When you think of macaws or parrots, the word "copycat" may come to mind. These charismatic birds have long been celebrated for their vocal mimicry skills, imitating human speech and other sounds with impressive accuracy.



An international team of researchers has recently uncovered an entirely new level to this mimicry. This time, it's about movement, not voice.



The study was led by Dr. Esha Haldar from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in collaboration with the Loro Parque Fundación.



The blue-throated macaw, a critically endangered species, turns out to be just as adept at copying physical actions as it is sounds. 



The scientists discovered this after testing the macaws' ability to imitate intransitive actions - movements that do not involve a physical object or specific outcome. Until now, this type of mimicry was thought to be unique to humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-imitation-and-cultural-evolution">Imitation and cultural evolution</h2>



Imitation of intransitive actions - those without specific goals - has long been a cornerstone of human cultural evolution.



From transmitting technical skills to adopting cultural conventions, humans excel at copying gestures with remarkable fidelity. This promotes social bonding and prosocial behavior.



Previous studies have shown automatic imitation in animals like dogs and budgerigars, but only in object-directed actions. 



The macaw study marks the first evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-have-regional-accents-just-like-humans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">non-human species</a>, widening the lens on how imitation shapes social and cultural dynamics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-imitation-skills-of-macaws">Imitation skills of macaws </h2>



The researchers trained macaws to perform two specific actions - “lift leg” and “spread wings” - by responding to hand signals. After training, the birds were divided into two groups to test their ability to mimic or not mimic actions.



In the "compatible" group, macaws were rewarded when they copied the action of another macaw, such as lifting their leg when the demonstrator did so.



Macaws in the "incompatible" group were rewarded only when they performed the opposite action, such as spreading their wings when the demonstrator lifted its leg.



The results revealed a natural tendency for macaws to imitate others. Birds in the incompatible group struggled significantly to suppress their urge to mimic. They made more mistakes and took longer to respond compared to the compatible group, highlighting their instinct for automatic imitation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-automatic-imitation-and-mirror-neurons">Automatic imitation and mirror neurons </h2>



“The findings are remarkable because they show, for the first time, a non-human animal involuntary imitation of intransitive actions,” said Dr. Haldar.



In humans, automatic imitation is linked to&nbsp;mirror neurons, which are special brain cells that activate when a person observes an action and also when they perform the same action themselves. 



These neurons help humans understand and replicate behaviors, playing a key role in learning and social interactions.



Although this study does not directly prove that parrots, like macaws, have mirror neurons, their behavior strongly hints at it. The macaws' ability to mimic movements without conscious effort suggests that similar neural mechanisms might be at work, supporting their advanced imitation skills.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-macaw-imitation-and-conservation-efforts">Macaw imitation and conservation efforts</h2>



“These highly social animals live in dynamic groups. Automatic imitation may enhance integration into new groups and foster social cohesion. It could underpin the cultural transmission of group-specific behaviors,” noted Dr. Auguste von Bayern from <a href="https://www.bi.mpg.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence</a>.



Such mimicry likely evolved independently in distantly related species, driven by similar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/infanticide-or-adoption-why-parrots-kill-each-others-chicks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social and environmental needs</a>.



The blue-throated macaw’s ability to imitate has promising implications for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-have-relocated-caribbean-parrots-for-thousands-of-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conservation</a>.



With fewer than 350 individuals remaining in the wild, reintroduction projects could benefit from this trait. Captive-bred macaws might learn natural behaviors from wild conspecifics, accelerating adaptation to their natural environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-better-understanding-of-macaws">A better understanding of macaws</h2>



Loro Parque Fundación’s long-standing conservation efforts include raising 465 macaws in captivity and investing over $2 million in their protection. 



These findings add a new dimension to the foundation’s mission, paving the way for innovative strategies to ensure the survival of these stunning parrots.



This study highlights the macaws' cognitive brilliance and its potential role in shaping social and cultural behaviors. 



From conservation to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elusive-bird-night-parrot-pezoporus-occidentalis-thought-to-be-long-extinct-rediscovered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolutionary biology</a>, the findings open new doors to understanding the intricate lives of parrots and their remarkable similarities to humans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(24)02741-X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Blue-throated macaws have human-like imitation skills

When you think of macaws or parrots, the word "copycat" may come to mind. These charismatic birds have long been celebrated for their vocal mimicry skills, imitating human speech and other sounds with impressive accuracy. An international team of researchers has recently uncovered an entirely new level to this mimicry. This time, it's about movement, not voice. The study was led by Dr. Esha Haldar from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in collaboration with the Loro Parque Fundación. The blue-throated macaw, a critically endangered species,...

A tiny millipede was recently found in 99-million-year-old <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/insects-amber-eggs-hatch/">amber</a> in Myanmar. Scientists have concluded that it is the first fossil millipede of the order Callipodida and, measuring only 8.2 millimeters in length, is also the smallest among its contemporary relatives. 

A team led by Professor Pavel Stoev of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Natural_History">National Museum of Natural History</a> found that the structure of the Cretaceous millipede was very different from that of its relatives. As a result, the researchers had to revise the current millipede classification and introduce a new suborder. 

To analyze the new species, the scientists used 3D X-ray microscopy to “slice” through the specimen and observe minute details of its anatomy. The millipede is providing the experts with clues about the age of the order Callipodida, indicating that this group evolved at least 100 million years ago. 

The specimen examined in the study was found among as many as 529 other millipede specimens in the same amber deposit, yet it was the sole representative of its order. The scientists named it Burmanopetalum inexpectatum, to represent the country where it was found and the word “unexpected” in Latin. 

“We were so lucky to find this specimen so well preserved in amber! With the next-generation micro-computer tomography (micro-CT) and the associated image rendering and processing software, we are now able to reconstruct the whole animal and observe the tiniest morphological traits which are rarely preserved in fossils,” said Professor Stoev.

“This makes us confident that we have successfully compared its morphology with those of the extant millipedes. It came as a great surprise to us that this animal cannot be placed in the current millipede classification. Even though their general appearance have remained unchanged in the last 100 million years, as our planet underwent dramatic changes several times in this period, some morphological traits in Callipodida lineage have evolved significantly.”

[caption id="attachment_1872158" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/millipede.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872158" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/millipede.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="561" /></a> Burmanopetalum inexpectatum rendered using 3D X-ray microscopy. Image Credit: Leif Moritz[/caption]

Dr. Greg Edgecombe of the Natural History Museum in London is a leading expert in the study of fossil arthropods.

“The entire Mesozoic Era - a span of 185 million years - has until now only been sampled for a dozen species of millipedes, but new findings from Burmese amber are rapidly changing the picture,” said Dr. Edgecombe. “In the past few years, nearly all of the 16 living orders of millipedes have been identified in this 99-million-year-old amber. The beautiful anatomical data presented by Stoev et al. show that Callipodida now join the club.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">ZooKeys</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: Leif Moritz

New millipede species dates back 99 million years to the Cretaceous Period

A tiny millipede was recently found in 99-million-year-old amber in...

If you've ever happened to hear your name called out in a crowd, congratulations, you've experienced something called the "cocktail party effect." This occurs when people have the ability to tune out a lot of noise, like the din of a dinner party, to better hear important sounds and words.  

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> recently discovered that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-adopt-same-personality-owners/">dogs</a> possess this uncanny ability as well, in a new study published in the journal Animal Cognition.

The study provides insight into how dogs respond to the sound of their name, which could prove useful for animal trainers and service dog handlers. 

The results of the study show how loud is too loud before a domestic dog is no longer able to pick out its name from other noises, and that a dog can recognize its own name even when an unfamiliar voice speaks it over a loudspeaker. 

For the study, both service dogs and house pets from various breeds were brought to a room with their owner. 

The room was fitted with two loudspeakers on opposite ends, and if a dog turned toward one speaker or the other after hearing its name, the researchers considered that as the dog responding to its name. 

The dogs were then observed while the loudspeakers alternated recordings of the dog's name being spoken aloud by an unfamiliar voice. Background noise was also played in the room at three increasing levels of volume. 

When the background noise was less than or equal to the volume of the recordings, the dogs responded to the loudspeakers, but as soon as the din was louder than the recordings, the dogs were not able to tune out the noise to hear their name. 

Service dogs scored a little higher than pets, and the researchers suggest that this is because owners usually have a grocery list of nicknames they give their pets, so their dog's actual name is said less often compared to a service animal. 

"I suspect one of the reasons working dogs do better is because people use their names more consistently," Rochelle Newman, a co-author of the study told National Geographic. "We often end up using nicknames so much."

The study puts to rest the idea that dogs are not able to recognize their names but instead respond to visual and verbal cues from their handlers. 

"Some people say you're better off giving hand signals—but the dogs are often scanning the room to see what's going on around them, so they miss them," Stanley Coren, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the study told, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic</a>. "So this says, no, you can cut through the noise by using the dog's name."

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs can hear and recognize their name in noisy places

If you've ever happened to hear your name called out...

In an effort to find solutions to projected food shortages due to climate change and population growth, researchers from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> are turning to insects like flies and maggots in the hopes of finding more sustainable protein alternatives. 

Although insects are commonly eaten in many countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, for many people, the idea of incorporating bugs into their diets is an unsavory one. 

However, at the rate of population growth, increasing food demands, and the tolls that meat processing and livestock put on the environment, it’s not a matter of if but when food demands will lead to shortages. 

“An overpopulated world is going to struggle to find enough protein unless people are willing to open their minds, and stomachs, to a much broader notion of food,” said Dr. Louwrens Hoffman, who is working to develop specialty foods with insects. “Would you eat a commercial sausage made from maggots? What about other insect larvae and even whole insects like locusts? The biggest potential for sustainable protein production lies with insects and new plant sources.”

Hoffman and his team are working to develop processed foods using insects as an ingredient to help overcome people’s aversion to eating insects. So far, the team has come up with ice cream and sausages made from black soldier fly larvae. 

The black soldier larvae could also be incorporated into chicken products, and the researchers found that chicken products made with 15 percent larva meal still cook, taste and feel like the real deal. 

Livestock and meat processing have some of the biggest environmental impacts, and the cattle industry emits massive quantities of greenhouse gasses, and particularly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-cattle-feed-methane-emissions/">methane, </a>into the atmosphere. A single cow can release as much as 30 to 50 gallons of methane per day. 

Cattle and chicken farms also require tons of grains and water, which could strain water and agricultural resources in the future. One <a href="http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph240/verso1/">2015 report</a> found that it takes 1,800 gallons to produce just one pound of beef. 

“Poultry is a massive industry worldwide, and the industry is under pressure to find alternative proteins that are more sustainable, ethical and green than the grain crops currently being used,” said Hoffman. 

Other companies are turning to different methods like lab-grown protein alternatives and even lab-grown meat, but insects represent a widely abundant and little utilized source of nutrients and protein that could soon be a necessary addition to diets worldwide. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com </a>

Insects may be the food of the future if we can learn to stomach them

In an effort to find solutions to projected food shortages...

In a breakthrough study using <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rigorous-standards-crispr-baby-crisis/">CRISPR</a> genome editing technology, researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have identified an antidote to the deadly sting of the Australian box jellyfish, which is one of the most venomous creatures in the world. 

One Australian box jellyfish carries enough venom to kill more than 60 humans. This deadly creature has about 60 tentacles, and each contains millions of microscopic hooks filled with venom. 

A single sting by an Australian box jellyfish will cause necrosis of the skin and extreme pain. If a large enough dose of venom is delivered, the sting can cause cardiac arrest and death within minutes.

A team of pain researchers was studying how the box jellyfish venom works when they uncovered a treatment that can block the symptoms of a box jellyfish sting if administered to the skin within 15 minutes of contact. The researchers now hope to develop a topical application for humans.

“We were looking at how the venom works, to try to better understand how it causes pain,” said study senior author Professor Greg Neely. “Using new CRISPR genome editing techniques we could quickly identify how this venom kills human cells.”

“Luckily, there was already a drug that could act on the pathway the venom uses to kill cells, and when we tried this drug as a venom antidote on mice, we found it could block the tissue scarring and pain related to jellyfish stings. It is super exciting.”

The experts used CRISPR whole genome editing to investigate how the venom works. They looked for human cells that could survive the venom, and identified human factors that are required for the venom to cause its deadly reaction. 

“The jellyfish venom pathway we identified in this study requires cholesterol, and since there are lots of drugs available that target cholesterol, we could try to block this pathway to see how this impacted venom activity,” explained study lead author Dr. Raymond Lau. “We took one of those drugs, which we know is safe for human use, and we used it against the venom, and it worked. It's a molecular antidote.”

“It's the first molecular dissection of how this type of venom works, and possible how any venom works,” said Dr. Lau. “I haven't seen a study like this for any other venom.”

“We know the drug will stop the necrosis, skin scarring and the pain completely when applied to the skin,” said Professor Neely. “We don't know yet if it will stop a heart attack. That will need more research and we are applying for funding to continue this work.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/about">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists find a cure for the deadly box jellyfish sting

In a breakthrough study using CRISPR genome editing technology, researchers...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> and <a href="https://www.baylor.edu/">Baylor University</a> set out to find how exactly the Gulf killifish adapted to survive in lethal waters in Texas’ Houston Ship Channel. Could the killifish’s survival tactics be used by other species who need to adapt to rapidly <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/freshwater-bodies-increasingly-polluted/">changing environments</a>? 

"Most species don't survive radically altered environments," said corresponding author Andrew Whitehead, a UC Davis professor of environmental toxicology. "By studying the survivors, we get insight into what it takes to be successful. In the case of the killifish, it came down to huge population sizes and luck."

To begin their investigation, the team wanted to locate any natural selection footprints that may allow the species to change their DNA in order to survive in toxic waters. To do so, they constructed the genomes of hundreds of Gulf killifish living toxic waters ranging from clean, moderately polluted, and very polluted.

They found that the Gulf killifish adaptive DNA actually came from an Atlantic Coast killifish species, meaning that the transfer of adaptable genes must have been accidentally initiated by humans. It was an accidental and rare evolutionary rescue of sorts.

"While the vast majority of research on invasive species rightly focuses on the environmental damage they can cause, this research shows that under rare circumstances they can also contribute valuable genetic variation to a closely related native species, thus acting as a mechanism of evolutionary rescue," said co-corresponding author Cole Matson, an associate professor at Baylor University.

The researchers note that the killifish was already destined to succeed in many ways, being so genetically diverse as they are. And it’s important for us humans to keep pathways open so genetically similar species can “save” each other if need be. 

"The adaptation of these killifish is a cautionary tale," Whitehead said. "It tells us what we need to do better for the vast majority of species that don't have access to the kind of genetic resources killifish have.”

“If we care about preserving biodiversity,” he continued, “we can't expect evolution to be the solution. We need to reduce how much and how quickly we're changing the environment so that species can keep up."

The researchers published their findings in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Andrew Whitehead/UC Davis

How the Gulf killifish has adapted to highly polluted waters

Researchers from the University of California, Davis and Baylor University...

New research from <a href="https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/thu2018en/index.html">Tsinghua University, Beijing</a> provides evidence to show that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-nasal-passages-cool/">dinosaurs</a> may have used running to passively flap their wings before evolving to fly, thus providing new insight into the origins of avian flight. The findings are published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/">PLOS Computational Biology</a>.

After the discovery of Archaeopteryx in 1861, scientists believed a type of gliding flight developed early on, which later led to flapping flight. However, more and more evidence points to the fact that active flapping may have evolved separate from gliding altogether.

Researcher Jing-Shan Zhao and his colleagues from Tsinghua examined this theory further by studying Caudipteryx, catalogued as the most-primitive, non-flying dinosaur who had feathered “proto-wings.” It is believed that Caudipteryx weighed about 5 kilograms and was able to run up to 8 meters per second.

The team first analyzed the mechanical effects of running on different parts of Caudipteryx’s body using a mathematical method called modal effective mass theory. They found that if Caudipteryx ran between about 2.5 to 5.8 meters per second, enough forced vibrations would have caused its proto-wings to flap.

[caption id="attachment_1872115" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caudipteryx-robot.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872115" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caudipteryx-robot.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="487" /></a> Caudipteryx robot for testing passive flapping flight, Image Credit: Talori et al.[/caption]

Zhao and his team then built a robot model of Caudipteryx to confirm that running at these speeds caused a passive flapping motion of the wings. Even testing their theory on a young ostrich, which they fitted with similar proto-wings as Caudipteryx, proved it true.

"Our work shows that the motion of flapping feathered wings was developed passively and naturally as the dinosaur ran on the ground," Zhao said. "Although this flapping motion could not lift the dinosaur into the air at that time, the motion of flapping wings may have developed earlier than gliding."

Zhou says that he and his colleagues will now study the lift and thrust of Caudipteryx’s wings mid-passive flapping.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Before their wings could fly, dinosaurs began flapping them while running

New research from Tsinghua University, Beijing provides evidence to show...

In an effort to understand what types of evolutionary forces influence the shapes of animals, a team of biologists at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> has analyzed the skulls of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/observe-wild-bats/">bats</a>. The study revealed that the two major forces which have shaped bat skulls over time are echolocation and diet. 

The researchers performed high-resolution micro CT scans of skulls from more than 200 bat species. They used data from the scans and information on the evolutionary relationships among bat species to analyze the types of physical changes that evolved in the skulls over millions of years.

The team looked at how these changes correlated with specific events in bat evolution, such as when a lineage switched diets or adapted to a new environment. 

Study co-author Sharlene Santana is an associate professor of Biology and curator of mammals at the UW's Burke Museum of Natural History &amp; Culture.

“Our study sought to address a major question about the evolution of diversity in the bat skull: What explains the large number of differences that we see in skull shape?” said Santana. “We found that echolocation is a major - and ancient - contributor to skull shape. Diet is also important, but generally more recent.”

The scans provided the team with detailed data on the 3D shape of the lower jaw for 191 species, and data on the cranium for 202 species.

[caption id="attachment_1872105" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/bats.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872105" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/bats.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> Different skull shapes. Image Credit: Dennis Wise/University of Washington[/caption]

The study revealed that up until about 34 million years ago, echolocation was the primary driver of skull shape. Bats echolocate by emitting specific types of high-pitched sounds with the larynx and then listening for the sound waves bounce off of objects in their path. Most bats use echolocation to hunt and navigate in poorly lit conditions. 

Echolocation evolved in bats at least 52 million years ago. Since then, different bat families have evolved unique mechanisms for echolocation, such as projecting sounds through the nostrils instead of the mouth. One group, known as megabats, has even lost the ability to echolocate through the larynx.

According to the study, diet became the more dominant driving force behind skull shape evolution about 26 million years ago in some bats. For example, the leaf-nosed bats include species that eat different types of food, ranging from fruit to small vertebrates. The team found that the evolution of different diets within the leaf-nosed bats was actually the major driver of changes in skull shape across this group.

“The leaf-nosed bats stand out for their extraordinary diversity in skull shape and diet,” said Santana. “Over a relatively short period of time, they evolved a suite of skull adaptations as they radiated into different dietary niches.”

Diet and echolocation did not affect skull evolution the same way. Diet was found to have more of an effect on the shape of the lower jaw, while echolocation had a greater effect on the cranium.

As part of a larger effort funded by the National Science Foundation, the research team will continue to compare the evolutionary forces that shape skull diversity among different groups of mammals. These studies may reveal whether the evolutionary patterns seen in bats may apply to other groups, such as humans. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/about">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The skulls of bats were shaped by different evolutionary forces

In an effort to understand what types of evolutionary forces...

Despite belonging to Carnivora, a group of primarily flesh-eating carnivores, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/giant-panda-calls-information/">giant pandas</a> are extremely specialized herbivores that feed almost exclusively on bamboo. But now, a new study has revealed that this restricted vegetarian diet may not actually be as different from the diets of carnivores as it would seem.  

The researchers discovered that the protein and carbohydrate content of the panda's plant diet looks surprisingly like that of hypercarnivores, animals that obtain more than 70 percent of their diet from other animals. About 50 percent of the panda's energy intake comes in the form of protein, which is the same as feral cats and wolves.

“As we know, the giant panda is a Carnivora species, yet extremely specialized on a plant food, the bamboo,” said study co-author Fuwen Wei of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>. “Based on what they eat, they absolutely belong to the herbivores, but considering the macronutrient composition of the ingested and absorbed diets, they belong to the carnivores.”

For the investigation, Wei teamed up with nutritional ecologist David Raubenheimer from the University of Sydney to examine the macronutrient composition of the diets of giant pandas. Using a technique called nutritional geometry, the team showed that this macronutrient mix is unlike herbivores, yet similar to carnivores.

According to the researchers, the findings can help resolve long-standing questions concerning the evolution of the giant panda, including the unusual transition to extreme specialized herbivory by a member of a carnivorous clade. 

“In fact, the transition was likely more superficial than assumed, combining substantial adaptation to new food types with relatively smaller changes in macronutrient handling,” wrote the study authors. 

As herbivores, giant pandas saw evolutionary changes in their teeth, skull, and in the pseudo-thumb needed to process bamboo. However, the gut and digestive system of giant pandas did not change much. This indicates that minimal modification was required to handle the macronutritional properties of bamboo. 

“There is also a broader message from this study,” said Raubenheimer. “It demonstrates the importance of considering both foods and nutrients in understanding the evolutionary ecology of animals. This is what nutritional geometry is designed to do.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</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: Fuwen Wei

The vegetarian diet of the giant panda resembles a carnivore meat diet

Despite belonging to Carnivora, a group of primarily flesh-eating carnivores,...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/home/">German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ</a> is describing the important role that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/body-size-resting-positions-animals/">hippos</a> play in the ecosystem of African lakes and rivers. It turns out that, through the large quantities of fecal matter that they leave behind in the water, hippos are delivering much-needed silicon.

“Hippos differ from other large grazing animals in the savannah,” said study first author Jonas Schoelynck. “The nutrients in the excrements of most grazers largely end up back in the savannah again, where they are reabsorbed by the plants. This is not the case with hippos: they act as a kind of nutrient pump from the land to rivers and lakes.” 

For the investigation, the researchers travelled to the Mara River in the Masaai Mara Nature Reserve in Kenya where they collected samples.

“The grass that hippos eat contains silicon,” said Schoelynck. “The grass absorbs this silicon from the groundwater. It gives it the strength it needs, protects it from disease and, to a limited extent, from grazing by small animals.” 

Back in the lab, Patrick Frings analyzed the isotopic composition of silicon in samples of plants, water, and hippo excrements from the Mara River. “The isotope analysis enabled us to reconstruct the transport path of the silicon,” explained Frings.

The researchers found that a large part of the silicon in the Mara River was transported there by hippos. The grazing animals absorbed a total of 800 kilograms of silicon per day through the plants they ate, half of which ended up in the water via excretion of hippo faeces. 

Calculations made by the researchers revealed that the hippos' silicon contribution influences over 76 percent of the total silicon transported along the Mara River through various ecological mechanisms.

“Our results are completely new,” said Frings. “So far, it has not been assumed that grazing wild animals could have such an influence on the transport of silicon from land to lakes. This process is crucial for the entire land-water ecosystem. In the past, however, it has simply been overlooked.”

Silicon is critical to the survival of diatoms, which are unicellular algae that produce oxygen and form the basis of the food chain in many water ecosystems. This algae population can collapse if there is not enough silicon, resulting in harmful consequences for the entire food web in the lake or river, according to the researchers. 

In Africa, hippos are vanishing due to hunting and habitat loss. The experts said that their function as animal silicon pumps has thus been partially lost.

“Lake Victoria, into which the Mara River flows, can survive for several decades with its current silicon supply,” said Schoelynck. “But in the long run there is probably going to be a problem.”

“If the diatoms do not get enough silicon, they are replaced by pest algae, which have all sorts of unpleasant consequences, such as a lack of oxygen and the associated death of fish. And fishing is an important source of food for the people of Lake Victoria.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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: Jonas Schoelynck

Why water ecosystems in Africa are dependent on hippos

A new study from the German Research Centre for Geosciences...

Compared to other <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-warming-cost-trillions/">Arctic</a> marine mammals, narwhals exhibit shockingly low levels of genetic diversity, as realized by Danish researchers who sequenced the narwhal’s genome. Although this usually means a species is struggling, the researchers report that the narwhal is actually thriving with a population of about 170,000 individuals strong. Their findings are published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/home">iScience</a>.

"There's this notion that in order to survive and be resilient to changes, you need to have high genetic diversity, but then you have this species that for the past million years has had low genetic diversity and it's still around — and is actually relatively abundant," said Eline Lorenzen, an associate professor and curator at the <a href="https://snm.ku.dk/english/">Natural History Museum of Denmark</a>. 

She continued, “This shows us that just looking at the number of individuals isn't indicative of the genomic diversity levels of a species, but also looking at the genomic diversity levels isn't indicative of the number of individuals. Equating those two doesn't seem to be quite as simple as previously thought.”

Low genetic diversity usually occurs when inbreeding or bottleneck events take place, meaning a species’ population is drastically reduced within a specific time period and the remaining individuals must repopulate. However, neither of these explanations pertain to the narwhal and its lack of DNA variation.

Instead, researchers believe that an ideal habitat was created for the narwhal during the onset of the last glacial period about 115,000 years ago. This ideal environment allowed the narwhal, then relatively small in population, to thrive and proliferate.

"Narwhals' long-term low genetic diversity may have allowed them to evolve different mechanisms to cope with their limited genome," said Michael Vincent Westbury, a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

Despite the positive numbers, the narwhal’s future is still uncertain with climate change on the horizon. And because of this, conservation practices are necessary.

[caption id="attachment_1872076" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/narwhals.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872076" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/narwhals.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="368" /></a> Image Credit: Carsten Egevang[/caption]

"Our study can't comment on whether narwhals will be able to adapt, or if they have the plasticity to be resilient in these rapid changes," Lorenzen said. "But what we can say is that they have had this low genetic diversity for a really long time and they're still around."

Lorenzen and Westbury hope to study more Arctic species’ genomes in an effort to better understand the mammals and marine animals that call the Arctic home.

"This study shows that, as new data becomes available, we can question these commonly perceived notions that genetic diversity predicts the survivability of a species," Westbury added. "Ultimately, this analysis is just one step of a lot of work to come."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Binia De Cahsan

Despite lack of genetic diversity, narwhals still thrive

Compared to other Arctic marine mammals, narwhals exhibit shockingly low...

There are several brutal parasitic species in the animal kingdom that can alter the behavior of their hosts and even control their host’s brains. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> and the <a href="http://www.ufu.br/">Universidade Federal de Uberlândia</a> in Brazil have discovered the underlying mechanisms that allow parasitoid wasps to control or “zombify” a host spider. 

One species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parasitic-wasp-spiders-loners/">parasitoid wasp</a> presented a mystery to biologists because the wasp larva can force a spider to spin a complicated web and act out of character without coming into direct contact with the spider's nervous system. 

Once a wasp lays its eggs on the top of a spider’s abdomen, these eggs hatch and force the spider to create a web that doubles as a cocoon for the larva. After the web is finished, the larvae eat the spider and cocoon themselves away as they transform into adult wasps. 

In this new study, the researchers suggest that the wasp larvae can control their hosts through hormones.

The researchers propose that the wasp larvae use hormones to hijack their spider hosts and trick the spider into molting.

[caption id="attachment_1872083" align="aligncenter" width="631"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wasp-web.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1872083" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wasp-web.jpg" alt="" width="631" height="482" /></a> Wasp in it's pupil stage hanging from the web after eating the spider, Main Image Credit: Marcello O. Gonzaga[/caption]

When a spider molts, it sheds its exoskeleton and the spider holes up in a new web while it waits for its new exoskeleton to harden. 

The researchers found that one genus of spider had high levels of a hormone called ecdysone in their bodies before being eaten by the wasp larvae and this hormone plays a key role in the molting cycle for spiders. 

“By hacking into this system, the wasps ensure the safety of their own offspring at the expense of their host,” said Marcelo O Gonzaga, the co-author of a study published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The study sheds light on the mechanisms behind certain parasitic relationships and finally provides an answer to how some wasps zombify their spider hosts. 

“Now that we have a proposed mechanism, we can ask a new set of questions,” said William G Eberhard, a fellow co-author of the study. “Because the lines in spider webs represent precise records of their behavior, we could study ‘zombification’ in unprecedented detail by looking at the lines in cocoon and molting webs. We discovered that both web types vary, and more importantly, that the variations only overlap partially.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Marcello O. Gonzaga

How parasitic wasps take control of their spider host’s brains

There are several brutal parasitic species in the animal kingdom...

Prosocial behaviors observed in domestic dogs were likely passed down from wolves, according to a study led by Rachel Dale of the <a href="https://www.wolfscience.at/en/">Wolf Science Center</a> in Vienna, Austria. Using an experiment during which animals could perform a task to provide food to other individuals, wolves were found to behave more prosocially compared to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dogs-adopt-same-personality-owners/">dogs</a>.

There are two conflicting theories about how dogs became cooperative and prosocial. Some scientists believe that dog domestication selected for cooperative tendencies, which would mean that dogs are more prosocial than wolves. 

On the other hand, some experts speculate that prosocial behaviors in dogs arose from ancestral traits. They argue that since wolves rely heavily on cooperation, they are more prosocial than dogs. 

To investigate, Dale’s team compared the behavioral tendencies of nine wolves and six dogs raised and living in packs at the Wolf Science Center. Each animal was taught to use its nose to press a “giving” symbol on a touchscreen to deliver food to an adjacent pen, where another animal of the same species was sometimes present.

[caption id="attachment_1872042" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/test.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872042" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/test.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="575" /></a> Touchscreen test, Image Credit: Rachel Dale, 2019[/caption]

The researchers found that the wolves chose to deliver substantially more food to the adjacent enclosure when it held a member of their own pack compared to when the same pack member was in a different enclosure. This was found to be the case across multiple trials, and also among two wolves from different packs. 

By contrast, the dogs delivered no more food to the adjacent enclosure when it was occupied by a pack member. The findings suggest that wolves are more prosocial than dogs raised in similar pack conditions, which supports the idea that the prosocial behaviors seen in pet dogs were inherited from their closest living relatives.

“This study shows that domestication did not necessarily make dogs more prosocial,” said Dale. “Rather, it seems that tolerance and generosity towards group members help to produce high levels of cooperation, as seen in wolves.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Domesticated dogs inherited their prosocial tendencies from wolves

Prosocial behaviors observed in domestic dogs were likely passed down...

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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



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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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...