Celebrated each year on November 19th, World Anteater Day aims to raise awareness about the unique lives of anteaters and the conservation challenges they face.&nbsp;



This day highlights the importance of protecting anteaters and their habitats, particularly as their survival is threatened by habitat destruction, illegal wildlife trade, and road collisions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ecological-role-of-anteaters">Ecological role of anteaters</h2>



When it comes to the health and balance of the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth.com%2Fnews%2Fhow-can-earths-ecosystems-adapt-to-climate-change%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystems</a> they inhabit, anteaters play a crucial role through their specialized diet and behavior.&nbsp;



By consuming large quantities of ants and termites, they regulate the populations of these insects, preventing them from becoming overly abundant and causing ecological imbalances.&nbsp;



This natural pest control helps protect vegetation and soil from the damage that excessive insect activity can cause, such as defoliation and soil degradation.



In their search for food, anteaters often disturb the ground, aerating the soil and promoting nutrient cycling. This activity creates microhabitats that benefit other organisms, including plants and smaller animals, by improving soil quality and fostering biodiversity.&nbsp;



Anteaters also serve as prey for larger predators, making them an integral part of the food web. Their presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem, highlighting their importance in conserving <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth.com%2Fnews%2Fanimal-tracking-is-crucial-for-preserving-biodiversity%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biodiversity</a> and maintaining environmental stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fascinating-facts-about-anteaters">Fascinating facts about anteaters</h2>



Anteaters are fascinating creatures with a variety of traits that make them stand out as unique members of the animal kingdom.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-distinct-anatomy">Distinct anatomy</h3>



Their long, tubular snouts house tongues that can extend up to two feet, allowing them to probe deep into ant and termite mounds.&nbsp;



These tongues are covered in sticky saliva and can flick up to 150 times per minute, enabling anteaters to consume thousands of insects daily.&nbsp;



Interestingly, anteaters lack teeth and rely on the muscular walls of their stomachs to grind food, which is aided by the sand and dirt they ingest.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-foraging-style">Foraging style</h3>



Anteaters are highly specialized for their diet, with powerful claws to break open hard termite mounds and thick fur to protect them from insect bites.&nbsp;



These animals have poor vision but excellent senses of smell and hearing, which help them navigate and locate prey.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lifestyle">Lifestyle</h3>



Despite their solitary nature, they communicate through huffs, snorts, and body language.



Anteaters are also known for their peculiar gait, as they walk on their knuckles to protect their claws.



The giant anteater, the largest species, can grow up to seven feet long, including its bushy tail. The silky anteater, which is the smallest species, is about the size of a squirrel.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anteaters-face-a-range-of-threats">Anteaters face a range of threats</h2>



Many anteater species are threatened by habitat loss and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-activity-has-a-strong-effect-on-wildlife-in-remote-areas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human activities</a>, making their conservation a global priority.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-habitat-loss">Habitat loss</h3>



Habitat loss is one of the most critical challenges, as deforestation and agricultural expansion reduce the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth.com%2Fnews%2Fsingle-degree-temperature-warming-boreal-forests-wreak-havoc%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forests</a>, savannas, and grasslands they depend on.&nbsp;



Urban development fragments their habitats, isolating populations and limiting access to food and mating opportunities.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-activities-nbsp">Human activities&nbsp;</h3>



Road collisions are another major threat, especially for giant anteaters, which often wander across highways in search of food or territory.&nbsp;



The expansion of road networks in their native ranges increases the risk of these deadly encounters.&nbsp;



Furthermore, anteaters are occasionally targeted by hunters for their meat or as trophies - despite their low economic value.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-change">Climate change</h3>



Wildfires are particularly devastating for anteaters, destroying their habitats and leaving them vulnerable to starvation or predation.&nbsp;



<a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth.com%2Fnews%2Fanimal-extinction-risk-is-heavily-influenced-by-climate-change%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Climate change</a> exacerbates these issues by altering their ecosystems, making it harder for them to find sufficient food and shelter.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-illegal-wildlife-trade-nbsp">Illegal wildlife trade&nbsp;</h3>



Illegal wildlife trade also poses a threat, as some species are captured and sold as exotic pets. Due to their specific care requirements, anteaters should not be kept as pets. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-world-anteater-day">World Anteater Day</h2>



World Anteater Day emphasizes education about the ecological value of these creatures, inspiring conservation efforts worldwide.&nbsp;



Activities on World Anteater Day often include educational campaigns, fundraising events, and efforts to support <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect.worldwildlife.org%2Fpage%2F53256%2Fdonate%2F1%3Fen_og_source%3DSearchAd_Donation%26ea.tracking.id%3DPaidAd_Google_Membership%26supporter.appealCode%3DAWE2305OQ18492A06630RX%26utm_source%3Dgooglepaid%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_campaign%3Dwildlife-charities%26gad_source%3D1%26gclid%3DCj0KCQiAi_G5BhDXARIsAN5SX7oTjn7ZmwbhTgSG1LPcKDfdfjLFPsXaiUhN_2QrutNr4Fw35XZUoQYaAk2iEALw_wcB&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife organizations</a> dedicated to the preservation of anteaters and their natural environments.&nbsp;



By educating the public and supporting conservation initiatives, World Anteater Day aims to promote appreciation for these unique animals and encourage collective responsibility for safeguarding their future.&nbsp;



Today is a reminder that every species, no matter how unusual, plays a vital role in the delicate balance of nature.



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World Anteater Day: A tribute to nature's unique foragers

Celebrated each year on November 19th, World Anteater Day aims to raise awareness about the unique lives of anteaters and the conservation challenges they face.&nbsp; This day highlights the importance of protecting anteaters and their habitats, particularly as their survival is threatened by habitat destruction, illegal wildlife trade, and road collisions. Ecological role of anteaters When it comes to the health and balance of the ecosystems they inhabit, anteaters play a crucial role through their specialized diet and behavior.&nbsp; By consuming large quantities of ants and termites,...

Because hippopotamuses are vocal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-with-strong-site-fidelity-face-an-uncertain-future/">animals</a> whose wheezy, honking voices carry over long distances, scientists suspected that vocalizations might be an important part of their lives. A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, shows that hippos can recognize each other’s voices. The research also shows that hippos respond more aggressively to the calls of strangers than to their neighbors.&nbsp;



“We found that the vocalizations of a stranger individual induced a stronger behavioral response than those produced by individuals from either the same or a neighboring group,” said Nicolas Mathevon, a professor at the University of Saint-Etienne in France.&nbsp;



“In addition to showing that hippos are able to identify conspecifics based on vocal signatures, our study highlights that hippo groups are territorial entities that behave less aggressively toward their neighbors than toward strangers.”



Professor Mathevon and colleagues studied hippos in Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique, an area with several groups of hippopotamuses inhabiting different lakes. First, they recorded calls from all hippo groups. Next, they played back all the calls to each group to see how they’d react.&nbsp;



The researchers specifically wanted to see if the hippos would react differently to recordings of neighbors as opposed to strangers. The hippopotamuses responded by vocalizing, spraying dung (a territorial display), or approaching.



It turns out the hippos responded more strongly to the voices of strangers than to those of animals they were familiar with. This result has important conservation implications. Hippos are often relocated to maintain healthy populations,&nbsp;



“Before relocating a group of hippos to a new location, one precaution might be to broadcast their voices from a loudspeaker to the groups already present so that they become accustomed to them and their aggression gradually decreases,” explained Professor Mathevon. “Reciprocity, in which the animals to be moved become accustomed to the voices of their new neighbors before they arrive, could also be considered.”



---



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

Hippos can recognize the voices of their friends

Because hippopotamuses are vocal animals whose wheezy, honking voices carry...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> and the National Administration of Parks in Argentina has investigated the sarcoptic mange outbreak which decimated the vicuña and guanaco populations in Argentina’s San Guillermo National Park.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that domestic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/llama-antibodies-have-potential-to-treat-coronavirus-variants/">llamas</a> introduced to the site may have been the source of the outbreak which began in 2014 and wiped out 95 percent of the guanacos and 98 percent of the vicuñas by 2017, and all the remaining ones in the following two years.



Vicuñas and guanacos&nbsp;are species of wild camelids native to South American countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. These animals provide an important source of income for indigenous communities, who shear the animals for their soft, valuable fur. Moreover, by being preyed upon by animals such as mountain lions and condors, these camelids play a crucial role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem in the high Andes plateau.



According to researchers, the introduction of domestic llamas to areas near the San Guillermo National Park in 2009 was the cause of the devastating mange outbreak that destroyed most of the park’s vicuñas and guanacos.&nbsp;



Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious disease in which mites burrow under the skin of an animal, causing it to become itchy, crusty, thick, and cracked. This leads to debilitating pain. While mange is rarely fatal for llamas, it makes many vicuñas and guanacos almost unable to move or forage when infected, and they become easy prey or even starve to death.



“Several factors combined to create the perfect storm of this epidemic at a high cost to the ecosystem of San Guillermo National Park,” said study lead author Hebe del Valle Ferreyra, a wildlife veterinarian at the National Administration of Parks in Argentina. “Animal health management, conservation, and agriculture should not be regarded as opposing, incompatible and disconnected activities. A change of approach is needed that recognizes the links between all these sectors.”



According to the researchers, the decimation of these camelids will likely have cascading consequences for their predators and scavengers, such as mountain lions or condors. In the absence of vicuñas and guanacos, mountain lions could turn to livestock for their meals, while condors may need to search food outside the park, where they can be exposed to risks such as poisoning by pesticides or lead from hunting ammunition.



“Hopefully, within a few years, the animals will slowly return,” said study corresponding author Marcela Uhart, the director of the <a href="https://whc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/latin-america-program">Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center’s Latin America Program</a> at UC Davis. “But in the meantime, we don’t know what will happen with the predators and scavengers because there is basically nothing left for them to eat.”



The study, published in the journal PLoS One, suggests that a better, ongoing communication between the conservation and livestock sectors is necessary for warding off future outbreaks.



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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

Vicuñas and guanacos decimated by mange outbreak

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

Blue,Wildebeest,Stands,Eyeing,Camera,In,Grassland

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo erectus about two million years ago. According to the widespread “meat made us human” hypothesis in Paleoanthropology, the evolutionary transition to modern humans is often linked to a major dietary shift involving an increase in meat consumption.&nbsp;



However, new research led by the <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> calls into question this hypothesis, by arguing that the increase in archeological evidence for meat eating can largely be explained by greater research attention to that time period rather than fundamental shifts in hominid behavior.



“Generations of paleoanthropologists have gone to famously well-preserved sites in places like Olduvai Gorge looking for - and finding - breathtaking direct evidence of early humans eating meat, furthering this viewpoint that there was an explosion of meat eating after two million years ago,”&nbsp;said study lead author W. Andrew Barr, an assistant professor of Anthropology at the George Washington University.



“However, when you quantitatively synthesize the data from numerous sites across eastern Africa to test this hypothesis, as we did here, that ‘meat made us human’ evolutionary narrative starts to unravel.”



By compiling and analyzing data from nine major research areas in eastern Africa, including 59 sites dating between 2.6 and 1.2 million years ago, Professor Barr and his colleagues have found no sustained increase in the relative amount of evidence for a major shift to meat eating with the emergence of Homo erectus. These results suggest that previous intensive archeological sampling of places where meat eating played a large role, rather than overall changes in human behavior, could explain the prevalence of the “meat made us human” hypothesis in Anthropology.



“I’ve excavated and studied cut marked fossils for over 20 years, and our findings were still a big surprise to me,”&nbsp;said study co-author Briana Pobiner, a research scientist in the <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/">Human Origins Program</a> at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.&nbsp;



“This study changes our understanding of what the zooarchaeological record tells us about the earliest prehistoric meat-eating. It also shows how important it is that we continue to ask big questions about our evolution, while we also continue to uncover and analyze new evidence about our past.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I would think this study and its findings would be of interest not just to the paleoanthropology community but to all the people currently basing their dieting decisions around some version of this meat-eating narrative. Our study undermines the idea that eating large quantities of meat drove evolutionary changes in our early ancestors,” concluded Professor Barr.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115540119">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

What role did meat eating play in human evolution?

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo...

Diplodocus,Dinosaur,Scene,From,The,Jurassic,Era,3d,Illustration

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has recently reconstructed the limb musculature of Thecodontosaurus&nbsp;antiquus, a wolf-sized Triassic-period <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-brazil/">dinosaur</a> considered to be an early ancestor of the iconic long-necked, quadruped Diplodocus, and found that this magnificent creature ran on its two back legs and used its shorter forelimbs to grasp food.



“The University of Bristol houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol,” said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a paleobiologist at this university.&nbsp;



“The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment.” If they are well-preserved, these features - in tandem with an understanding of the musculature of closely-related, modern animal species - can be used to infer the shape and direction of dinosaur limb muscles, and shed more light on the way such dinosaurs looked and moved.&nbsp;



“In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles.'&nbsp;Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage,” said Dr. Ballell. “Due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs.”



By employing this methodology, Dr. Ballell and his colleagues inferred the orientation and size of Thecodontosaurus' limb muscles, and found that this dinosaur was able to run quite fast on its hind legs and likely used its forelimbs not to walk but rather to grasp various objects, such as food items.&nbsp;



These features are surprisingly different from Thecodontosaurus' giant sauropod relatives such as Diplodocus, who were slow, massive quadrupeds. However, according to the scientists, the muscular anatomy of Thecodontosaurus did show signs of having developed many of the structural features which will allow its descendants to switch to quadrupedalism and reach such colossal dimensions.



“From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods,” said study senior author Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol.



A better understanding the anatomy of dinosaurs such as Thecodontosaurus will likely help scientists clarify how limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds. “Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition,” concluded Professor Benton.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211356">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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

Thecodontosaurus could run fast on its hind legs

A team of researchers from the University of Bristol has...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has found that black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) can dive up to 62 feet (19 meters) into the sea in pursuit of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-are-not-short-of-prey-in-southwestern-canada/">prey</a>, and can stay under water for up to 52 seconds – three times the maxima previously recorded for this species.



“Albatrosses are the iconic aerial wanderers of the oceans, supremely adapted for long-distance dynamic soaring flight. Perhaps because of this they are considered poorly adapted for diving in contrast to many smaller shearwater and petrel relatives, despite having amphibious eyes, and an&nbsp;a priori&nbsp;mass advantage for oxygen-storage tolerance,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



“Modern biologging studies have largely confirmed this view,&nbsp;casting doubt on earlier observations using capillary tube maximum depth gauges, which may exaggerate depths, and emphasizing albatrosses’ reliance on near-surface feeding.”



By using accelerometers, depth sensors, and GPS technology, the researchers studied the diving behavior of the albatross population of New Island (one of the Falkland Islands), and found that they can reach much more impressive depths in pursuit of prey than previously estimated.



Clarifying these issues is highly important for the conservation of these magnificent seabirds. According to the scientists, 15 of the 22 albatross species are currently at risk of extinction. One of the key drivers of their decline is <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lighted-nets-help-protect-endangered-marine-wildlife/">accidental catch</a> in the hooked, baited fishing longlines used by commercial fisheries to trap large oceanic species such as tuna.&nbsp;



Since albatrosses were previously considered to be surface feeders, traditional approaches to protect them have only paid attention to the initial sinking of the fishing lines, without taking into consideration their possible bycatch during their deep dives.



“A better understanding of the unobserved behavior of the albatross and other endangered seabirds is essential to conservation efforts,” said study co-author Dr.&nbsp;Oliver Padget, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. “That black-browed albatrosses are physically capable of such deep dives will now need to be considered when thinking about the effectiveness of mitigation strategies that rely on the species being restricted to the surface.”



Moreover, the scientists noticed that black-browed albatrosses did not dive at night, suggesting that they rely on vision to track shoals of fish in the depths of the sea. “We found that deep diving was restricted to daylight hours,” said Dr. Padget. “So one potential mitigation could be for pelagic long lines to be set at night when albatross might be less likely, or able, to chase baits and become caught.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.036">Current 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

Albatrosses can dive much deeper than previously thought

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

New research published in the journal <a href="about:blank">Current Biology</a> has found that using LED illuminated nets greatly reduced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dynamic-ocean-closures-offer-protection-from-accidental-catch/">accidental catch</a> of sharks, rays, sea turtles or other unwanted fish. This leads to a win-win situation for commercial fisheries and marine wildlife.



Gillnets are one of the most widely used fishing gear in coastal areas of the world’s oceans. However, using them often results in the bycatch of animals not targeted by fishers, including endangered, threatened, or protected species such as sharks, rays, sea turtles, or seabirds. This incidental catching of non-target species has contributed to declines in endangered species and has negatively impacted coastal ecosystems.&nbsp;



Luckily, during the last decade, increasingly more LED illuminated gillnets have been manufactured, which proved to be a highly effective solution to the problems entailed by accidental catch. A research team led by <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) and the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> attached green LED lights every ten meters on gillnets along the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico to assess to what extent could this method reduce bycatch.



The scientists were amazed to find that using this gear reduced total fisheries bycatch by 63 percent, including a 95 percent reduction in the accidental catch of sharks, skates, and rays, an 81 percent reduction in incidental trapping of Humboldt squids, and a 48 percent reduction in catching unwanted finfish. Fortunately for fishers, this technology still allowed continued catches of targeted species, while significantly reducing bycatch.



“These results demonstrate that the potential benefits of illuminated nets extend well beyond sea turtles, while demonstrating the strong promise for net illumination to mitigate discarded bycatch in similar coastal gillnet fisheries throughout the world’s oceans,” said study lead author Jesse Senko, an expert in animal behavior and fisheries management at ASU.



“Making life easier for fishers by reducing the amount of time untangling bycatch is equally essential as reducing the bycatch biomass in nets,” added study co-author John Wang, a fisheries ecologist at the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/pacific-islands-fisheries-science-center">Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center</a>.



“It is important for fishers to know that there are tangible benefits for them. This is critical for the adoption of such technologies by the fishing industry,” he concluded.



---



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

Lighted nets help protect endangered marine wildlife

New research published in the journal Current Biology has found...

Portrait,Of,White,â??,Haired,Senior,Woman,Relaxing,At,Home

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments about human parenting and companion animals. In a statement made on January 5, the Catholic leader suggested that not having children and living with cats and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tens-of-thousands-of-rescue-dogs-impacted-by-cdc-ban/">dogs</a> are selfish acts.



“Many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one – but they have two dogs, two cats," the Pope said. "And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity... a man or woman who does not develop the sense of fatherhood or motherhood, they are lacking something, something fundamental, something important.”



The Pope’s statement was criticized by In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition and the <a href="https://www.compassionconsortium.org/">Compassion Consortium</a>. Reverend Sarah Bowen is the animal chaplain and co-founder of the Compassion Consortium.



“Animal lovers around the world gasped, yet Pope Francis’ words offer us all an opportunity to deeply consider our relationships with other species," said Reverend Bowen.&nbsp;



"With all due respect to the pope, in a time of climate crisis, economic pressure, war, poverty, hunger, and anthropogenic violence, some of us are lacking nothing by choosing not to have children."&nbsp;



"Rather we are gaining something: true respect and reverence for the complexities of living in an interspecies world where the needs of human animals and other-than-human animals are often in conflict and always entangled.”



For some, the Pope’s words came as a surprise considering that in the past he’s celebrated non-human life and called for respect for the environment we all depend on. In “Laudato Si” his 2015 encyclical on the environment he wrote: “Because all creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect.”



Many animal advocates and environmentalists see the Pope’s most recent comments as a move in the wrong direction - away from meaningful connection with the non-human world.&nbsp;



“Many of our most pressing problems today, including the sixth mass extinction of wild animals, have resulted from human beings’ disconnection of and fear of nature," said Judy Carman, co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition. "For many, a family dog, cat or bunny may be their only connection to the world of interspecies communication.”&nbsp;



---



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

Pope criticized for comments on companion animals

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments...

Since rapid eye movement (REM) <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sleep-improves-memory-formation-and-recall/">sleep</a> brings about brief, period awakenings, scientists such as Dr. Frederick Snyder in the 1960s have assumed that this type of sleep could have a “sentinel” function, helping animals prepare a fight or flight response at the approach of predators. Until recently though, there has been no experimental evidence for this hypothesis. A new study led by the <a href="http://english.siat.cas.cn/">Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology</a> (SIAT) in China could be the first to offer such empirical proof.



By exposing sleeping mice to a trimethylthiazoline (TMT) odor, a stimulus indicating the presence of a predator, the researchers discovered a common brain circuit regulating both REM sleep and innate fear mechanisms.&nbsp;



"TMT triggered rapid arousal from REM sleep but not from non-rapid-eye-movement sleep. This suggests that REM sleep has specific properties that allow rapid arousal in response to predatory stimuli," said study lead author Dr. Liping Wang, a neuroscientist at SIAT.



Dr. Wang and his colleagues discovered that the brain circuits activated during REM sleep consist of the medial subthalamic nucleus (mSTN), a region that contains a high density of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons, which have a crucial role in initiating and structuring stress responses.&nbsp;



By combining in vivo neural activity recording and cell-type specific manipulations, the scientists found that the mSTN-CRH neurons were responsible for a lowered arousal threshold during REM sleep, and increased defensive responses after awakening. Moreover, repeated exposures to predator cues induced an increase in total REM sleep time, but shorter duration of REM sleep episodes and a higher fragmentation of sleep architecture.



These findings show how evolutionary processes can lead to two distinct but related functions for the same group of neurons. "We may hypothesize that natural selection favors optimizing existing neural circuitry for efficiency in signal transduction and energy usage over metabolically more expensive solutions,"&nbsp;explained Dr. Wang.



Since the co-occurrence of increased REM sleep and stress-related mood disorders has already been observed in clinical studies, this new study could be a step forward in designing novel therapeutic frameworks.&nbsp;



“Our study raises the question of whether it is possible to treat mood disorders by targeting the common regulatory circuit of sleep and fear. We will continue working on this question,"&nbsp;concluded Dr. Wang.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.033">Neuron</a>.&nbsp;&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

REM sleep may help protect against predator attacks

Since rapid eye movement (REM) sleep brings about brief, period...

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or lions, can become ill when exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambodian-bats-have-coronaviruses-related-to-sars-cov-2/">SARS-CoV-2</a>, pigs seem to be quasi-immune. Even if they can be infected by the virus when exposed to high doses, the infection is most of the times self-limited and they neither show any clinical symptoms, nor transmit the virus to other animals or to humans. A research team led by <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> set out to find why are pigs so resistant to infection with the new coronavirus.



By introducing the virus to cultured porcine and human respiratory epithelial cells, the researchers found that pig cells underwent “apoptosis” (or controlled cell death) in response to infection at a much higher rate than human respiratory cells.&nbsp;



“When we looked under the microscope there was an interesting phenomenon going on inside the cells,” said study lead author Rahul Nelli, a research assistant professor of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. “The nuclei of the infected pig cells were starting to shred into fragments, but not those of the uninfected pig cells.”



According to the scientists, this shredding of the nucleus of infected cells (a telltale sign of apoptosis) soon after the coronavirus entered the cells causes minimal tissue damage and confines viral replication, thus significantly limiting severe illness.&nbsp;



While human cells can also undergo apoptosis in response to coronavirus infection, they are roughly 100 times less likely to do this than porcine cells. Instead, human cells more often go through necrosis, another form of cell death that is less controlled than apoptosis and can trigger dangerous hyperimmune reactions.



“We don’t want to over-conclude, but apoptosis is probably something intrinsic to the pig immune system that is innate and not acquired,” explained study co-author Luis Giménez-Lirola, an associate professor of Veterinary Diagnostic at Iowa State University. “The idea is to kill the virus subtly but fast enough so there’s not an excessive immune response triggered.”



Further research could lead to therapies designed to trigger apoptosis in human cells, and thus help patients avoid severe illness. A first step in this direction would be to identify all the genes activated during the infection process and compare them to those of animal species that appear to be more resistant to COVID-19.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41420-021-00781-w">Cell Death Discovery</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

Pigs are highly resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or...

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems worldwide. Marine heatwaves have been particularly damaging, leading to mass mortalities of organisms and other deleterious effects. Prolonged rises in ocean temperature (for a few days or weeks) have devastating effects on habitat-forming species, including reef-building corals, sponges, gorgonians, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/" data-type="news" data-id="1899672">seagrasses</a> and kelps. These organisms are major contributors to ecosystem structure and functioning, mostly through the provision of habitat, food, and shelter for other, associated reef species.&nbsp;



In the summer of 2003, a severe marine heatwave (MHW) impacted the NW Mediterranean Sea with temperatures up to 3°C above the average. During this event, several populations of&nbsp;red gorgonian&nbsp;(Paramuricea clavate)&nbsp;and the red coral&nbsp;(Corallium rubrum)&nbsp;suffered mass mortality. Scientists in the region initiated research to monitor the recovery of five impacted populations of these coral reef species from Scandola marine protected area in Corsica, France.&nbsp;



The 15-year study, led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, has revealed that populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum - species that are essential for creating complex habitats on coral reefs - have failed to recover after successive marine heatwaves. The biomass of these species declined by between 80 and 90 percent during the study period.&nbsp;



This is the first study to assess the long-term recovery capacity of populations of these two important species of Mediterranean coral. Initially, the research focused on changes in density, biomass and size structure of these species in the highly protected Scandola marine reserve, as the scientists aimed to provide insights into the recovery capacity of these important reef species.&nbsp;



These are long-lived species that can survive for more than a hundred years in some cases. Their population dynamics are characterized by slow growth and recruitment rates, and individuals take a long time (sometimes up to 10 years) to reach sexual maturity. These statistics indicate that populations of the species may take a long time to recover from ecological disturbances, especially when mortality of adult reproductive colonies across populations is high.



Far from recording recovery, the researchers monitoring populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum witnessed the slow collapse of these species. Fifteen years after the 2003 MHW event, these populations are considered to be practically extinct from a functional perspective.



“We observed an average biomass loss regarding the initial biomass of 80% in populations of red gorgonian, and up to a 93% regarding the studied population of red coral,”&nbsp;noted Daniel Gómez, researcher at ICM-CSIC.



“These data are worrying for the conservation of these emblematic species, and it indicates that the effects of the climate crisis are speeding up, with obvious consequences for the submarine landscapes, where the loss of coral equals the loss of trees in forests,”&nbsp;said Joaquim Garrabou, also member of ICM-CSIC.



Unfortunately, the initial heatwave in 2003 was followed by subsequent warm water events in at least four of the years in the study period: 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2018. These marine heatwaves are clearly becoming more frequent and this is not helping the recovery of the long-lived reef species under investigation.



“We believe one of the main reasons why we observed these collapse trajectories is the potential recurrent exposure to heatwaves, incompatible with the slow populational dynamics of these species," said Cristina Linares, a professor at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences.



“During these heatwaves, the temperature conditions in the studied area reached extreme levels which are incompatible with the life of these corals, which probably caused new mortality events to the decimated populations and made the recovery impossible.”



As the effects of climate change intensify, the frequency and strength of marine heatwaves is set to increase, which could spell disaster for may coral populations, both in the Mediterranean and on reefs worldwide.&nbsp;



“However, there will probably be some areas in the Mediterranean in which, due to several factors, the recurrence of such climate impacts may be lower. This makes it especially relevant to keep – regarding other potential impacts – these climate refuges where the trajectories of coral populations could be more positive than those observed in this study,”&nbsp;noted the study authors.



“Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for stronger measures to be implemented against the climate crisis before the loss of biodiversity becomes irreplaceable."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.&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

Mediterranean coral populations collapse after repeated heatwaves

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems...

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jaws-of-predatory-dinosaurs-grew-stronger-as-they-evolved/">dinosaurs</a> to evolve (around 205 million years ago) and one of the first to be discovered and formally described by scientists. Despite this long history, the small, bipedal dinosaur is still subject to exciting new research.&nbsp;



Part of the mystery of Thecodontosaurus is that this diminutive, bipedal dinosaur is the ancestor of the massive, quadrupedal sauropods. In a new paper published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos">Royal Society Open Science</a>, researchers reconstructed Thecodontosaurus’ limb muscles. In reconstructing the muscle structure, the scientists were able to unlock the mystery of how small dinosaurs evolved into massive behemoths.&nbsp;



"The <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol," said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences. "The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment."



Not only is especially good fossil preservation needed for musculature reconstruction, a close study on the muscle structure of living relatives is needed as well.&nbsp;



"In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles,' said Ballell. "Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage, and due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs."



"These kinds of muscular reconstructions are fundamental to understand functional aspects of the life of extinct organisms," said study co-author Professor Emily Rayfield. "We can use this information to simulate how these animals walked and ran with computational tools."



The reconstruction of Thecodontosaurus paints the image of an agile dinosaur that used its forelimbs for grasping rather than walking. There are also hints of the musculature necessary for the massive sauropods that evolved later, even in this early dinosaur.&nbsp;



"From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how the locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods," said study co-author Professor Mike Benton.



"How were limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds? Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition."



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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

Muscular reconstruction shows how dinosaurs moved

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs to evolve (around...

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the back of the nose and ends below the back of the mouth. Although the pharynx is a single tube, it leads into two separate tubes - the windpipe, through which air reaches the lungs, and the esophagus, through which food reaches the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizard-preserved-stomach-microraptor/">stomach</a>. The separation of the respiratory and digestive tracts at the base of the pharynx is critical for survival; air must be directed from the pharynx into the lungs, but food must be directed towards the stomach and must not enter the lungs.



This anatomical arrangement presents problems for mammals, who must avoid inhaling their food when they try to swallow it. This is the cause of choking and can be fatal. The situation is even more complicated for baleen whales, which feed while underwater. They open their mouths wide and lunge through a shoal of fish or small invertebrates, taking in numerous small prey items along with thousands of liters of water that must not flow into the windpipe.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Colombia</a> in Vancouver have recently published a study that shows how baleen whales, also known as rorquals, achieve the separation of respiratory and digestive tracts while their mouths experience these extreme physical forces. They identified an anatomical mechanism that protects the whale’s airway as tons of water gushes into its mouth - they term this bulbous region of the soft palate the “oral plug.”



“We discovered a structure in fin whales, which likely exists in all lunge-feeding whales, or rorquals,” said Kelsey Gil of the UBC Zoology Department. “We’ve termed it the ‘oral plug’ and found that it blocks the channel between mouth and pharynx. It means that when a whale lunges, the entrance to the pharynx and thus the respiratory tract is protected.”



Although the mechanics of lunge feeding by whales was well understood, not much was known about how prey such as krill are manipulated and swallowed after a lunge. In addition, the general anatomy of the larynx was also well known. This is a hollow organ in the upper airway that is also the location of the vocal cords and has been investigated in connection with whale vocalizations. However, not much was known about the structure of the rest of the pharynx, the critical junction between respiratory and digestive tracts.&nbsp;



“It’s impossible to study this in a living whale, so we rely on tissue from deceased whales and use functional morphology to assess the relationship between a structure and its function,” said Gil.&nbsp;



By examining and dissecting adult and fetal fin whales, the researchers found that a musculo-fatty structure, the oral plug, seals the back of the mouth and pharynx when the whales feed. They manipulated the various structures to see how they could move. They also looked at the direction of muscle fibers to understand how they would move when muscles contracted and shortened.



“The oral plug is a part of the soft palate, so simply considering the gross anatomy, there is only one direction it should move,” explained Gil. “When the oral plug moves backward and upward to block the nasal cavities, it means that no other structure can be in that same spot below the nasal cavities. This forced us to then examine the larynx, since that spot is where we would expect to see the larynx during breathing, but it cannot be in that position during swallowing.”



During swallowing, the oral plug is lifted and this allows food to pass from the mouth into the pharynx. At the same time, the lifted plug protects the upper airways from food entry. The larynx is positioned at the floor of the pharynx, where laryngeal cartilages close to protect it. A muscular sac attached to the bottom of the larynx is forced upwards into the laryngeal cavity to completely block the lower respiratory tract.



The findings, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, also show that the pharynx in fin whales - and likely all rorquals - can only be used by either the respiratory or the digestive tract at any one time. This protects the animals from choking while feeding.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, no structure like the oral plug has been reported in any other animals. “There are very few animals with lungs that feed by engulfing prey and water, so the oral plug is likely a protective structure specific to rorquals that is necessary to enable lunge feeding,” said Gil.



The study authors conclude that these adaptations to facilitate swallowing in lunge-feeding whales were a critical development in the evolution of large body size. The largest animal species ever to have lived is thought to be the blue whale, which feeds in precisely this way.



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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

"Oral plug" prevents whales from drowning while they eat

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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...