Nature often surprises us with its ingenious adaptations, and the cricket frog is no exception. Native to Virginia and North Carolina, these tiny frogs display an ability that seems almost magical: moving across water as if it were solid ground. 



Known as “skittering,” this behavior has intrigued scientists and inspired visions of futuristic technologies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-capabilities-of-cricket-frogs">Capabilities of cricket frogs</h2>



Jake Socha, a professor of mechanical engineering, and his research team at <a href="https://www.vt.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virginia Tech</a> have examined this phenomenon.



“The humble cricket <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-frog-day-addressing-environmental-threats-to-frogs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">frog</a> lives nearby, and yet it still surprised us with its capabilities, further motivating our curiosity to understand the living world,” said Professor Socha.



The research, published in the&nbsp;Journal of Experimental Biology, challenges popular notions about how frogs traverse water.



“Skittering is not actually a well-defined word for this behavior. Part of this research is not only studying this behavior in cricket frogs but to try and give ‘skittering’ a more precise, scientific definition,” explained study lead author and graduate researcher Talia Weiss.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cricket-frogs-don-t-walk-on-water">Cricket frogs don’t walk on water</h2>



Using high-speed cameras shooting at 500 frames per second, the team captured the frogs’ motions in astonishing detail. 



Contrary to the idea that these frogs glide effortlessly across water, the footage revealed something unexpected: the frogs sink between each leap.



“It’s fascinating how easily we can be fooled by fast animal movements,” said Professor Socha. “Here, we’re fooled by a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frog-saunas-hot-solution-to-fighting-global-amphibian-extinction-apocalypse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">frog</a> that appears like a skipping stone, but is actually jumping and dunking multiple times in a row.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leaping-frogs-resemble-dolphins-jumping">Leaping frogs resemble dolphins jumping</h2>



The movement of cricket frogs, often mistaken for walking on water, is better described as "porpoising," a motion similar to the way dolphins leap in and out of the water. 



Unlike true walking, this behavior involves distinct stages within each jump cycle, which researchers broke down into four key phases:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Takeoff: The frog begins completely submerged in water. Using its powerful hind legs, it pushes off against the water, propelling its body upward and into the air. This explosive motion provides the energy needed for the leap.</li>



<li>Aerial: While in mid-air, the frog's legs remain extended, providing balance and stability during its short flight. This phase gives the impression that the frog is gracefully skipping across the water.</li>



<li>Re-entry: The frog's front legs are the first to contact the water as it descends. The rest of the body follows, creating a splash and breaking the water's surface as it sinks back under.</li>



<li>Recovery: Once submerged, the frog rapidly retracts its legs to prepare for the next jump. This resetting phase ensures the frog is ready to push off again almost immediately.</li>
</ol>



Each of these phases occurs in less than a second, allowing the frog to perform up to eight consecutive jumps in quick succession. This rapid, repetitive motion creates the illusion that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-economic-strategy-could-save-endangered-frogs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">frog</a> is walking or skipping on water, though it is actually sinking and leaping continuously. 



The efficiency and speed of these movements highlight the cricket frog’s unique adaptations for this behavior.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-frog-movement-inspires-robots">Frog movement inspires robots</h2>



Understanding the mechanics of skittering has implications far beyond biology. This unique locomotion could inspire innovations in robotics and engineering. For instance, amphibious drones designed for water testing or rescue missions might mimic the cricket frog’s efficient movements.



“Frogs are great jumpers, but most of them don’t exhibit this porpoising behavior, and we still don’t know why,” noted Professor Socha. “Is there something special about the frog’s leap, or is it simply a matter of small body size?”



This research highlights how studying even the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/puddle-frogs-have-a-secret-weapon-against-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">smallest creatures</a> can lead to big discoveries. The cricket frog’s seemingly simple movement holds secrets that may shape the future of technology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cricket-frogs-built-for-skittering-on-water">Cricket frogs: Built for skittering on water</h2>



Cricket frogs may be small, but their anatomy is a masterpiece of adaptation. Their ability to skitter across water is no accident; it’s the result of finely tuned physical traits that allow them to excel at leaping, sinking, and jumping again.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-powerful-hind-legs">Powerful hind legs</h3>



The cricket frog’s hind legs are disproportionately long and muscular for its tiny body. These legs provide the explosive force needed to propel the frog both on land and through water. 



Their large, well-developed muscles allow for rapid extension and retraction, making it possible to perform consecutive jumps in quick succession.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightweight-body">Lightweight body</h3>



Weighing less than many other frogs, cricket frogs benefit from a lightweight frame. This reduces resistance when they re-enter the water after a jump, helping them maintain momentum. Their small size also means they create minimal drag during movement.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-joints">Flexible joints</h3>



Their joints, particularly in the hind legs, are highly flexible. This flexibility enables the frogs to fully extend their legs during the takeoff phase and then rapidly retract them underwater to reset for the next leap.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-streamlined-body-shape">Streamlined body shape</h3>



The cricket frog’s body is slightly flattened, which may help reduce resistance during re-entry into the water. This streamlined shape allows for smoother transitions between aerial and submerged phases of their movement.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skin-adaptations">Skin adaptations</h3>



The frog’s skin plays a subtle but critical role. Smooth and water-resistant, it minimizes friction as the frog moves in and out of the water. This feature also helps maintain buoyancy and allows for quicker movement beneath the surface.



Ultimately, the cricket frog’s body is a perfect example of how evolution tailors physical traits to meet specific survival needs. Each aspect of the frogs' anatomy, from powerful legs to streamlined bodies, contributes to their ability to skitter on water.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-abstract/227/22/jeb249403/363001/Skittering-locomotion-in-cricket-frogs-a-form-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.



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Cricket frogs can literally walk on water as if it were dry land

Nature often surprises us with its ingenious adaptations, and the cricket frog is no exception. Native to Virginia and North Carolina, these tiny frogs display an ability that seems almost magical: moving across water as if it were solid ground. Known as “skittering,” this behavior has intrigued scientists and inspired visions of futuristic technologies. Capabilities of cricket frogs Jake Socha, a professor of mechanical engineering, and his research team at Virginia Tech have examined this phenomenon. “The humble cricket frog lives nearby, and yet it still surprised...

Ingredients in dog and cat foods now include some pretty exotic sounding meats.  Salmon is common in pet treats. Bison, deer and elk can all be found in different dog foods.  Even alligator, rabbit, and quail have found their way into dog bowls in the US. Many of these foods capitalize on the idealized image of a wolf and seem to use the idea that you’re feeding wildness in your canine companion.  One potential dog food ingredient goes a bit further, as the government of Botswana has proposed using elephant meat in pet foods. 

Botswana currently has the world’s largest population of wild African Elephants.  <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/22/botswana-may-lift-elephant-hunting-ban-turn-culled-animals-pet/">The Telegraph</a> reports that the nation has long been considered a refuge amidst the poaching in other African nations.  Today, Botswana boasts elephant populations as large as 130,000 individuals. President Mokgweetsi Masisi tasked a government subcommittee with reviewing a potential lift on an elephant trophy hunting ban put into place by the previous president in 2014.  Recently, the subcommittee advised lifting the ban. Included in the proposal is one to establish a facility to process and can elephant meat, including to use for pet food.

The proposal suggests the lift of the hunting ban as a way to jump start Botswana’s safari industry.  The ban didn’t cover hunting inside of private and registered game ranches where hunting is instead carefully regulated.  It seems the use of elephant meat as pet food and potentially other products is only a suggestion to justify the waste of killing animals for mere sport.  The idea is that if elephants are made into food products, they’re killed for a greater purpose than a mere trophy. Easy justifications like this one all too often allow consumers to ignore the impact of their own actions.  It turns out that elephant meat is just one of several potentially questionable ingredients in pet foods on the market today.

<a href="https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/7385-pet-food-premiumization-drives-packaging-market-growth">PetFoodIndustry</a> reported in August of last year on the growing premiumization of pet foods in the United States.  Dry dog food is still the largest portion of food sold in the US and abroad, but refrigerated and frozen foods are growing in popularity.  In the US, dry pet foods make up 31% of total packaging sales, while wet and treat packaging each make up 28 and 27%. This trend is in contrast to much of the rest of the world, where dry pet foods are much more popular.  

A report in <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/americas-fancy-pet-food-addiction-contributing-climate-change-180964363/">Smithsonian</a> notes that pet food sales have doubled since 2000.  <a href="https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/7385-pet-food-premiumization-drives-packaging-market-growth">PetFoodIndustry</a> suggests that this trend is part of a humanization of pets.  People seem to be more empathetic towards their pets than ever, which can’t be entirely bad.  However, buying high end foods for dogs and cats does have its consequences.

A study published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181301">PLOS One</a> by researcher Gregory Okin in 2017 showed that of the more than 163 million cats and dogs in the US, meat consumption creates a real impact.  Animals raised for food create <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/agriculture-reduce-non-co2-emissions/">greenhouse gases</a> and often create conflicts between ranchers and wild animals like bison or wolves. Grains and other foods used to feed livestock further increase the environmental impact of animal consumption whether you’re a human eating a steak or a dog with a bowl of kibble.  

<a href="http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/02/petfood_sustainability/">Some experts</a> have calculated that a medium sized dog can have the same annual environmental impact as an SUV.  Gregory Okin’s research shows that consumption of dog and cat food products are annually responsible for the creation of 64 ± 16 tons of CO2-equivalent methane and nitrous oxide, both greenhouse gases in the US.  

<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/americas-fancy-pet-food-addiction-contributing-climate-change-180964363/">Smithsonian</a> points to the growing trend of foods and treats to use prime cuts of meat instead of organ meats or other by-products of livestock production.  Americans are generally more particular about the food they consume than their animals are – don’t believe it? When’s the last time you saw a dog getting into a trash can?  By insisting on buying premium meat for our furred companions, we’re inadvertently contributing to more livestock being slaughtered for food while morsels like organs are perfectly acceptable for cats and dogs.  Some pet food producers are even trying out vegan pet foods as a solution.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jun/26/pet-food-is-an-environmental-disaster-are-vegan-dogs-the-answer">The Guardian</a> reported in June 2018 on a new vegan pet food called <a href="https://wildearth.com/">Wild Earth</a> then undergoing tests.  Wild Earth uses koji, a fungi the company claims contains a full protein and has a 3,000 year history of consumption by humans.  The company is also developing lab created meat that would culture animal cells for consumption without the need for slaughter. The same process is being researched for humans, but Wild Earth anticipates their lab cultured mouse meat for cats to reach the market first because of less-restrictions on animal foods.  Some pet nutritionists are suspicious of the vegan pet food, pointing out that although it’s possible to feed a dog vegetarian, it must be done very carefully. 

Cats on the other hand are obligate carnivores, eating very little besides meat.  A vegetarian diet for a feline might be very dangerous, indeed. With lab cultured meat, we enter uncharted territory and it’s extremely hard to anticipate the long reaching impacts at all.  Environmental impact of pets is largely a systematic one. 

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/18/americans-waste-food-fruit-vegetables-study">The Guardian</a> reported last year that Americans waste 15,000 tons of food each day. In 2014, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/19/meat-dairy-waste">The Guardian</a> was more specific, stating that households are wasting 570,000 tonnes [Sic] of fresh meat each year.  Globally this number equates to the meat of almost 12 billion animals wasted. These numbers make it clear that we don’t need another source of protein for our cats and dogs, whether it’s elephant meat or ancient fungi.  

In order to lessen the environmental impact of pet ownership, what we need is a system to use meat we already produce more effectively.  Whole categories of meat such as bone meal, organs, and other undesirable animal parts are eaten by people but would be eaten with few complaints by dogs and cats.  The problem is that often the meats are sourced in unethical and dangerous ways. As late as this month, <a href="https://pets.webmd.com/news/20180215/pet-alert-euthanasia-drug-found-wet-dog-food">WebMD</a> reported on FDA warnings that drugs used to euthanize animals have shown up in several brands of dog food.  Obviously meats with poisons in them are unacceptable as any type of food. 

The way we consume food is ever more complicated and the same is true for our pets.  The way forward is murky but it seems we already produce enough food; it’s a matter of making that system efficient at redirecting good food that’s less desirable to western consumers to animal food bowls.  There should be enough room for our companion animals as well as wild creatures if we work hard for it. 

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

What’s in your dog's food?

Ingredients in dog and cat foods now include some pretty...

A pesticide that is too toxic to be authorized for regular use was approved for “emergency” use last year by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA). 

Last week, the agency reported that it had authorized the distribution of sulfoxaflor across more than 16 million acres of crops where bees are prevalent, despite the fact that the EPA considers the insecticide to be “very highly toxic” to them. 


Sulfoxaflor was approved for use on sorghum and cotton crops in 18 states. In 12 of these states, 2018 was the fourth year in a row that the EPA signed off on the same “emergency.”

Last year, an independent office within the EPA - the Office of the Inspector General - found that the emergency grants for the toxic insecticide does not account for threats to human health or the environment.

Nathan Donley is a senior scientist with the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a>.

“Spraying 16 million acres of bee-attractive crops with a bee-killing pesticide in a time of global insect decline is beyond the pale, even for the Trump administration,” said Donley. “The EPA is routinely misusing the 'emergency' process to get sulfoxaflor approved because it's too toxic to make it through normal pesticide reviews.”


In the event that insects are causing widespread damage to crops, there is a loophole under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act that allows the EPA to authorize the temporary use of pesticides, even if they have not been approved for safety. Critics of this rule, including experts at the Center for Biological Diversity, argue that the EPA is abusing the privilege to continue the use of unapproved pesticides. 

“The EPA is far too eager to find loopholes to approve harmful pesticides when it should be focusing on keeping people and wildlife safe from those pesticides,” said Donley. “The routine abuse of emergency exemptions has to stop.”

Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland warned that nearly half of all insect species worldwide are in a state of rapid decline. The experts found that a major reduction in pesticide usage will be critical for preventing a catastrophic collapse. 

The Center for Biological Diversity has detailed how the EPA routinely takes advantage of its power in the report: <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/pesticides_reduction/pdfs/Poisonous_Process.pdf">Poisonous Process: How the EPA's Chronic Misuse of 'Emergency' Pesticide Exemptions Increases Risks to Wildlife</a>. 
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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Highly toxic pesticide was approved by EPA for use in 18 states

A pesticide that is too toxic to be authorized for...

When male dolphins bond with a best friend, it’s often for life, according to a new study from researchers at <a href="https://www.fau.edu/">Florida Atlantic University</a>.

The researchers tracked nine dolphins off the Florida coast near Orlando, first in 2007 and again in 2010 – eight males and one female. They used radio tags on the dolphins from the Indian River Lagoon, as well as monitoring them by boat and plane.

They found that adult male dolphins will often form a bond with another male. The dolphins forage together and spend time together socially. These bromances can last for years, and often last for life, the researchers said. 

“Male bottlenose dolphins have been known to form male-male alliances that last for years,” study co-author Wendy Noke Durden told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>.

Some male dolphins spend social time with females without mating, too. That’s a lot more rare, the researchers said.

The team also discovered that bottlenose dolphins spend a lot of time alone when they’re young – about 72 percent of their time. That went down to 36 percent of their time over the course of the three years.

And while the dolphins spent more than half of their time on the move during the observation periods, they didn’t travel very far. They stayed within about a 17-mile radius over the 100-day period, with some of the dolphins going only eight miles. The dolphins used available shallow waters, but preferred deeper habitats when they were available.

“The fact that these dolphins seem to have a lot of alone time adds a new dimension to our understanding of the sociality of the Indian River Lagoon dolphins,” lead author Dr. Greg O'Corry-Crowe told the Mail. “It also was fascinating to find that many dolphins have brief encounters with many other dolphins.”

The study adds to research into how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dolphins-work-together-coordinate/">dolphins interact and cooperate</a> with each other. It has been published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.45.1.2019.66">Aquatic Mammals</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Male dolphins bond with their best bros for life

When male dolphins bond with a best friend, it’s often...

Researchers have discovered that foxes were domesticated during the Early to Middle Bronze Age. In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, it was common for humans to be buried with animals. Scientists have identified the remains of both dogs and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/urban-foxes-animals-settle-cities/">foxes</a> who are believed to have been domesticated because their diet was similar to that of their owners.

“We discovered that in some cases the dogs received a special kind of food. We believe this is linked to their function as working dogs. Besides, one of the foxes shows signs of having already been a domestic animal in those times,” said study co-author Aurora Grandal-d'Anglade.

The researchers analyzed a total of 37 dogs, 19 domestic ungulates, and 64 humans. They studied stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen to compare the diets of the animals to that of their owners. 

The isotopic study of the foxes revealed a varied diet. The diet of some foxes looked similar to that of dogs at the same site, while the diet of others looked more like that of wild animals.

“The case of the Can Roqueta fox is very special, because it is an old animal, with a broken leg. The fracture is still in its healing process, and shows signs of having been immobilized (cured) by humans. The feeding of this animal is very unusual, as it is more akin to a puppy dog's. We interpret it as a domestic animal that lived for a long time with humans,” said Grandal-d'Anglade.

In some particular cases in Can Roqueta, there was a food rich in cereal that had been given specifically to larger dogs and to at least one of the foxes. The researchers found evidence that these animals were used for carrying loads.

[caption id="attachment_1868455" align="aligncenter" width="570"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/fox-bronze-age.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868455 size-full" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/fox-bronze-age.jpg" alt="" width="570" height="380" /></a> Bronze Age woman with a dog and a fox, Image Credit: J. A. Peñas[/caption]

“These specimens also show signs of disorders in the spinal column linked to the transport of heavy objects. Humans were probably looking for a high-carbohydrate diet because the animals developed a more active job, which required immediate calorie expenditure. It may seem strange that dogs were basically fed with cereals, but this was already recommended by the first-century Hispano-Roman agronomist Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, in his work De re rustica,” said study co-author Silvia Albizuri, who is an archaeozoologist at the <a href="https://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/">University of Barcelona</a>.

Exceptional findings in the tombs suggest that there were already well-differentiated funeral treatments among human communities during the Bronze Age.

“In tomb #88 there was the body of an old man with the remains of a whole cow and the legs of up to seven goats. The remains of a young woman with the offering of a whole goat, two foxes and a bovine horn were also found,” said study co-author Ariadna Nieto Espinet.

In tomb #405, the experts uncovered the body of an individual accompanied by the whole bodies of two bovines and two dogs. 

“We still don't know why only a few people would have had the right or privilege to be buried with this type of offering, unlike what happens with the vast majority of burials,” Espinet added.

In Can Roqueta, there were also clear differences in the deposits of domestic animals within the tombs of both adults and children. According to the researchers, this indicates that social status was inherited from birth.

“It is tempting to think that if we understand domestic animals as a very important part of the agro- pastoral agro-shepherding economy of the Bronze Age and of the belongings of some people in life, these could be an indicator of the wealth of the deceased individual or of his clan or family,” said Nieto Espinet.

“It seems that species such as bovines and dogs, two of the most recurring animals in funeral offerings, are those that might have played a fundamental role in the economy and work as well as in the symbolic world, becoming elements of ostentation, prestige and protection.” 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/12520">Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Foxes were domesticated during the Bronze Age

Researchers have discovered that foxes were domesticated during the Early...

A new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-38937-5#Abs1">Nature</a> explored how eating human food, either through foraging through garbage or eating crops meant for human consumption, affects American black bears’ hibernation. The team found that bears who eat human food hibernate for shorter periods, thus accelerating their cellular aging.

Between 2011 and 2015, the research team followed 30 female American black bears in Durango, Colorado, paying close attention to their eating habits and hibernation patterns.

“We quantified relative telomere length, a molecular marker for cellular age, and compared lengths in adult female bears longitudinally sampled over multiple seasons,” study author Heather E. Johnson, from the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/asc/">United States Geological Survey Alaska Science Center</a>, wrote in Nature. “We found that bears that foraged more on human foods hibernated for shorter periods of time. Furthermore, bears that hibernated for shorter periods of time experienced accelerated telomere attrition.”

Johnson also noted that increased consumption of human foods increased bears’ body weights and fertility, as well as reduced their survival rates due to vehicle collisions, lethal management, and other human-related causes. The human foods alone could negatively affect bears’ survival. Some foods meant for humans do not contain species-specific nutritional elements necessary for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/loss-bears-american-landscape/">bears</a>. They may contain toxic compounds or increase the spread of disease.

On top of human-driven climate change, which has already affected the hibernation patterns and fitness of certain animals, urbanized areas where human food can be easily found by wildlife could pose as an “ecological trap” for black bears and other species, Johnson said.

“Our study of a free-ranging large hibernator suggests that increased reliance on human food subsidies reduces hibernation lengths,” Johnson wrote. “Our study also supports previous work on small hibernators that a benefit of hibernation is decelerated telomere attrition. Thus, bears consuming more human foods may lose some of the long-term fitness advantages associated with hibernating, in particular rates of cellular aging.”

“Therefore,” Johnson explained, “the continued growth in food subsidies to wildlife are likely to cascade into altered behavior, ultimately with potential molecular consequences for rates of cellular aging.”

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Human food makes bears hibernate for shorter periods and age faster

A new study published in Nature explored how eating human...

A new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0347-y">Nature Climate Change</a> explains that future climate change could be cause an upset in the equilibrium and interactions within the natural food chain that links predators to herbivores. Researchers believe that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a> — specifically warming temperatures — could redistribute the power within the ecological relationship between predator and prey. 

A more stable climate and less seasonal changes in temperate areas could put immense pressure of predation whereas increased climate instability in the tropics due to climate change would cause a decline in predation pressure.

“The study describes the causes of this disruption and shows it can be explained by the components of climate that will change in future, especially temperature," said lead author <a href="https://bv.fapesp.br/en/pesquisador/2748/gustavo-quevedo-romero">Gustavo Quevedo Romero</a>, a professor at the <a href="https://www.ib.unicamp.br/en/node/15">University of Campinas's Biology Institute</a> (IB-UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil. “This reorganization of the forces of species interactions could have disastrous consequences for terrestrial ecosystems and for the ecosystem services they provide, such as biological control and nutrient cycling.”

Romero and colleagues based this new study on a 2017 study published in <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6339/742">Science</a> that measured bites on artificial caterpillars and found that the higher an ecosystem’s latitude, the lower the herbivore predation. The new study compared this data to present and future bioclimatic data based on climate models that predict climate change from carbon dioxide emissions.

“All the existing research on the role of global climate change with respect to biotic interactions has been theoretical, as far as I know. Our study is the first to investigate the link between biotic interactions and climate change at a global scale on the basis of empirical data,” Romero said. “Furthermore, it's the first time anyone has used niche modeling to study biotic interactions, as this method was developed to predict species distributions."

Romero and his team first withdrew a set of bioclimatic variables from the WorldClim 2 database, which contains 19 bioclimatic variables applied globally to a 1 km² resolution grid. They then used a structural equation modeling method to figure out the significance of the direct and indirect effects of latitude, elevation, and local climate, including precipitation and temperature, on predation pressure. Romero concluded that the predation data was directly linked to temperature variation.

“Generally, we found that by 2070, predation pressure may be significantly affected by temperature changes but may not be affected by precipitation changes," Romero said. “Temperature instability rather than warmer temperatures will reduce predation pressure. This impact will be exacerbated in tropical regions, where the climate is projected to become more unstable.”

Predation pressure will increase in temperate climates ranging from North America to Asia, and will decrease in biodiverse regions near the equator like equatorial Africa, Southeast Asia, tropical South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The team suggests that Brazil and Colombia will be the most affected by temperature-affected predation.

“The most important consequence is simple. If the current climate affects current predation pressure, then we can expect climate change to lead to a change in predation pressure,” Romero explained. “Climate change is reflected by not only changes in species distributions but also changes in the interactions among species. A decrease in predation pressure in the tropics could affect tropical crop yields, and in turn, this effect would increase risks to food security owing to a reduction in the efficiency of biological control in areas that are already more vulnerable due to climate change."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change could alter future predator-prey equilibria

A new study published in Nature Climate Change explains that...

Puffins are making a comeback, according to latest numbers. Britain's largest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/puffins-migrate-struggle-breeding/">puffin</a> population on the Farne Islands is now growing, according to the latest results from the UK’s <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/">National Trust</a> which conducts a survey of the Farne Islands puffins every five years. 

Word that the puffin population has increased is especially welcome news after it was reported in May 2018 that the numbers were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-44236755">down by 12 percent</a> due to last February’s “Beast from the East,” a bitter cold wave that impacted Great Britain and Ireland. 

The cold along with lack of food prompted fears that the puffins were quickly declining. However, much of the population had moved to the inner islands because of a rise in grey seals on the outer Farne Islands.

The rising seal populations not only led to more competition for resources, but the National Trust also reports that the seals were unknowingly crushing puffin burrows. 

Puffins build nests in burrows underground. To survey the puffins on the islands, rangers monitored burrows for puffin activity like footprints or puffins bringing back food to the burrows. 

The <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/counting-the-farne-island-puffins">final survey numbers</a> showed 43,956 pairs of puffins in total which amounts to a nine percent increase from the last survey in 2013. 

 “When we started the count in the outer group of islands we were very anxious that numbers were down, especially as we know puffins are struggling for survival across the globe,” said Thomas Hendry, a ranger with the National Trust. “After further investigations on the inner group of islands, numbers seemed to be much more positive. This could be due to the islands being more sheltered, providing an ideal habitat for the puffins to successfully breed and raise their young.”

The rise in puffin numbers on the Farne Islands indicates that the population is stable, but continued monitoring is crucial. 

The National Trust plans to conduct a survey count of the Farne puffins every year instead of every five years, which will help provide a more accurate picture of how the puffins are adapting to climate change and other threats like plastic pollution. 

“Annual monitoring may help us track numbers against likely causes of population change, whether that’s changes in frequency of storms and summer rainfall as a result of climate change, changes in the sand eel population or something else altogether,” said Harriet Reid, a National Trust ranger.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Puffins are making a comeback, according to latest numbers

Puffins are making a comeback, according to latest numbers. Britain's...

Wallace's giant bee (Megachile pluto) is not your typical fuzzy little bumblebee or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticide-honey-bee-deaths/">honey bee</a>. It’s an inch and a half long behemoth of the insect world that hasn’t been spotted since 1981.

The bee is as big of your thumb with a tongue nearly as long as its body and huge mandibles but was presumed to have gone extinct. But in a rare, one-of-a-kind sighting, a team of intrepid researchers spotted and photographed a female Wallace’s living in a termite nest in Indonesia in January. 

“It was absolutely breathtaking to see this ‘flying bulldog’ of an insect that we weren't sure existed anymore — to have real proof right there in front of us in the wild,” said Clay Bolt, a natural history photographer who was part of the research team that found the bee.

[caption id="attachment_1868446" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bee.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868446" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bee.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="362" /></a> Image Credit: Clay Bolt/Global Wildlife Conservation[/caption]

Bolt was the first to catch a glimpse of the bee after a local guide pointed Bolt and the rest of the research team in the direction of a termite nest in a tree. 

The research team, which included entomologists and biologists, had been on the hunt for termite mounds in Indonesia’s North Moluccas Islands, the bee’s preferred habitat, and the discovery was made on the last day of a five-day expedition. 

The trip was part of the <a href="https://www.lostspecies.org/">Global Wildlife Conservation's Search for Lost Species program</a>. 

Female Wallace's use their mandibles to collect tree resin to line the tunnels of termite mounds which they then use for their own nest. The resin keeps termites out. 

The bee was discovered by and named after Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist in the 1850s. 

Habitat declines and sporadic sightings do not bode well for the giant bee, and hopefully, this recent discovery will help raise awareness about the species and conservationists can work to ensure the Wallace’s giant bee is spotted another day. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Clay Bolt/Global Wildlife Conservation

World’s largest bee thought to have gone extinct spotted in Indonesia

Wallace's giant bee (Megachile pluto) is not your typical fuzzy...

It’s well known that cephalopods as a group are intelligent.  There are stories of octopus in captivity quietly moving into nearby tanks to eat all the fish before returning to their own tank before keepers arrived in the morning.  A <a href="https://youtu.be/1DoWdHOtlrk">YouTube video</a> shows an octopus pulling two pieces of coconut shell together and hiding inside.  After hiding, the octopus stacks the coconut shells together and carries them away, apparently planning for using them in the future.  Octopuses and other cephalopods are a paradox, dissimilar in many ways to other – long-lived and social – intelligent animals. 

In fact, a report from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/science/animal-intelligence-octopus-cephalopods.html">New York Times</a> points out that scientists don’t have a clear grasp on cephalopod intelligence, they just know that the octopus is a very smart animal.  Despite the intelligence of octopus and other cephalopods, humans have a long history of eating them.

While climate change and overfishing is diminishing the populations of many wild animals in the ocean, cephalopod populations seem to have been rising recently.  Research from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> suggests that cephalopods may become and increasingly important sustainable seafood now and in the future.  

With short life spans, cephalopods reproduce and grow quickly and they’re adaptable to changing water temperatures.  Indeed, as other marine animals suffer from overfishing and warming oceans, cephalopods are filling in the gaps and growing in population, according to a recent report from a biologist published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/octopus-and-squid-populations-are-booming-heres-why-59830">The Conversation</a>. Another report from 2014 cited 4.8 million tons of cephalopods caught annually, although the number may be much larger due to under reporting in some countries.  Despite the trend of growth in cephalopods, the animals can change population numbers for better or worse rather quickly. 

Because of their short life spans, cephalopods can increase in numbers very quickly but can also drop in numbers very quickly.  Overall cephalopods seem quick to rebound with another generation but it would be easy to kill off most of a population with overfishing before realizing the extent of the damage.  For this reason as well as the predicted popularity of squid and octopus plates in the future, octopus farming is a growing trend. Until recently, raising cephalopods in captivity has been nearly impossible to accomplish. 

For a long time, other seafood has been raised in farms, from fish to oysters, raised in captivity and fed a formulated diet.  According to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">USDA</a>, the US traded in 27,929,000 pounds of fresh or frozen aquaculture raised trout in 2017 alone.  According to <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/aquaculture/us-aquaculture">NOAA</a>, the US produced 37 million pounds of aquaculture oysters for a total of $192 million in 2016.  10 million pounds of clams raised in the US in 2016 made $138 million in profit. The total value for all US marine and freshwater aquaculture in 2016 was estimated to be $1.5 billion, making up 21% of US seafood and fisheries products by value.  Clearly aquaculture is profitable. With many wild fish being over harvested at alarming rates, many feel that aquaculture is the way of the future. 

<a href="https://www.thebalance.com/the-benefits-of-aquaculture-1301626">The Balance</a> reports that there are many benefits to aquaculture in general.  Aquaculture can create a more steady supply of food. Fish and other animals raised in captivity aren’t as dependent on natural conditions or seasons for their growth and health as wild caught fish.  Some studies suggest that aquaculture is more sustainable as well and allows wild populations to potentially rebound. 

But as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/octopus-farms-environmental-effect/">we’ve reported</a>, the downsides to captive raised fish (and other animals) is pollution from food and waste. Still, the benefits for many seem to outweigh these downsides.  Cephalopods are quite different from most of the organisms raised in aquaculture today, so how well an industry of raising octopus and squid will do is still a bit uncertain.  

In 2013, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/octopus-chronicles/first-octopus-farms-get-growing/">Scientific American</a> reported on the first octopus farm, Mayab Mollusks, on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.  According to a first-hand account in <a href="https://www.southernfoodways.org/lunch-at-the-octopus-farm-pulled-pork-and-hot-sauce-at-the-yucatan-table/">Southern Foodways Alliance</a> by Richard Schweid who worked for a time at Mayab Mollusks, the farm was still working towards being profitable in 2016.  <a href="https://www.kanaloaoctopus.com/about-us">Kanaloa Octopus Farm</a> in Hawaii is another startup octopus aquaculture business.  So far, Kanaloa seems to be focused on researching the viability and methods for octopus aquaculture as well as being a place for tourists to see captive octopuses.   

400 million pounds of octopus were bought and sold globally in 2016 and that number is only rising in the US and globally.  Demand for octopus is projected to only continue rising in the near future. Aquaculture seems like a natural way to meet the huge demand for octopus meat and create a sustainable source of food.  Unfortunately for the cephalopods themselves, the growing trend in their population that I mentioned earlier has now reversed. What was seen as an increase in octopus populations a few years ago is now a drop in wild populations.  Global catches of octopus in the 1970s were around 99,000 tons per year but now are only 44,000 tons, according to <a href="https://newfoodeconomy.org/case-against-octopus-farming-cephalopod-aquaculture/">The New Food Economy</a>.  With wild octopus declining perhaps from fishing, aquaculture not yet viable for the animals seems even more important.  

Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as finding a way to farm octopuses. In an analysis of octopus fisheries, Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental studies at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a>, criticized the idea of farming octopus.  Octopuses are carnivores and in order to feed them, even more fish and other animals would have to converted into octopus feed.  Catching more fish for farmed octopus not only hurts the populations of fish caught but would actually harm the wild octopuses themselves by leaving them with less natural prey.  About one third of the fish caught globally are used to create food for other animals, about half of that goes to aquaculture itself. Some of the fisheries used to create animal food are already in decline.  

Faced with the increased rarity of an animal we like to eat, humans traditionally eat it down to the last individual.  Dodos died this way. Mammoths potentially were hunted out too. Passenger pigeons were once a cheap source of food sold by the pickled barrel.  We can recognize intelligence in octopus but as a species we don’t seem to show actual restraint. Instead of simply giving up a food, we do our best to endlessly manipulate our world so we can continue business as usual.  The octopus is just another victim to this way of thinking. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Why octopus farming is no simple solution to overfishing

It’s well known that cephalopods as a group are intelligent....

A team of experts in Italy has found that mosquitoes can be genetically modified to make them less of a threat to human health. By using an advanced DNA-altering technique called CRISPR, the researchers can engineer female mosquitoes that are unable to spread diseases. 

According to the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a>, malaria threatens half of the global population. In 2015 alone, there were 212 million cases of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dogs-diagnose-malaria/">malaria</a>, including 429,000 casualties.

Only female mosquitoes have mouths that are big enough to bite humans, which is how infections such as malaria, Zika, and dengue fever are passed along. The researchers want to use genetic mutations to give female mosquitoes male characteristics, including smaller mouths. 

According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/">NPR</a>, the mutation will also cause deformities in the reproductive organs of females, leaving them unable to reproduce. Furthermore, these modifications have been designed to be passed on to nearly all of the offspring, which could ultimately kill off the species. 

The research team has successfully modified mosquitoes with this mutation in a high-security lab in Italy. Ruth Mueller, an entomologist who runs the lab, told NPR: “This will really be a breakthrough experiment. It's a historic moment.”

If the lab experiments are successful, the team hopes to eventually release some of the engineered mosquitoes in parts of Africa to wipe out local populations of Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito species that spreads malaria. 

There are many critics, however, who warn that introducing the modified mosquitoes could lead to unforeseen consequences, such as pollination issues. 


Nnimmo Bassey, director of the <a href="https://homef.org/">Health of Mother Earth Foundation</a> in Nigeria, told NPR: “This is a technology where we don't know where it's going to end. We need to stop this right where it is. They're trying to use Africa as a big laboratory to test risky technologies.”

Tony Nolan of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine helped to create the engineered insects while at the <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a>. 

“There's going to be concerns with any technology,” said Nolan. “But I don't think you should throw out a technology without having done your best to understand what its potential is to be transformative for medicine. And, were it to work, this would be transformative.”

The research is part of the the <a href="https://targetmalaria.org/">Target Malaria</a> project, which is primarily funded by the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates foundation.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Genetically modified mosquitoes could help eradicate malaria

A team of experts in Italy has found that mosquitoes...

A new study from researchers at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, has found that it is likely a 66 million-year-old asteroid or comet impact in the Caribbean Sea reignited volcanic eruptions in India. However, it remains unclear if and how these two events contributed to the mass extinction of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-dinosaurs-global-tsunami/">dinosaurs</a> and other prehistoric life forms.

The data, published February 21st in Science, shows how massive lava flows have erupted and and affected Earth’s atmosphere and life on the planet throughout history.

Using a method called argon-argon dating, researchers were able to pinpoint the volcanic eruptions in India to a specific date — a date that coincides with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the K-Pg boundary). The eruptions, which spanned over a million years, spurted lava over 500 kilometers of the Indian continent, creating what we now know as the Deccan Traps flood basalts.

"Now that we have dated Deccan Traps lava flows in more and different locations, we see that the transition seems to be the same everywhere. I would say, with pretty high confidence, that the eruptions occurred within 50,000 years, and maybe 30,000 years, of the impact, which means they were synchronous within the margin of error," said senior author Paul Renne, a professor-in-residence of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley, and director of the <a href="http://www.bgc.org/">Berkeley Geochronology Center</a>. "That is an important validation of the hypothesis that the impact renewed lava flows."

The new dates also show that three-quarters of the total lava erupted after the impact, which contrasts previous beliefs that 80% of the lava erupted before the impact.

It was previously thought that if most of the lava erupted before the impact, then the volcanic gases could have caused global warming within the last 400,000 years of the Cretaceous Period, thus increasing the temperatures and forcing species to evolve to survive within the warming climate. Then, confronted by global cooling, either from volcanic dust or climate cooling gases, species would be ill prepared and would end up going extinct.

However, the new data proves that this probably didn’t happen.

"This changes our perspective on the role of the Deccan Traps in the K-Pg extinction," said first author Courtney Sprain, a former UC Berkeley doctoral student and current postdoc at the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a>. "Either the Deccan eruptions did not play a role — which we think unlikely — or a lot of climate-modifying gases were erupted during the lowest volume pulse of the eruptions."

Climate-altering gases frequently leak out of underground magma chambers, as is happening right now with Mt. Etna and Popocatepetl. Eruptions aren’t necessarily needed to transmit gases into the atmosphere.

"We are suggesting that it is very likely that a lot of the gases that come from magma systems precede eruptions; they don't necessarily correlate with eruptions," Renne said. This theory therefore suggests that the K-Pg extinction, the beginning symptoms of climate change took place before the peak in volcanic eruptions across the entire Indian continent.

It’s still unclear which gasses were emitted from the Deccan Traps, however Renne and Sprain hope to discover more about the sequence, scale, and effects of the eruptions from the Traps, which are young enough to contain this information.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Courtney Sprain

Volcanic eruptions played a mysterious role in the dinosaur extinction

A new study from researchers at the University of California,...

In 1911, a 500-million-year-old worm named Amiskwia was described by paleontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott. He compared it to modern arrow worms known as chaetognaths, which are fierce <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-predators-prey/">predators</a> in the ocean that use spines on their head to grasp their prey.

More than 50 years after Doolittle Walcott came up with this theory, however, scientists rejected his interpretation because they could not find evidence of the grasping spines. They suggested it could be a ribbon worm, or a distinct lineage with only distant relatives remaining today.


When Dr. Jakob Vinther from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> studied specimens of Amiskwia at the Smithsonian Institution, he discovered something that had been missed before.

“I coated the specimen with ammonium chloride smoke to make the relief of the fossil stand out and then I could see that in the head was a pair of robust elements,” said Dr. Vinther.

He interpreted these structures as a set of jaws, which strongly resembled the distinctive jaws of a group of microscopic worms called gnathiferans. The scientists realized that Amiskwia had the jaw of a gnathiferan, but the body of an arrow worm.


“The bizarre combination of anatomy seemed altogether alien back in 2012,” said Dr. Vinther. “Some people have proposed that there could be a relationship between arrow worms and gnathiferans based on their shared possession of a jaw apparatus, both made of a substance called chitin.”

“However, there was little other evidence to suggest a relationship, such as evidence from phylogenetic analyses of DNA.”

[caption id="attachment_1868340" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/500-million-year-old-worm-is-the-key-link-between-two-animal-groups.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868340" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/500-million-year-old-worm-is-the-key-link-between-two-animal-groups.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="478" /></a> Image Credit: Rafael Martin Ledo/Consejería de Educación de Cantabría[/caption]

Study co-author Luke Parry added, “It altogether seemed like heresy to propose that gnathiferans and arrow worms may be related back then so we held off publishing our intriguing results out of fear of criticism from our peers. However, new DNA studies have since emerged that found arrow worms to be more and more closely affiliated to the Gnathifera in the Tree of Life.”

“In particular, some researchers found that arrow worms share a duplication of the important Hox genes with a gnathiferan, the rotifers. We suddenly felt no more in a deadlock situation.”

The new phylogenetic study found evidence to support the theory that arrow worms formed an evolutionary group with gnathiferans.

“We were excited to see that these researchers found a relationship between arrow worms and rotifers,” said Parry. “Our phylogenetic analysis, based on anatomical features, strongly suggest a relationship between these two groups of animals as well.”

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:Martin Vinther Sørensen/SNM Denmark

500 million-year-old worm is the key link between two animal groups

In 1911, a 500-million-year-old worm named Amiskwia was described by...

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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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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> (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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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



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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



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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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



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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...