Florida’s wetlands are home to two striking and often confused waterbirds - the&nbsp;anhinga&nbsp;and the&nbsp;double-crested cormorant. Both are expert divers that rely on their feet to propel themselves underwater. They are commonly seen perched on branches or docks with their wings spread wide to dry.



However, despite their similar appearances and behaviors, new research from the&nbsp;University of Miami&nbsp;reveals that these birds are quite different in their&nbsp;physiology, hunting techniques, and metabolism.



A research team led by&nbsp;Jeff White, a recent&nbsp;biology doctoral graduate, spent months studying these species to understand their unique adaptations.



The findings, which build on earlier work by ornithologist&nbsp;Oscar "Bud" Owre, offer fresh insights into these fascinating birds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-anhingas-and-cormorants-hunt">How anhingas and cormorants hunt</h2>



To the casual observer, anhingas and cormorants might seem interchangeable. 



Both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/habitat-and-evolution-shape-the-unique-sounds-of-birds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a> dive beneath the water’s surface in search of fish and then emerge to dry their fully soaked feathers in the sun. However, their approaches to foraging and movement in the water set them apart.



Cormorants&nbsp;are&nbsp;aggressive hunters. They&nbsp;chase&nbsp;their prey with&nbsp;strong, rapid movements, often diving deep and pursuing larger fish. Their ability to consume more oxygen allows them to sustain this high-energy hunting style. 



"Cormorants have a really large muscle in their leg and are able to really prioritize storage of oxygen in their leg muscles," explained White, who is affiliated to the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Miami</a>. This muscle adaptation gives them an edge in deep-water environments, including&nbsp;coastaland&nbsp;oceanic waters.



In contrast, anhingas are stealthy ambush <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-wings-have-a-surprising-effect-on-island-biodiversity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predators</a>. Rather than chasing fish, they wait patiently in shallow water, camouflaged among vegetation, until their prey swims close enough for a lightning-fast strike.



This sit-and-wait strategy is common among ambush predators like herons and alligators, but it is unusual among diving birds. By minimizing movement, anhingas conserve energy and use less oxygen than cormorants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-they-stay-underwater">How do they stay underwater? </h2>



Both species dive for about&nbsp;two minutes at a time, but their bodies handle oxygen storage differently. Unlike ducks and other diving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-than-100-bird-species-have-been-lost-for-over-a-decade/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a>, anhingas and cormorants&nbsp;fully wet their feathers. 



This reduces buoyancy and allows them to stay underwater more easily. However, their methods of&nbsp;oxygen management&nbsp;vary.



"They both must hold their breath to dive, so we observed how each of these species convert their oxygen stores into energy in the swimming and flying muscles," noted McCracken, a co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-use-of-anhingas-and-cormorants">Oxygen use of anhingas and cormorants</h2>



Cormorants store&nbsp;most of their oxygen in their leg muscles, which power their&nbsp;aggressive swimming style. These&nbsp;large, oxygen-rich muscles&nbsp;allow them to&nbsp;generate bursts of speed&nbsp;and maneuver swiftly to catch prey. This trait aligns them more with deep-diving seabirds like penguins.



Anhingas, on the other hand, rely on neutral buoyancy, meaning they neither sink nor float. This allows them to remain motionless under the water without needing to swim to stay in place.



"They are the only aquatic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/terror-bird-phorusrhacid-discovery-was-largest-meat-eating-bird-of-its-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bird</a> I know of that can sit underwater without having to swim to stay in place," said White. This&nbsp;passive diving adaptation&nbsp;is&nbsp;unique among aquatic birds&nbsp;and helps anhingas hunt with minimal energy expenditure.



Additionally, anhingas have a&nbsp;low metabolism, which means they require&nbsp;less oxygen to generate energy. While cormorants prioritize storing oxygen in their muscles, anhingas make efficient use of the oxygen in their blood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flight-differences-soaring-vs-powerful-wingbeats">Flight differences: Soaring vs. powerful wingbeats</h2>



Beyond their diving behaviors, the two species differ in&nbsp;flight mechanics. 



Cormorants are&nbsp;strong fliers. Their powerful wing muscles allow them to&nbsp;fly quickly and with sustained flapping, making them more agile in the air. This strength is necessary since they often travel between freshwater and saltwater environments in search of food.



Anhingas, by contrast, are less suited for continuous flapping. Instead, they&nbsp;soar and glide, using&nbsp;thermals&nbsp;(rising air currents) to stay in the air with minimal effort. This flight style is similar to&nbsp;hawks and vultures, rather than the rapid, flapping flight of cormorants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-the-research">Significance of the research</h2>



While this study sheds light on anhingas and cormorants, its implications&nbsp;reach far beyond ornithology. Understanding how these birds&nbsp;manage oxygen&nbsp;could offer insights into&nbsp;human physiology, exercise science, cardiovascular health, and metabolism.



"There might be benefits to understanding how other species can generate energy without oxygen," White noted. Some medical conditions and athletic performance studies could benefit from&nbsp;learning how these birds use oxygen efficiently.



Additionally, this research helps scientists&nbsp;better understand metabolism. Different species process nutrients and oxygen in distinct ways, and the anhinga’s ability to function&nbsp;with minimal oxygen use&nbsp;is a&nbsp;fascinating case study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-on-anhingas-and-cormorants">Future research on anhingas and cormorants</h2>



Despite this latest research, anhingas remain one of the least studied aquatic birds. Jeff White hopes to continue his work to uncover more about their unique adaptations. He realized that scientists know surprisingly little about these birds, especially compared to other diving species.



Future studies could explore how anhingas achieve&nbsp;neutral buoyancy, allowing them to stay underwater without sinking or floating. Researchers also want to examine their&nbsp;metabolic rates&nbsp;to understand how they survive on lower oxygen levels compared to other diving birds. 



Additionally, studying their&nbsp;evolutionary adaptations&nbsp;could reveal how they developed their distinct physiological traits over time.



Anhingas’ unique energy conservation and oxygen use strategies could also help scientists learn more about metabolism in other animals, including humans. Further research will help unravel the mysteries of this remarkable waterbird.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-perspective-on-florida-s-waterbirds">New perspective on Florida’s waterbirds</h2>



For those who frequent Florida’s lakes, swamps, and coastal waters, the anhinga and the double-crested cormorant are&nbsp;familiar sights. Yet, beneath their seemingly similar exteriors, these birds have evolved&nbsp;very different strategies for survival.



Cormorants are the&nbsp;powerful, fast-moving predators, excelling in deep-water hunting and flight. Anhingas are&nbsp;masters of stealth and efficiency, conserving energy and using their&nbsp;neutral buoyancy&nbsp;to ambush prey.



Next time you see one of these birds perched with wings outstretched, take a closer look. The&nbsp;mystery of their adaptations&nbsp;is still unfolding, and there’s much more to learn about these remarkable waterbirds.



The study is published in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00360-024-01593-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Comparative Physiology B</a>. 



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Florida’s waterbirds: Expert divers with bold hunting techniques

Florida’s wetlands are home to two striking and often confused waterbirds - the&nbsp;anhinga&nbsp;and the&nbsp;double-crested cormorant. Both are expert divers that rely on their feet to propel themselves underwater. They are commonly seen perched on branches or docks with their wings spread wide to dry. However, despite their similar appearances and behaviors, new research from the&nbsp;University of Miami&nbsp;reveals that these birds are quite different in their&nbsp;physiology, hunting techniques, and metabolism. A research team led by&nbsp;Jeff White, a recent&nbsp;biology doctoral graduate, spent months studying these species to understand their...

Mathematical modelling explains why some animals can see at night. Researchers from <a href="https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en">Hiroshima University</a> have used mathematical modelling to explain how the structure of chromatin in cells of some animals’ eyes shifts from diurnal to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nocturnal-birds-night/">nocturnal</a> after birth.

Associate Professor Sungrim Seirin-Lee, and Lecturer Hiroshi Ochiai, both from the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life at HU, believed the chromatin caused the shape of the nuclei warp and change. 

"When we started this research, our hypothesis was based 100 percent on mathematics," Seirin-Lee said. "Because of our mathematical modeling, we found that nuclear deformation might be a key point in DNA's structure change."

Chromatin appears in different forms and exists in varying territories within the nucleus. For example, it appears as euchromatin, or largely active DNA, around the center of the nucleus. And it also takes the form of heterochromatin, a type of mostly-stagnant DNA that exists around the envelope or ceiling of the nucleus.

However, when it comes to differentiating nocturnal and diurnal animals, the differences in chromatin are largest around the retina. There, the DNA is the center of the nucleus in nocturnal animals, and, as Seirin-Lee and Ochiai found, heterochromatin can be moved from the envelope and ceiling via the nucleus changing shape.

To better understand this movement, Seirin-Lee and team used “phase-field” mathematical modelling, which is more commonly used in physics.

"It is not common in the biological sciences,” Seirin-Lee said. “In chromatin dynamics, it is the first trial in the world!" 

By using this model, the researchers could determine and define the inside and outside of the nucleus, as well as the euchromatin versus heterochromatin, in order to see the movement of of chromatin and nucleus.

When observing heterochromatin in a nocturnal mouse’s eye, they saw that conditional architecture spurred dynamic deformation, thus resulting in an inversion in the nuclear architecture in which two proteins are removed and heterochromatin is allowed to move.

The team then applied their phase-field model to neural stem cells, which mimic retinal cells. They first treated the cells with proteins that keep heterochromatin at the nuclear periphery, and noticed that the deformation stopped. Nuclear architecture could not invert. Whether or not this applies to other mammals is still unclear.

"At this stage, we think it is just mouse eyes," Seirin-Lee said, "but we don't know! Maybe humans could have such structures by dynamic nuclear deformation."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Gregory Johnston

Mathematical modelling explains why some animals can see at night

Mathematical modelling explains why some animals can see at night....

A near-total ban on capturing and selling wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-elephants-recovering-poaching/">African elephants</a> to zoos was approved on Tuesday during a conference of the <a href="https://www.cites.org/">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species </a>(CITES). 

Many are calling the ban “momentous” as it marks an important landmark decision to protect African elephants and prevent the sale of elephants to zoos or the entertainment sector. 

Currently, 183 nations and governments are parties to CITES, and although not all parties approved of the ban, the majority (87) voted in favor following a heated debate on the subject. 

Both Zimbabwe and the United States voted against the ban. 

For Zimbabwe, where elephant populations are healthier compared to Southern Africa, elephants are an important economic asset and the ban prevents the country from profiting off their numerous elephants. 

Since 2012, Zimbabwe captured and sold more than 100 young elephants to zoos in China according to <a href="https://www.hsi.org/">Humane Society International</a>. 

“The government has been pumping out a lot of money for conservation with no real return, yet our government has competing social needs,” said Tinashe Farawo, spokesman for <a href="https://zimparks.org/">The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority</a>. “We view our animals as an economic opportunity...Why should we continue to impoverish our people when we have the resource?”

The European Union initially rejected the ban but that changes with the addition of an important amendment that serves as a loophole of sorts. 

The EU amendment states that elephants should remain in their “natural and historical range in Africa, except in exceptional circumstances.”

Still, the EU made it clear that any decisions involving elephant transfers or sales will have to be made under the recommendations of CITES and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 

“This is a momentous CITES decision for Africa’s elephants, and despite compromised language being introduced by the EU, we are relieved by its passing,” Audrey Delsink, wildlife director at Humane Society International, told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7399017/CITES-agrees-near-total-ban-sending-wild-elephants-zoos.html">Daily Mail Online.</a> “While it is disappointing that it is not an outright ban on trade in live elephants, the new language adds vital independent oversight and scrutiny.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/tobkatrina

Near-total ban on capturing African elephants for zoos hailed as major step

A near-total ban on capturing and selling wild African elephants...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flying-reptiles-late-jurassic/">Fossilized poop</a> discovered in Argentina contains the oldest parasite DNA ever recorded. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.conicet.gov.ar/?lan=en">National Council of Scientific and Technical Research</a> were examining a coprolite (fossilized feces) excavated from the Catamarca Province. 

DNA analysis revealed not only that the poop belonged to an ancient Puma but also that the animal had been infected with roundworms. 

Toxascaris leonina roundworm eggs were found in the poop which dates back between 16,570 and 17,000 years ago, making it the oldest example of parasitic DNA discovered so far. 

At the end of the last Ice Age, Catamarca Province was likely wetter than today and inhabited by a range of megafauna and herbivorous animals.  

Luckily the coprolite was well preserved that the parasite DNA could be adequately studied. 

“While we have found evidence of parasites in coprolites before, those remains were much more recent, dating back only a few thousand years,” said Dr. Romina Petrigh, a leader of the study. “The latest find shows that these roundworms were infecting the fauna of South America before the arrival of the first humans in the area around 11,000 years ago.” 

The researchers used special decontaminated mixtures to analyze the feces, and several experiments were needed to confirm the DNA sequences identified, according to Petrigh. 

Not only is the roundworm DNA the oldest ever recorded, but the discovery calls into question when and how Toxascaris leonina first spread among animals.  

“The common interpretation is that the presence of T. leonina in American wild carnivores today is a consequence of their contact with domestic dogs or cats, but that should no longer be assumed as the only possible explanation,” said Petrigh. 

The findings were published in the journal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/parasitology/article/ancient-parasitic-dna-reveals-toxascaris-leonina-presence-in-final-pleistocene-of-south-america/9E406417164E40114F819AA78D60C667">Parasitology</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Agami Photo Agency

Fossilized poop contains oldest parasite DNA ever discovered

Fossilized poop discovered in Argentina contains the oldest parasite DNA...

Small albino lizards have successfully become the first reptiles that were gene-edited with CRISPR-Cas9 technology. 

In the past, CRISPR technology has been used with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hiv-dna-eliminate-animals/">mice</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gene-editing-tool-color-plants/">plants</a> and earlier this year, researchers from the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> found a way to work with CRISPR and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-gene-edited-lizards/">edit the genes of reptiles.</a> 

Now, that same research team has published their findings in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(19)31005-8?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124719310058%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">Cell Reports</a>, and the study shows how gene-edited reptiles pass modified traits, in this case albinism, onto their offspring. 

The researchers found a workaround to gene-edit reptile embryos by injecting CRISPR-Cas9 edits into the unfertilized eggs of anole lizards. 

“For quite some time we’ve been wrestling with how to modify reptile genomes and manipulate genes in reptiles, but we’ve been stuck in the mode of how gene editing is being done in the major model systems,” said Doug Menke, the corresponding author of the study. “We wanted to explore anole lizards to study the evolution of gene regulation, since they’ve experienced a series of speciation events on Caribbean islands, much like Darwin’s finches of the Galapagos.”

[caption id="attachment_1877074" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/albino-lizard.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1877074" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/albino-lizard.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="870" /></a> Albino lizard hatchling, Image Credit: Doug Menke[/caption]

The researchers had to wait three months for the lizard offspring to hatch to see if their gene-editing attempts were successful and around six to nine percent of the lizards produced gene-edited offspring. 

“Relative to the very established model systems that can have efficiencies up to 80% or higher, 6% seems low, but no one has been able to do these sorts of manipulations in any reptile before,” said Menke. “There’s not a large community of developmental geneticists that are studying reptiles, so we’re hoping to tap into exciting functional biology that has been unexplored.”

The researchers specifically wanted to create ablino offspring because albinism isn’t lethal to animals, but for humans, abilinsism is linked to vision problems and having a better model to study this link could help future research into pigemental loss. 

The researchers have also provided a new framework for using CRISPR outside of popular animal models. 

“We never know where the next major insights are going to come from, and if we can’t even study how genes work in a huge group of animals, then there’s no way to know if we’ve explored everything there is to explore in the realm of gene function in animals,” said Menke. “Each species undoubtedly has things to tell us, if we take the time to develop the methods to perform gene editing.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Say hello to the world’s first gene-edited reptiles

Small albino lizards have successfully become the first reptiles that...

There are two species of Mako Shark, shortfin and longfin. Although, shortfin makos are certainly more abundant than longfins. 

Shortfin Mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) are open water sharks like the more famous Great Whites. They are found around the world in tropical to temperate seas. Together the two species of mako sharks are sometimes known as the ‘cheetahs of the sharks’ for being the fastest known sharks. These sharks can grow to be twelve feet long but the average one is roughly half that length. 

The shortfin makos can live to be 30 years old but don’t mate until males are 8 years old and females are 20 years old. <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-shortfin-mako-shark">NOAA</a> advises that shortfin mako sharks caught in the US are sustainably and responsibly fished, making them a responsible choice for seafood. The longfin mako shark is another matter.

Longfin mako sharks (Isurus paucus) are one of the least known sharks, first scientifically described in only in 1966. <a href="https://marinebio.org/species/longfin-mako-sharks/isurus-paucus/">MarineBio</a> reports that longfin makos are just a bit larger than their shortfin cousins, making them the second largest shark in their family after white sharks. With little research available on longfin mako sharks, scientists must rely on conjecture to hypothesize about their lives. The eyes indicate this is a deep dwelling shark and it’s assumed that longfin makos eat a similar diet to their shortfin relatives. If this is true, it means longfin makos mainly eat squid and schooling fishes. Despite a lack of basic information on longfin mako sharks, their populations are declining. 

The <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/60225/3095898">IUCN</a> lists longfin makos as endangered. The declines of longfin makos seems to be due largely to overfishing. According to the <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/12940/All-You-Need-to-Know-about-the-Sharks-and-Rays-Votes-at-CITES-CoP18.aspx">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>, mako shark populations in the Atlantic have declined by roughly 90% over the last 75 years. The Mediterranean shows a <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/18/prop/060319/E-CoP18-Prop-42.pdf">96% decline</a> from historic mako population. Sometimes the sharks are killed merely for their fins, the rest of the animal tossed back into the ocean.

CoP18 is an international conference set to discuss protections for species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (<a href="https://www.cites.org/eng">CITES</a>). The goal of CITES is to ensure that the trade in species or species parts such as skins or lumber don’t threaten the long term survival of those species. CITES sets a framework for laws in the countries that voluntarily agree to be bound by. This framework allows countries to relieve threatening pressure on species, even if those species live outside of CITES countries, by cutting off international trade. In this way, a country like the US takes part in the protection of endangered species in Africa, Asia and elsewhere by slowing trade in those species. 

Three layers of protection are used under CITES. Appendix II species are not necessarily threatened with extinction, yet trade is severely limited to limit actions that threaten long term survival. The idea of listing a species under Section II is to keep it from becoming endangered. Today, there are more than 35,000 species of animals and plants protected to some degree under CITES.          

Every year during the COP (Conference of Parties) meeting, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/">United Nations</a> discusses policy changes and new resolutions. Most known for climate change negotiations, COP meetings every three years include conferences to consider new protections for species under CITES. 

This year, the CoP18 in Geneva Switzerland will consider new international protections for mako sharks. Under consideration at the same time are protections for giant guitarfish and wedgefish, both cartilaginous fish related to sharks. The protections being voted on would extend to both longfin and shortfin mako sharks.

<a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/18/prop/060319/E-CoP18-Prop-42.pdf">Proposal 42: 2</a> would make both species of mako sharks protected as appendix II species. The proponents of this listing are over sixty five countries, including African, South American, Caribbean and European nations. The extremely widespread and migratory nature of the mako shark makes its protection a truly global affair. 

The U.S. and Canada are <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/one-of-the-most-eaten-sharks-in-the-world-is-now-in-gre-1837506887">opposing</a> the listing. The proposal notes that because the main threat to the longfin mako shark is fishing for shark meat, it is sometimes extremely difficult to distinguish between longfin and shortfin mako sharks. The shortfin mako is being considered under CITES protection for the sake of the longfin. This type of listing happens sometimes under wildlife protection laws. Some US state laws prohibit the sale of mammoth ivory for instance, so that elephant ivory cannot be passed off as mammoth.

Protection as a CITES Section II species for mako sharks would mean that catching the sharks would be highly monitored and numbers of shark catches shared internationally. It would also mean that sharks caught as bycatch (a major source of fatality for makos) would be required to be released alive. Verifiably sustainably caught mako shark meat would still be allowed to be traded internationally. This step is one towards regulating shark fishing on an international level, a necessity for the long term survival of animals that cross international borders regularly. 

The <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/12940/All-You-Need-to-Know-about-the-Sharks-and-Rays-Votes-at-CITES-CoP18.aspx">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> notes that most international trade in shark fins, meat and other parts are still unregulated, leaving the group as a whole threatened, despite their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-important-deserve-protections/">importance</a> to marine ecosystems. <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2019/01/11/record-number-of-countries-sign-on-to-protect-sharks-and-rays">Pew Charitable Trust</a> reports that it’s estimated less than 20% of the shark fin trade is regulated under CITES. As top predators, sharks are in a unique position of ecological importance. By preying on abundant prey species, sharks allow less abundant species to compete and survive. In this way, sharks promote biodiversity in the world’s oceans. 

The importance of mako sharks is clearly recognized by the fact that a <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2019/01/11/record-number-of-countries-sign-on-to-protect-sharks-and-rays">record number of countries</a> signed on for their protection under CITES. What’s worrying is that the US, seen previously as an international leader in conservation, was not one of them. Along with other recent <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/trumps-epa-environmental-protections/">environmental policies</a>, it seems that the US federal government may be stepping back from not just it’s leadership role but it’s international responsibility. The US does have some federal laws protecting mako sharks, but alone they are insufficient to protect sharks that clearly need it.                   

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/wildestanimal

Mako shark protections supported by many countries, opposed by the US and Canada

There are two species of Mako Shark, shortfin and longfin....

Clothing lined with graphene, an ultra-thin nanomaterial comprised of carbon atoms arranged in a lattice configuration, could help prevent mosquito bites. 

Graphene is lightweight, flexible, stronger than steel, and can be used in a single layer or stacked together. There are a wide variety of potential uses for the material including in batteries, solar cells, and even DNA sequencing. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.brown.edu/">Brown University</a> have now discovered a new use for graphene as a mosquito deterrent. 

The team discovered that graphene layers are impenetrable for mosquitoes in search of a blood meal, and the material blocks the chemical signals a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquitoes-sense-smell-disease/">mosquito uses to find a host</a>. 

Clothing lined with layers of graphene could keep people safe from disease-carrying mosquitoes. 

The researchers detailed their findings in a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Mosquitoes are important vectors for disease all over the world, and there’s a lot of interest in non-chemical mosquito bite protection,” said Robert Hurt, a senior author of the study. “We had been working on fabrics that incorporate graphene as a barrier against toxic chemicals, and we started thinking about what else the approach might be good for. We thought maybe graphene could provide mosquito bite protection as well.”

For the study, participants were asked to put their arm in an enclosure filled with lab-bred, disease-free mosquitoes. 

Some of the participants either had a patch of cheesecloth or a graphene oxide lined cheesecloth patch on their skin. The other participants just exposed bare skin to the mosquitoes. 

Only a small patch of skin was exposed, and the researchers recorded how many participants were bitten. 

Graphene repelled mosquitoes, and participants that had the graphene oxide patch didn’t get bit once. Mosquitoes also responded differently when presented with graphene. 

“With the graphene, the mosquitoes weren’t even landing on the skin patch -- they just didn’t seem to care,” said Cintia Castilho, the lead author of the study. “We had assumed that graphene would be a physical barrier to biting, through puncture resistance, but when we saw these experiments, we started to think that it was also a chemical barrier that prevents mosquitoes from sensing that someone is there.” 

The researchers confirmed that graphene acts as a chemical barrier, and some forms of graphene oxide can only effectively prevent mosquitoes from puncturing the material when dry. 

Reduced oxygen content (called rGO) graphene oxide works wet or dry but lacks the breathability of graphene oxide. 

“GO is breathable, meaning you can sweat through it, while rGO isn’t,” said Hurt said. “So our preferred embodiment of this technology would be to find a way to stabilize GO mechanically, so that is remains strong when wet. This next step would give us the full benefits of breathability and bite protection.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Hurt Lab / Brown University

Clothing lined with graphene could help deter mosquitoes

Clothing lined with graphene, an ultra-thin nanomaterial comprised of carbon...

There are only two northern white rhinos left in the world – Najin and Fatu, two females, both unable to carry a calf. But there’s hope for the species: on Aug. 22, scientists were successful in harvesting eggs from the pair.

The eggs were immediately sent to Italy, where researchers have attempted to fertilize them with cryogenically frozen sperm from four deceased male members of the species.

“We were able to harvest a total of 10 oocytes – five from Najin and five from Fatu – showing that both females can still provide eggs and thus help to save these magnificent creatures,” said Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt from the <a href="http://www.izw-berlin.de/welcome.html">Leibniz Institute for Zoo &amp; Wildlife Research</a>. “Both the technique and the equipment had to be developed entirely from scratch.”

Any resulting embryos will be frozen until southern white rhino surrogates can be found. 

The new procedure brings hope for the species that has been functionally extinct since March 2018, when the last male northern white rhino died.

“We are delighted that this partnership gets us one step closer to prevent extinction of the northern white rhinos,” John Waweru, director general of the <a href="http://www.kws.go.ke/">Kenya Wildlife Service</a>, told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>. “This is particularly touching given the heartbreaking death of Sudan, the last male, who died of old age last year in Kenya.”

There are still challenges ahead, even if the in vitro fertilization goes well. Harvesting eggs from the two females is limited to three times per year; any more would risk their health. And working from a pool of two females and four males could cause a major genetic bottleneck in the species. 

However, scientists do have access to frozen tissues from other northern white rhinos. The group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/biorescueproject/">BioRescue</a> is hoping to create artificial sex cells using those genomes to increase the diversity of rhino embryos in the future. 

Researchers are hoping to re-introduce the northern white rhinos – one of five rhino species – back into their natural habitats. But poachers still pose a major danger; it was poaching for ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine and dagger handles in Yemen that reduced the northern white rhino numbers so drastically, the Daily Mail reported. 

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Harvesting eggs of last northern white rhinos may save species

There are only two northern white rhinos left in the...

Figure2_pterosaur_PeerJ

Some flying reptiles of the late Jurassic were filter feeders. Researchers at <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a> have found the first evidence of filter-feeding among pterosaurs during the Late Jurassic. The study has revealed that the diets and feeding behaviors of pterosaurs were similar to those of modern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/flamingos-comeback-florida/">flamingos</a>.

Pterosaurs were a diverse group of flying reptiles that existed during the age of dinosaurs. Fossil evidence indicates that they adapted to different lifestyles and feeding habits like modern birds.

Many marine animals, such as flamingos, use filter-feeding to separate food from water. An abundance of microscopically-small aquatic prey remains can be found in the feces of flamingos. 

Fossilized droppings, or coprolites, are surprisingly common and often hold valuable information about the diets of extinct animals. However, it can be challenging to know which animal produced the droppings.

In the current study, the researchers analyzed the contents of three coprolites collected from a surface in the Wierzbica Quarry in Poland. The coprolites were discovered alongside an abundance of pterosaur footprints. This, along with their size and shape, suggests that the droppings were produced by a group of pterosaurs called Ctenochasmatidae.

The coprolites were scanned using synchrotron microtomography, which made it possible to image the contents of the fossils in three dimensions. The scans revealed many microscopic food remains, including small shells of marine invertebrates and possible remains of polychaete worms. 

Foraminifera, small amoeboid protists with external shells, were also found in the coprolites. The modern Chilean flamingo is known to produce droppings full of foraminifera after feeding in coastal wetlands.Some flying reptiles of the late Jurassic were filter feeders

"A reasonable explanation for how a pterosaur big enough to have produced the droppings ingested such small prey is through filter feeding," explained study co-author Martin Qvarnström.

"The similar contents of the droppings of these flamingos and the pterosaur coprolites could be explained by similar feeding environments and mesh sizes of the filter-feeding apparatus. It appears therefore that the pterosaurs which produced the footprints and droppings found in Poland were indeed the flamingos of the Late Jurassic."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Qvarnström et al

Some flying reptiles of the late Jurassic were filter feeders

Some flying reptiles of the late Jurassic were filter feeders....

Humans aren’t the only animals to worry about high cholesterol – at least, not anymore. It turns out donuts, bacon and other discarded junk food may be leading to higher crow cholesterol rates. 

Birds like crows and other animals that have adapted to city environments often do well because they’ve learned to scavenge human food. But, a team of <a href="https://www.hamilton.edu/">Hamilton College</a> researchers wondered, are all those leftover fries, chips, burgers and other food waste items good for them?

Led by Dr. Andrea Townsend, they took blood samples of 140 crow nestlings in California – some rural, some in high-population areas of large cities, and some from areas along the spectrum between the two. They also tracked the young birds’ survival rates.

The researchers found more birds had high cholesterol within California’s cities. To test their theory, the researchers fed a group of rural nestlings in New York a supply of burgers from McDonald’s, then tested. They found higher crow cholesterol among the fast food eaters than nearby nestlings who fended for themselves.

"Feeding wild birds can be a great way to connect with nature, and it can be a refreshing change to think that we're doing something that helps animals out,” Townsend said. “At the same time, though, I do worry that some of the foods that humans give to wild animals, and living in an urban environment in general, might not be good for their health."

However, researchers aren’t sure how much high cholesterol affects bird health. Survival rates for the urban California nestlings was lower, but it didn’t seem to be linked to cholesterol rates. In rural New York, the burger-binging birds actually scored higher on their body condition than their neighbors.

"Despite all the bad press that it gets, cholesterol has benefits and serves a lot of essential functions," Townsend said. "It's an important part of our cell membranes and a component of some crucial hormones. We know that excessive cholesterol causes disease in humans, but we don't know what level would be 'excessive' in a wild bird."

Still, that doesn’t mean that higher crow cholesterol isn’t dangerous, the researchers warned. And <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-feeders-dangerous/">too much help from humans</a> can actually harm bird populations. 

"Wild birds haven't evolved to eat processed food, and it might have negative consequences that we didn't measure, or that will only show up over longer periods of time," Townsend said.

The study has been published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/condor/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/condor/duz040">The Condor: Ornithological Applications</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Dr. Andrea Townsend, Hamilton College

Does crow cholesterol show city living isn't for the birds?

Humans aren’t the only animals to worry about high cholesterol...

To humans a whimpering puppy sounds just as sad as a crying baby. The whimpers, whines, meows, and cries of our furry, four-legged friends are just as sad to human ears as the cries from a baby, according to a new study. 

Researchers from <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University</a> in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, the <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a>, and <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College of London</a> found that pet owners’ devotion and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-comfort-owners-upset/">emotional attachment</a> has increased sensitivity to specific vocalizations that signal pain or sadness. 

A whimpering dog has the same effect on pet owners as the sound of a crying baby, the results showed. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181555">Royal Society Open Science</a> and was part of a larger effort to compile a database of sounds that emotionally resonate with people. 

For the study, 264 dog or cat owners and 297 people who did not own pets were asked to rate the valence of animal distress sounds, or how positive or negative the sounds were. Pet owners rated the dog and cat whines as more negative than those who didn’t own pets. To humans a whimpering puppy sounds just as sad as a crying baby

Cat meows were saddest to cat owners, but both cat and dog owners thought dog whines were more distressing than a cat meowing. 

The reason dog owners may be more attuned and sensitive to a dog whimpering is that in general, dog owners spend more time attending to their pet’s needs than cat owners. Cats are relatively independent, whereas dogs need walks, exercise, and training. 

“The result suggests that dogs, more effectively than cats, communicate distress to humans and that pet ownership is linked to greater emotional sensitivity to these sounds,” said Christine Parson, the first author of the study. 

Because dogs are so dependent on their owners for their needs, care, and attention, they may have evolved the ability to communicate distress more effectively than other pets. 

“This difference in animal dependence may explain why dog whines are rated as more negative than cat meows by all adults, including cat-owners,” said Katherine Young, a senior author of the study. “Dogs may simply have more effective distress signals than cats.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/gostua

To humans a whimpering puppy sounds just as sad as a crying baby

To humans a whimpering puppy sounds just as sad as...

Stegosaurus is one of those iconic dinosaurs, following in the same fossilized footprints as Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. With its impressive rows of bony plates on its back and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-tails-weapons/">spiky tail</a>, it’s not hard to see why the plant-eating stegosaurus is so popular among dinosaur lovers. 

In a new discovery, paleontologists have identified a new species of stegosaurus, and it’s the oldest of its kind ever found. The species was described from fossils excavated in Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco. 

The discovery shows that the stegosaurus is older and had a much wider geographic range than previously realized. 

A few vertebrae and an upper arm bone are all that were found, but a team of paleontologists led by Susannah Maidment from the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> in London was able to determine that the bones were about 168 million years old and the specimen belonged to an entirely new species and genus. 

The researchers called the new species Adratiklit boulahfa which means “mountain lizard” in the Berber language. 

“The discovery of A. boulahfa is particularly exciting as we have dated it to the Middle Jurassic,” Maidment said. “Most known stegosaurs date from later in the Jurassic Period, making this the oldest definite stegosaur described and helping to increase our understanding of the evolution of this group of dinosaurs.”

Adratiklit boulahfa is the first stegosaurus discovered in North Africa. Both the specimen’s location and age are of great interest to the scientific community, and the find could help inform our understanding of not only stegosaurus but what geographic formations allowed the dinosaurs to inhabit such a wide range. 

The researchers published their findings in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X19302217">Gondwana Research.</a>

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Daniel Eskridge

Stegosaurus fossil may be the oldest ever discovered

Stegosaurus is one of those iconic dinosaurs, following in the...

A new study comparing 2,062 birds completed by biologists at <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University</a> shows that birds tend to have larger or smaller brains relative to their body size. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/migrations-birds-risk-safety-nap/">Birds</a> with smaller brains usually have larger bodies and use ecological survival strategies, like eating readily available food and focusing on reproduction, in comparison to large-brained, smaller-bodied birds who adapt quickly to changing environments by using flexible behavioral responses.

This new research is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

"The fact is that there are a great many species that do quite well with small brains," said Trevor Fristoe, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University, now at the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a> in Germany. "What's really interesting is that we don't see any middle ground here. The resident species with intermediate brain size are almost completely absent from high latitude (colder and more climatically variable) environments. The species that don't go all in on either of the extreme strategies are forced to migrate to more benign climates during the winter."

Scientists have hypothesized that animals benefit from having a large brain because they are able to be flexible and appropriately respond to different conditions like temperature swings and fluctuating food availability.

"Having a large brain is typically associated with strong energetic demands and a slower life-history," said co-author Carlos Botero, assistant professor of biology in Arts &amp; Sciences. "Free from these constraints, species with small brains can exhibit traits and lifestyles that are never seen in larger-brained ones. What we found is that alternative ecological strategies that either increase or decrease investments in brain tissue are equally capable of coping with the challenges of living in high-latitude environments.”

When it comes to relative brain size, prior studies have found trends toward larger relative brain sizes in higher latitudes where environmental conditions are more unstable, thus aligning with the previous brain-size hypothesis.

However, Fristoe and Botero looked at the full distribution of brain sizes across environments, thus allowing them to assess whether different brain sizes are over- or under-represented. They found that at higher latitudes, bird brain size is seemingly bimodal, meaning that birds’ brains are more likely to be relatively large or relatively small compared to their body size.

And small brains may be more beneficial than big brains.

"In our paper, we find that small-brained species in these environments employ strategies that are unachievable with a large brain," Fristoe said. "First, these species are able to persist by foraging on readily available but difficult to digest resources such as dormant plant buds, the needles of conifers, or even twigs.”

"These foods can be found even during harsh winter conditions, but they are fibrous and require a large gut to digest," he continued. "Gut tissue, like brain tissue, is energetically demanding, and limited budgets mean that it is challenging to maintain a lot of both.”

"We also found that these species have high reproductive rates, producing many offspring every year," Fristoe said. "This would allow their populations to recover from high mortality during particularly challenging conditions. Because big-brained species tend to invest more time in raising fewer offspring, this is a strategy that is not available to them."

"Brains are not evolving in isolation — they are part of a broader suite of adaptations that help organisms be successful in their lives," Botero said. "Because of trade-offs between different aspects of that total phenotype, we find that two different lineages may respond to selection from environmental oscillations in completely different ways.”

"Given that our own species uses its brain to cope with these changes, it is not really surprising that biologists, ourselves included, have historically exhibited a bias toward thinking about environmental variability as a force that drives the expansion of brain size," Botero continued. "But the interesting thing that we find here is that when we take a broader view, we realize that other strategies also work — and remarkably, the alternative here involves making a brain actually smaller!"

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Trevor Fristoe

Bird species either have big guts or big brains

A new study comparing 2,062 birds completed by biologists at...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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