that climate change is having upon each step of this fundamental communication process. Understanding this means we are better equipped to predict and protect the future of our planet."



According to study co-author Dr. Jörg Hardege, as climate change continues, we need more research to predict the consequences at the species interaction level. He noted that we need to research land, sea, and freshwater environments to fully understand how species will function with the coming changes. Without this research, we can only speculate.&nbsp;



Dr. Roggatz concludes that this paper is a "wake-up call" because humans are a part of the ecosystem and rely on it for essential functions. This communication breakdown will have severe consequences for all life on earth, including humans.&nbsp;



"The predominantly negative effects that climate change has upon the language of life within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could have a range of far-reaching implications for the future of our planet and human wellbeing, for example by impacting food security and fundamental ecosystem services that make our planet habitable."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.



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

Climate change disrupts communication among animals

A recent study led by the University of Hull highlights...

The <a href="https://www.sfbbo.org/">San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory</a> (SFBBO) runs a bird banding station nestled into a small riparian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-threatens-two-new-fish-species-with-extinction/">forest</a> stand among hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley. The scientists capture birds in "mist nets." The nets are too fine for animals to see until they are entangled in them. After the birds are carefully extracted, the experts take notes on their health and collect other data before releasing them.



The observatory has over 30 years of data accumulated, consisting of information on more than 100,000 individual birds. Many of the birds are captured multiple times, giving insight to their health over a span of time. With this unusually large amount of data, SFBBO ornithologist Dr. Katie LaBarbera plans to look into the welfare of the avian research subjects.



The researchers will investigate how injured or sick birds fare after leaving the banding station - something Dr. LaBarbera hopes could inform rehabilitation and other banding stations. With this information, bird care could improve.&nbsp;



The project is just one of <a href="https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/blog/grants-2022">seven studies </a>selected to be funded by the Wild Animal Initiative, a non-profit focused on wild animal welfare. For their part, Dr. LaBarbera is driven by a love and fascination for birds.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Holding a wild bird is a very specific joy…They’re fragile, but they’re also really fierce," said Dr. LaBarbera.&nbsp;



“You get a sense for the sort of alien body structure they have. It becomes obvious that they evolved from dinosaurs."



"Another interesting detail is that their skin is basically transparent. Unlike mammals, which store fat in a continuous layer under the skin, birds store fat under their skin in just a few places, so if you gently blow the feathers out of the way, you can see things like their muscles or the food they ate.”



Dr. LaBarbera’s experience working with rehab facilities shows that these organizations do the best they can for birds, but can only make decisions based on the best information they have. For instance, some organizations will automatically euthanize one-legged birds, this research could help determine whether such policies are justified.&nbsp;



“We’ve seen one-legged songbirds do well and seem healthy in the wild, so with the results of this study, we might be able to provide better, data-backed guidelines for rehabilitation or release."



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

Learning more about injured birds could improve their welfare

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) runs a bird...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> recently published a paper which suggests that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-combine-different-strategies-to-survive-the-cold/">animals</a> move their eyes and bodies separately due to an evolutionary function designed to save energy. The study’s principal investigator, Jean-Michel Mongeau, is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering.



“When a fly moves, it coordinates its head, wings and body to fly through the air, evade predators or look for food,” said Professor Mongeau. “We discovered that when controlling gaze, fruit flies minimize energy expenditure and increase flight performance.”&nbsp;



The researchers had the flies enter a virtual reality experiment that simulated free flying. They recorded the flies’ movements using high-speed cameras to conduct their analysis.&nbsp;



“We found that the fly’s head and body movements were complementary, in that the body moved most during slower visual motion, while the head moved most during faster motion,” said Professor Mongeau.&nbsp;



The experts believe that having the head and body work cooperatively is energy efficient for animals. “Since the head is smaller, it has less resistance to motion, or inertia, which means it can respond to quick movements, while the much larger body responds best to slower movement," explained Professor Mongeau.&nbsp;



Using the fruit fly data, the researchers developed a model that can be applied to other insects, rats, and birds. The team also considered primates,



“The way the flies move their head and body is very similar to the way primates move their heads and eyes, which is remarkable since they diverged hundreds of millions of years ago," said Professor Mongeau.



The development of independent eye movement saves more energy since eye movement requires less energy than head movement.&nbsp;



Professor Mongeau believes that the evolution of independent eye movement was integral for our ancestors as they transitioned from ocean to land. This idea is based on the fossil record, which indicates that vertebrates began gaining independent movement of head and eyes when they started moving to land habitats.&nbsp;



“As vertebrate animals transitioned from water to land more than 350 million years ago, the development of mechanisms to control head and eye movements could have had substantial evolutionary benefits,” said Professor Mongeau. “We discovered that there is a sweet spot in eye-head-body ratios, suggesting that inertia may have been an important constraint in the evolution of vision.”



The experts said that their results will influence robotic development. Study first author Benjamin Cellini explained that in robotics, sensors are typically fixed in location. “But in the animal kingdom, sensing and movement are coupled, as many physical sensors, like eyes, move. Inspired by biology, we can design more energy-efficient robots by making vision-based sensors mobile.”&nbsp;



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



---



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

Animals move their eyes and bodies separately to save energy

Researchers at Penn State recently published a paper which suggests...

Aerial,View,Of,A,Log,Storage,Yard,From,Authorized,Logging

A new study highlights the excitement and tragedy of discovering two brand new species of fish in Brazil. A team of experts including Murilo Pastana,&nbsp;a researcher at the <a href="https://www.si.edu/">Smithsonian</a><a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/"> National Museum of Natural</a> History, described the new species of tiny Amazonian fish – one with striking red-orange fins and the other so small it is technically considered a miniature fish species. The scientists warn that these fish are in imminent danger of becoming <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pink-pigeons-need-a-genetic-rescue-to-survive-extinction/">extinct</a>, even as the scientific world becomes aware of their existence for the first time.&nbsp;



During 2015 and 2016, Pastana and his colleagues undertook expeditions into the Brazilian Amazon to search for undocumented fish species in the waterways of the Madeira River Basin which is, according to a 2019 estimate, the richest river basin in the world for fish biodiversity. The survey area, roughly 25 miles north of the Brazilian city of Apuí, is unfortunately almost top of the list of Brazilian municipalities with the highest rates of deforestation.&nbsp;



“We went to sample places that have never been visited by scientists,” Pastana said. “This area is really important because this is one of the frontiers where deforestation is moving north – the border between new cities and native forest.”



The researchers were able to access the previously unreachable streams, ponds and tributaries using the very same roads that have been created to facilitate logging activities. They camped along the AM-174 road and collected fish using nets, traps and other methods. All the specimens were photographed, cataloged and preserved for further study back at the Museum of Zoology, University of São Paulo.



“It was exciting to find new species,” said Pastana. “But in the field, we saw the forest on fire, logging trucks carrying out huge trees, and cleared patches turned into cattle pasture. This made us feel a lot of urgency to document these species and publish this paper as quickly as possible.”



Pastana is passionate about preserving the country’s biological heritage, and hopes that describing these new species, both belonging to the group of fish known colloquially as South American darters, will motivate the Brazilian government to protect and conserve them, as well as their precious habitat. He and his co-authors, Willian Ohara from the Federal University of Rondônia and Priscila Camelier from the Federal University of Bahia, said that ongoing deforestation in the region places these roughly inch-long fish in imminent danger of extinction. In particular, the more colorful of the two species,&nbsp;Poecilocharax callipterus, is at risk because its known range is limited to a single stream comprising roughly 1.5 square miles of habitat.



To the researchers, P. callipterus stood out immediately in the field as a new species. The fish has a distinctive dark spot just in front of its tail, as well as having bright red-orange fins.&nbsp; It inhabits the margins of what scientists call black water streams, so named because their waters are stained the color of coffee by tannins leached from fallen leaves. Males of the species have even more intense coloration and sport dorsal fins that can exceed half their body length, which averages just over an inch. Despite searching for this species in the surrounding area on the 2016 return trip, Pastana and his colleagues were only able to find&nbsp;P. callipterus&nbsp;in the single stream in which it was first discovered.



The second species, now named P. rhizophilus,&nbsp;was found among tangles of tree roots protruding from the banks of muddy streams. It has an amber yellow coloration, with males showing dark streaks on their dorsal and anal fins. It is so small that scientists consider it to be miniature, a designation given to fish species that are less than about an inch long as adults. Pastana explained that lab study revealed parts of the skeletons of these tiny fish are actually made of cartilage instead of bone.&nbsp;



Genetic investigations confirmed the evolutionary relationship of these two new closely related species and their relatives, bringing the total number of species in their small sub-family (Crenuchinae) to five. This is the first addition of a new species to the group in 57 years.



Species from the sub-family Crenuchinae are highly desired by hobby aquarium keepers and Pastana fears that the trade in exotic aquarium fish could pose another threat to the populations of these two previously unknown Amazonian species.&nbsp;&nbsp;



These fishes, said Pastana, are like works of art and “losing either of these species would be like losing priceless masterpieces.” Like masterworks from Monet or Picasso, each species is full of irreplaceable details that might bear some resemblance to other creatures on Earth but in concert are utterly unique. Extinction would cause all those details, wrought over millions of years of evolution, to be lost forever. “You’d lose everything about these species,” he said.



The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean">Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society</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

Deforestation threatens two new fish species with extinction

A new study highlights the excitement and tragedy of discovering...

A research team led by the non-governmental organization <a href="https://www.paralatierra.org/">Para la Tierra</a> has recently discovered a striking new snake <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-report-confirms-that-bird-species-are-steadily-declining/">species</a> belonging to the genus Phalotris, which comprises 15 semi-subterranean species distributed across central South America.&nbsp;The study was a collaboration with Guyra Paraguay and the Institute of Biological Investigations of Paraguay.



The species was named Phalotris shawnella in the honor of two children, Shawn Ariel Smith Fernández and Ella Bethany Atkinson, who were born in the same year&nbsp;as Para la Tierra. The children inspired the founders of this organization to start their initiative of conserving Paraguayan wildlife to help children inherit a better world.&nbsp;



A specimen of P. Shawnella was spotted by chance in 2014 at Rancho Laguna Blanca by Jean-Paul Brouard, a researcher at Para la Tierra, while he was digging a hole. The snake is non-venomous and can be distinguished from other related species in the Phalotris genus by its red head, yellow collar, a black lateral band, and orange ventral scales with irregular black spots.



Until now, only three specimens of P.shawnella were discovered in the Cerrado forests of the department of San Pedro in east Paraguay. The extreme rarity of this species led scientists to list it as “endangered,” according to the conservation categories set by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature&nbsp;</a>(IUCN). The famous tourist destination Laguna Blanca – the only place where specimens of P.Shawnella were spotted - is now declared an “Important Area for the Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles.”



“This demonstrates once again the need to protect the natural environment in this region of Paraguay,” wrote the study authors. “Laguna Blanca was designated as a Nature Reserve for a period of five years, but currently has no protection at all. The preservation of this site should be considered a national priority for conservation.”



“Additional field surveys are urgently required to improve our understanding of the ecological requirements of [this species] so that effective conservation measures can be implemented,” they concluded.



A full description of the new snake species can be found in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.98.61064">Zoosystematics and Evolution</a>.



Image Credit: Jean-Paul Brouard



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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

Beautiful new snake found in Paraguay

A research team led by the non-governmental organization Para la...

Reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) are among the largest and most iconic of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-marine-ichthyosaur-fossils-found-high-in-the-alps/">marine</a> species. They are widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans, where they mostly frequent shallow waters along the coastal reefs of continents and oceanic islands. Because of their beauty and graceful behavior, these manta rays are hugely popular with divers and snorkelers, who travel from afar to places where the rays congregate, in order to view them underwater. 



The Komodo National Park in Indonesia is just such a place. Mantas are present all year round in the waters of this National Park, which is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the famous Komodo dragons are protected. Dive tourists come to view the mantas, which grow up to 5m in length, as they feed in the shallow waters, visit ‘cleaning stations’ on the coral reefs to have parasites removed by small fish, or even display courtship ‘trains’ as part of their reproductive behavior.&nbsp;



Dr. Andrea Marshall, principal scientist and co-founder of the <a href="https://marinemegafauna.org/">Marine Megafauna Foundation</a> saw the potential to engage the public with data collection on these threatened and understudied marine animals and worked with software company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wildme.org/#/">WildMe</a>&nbsp;to develop an online wildlife database platform (MantaMatcher.org) to match and catalog manta rays in different populations around the world.



Scientists from the <a href="https://marinemegafauna.org/projects/microplastics-megafauna">Marine Megafauna Foundation</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.murdoch.edu.au/">Murdoch University</a>&nbsp;approached local dive operators to promote the development of a data bank of the manta rays in the waters of the Komodo National Park. They asked that visitors take photographs of the mantas they encountered, and then submit them to MantaMatcher.org for identification and analysis. In this way, the scientists hoped to monitor the movement patterns and demographics of the mantas in the area.&nbsp;



“People love manta rays – they are one of the most iconic animals in our oceans. The rise of the number of people engaging in SCUBA diving, snorkeling and the advent of affordable underwater cameras meant that photos and videos taken by the public during their holidays could be used to quickly and affordably scale data collection,” said Marshall, who was co-author of the study.



Individual mantas can be identified by the unique patterns of dark marks on their ventral surface and so the photos could be used to track individuals and monitor their movements. The project ran for 5 years, between 2013 and 2018, during which time &nbsp; 3,941 sightings were submitted by citizen scientists and 1,085 different reef mantas were identified. The photographs, along with time and location information, were used to construct siting histories of individual manta rays, which could then be analyzed with statistical movement models.&nbsp;



The results, published today in the open-access scientific journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a>, indicate that some manta rays moved mostly within the area of the Park, whereas others traveled as far as the Nusa Penida MPA (more than 450 km to the west). Interestingly, most of the mantas had favorite spots that they inhabited within the Park.&nbsp;



“I found it very interesting how some manta rays appear to prefer spending their time in some sites more than others, even when sites are 5 km apart, which are short distances for manta rays,” said study lead author Dr. Elitza Germanov. “This means that manta rays which prefer sites where fishing activities continue to occur or that are more popular with tourism will endure greater impacts.”&nbsp;



Mantas in the Komodo NP are threatened by two major factors. Although fishing activities have been prohibited in many coastal areas within Komodo NP since 1984, illegal operators and the movements of mantas out of the Park and into heavily fished waters, have continued to take their toll. About 5% of Komodo’s manta rays have permanent injuries that are likely the result of encounters with fishing gear.&nbsp;



In addition, tourism activity in the Komodo NP continues to increase. During the study period the researchers recorded a 34 percent increase in the number of tourist boats visiting manta ray sites.&nbsp; The associated disturbance from divers and snorkelers can have a negative impact on manta rays and their habitats. In 2019, the Komodo National Park Authority introduced limits on the number of boats and people that visit one of the most famous manta sites.&nbsp;



“This study shows that the places where tourists commonly observe manta rays are important for the animals to feed, clean and mate. This means that the Komodo National Park should create measures to limit the disturbance at these sites,” said Mr. Ande Kefi, an employee of the Komodo National Park involved with this study. “I hope that this study will encourage tourism operators to understand the need for the regulations already imposed and increase compliance,” he adds.&nbsp;



The authors of the study also recommend limiting the number of tourist boats allowed at one time at all manta ray aggregation sites, and enforcing codes of conduct for divers that ensure minimum impact from tourism. In this way they hope that Komodo’s large ray aggregations will be protected into the future. The study also highlights that marine protected areas that are large enough to host important manta ray habitats are a beneficial tool for manta ray conservation.



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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

Secrets of manta ray behavior revealed

Reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) are among the largest and most...

Our planet’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-oceans-are-on-track-for-a-catastrophic-extinction-event/">oceans</a> are home to some of the most diverse and complex ecosystems. However, warming temperatures are causing increasingly more marine organisms, including corals, to die out. A new study led by <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> (OSU) has advocated the use of mesoscale sanctuaries – areas that can stretch for thousands of miles, often across national boundaries – to protect the over 6,000 coral species populating the oceans.



“Coral reefs are an essential ecosystem on our planet,” said study co-author Andrea Grottoli, a professor of Earth Sciences at OSU. Although they occupy less than 0.1 percent of the surface area in the Earth’s oceans, over 30 percent of all aquatic creatures depend on them.&nbsp;



Reef ecosystems are really important for humans too, explained Grottolli, “in that they provide protection to coastlines from erosion and storms, and they’re essential for certain services like tourism and other parts of the economy.”&nbsp;



Due to rising sea temperatures, reefs all over the world are experiencing higher rates of bleaching – a phenomenon during which corals’ skeletons become visible, turning them into a faded, ghostly white. Although bleached corals are not yet dead, mass bleaching events are an indicator of an ecosystem’s declining health, and often lead to mass mortality across marine species.



Yet, even if the global population of coral dwindles, the genetic diversity of coral species helps ensure that at least some of them may be able to adapt and recover.&nbsp;



While longer-term measures to mitigate climate change include curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the study suggests that, in the meanwhile, broad transdisciplinary approaches to creating both local and large-scale ocean sanctuaries that trespass national boundaries are urgently needed.&nbsp;



“Global warming is the No. 1 threat to coral reefs right now,“ Professor Grottoli warned. “So when we think about coral reef conservation, we can't limit ourselves to arbitrary geographic boundaries.”



Moreover, education is a highly important tool in the efforts to protect coral reefs. “People who understand coral reefs, and who understand the value of coral reefs, are much more likely to do something to help protect them,” Professor Grottoli concluded. “If you don’t know anything about coral, and you’ve never seen one, how can you have any empathy or feel any connection to that ecosystem?”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16192">Global Change Biology</a>. In addition, a list of individual actions individuals can take to protect these endangered ecosystems can be found <a href="http://coralreefs.org/pledge-4-reefs/">here</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

Large-scale ocean sanctuaries needed to protect corals

Our planet’s oceans are home to some of the most...

There are 16 species of beaked whales in the genus Mesoplodon, making this the largest cetacean genus. The habits of most of these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-are-transforming-coastal-estuaries/">species</a> are largely unknown because the whales are shy, slow-moving and difficult to observe. In fact, some types of beaked whales are only known from dead specimens that have washed ashore.&nbsp;



Mesoplodont whales represent one of the least studied mammalian groups, as evidenced by the fact that three new species have been identified in the past 30 years. The most recent of those species, Ramari’s beaked whale (M. eueu), was described to science just last year.&nbsp;



The beaked whales all tend to have spindle-shaped bodies and small dorsal fins, making the species difficult to tell apart in the field. Also, since they often occur in the same areas and forage at similar depths, they are thought to compete with one another for the same prey items – deep sea squid and small fish. Closely related species usually show different foraging strategies, reflecting the evolutionary drive to optimize foraging performance and minimize interspecific competition. However, this does not seem to be the case amongst this group of closely related beaked whales.&nbsp;



Individuals from some species have been fitted with biologgers, attached to their backs with suction-cups, and the data recorded by these devices has given a glimpse into the underwater lives of these whales. Typically, beaked whales have a low-energy lifestyle. They swim slowly and perform extreme deep dives using an energy-conserving swim-style. They hunt for prey in the ocean depths and can remain underwater for up to an hour.&nbsp;



Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens), described in 1804, was the first of these small cetacean species to be identified. But because the species is retiring, seldom observed and lives in open ocean areas, little is known about its behavior. Until recently, individuals from this species had not been fitted with biologgers. However, after years of effort, scientists have now been able to attach the tracking devices to two of these whales and the data has revealed some surprises.&nbsp;



The international team of biologists, led by Fleur Visser of the <a href="https://www.uva.nl/en">University of Amsterdam</a> (UvA) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), received data from the biologging tags that revealed the diving, movement and echolocation strategies of these whales. The results, published recently in the&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/225/9/jeb243728/275372/Sowerby-s-beaked-whale-biosonar-and-movement">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, showed that Sowerby’s beaked whales actually move around and hunt much faster than other, related species.&nbsp;



When the researchers compared the biologger data for the two Sowerby’s beaked whales with that from the closely related Blainville’s beaked whale, they found that the Sowerby’s whales consistently swam faster, performed shorter deep dives, and echolocated at a faster rate, with higher frequency clicks. Although they hunt at a similar depth (between 800 and 1300 meters), the Sowerby’s whales clearly employ a different hunting strategy from the other beaked whales.&nbsp;



This first record of a ‘fast’ beaked whale suggests that Mesoplodont whales exploit a broader diversity of deep-sea niches than previously thought. The deep-sea is a rich and diverse hunting ground for marine mammal predators, that have clearly developed a wider range of specialized strategies to be able to exploit it than was previously known.&nbsp;



The marked deviation of Sowerby’s beaked whales from the typically slower behavior of other beaked whales also has potential implications for their response to man-made sounds, which appear to be strongly behaviorally-driven in other species.



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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

Some beaked whales live a "faster" lifestyle than expected

There are 16 species of beaked whales in the genus...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has found that, although conservation of sea turtles along most of Africa’s east coast has significantly progressed in recent decades, tens of thousands of turtles are still dying each year. This can be largely attributed to human activity, including illegal take and consumption of turtles (especially <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-network-helps-protect-green-turtle-populations/">green turtles</a>), bycatch, or loss of nesting and foraging habitats.



“Turtles face many threats along the African east coast, from egg to adult,” said study lead author Casper Van De Geer, a PhD student in Conservation Science at the University of Exeter. 



“Our aim was to bring together everything that is currently known about these turtles, and to identify opportunities to better protect them in this rapidly developing region. We found that there's still a lot we don't know about these turtle populations, like how many there actually are or where they spend most of their time and migrate to.”



By using clutches of eggs laid as a measure of population, Van De Geer and his colleagues have found that some turtle species have recovered quite well in some places, such as the loggerhead turtles in South Africa and Mozambique. Unfortunately, other species, including leatherback and hawksbill turtles, have not responded well to conservation efforts.



While there is good legislation in place to protect turtles, and stakeholder groups are actively participating in conservation activities, greater collaboration with local populations is urgently needed to increase awareness and boost conservation efforts.&nbsp;



“Local knowledge was key to this research, just as it is vital to turtle conservation,” explained Van De Geer. “Conservation work is most effective when it is supported by the local stakeholders and this is achieved through genuine engagement and cultural sensitivity.”



“There are great examples of this along the African east coast where people are trained and employed as rangers or monitors in the area where they grew up, and the use of community theatre or musical performances to inform people about the marine world and conservation. Ultimately, it’s the people who live in a place who have the knowledge and motivation to protect it,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr01180">Endangered Species Research</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

Thousands of sea turtles still dying on the east African coast

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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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

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...