Researchers recently revealed a stunning new species of sea slug glowing in the ocean's darkest depths. Known as the "mystery mollusk" or&nbsp;Bathydevius caudactylus, this nudibranch inhabits the ocean's midnight zone, one of Earth's least-explored realms.



This discovery is more than just a new name on a species list - it's an illuminating dive into our planet's vast, hidden ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mystery-mollusk-in-the-midnight-zone">Mystery mollusk in the midnight zone</h2>



The "mystery mollusk," Bathydevius caudactylus as the scientists officially named it, inhabits the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/highly-unusual-bacteria-discovered-in-deep-sea-corals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocean's deep abyss</a>, also known as the midnight zone.



But this isn't just about a new species - it's about an exciting lifeline into understanding our planet's largest habitat in more depth.



Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (<a href="https://www.mbari.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MBARI</a>) Senior Scientist Bruce Robison steered this explorative venture.



“Thanks to MBARI’s advanced underwater technology, we were able to prepare the most comprehensive description of a deep-sea animal ever made," noted Robison.



"We've invested more than 20 years in understanding the natural history of this fascinating species of nudibranch. Our discovery is a new piece of the puzzle that can help better understand the largest habitat on Earth."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-identifying-the-mystery-mollusk">Identifying the mystery mollusk</h2>



This unusual sea creature was first spotted in the year 2000, during an expedition using the institute's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named Tiburon. It was found gliding through the waters offshore of Monterey Bay at a depth of 2,614 meters (8,576 feet).



Confusion arose when the team initially struggled to identify this creature due to its anomalous appearance - a voluminous hood, a flat tail fringed with numerous, finger-like projections, and a set of colorful internal organs.



But after years of research and countless ROV sightings, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-pigs-unicumbers-strange-stunning-creatures-discovered-abyssal-plains-ccz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mystery</a> was solved - this strange creature is, in fact, a nudibranch or sea slug.



<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="rLItWTv9qr-4019991-12187" type="single"]</div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-nudibranch-unlike-any-other">A nudibranch unlike any other</h2>



The mystery mollusk isn't your ordinary nudibranch. It's the first of its kind known to dwell in the immense open waters of the bathypelagic zone, a region 1,000 to 4,000 meters (3,300 to 13,100 feet) below the ocean surface.



Also, the sightings of this fascinating creature span the Pacific coast of North America, from Oregon to as far south as Southern California. Plus, similar creatures spotted by NOAA researchers in the Mariana Trench hint at the mollusk's potentially widespread existence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-survival-techniques-of-the-sea-slug">Survival techniques of the sea slug</h2>



Surviving in such harsh environments is no easy feat. How does the mystery mollusk manage? Interestingly, it has evolved unique survival strategies.



For instance, unlike most sea slugs that feed by rasping prey off the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-life-100-new-sea-creatures-found-in-chile/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seafloor</a>, it uses its cavernous hood to trap crustaceans, much like a Venus flytrap plant would do.



Moreover, to avoid predators, it has a clear body that blends with the surrounding waters and can emit a bright bioluminescence to deter and distract hungry predators. 



“When we first filmed it glowing with the ROV, everyone in the control room let out a loud ‘Oooooh!’ at the same time. We were all enchanted by the sight,” said MBARI senior scientist Steven Haddock.



“Only recently have cameras become capable of filming bioluminescence in high-resolution and in full color. MBARI is one of the only places in the world where we have taken this new technology into the deep ocean, allowing us to study the luminous behavior of deep-sea animals in their natural habitat.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nudibranch-family-tree-expands">Nudibranch family tree expands</h2>



Beyond its captivating appearance and survival tactics, what really stood out during the research was the mollusc's genetic uniqueness. 



Detailed examination of specific gene sequences emphasized that the mystery mollusk is distinct enough from other known nudibranchs to merit the creation of a new family, Bathydeviidae.



"What is exciting to me about the mystery mollusk is that it exemplifies how much we are learning as we spend more time in the deep sea, particularly below 2,000 meters," said Haddock.



"For there to be a relatively large, unique, and glowing animal that is in a previously unknown family really underscores the importance of using new technology to catalog this vast environment. The more we learn about deep-sea communities, the better we will be at ocean decision-making and stewardship.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wealth-of-deep-sea-discoveries">Wealth of deep-sea discoveries</h2>



This discovery is just one exciting piece in the puzzle of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-deep-sea-squid-discovered-that-broods-giant-eggs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deep-sea exploration</a>. MBARI's state-of-the-art technology has unveiled over 250 previously unknown deep-sea species to date, encouraging us to plunge deeper into these fascinating, otherworldly realms.



“Deep-sea animals capture the imagination. These are our neighbors that share our blue planet. Each new discovery is an opportunity to raise awareness about the deep sea and inspire the public to protect the amazing animals and environments found deep beneath the surface,” said Robison.



Indeed, each new discovery brings us one step closer to fully understanding and protecting our fascinating blue planet. And with this latest revelation of the mystery mollusk, we get to marvel at another fascinating dweller of the deep.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063724001845?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Deep Sea Research</a>.



Image/ Video Credit: MBARI



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Mystery mollusk: Glowing sea slug found in the deep sea

Researchers recently revealed a stunning new species of sea slug glowing in the ocean's darkest depths. Known as the "mystery mollusk" or&nbsp;Bathydevius caudactylus, this nudibranch inhabits the ocean's midnight zone, one of Earth's least-explored realms. This discovery is more than just a new name on a species list - it's an illuminating dive into our planet's vast, hidden ecosystems. Mystery mollusk in the midnight zone The "mystery mollusk," Bathydevius caudactylus as the scientists officially named it, inhabits the ocean's deep abyss, also known as the midnight zone....

According to scientists at <a href="http://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> (USU), one out of every four bee species in the United States is found in Utah, and there are more bee species across the state than most others in the country. About half of these species live within the former boundaries of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/trump-grand-staircase-escalante/">Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument</a>, which is shrinking due to legislation that was passed last year.

“The monument is a hotspot of bee diversity,” said Joseph Wilson, an associate professor in USU's Department of Biology. 

Last month, along with several other scientists, Professor Wilson reported on 660 bee species identified in the protected region. A follow-up study was conducted to examine the impacts from the reduction of the monument. The researchers found that 87 percent of the 660 bee species still exist within the reduced boundaries of the monument. 

“But that leaves about 84 species no longer inhabiting protected land,” said Professor Wilson. “This includes some new, undescribed species, as well as ‘morphospecies,’ which are unique individuals that don't match known species.”

Furthermore, some species that are only known to exist in the Mojave Desert are now among the bees outside of the protected area.

“This is significant because these are 'edge' populations,” said Professor Wilson. “That is, in the face of climate change, they could be the first to go extinct as the region gets hotter and drier, or the area could provide a refuge for populations of the same species now inhabiting the Mojave desert.”

The lack of consideration of pollinators in the new management plans for the monument is an even bigger concern, said Professor Wilson.

“Will the reduction in monument size affect the pollinators? We don't know. But if development is allowed in the unprotected areas, say, mining, road development, more recreational development than, yes, pollinator habitat could be lost.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Joseph S. Wilson, USU

Some bee species will vanish as Grand-Staircase Escalante shrinks

According to scientists at Utah State University (USU), one out...

Animals bring joy into people’s lives, whether we are observing their behaviors in the wild or cuddling up with our beloved pet on the couch. Most people could not imagine hurting these innocent animals yet animal cruelty is still a prevalent issue in our society. A new report by the <a href="https://www.sheriffs.org/">National Sheriffs’ Association</a> warns about the severity of animal cruelty and its link to other violent crimes.

The <a href="https://www.sheriffs.org/publications/e071818886AnimalCruelty_v10_508.pdf">report</a>, as part of the Animal Cruelty as a Gateway to Serious Crimes project, aims to help law enforcement agencies “recognize that animal cruelty crimes can serve as a precursor to more violent crimes, as a co-occurring crime to other types of offenses, and as an interrelated crime to offenses such as domestic violence and elder abuse.”

According to FBI data, there were a reported 1,126 animal cruelty cases in 2016. While this number is significant, it likely encompasses only a small percentage of animal crimes. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rejecting-inhumane-animal-activities/">Animal cruelty</a> is difficult to prosecute for many reasons, including the fact that the victim of the crime cannot speak up for themselves and the possibility that the crime may not be reported because witnesses, such as partners and children, may be scared to speak up against the offender.

In a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/088626099014009004">1999 study,</a> researchers found that animal abusers were significantly more likely to be involved in others forms of criminal behavior such as violent and drug crimes. Overall, animal abusers were 5.3 times more likely to have a violent criminal record than people who had not been convicted of animal cruelty.

Animal abusers often victimize multiple people within the household. A beloved pet dog can be used as a tool to control a partner or child. A <a href="http://www.vachss.com/guest_dispatches/ascione_1.html">study</a> of women entering a domestic violence shelter found that 71% of pet-owning women stated that their partner had threatened or actually harmed their pet.

The link between animal cruelty, domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse is now well-recognized among animal advocacy and criminal justice groups.

“Our research has shown if somebody is harming an animal, there is a good chance they also are hurting or will hurt a human. If we can see patterns of animal abuse, the odds are that something else is going on,” said John Thompson, Deputy Executive Director of the National Sheriffs’ Association in a<a href="https://www.sheriffs.org/NSA-Releases-New-Animal-Cruelty-Resource-for-Law-Enforcement"> press release.</a>

But it hasn’t always been this way. Traditionally, there was a mentality among criminal justice professionals that animal crimes were less severe than other crimes.

In a 2010 New York Times<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/magazine/13dogfighting-t.html"> article</a>, a dog-fighting expert explains, “with traditional law enforcement, the attitude has been that we have enough stuff on our plate, let the others worry about Fluffy and Muffy. But I’m starting to see a shift in that mentality now.”

This mentality was not exclusive to law enforcement but was also seen in our state laws. All fifty U.S. states did not even have felony animal cruelty laws on their books until 2014.

The National Sheriffs’ Association advisory group, composed of animal advocacy groups and experts, concludes that “the law enforcement community’s awareness of animal crimes should increase, and at the same time, they should alleviate some of the issues surrounding the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of animal crimes by first responders, investigators, and prosecutors.”

In addition, the advisory group notes that cultural changes in law enforcement agencies needs to occur so that animal crimes are afforded increased attention and priority. As an indicator crime, the presence of animal cruelty can provide law enforcement with important insight into a situation.

The National Sheriffs’ Association, along with the National Coalition on Violence Against Animals, developed a smartphone app for responding officers in the field to help them identify potential animal cruelty.

Not only will tools such as this help save animals lives but it could help uncover unknown human victims of violence.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Animal cruelty linked to other violent crimes and behavior

Animals bring joy into people’s lives, whether we are observing...

While the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is a powerful tool for species conservation, getting just one single species on the list is a huge undertaking that involves expensive and highly specialized research. But now, a newly developed method using machine learning will make it much easier to predict species that could be eligible for the IUCN list. 

Currently, there is a large number of species that have not been formally assessed by the IUCN. For example, only around five percent of all known plant species appear on Red List in any of its five at-risk categories.

Anahí Espíndola is an assistant professor of Entomology at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> who is helping to develop a system that taps into the potential of machine learning and open-access data to identify <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sharing-information-threatened-species/">threatened species</a>. 

In one of the largest-ever assessments of conservation risk, the research team has created a machine learning algorithm and evaluated more than 150,000 species of plants from across the planet. The results of the modeling revealed that at least 10 percent of these species are extremely likely to qualify for the IUCN endangered list.

[caption id="attachment_1863326" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/threatened-species-map.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863326" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/threatened-species-map-1024x444.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="304" /></a> Map revealing the predicted levels of risk to more than 150,000 species of plants located worldwide. Image Credit: Anahí Espíndola and Tara Pelletier[/caption]

“Our method isn't meant to replace formal assessments using IUCN protocols. It's a tool that can help prioritize the process, by calculating the probability that a given species is at risk,” explained Professor Espíndola. “Ultimately, we hope it will help governments and resource managers decide where to devote their limited resources for conservation. This could be especially useful in regions that are understudied.”

The predictive model was designed using open-access data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the TRY Plant Trait Database. Study lead author Professor Tara Pelletier from Radford University collaborated with Professor Espíndola to perform the machine learning.

According to Professor Espíndola, some of the most threatened regions flagged by the model have not received enough attention from researchers in the past. She hopes that this method can help identify regions and species that need to be evaluated.

“Let's say you wanted to assess every species of wild bee on one continent. So you do the assessment and find that only one species is at risk. Now you've used all those resources to identify an area with low risk, which is still helpful, but not ideal when resources are limited. We want to help prevent that from happening,” said Professor Espíndola. 

“Our analysis was global, but the model can be adapted for use at any geographic scale. Everything we've done is 100 percent open access, highlighting the power of publicly-available data. We hope people will use our model--and we hope they point out errors and help us fix them, to make it better.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Machine learning will make it easier to identify threatened species

While the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red...

Shocking new research led by the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a> has revealed that marine organisms can absorb billions of plastic nanoparticles in a matter of hours. The study was focused on the great scallop, which is an edible saltwater species found in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. 

In a lab experiment, the scallop accumulated billions of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-ingest-microplastics/">plastic</a> nanoparticles after just six hours of exposure. The researchers found an alarming number of particles measuring approximately 250 nanometers in the scallop’s intestines. However, they discovered even more particles measuring 20 nanometers in other parts of the body,  including the kidney, muscle, and the gill.

The study, which was led by Dr. Maya Al Sid Cheikh, is the first to quantify the uptake of nanoparticles at predicted environmentally relevant conditions.

“For this experiment, we needed to develop an entirely novel scientific approach,” explained Dr. Cheikh. “We made nanoparticles of plastic in our laboratories and incorporated a label so that we could trace the particles in the body of the scallop at environmentally relevant concentrations. The results of the study show for the first time that nanoparticles can be rapidly taken up by a marine organism, and that in just a few hours they become distributed across most of the major organs.”

Professor Richard Thompson added, “This is a groundbreaking study, in terms of both the scientific approach and the findings. We only exposed the scallops to nanoparticles for a few hours and, despite them being transferred to clean conditions, traces were still present several weeks later.”  

“Understanding the dynamics of nanoparticle uptake and release, as well as their distribution in body tissues, is essential if we are to understand any potential effects on organisms. A key next step will be to use this approach to guide research investigating any potential effects of nanoparticles and in particular to consider the consequences of longer term exposures.”

The researchers used autoradiography to examine the number of particles present in organs and tissue. This technology was also used to determine how long it took for the particles to be flushed out of the scallop’s system. The team found that it took 14 days for the smallest particles to disappear and 48 days for the particles measuring 250 nanometers to be released. 

“Understanding whether plastic particles are absorbed across biological membranes and accumulate within internal organs is critical for assessing the risk these particles pose to both organism and human health,” said Professor Ted Henry. “The novel use of radiolabelled plastic particles pioneered in Plymouth provides the most compelling evidence to date on the level of absorption of plastic particles in a marine organism.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</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: University of Plymouth

Ocean animals can absorb billions of plastic particles in just hours

Shocking new research led by the University of Plymouth has...

image description

Small, wood-eating crustaceans known as a gribble could help uncover potential solutions for efficient ways to convert wood into <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/scientists-sewage-future-biofuel/">biofuel</a>.

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a> discovered how the gribble’s unique digestive system allows the crustacean to break down the resistant coating that surrounds the sugar polymers of the wood called the lignin. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. 

Gribble play an important role in the marine ecosystem as they eat up pieces of wood that wash into the sea via rivers and streams. 

These crustaceans are like termites of the sea, and they can also do considerable damage to wooden piers and boats, but gribble have a digestive system utterly different from termites. 

“Gribble are the only animal known to have a sterile digestive system,” said Simon McQueen-Mason, the leader of the study. “This makes their method for wood digestion easier to study than that of other wood-consuming creatures such as termites, which rely on thousands of gut microbes to do the digestion for them.”

The researchers set out to understand how a gribble can eat and break down so much wood without the help of an extensive gut biome. 

The team focused on the hind-gut of the gribble and found that hemocyanin proteins help the gribble break down and extract the wood’s sugars.

Hemocyanins are proteins that transport oxygen through the blood of invertebrates, and they’re what give invertebrate blood its blue color. 

Gribbles have evolved in such a way that they can harness the oxygen transporting abilities of hemocyanins to break down the lignin bonds of wood.  

“We have found that Gribble chew wood into very small pieces before using hemocyanins to disrupt the structure of lignin,” said McQueen-Mason. “GH7 enzymes, the same group of enzymes used by fungi to decompose wood, are then able to break through and release sugars.”


The researchers treated wood with hemocyanins to test how well it breaks down the lignin bonds and found that the proteins release the same amount of sugar that energy-consuming treatments release during biofuel conversation processes. 

The results of the study could help pave the way for creating more efficient and cost-effective methods for converting wood to biofuel, which could help reduce carbon emissions and limit future climate change. 

“In the long term this discovery may be useful in reducing the amount of energy required for pre-treating wood to convert it to biofuel,” said Neil Brice, a co-author of the paper. “The cellulase-enhancing effect of the haemocyanin was equivalent to that of thermochemical pre-treatments used in industry to allow biomass hydrolysis, suggesting new options for bio-based fuel and chemicals production.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Claire Steele-King and Katrin Besser, University of York

Small crustaceans may reveal how to make renewable energy from wood

Small, wood-eating crustaceans known as a gribble could help uncover...

When he died in 2012, Lonesome George was the last living <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/malaysia-seizes-exotic-tortoises/">tortoise</a> of his species from Pinta Island. But now, George’s legacy is living on, thanks to a new study by researchers at <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a>, the University of Oviedo, the Galapagos Conservancy, and the Galapagos National Park Service.

According to the researchers, Lonesome George and other giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands are still sharing their secrets for longevity. The experts focused on giant tortoises because the creatures are known for their ability to live up to 100 years in captivity. 

The genetic analysis of DNA samples has revealed that the tortoises contained a number of gene variants linked to DNA repair, immune response, and cancer suppression that are not possessed by shorter-lived vertebrates.

Adalgisa “Gisella” Caccone is a senior researcher in Yale's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a co-senior author of the paper. “Lonesome George is still teaching us lessons,” said Caccone.

In 2010, Caccone set out to sequence the whole genome of Lonesome George, who belonged to the lost species Chelonoidis abingdonii. The data from George is invaluable for studying the evolution of the tortoise population on the Galapagos Islands, according to Caccone.

Study co-author and cancer researcher Carlos Lopez-Otin explained: “We had previously described nine hallmarks of aging, and after studying 500 genes on the basis of this classification, we found interesting variants potentially affecting six of those hallmarks in giant tortoises, opening new lines for aging research.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lonesome George still revealing secrets to tortoise longevity

When he died in 2012, Lonesome George was the last...

Blue whales have been changing their singing habits for years, and cracking sea ice may be behind it, a new study found.

Researchers studying whalesong found that male blue whales – females don’t sing – have been dropping their pitch little by little for decades. They’re not alone. Fin whales and Madagascar pygmy blue whales have also been lowering the pitch of their song, the scientists discovered. 

They suspect that the whales are singing less loudly, and the pitch drop is a consequence.

"We think it is something non-voluntary from the whale. Decrease the call intensity and it will decrease the call frequency, just because of the sound emission mechanism," lead Dr. Emmanuelle Leroy told <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/">Science Daily</a>.

The team discovered that blue whales’ pitch changes by season, getting higher during the summer months when sea ice is melting and cracking. But their pitch on average has been getting lower year over year, they said.

They were able to rule out noise pollution as the cause – unlike other oceans, human activity has dropped in the southern Indian Ocean – but did spot the correlation with ice breaking. There could be other explanations as well, the scientists noted. Whale populations have grown in the Indian Ocean in recent years, so they may simply not need to sing so loudly to be heard.

Blue whales and fin whales are some of the loudest and largest ocean mammals. Their songs can travel more than 1,000 miles, allowing them to communicate with one another over vast distances.

"The noise is related to the increasing number of free icebergs in summer. When the ice sometimes cracks, like when you put ice in your drink, it makes noise. This noise is really strong and will propagate over really long distances, so we can hear this noise at our northernmost site, up to 26 degrees south,” said Leroy, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a> in Australia.

The team analyzed more than one million recordings of whale songs from the three species, collected over five years in the southern Indian Ocean.

They found that the calls of blue whales are dropping by about 1.4 hertz each year. Madagascar pygmy blue whales and fin whales are seeing similar drops.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21699291">Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Blue whales are singing a different song, and scientists wonder why

Blue whales have been changing their singing habits for years,...

Studies have shown that animals like great apes and ravens have planning skills, but new research shows they may not think like we do.

Instead, they may plan “on the fly,” instinctively choosing a course of action that will serve up future rewards based on their past experiences.

"Animals can make decisions that lack immediate benefits but that instead may lead to something meaningful in the future. Some researchers have suggested that planning in great apes and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ravens-intelligent-plan/">ravens</a> develops through thinking, that they simulate future scenarios and make decisions based on such mental simulations,” Dr. Johan Lind of <a href="https://www.su.se/english/">Stockholm University</a> said in a press release. “My study shows that planning behaviors and self-control in non-human animals instead can emerge through associative learning.”

Lind’s team set out to determine whether they could create a computer simulation that learns planning skills through association. They used previous studies of planning abilities in ravens and great apes to develop scenarios to test their computer model. 

Their mathematical model was unable to “think” ahead or imagine future scenarios. Instead, it used past experiences to dictate present behaviors.

The model demonstrated similar planning skills to apes and ravens. It also showed self-control – for example, ignoring small amounts of food when past experience showed that waiting would produce a tool that could be used to get a larger amount of food.

"We know today that similar learning models within artificial intelligence research can learn to play board games and beat human players. However, these kinds of learning models are often ignored in the study of animal cognition,” Lind said. 

The study shows that planning skills don’t necessarily mean that animals have human-like cognitive abilities. Researchers must look at other possibilities when studying the behavior of apes, ravens and other animals.

“Animals are often very efficient in learning from their experiences, and this helps them survive in places that often are hostile and competitive," Lind said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/11/180778">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Some animals show planning skills – but don’t think like us

Studies have shown that animals like great apes and ravens...

Environmental activists are up in arms after the Trump administration gave the nod to a planned seismic survey for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic. 

Five companies will receive harassment authorizations needed to conduct a seismic survey from the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/">National Marine Fisheries Service</a>, officials said Friday. They will still need to obtain individual permits from the <a href="https://www.boem.gov/">Bureau of Ocean Energy Management</a>, part of the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/">Department of the Interior</a>, before they can begin the survey, but those permits are expected to come through.

“President Trump is essentially giving these companies permission to harass, harm and possibly even kill marine life, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale — all in the pursuit of dirty and dangerous offshore oil,” Diane Hoskins of the conservation group <a href="https://oceana.org/">Oceana</a> told the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>.

More than 90 percent of coastal communities oppose offshore drilling, she added. East Coast lawmakers agree, saying that any offshore drilling could harm commercial fishing operations and tourism, a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coastal-recreation-business/">huge business along the U.S. coasts</a>.

In a seismic survey, researchers use large compressed air guns to fire blasts into the ocean, then use seismic sensors to measure the sound waves that bounce back off the seabed. The data can be used to create details maps of the ocean floor.

Environmentalists say the noise from a seismic survey can disrupt ocean mammals’ ability to navigate the waters, causing dolphins and whales to beach themselves. Scientists have warned against the surveys in the past, stating that they can cause permanent damage to marine animals in the area.

But advocates say that seismic surveys are already being used to scout locations for offshore wind farms, as well as scientific research.

“These activities are exploration activities,” Nikki Martin, president of the <a href="https://www.iagc.org/">International Association of Geophysical Contractors</a>, told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/">Bloomberg</a>. “The assessment of the resource is critical; it’s critical knowledge for the states and critical knowledge for the federal government in determining future decisions regarding offshore exploration and development.”

The <a href="https://www.api.org/">American Petroleum Institute</a>, a lobbying group for the oil and gas industries, has praised the administration for moving forward with the harassment authorizations.

If the final approvals with the Department of the Interior go through, the seismic survey would be the first and most extensive of its kind in decades.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Seismic survey for oil, gas slated for Atlantic

Environmental activists are up in arms after the Trump administration...

The animal kingdom is filled with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/love-vines-wasps-mummies/">parasites that attack their hosts</a>, sometimes even taking control of their host's nervous system or brain, effectively turning an unsuspecting ant or spider into a zombie. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia (UBC)</a> were studying parasites in the nests of Anelosimus eximius spiders in the Ecuadorian Amazon when they discovered something unusual. 

The researchers observed that some of the spiders were isolating themselves away from their colony, which is strange because Anelosimus eximius are highly social species. 

The spiders are only one of 25 species of social spiders that exist worldwide, and the spiders work together in their nests raising young, capturing prey, and cooperating in large colonies. 

The researchers discovered that the spiders were being “hijacked” by a parasitic wasp from the genus Zatypota.

In a new study published in the journal Ecological Entomology, researchers Philippe Fernandez-Fournier and Samantha Straus describe how the wasp can manipulate a spider into leaving its colony. 

While parasitic wasps are nothing new, the researchers say that usually, wasps target solitary spiders. 

“Wasps manipulating the behaviour of spiders has been observed before, but not at a level as complex as this,” said Philippe Fernandez-Fournier, the lead author of the study, in a <a href="https://news.ubc.ca/2018/11/27/newly-discovered-wasp-turns-social-spiders-into-zombies/">UBC press release</a>. “Not only is this wasp targeting a social species of spider but it's making it leave its colony, which it rarely does.”

The researchers noticed that the spiders were infected with parasitic larva and this is why the spiders wandered away from their nests. The wasps were laying their eggs on the spiders’ stomachs.

The infected spider then spins an enclosed ‘cocoon web” where the newly hatched larvae eventually eat it. 

“The wasp completely hijacks the spider’s behavior and brain and makes it do something it would never do, like leave its nest and spinning a completely different structure. That’s very dangerous for these tiny spiders,” said Straus. 

The researchers are not sure exactly how the wasp is able to manipulate its spider hosts, but one possible hypothesis is that the wasp injects the spider with hormones that confuse it.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Philippe Fernandez-Fournier

Parasitic wasp turns social spiders into cocoon spinning loners

The animal kingdom is filled with parasites that attack their...

A team of experts at the European Commission’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/joint-research-centre_en">Joint Research Centre</a> set out to get a better understanding of co-extinctions, which occur when the disappearance of a host species endangers other species that depend on it. The researchers found that climate change will greatly increase the risk of an “extinction domino effect” that could ultimately wipe out every species on our planet. 

While co-extinction may be contributing to the escalating <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/protecting-biodiversity-political-action/">biodiversity</a> crisis, the phenomenon is difficult to examine or analyze. The researchers simulated 2,000 virtual versions of Earth, linking various animal and plant species in a global food web.

The virtual Earths were then exposed to simulations of extreme climate change that involved either global warming or a “nuclear winter,” which is a time of progressive cooling that would follow a nuclear detonation or an asteroid impact. 

Next, the experts tracked the loss of species diversity under two different scenarios all the way up to the total annihilation of life on Earth. 

In the first scenario, they only considered extinctions that resulted from temperatures that were too hot for species to survive. In the second scenario, they took into account the loss of species from high temperatures, as well as the co-extinctions that would result.

The team compared the outcomes of both scenarios and found that by not accounting for interdependencies among species, the mass extinctions that could result from climate change are greatly understated.

Study co-author Professor Bradshaw of <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> explained, “What we were trying to test is whether the variable tolerances to extreme global heating or cooling by different species are enough to explain overall extinction rates.”

“But because all species are connected in the web of life, our paper demonstrates that even the most tolerant species ultimately succumb to extinction when the less-tolerant species on which they depend disappear.”

“Failing to take into account these co-extinctions therefore underestimates the rate and magnitude of the loss of entire species from events like climate change by up to 10 times.”

According to the researchers, the end of life on Earth is the worst case scenario, but cascading co-extinctions will dramatically increase the dangers of climate change. They determined that just 5 to 6 degrees of warming could be enough to destroy most species. 

Study lead author Dr. Giovanni Strona said, “Even the most resilient species will inevitably fall victim to the synergies among extinction drivers as extreme stresses drive ecosystems to collapse.”

The researchers concluded, “By comparing scenarios of extinctions based only on species’ environmental tolerances with others accounting also for co-extinctions, we show that neglecting to consider the cascading effect of biodiversity loss leads to a large overestimation of the robustness of planetary life to global change.”

--
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>

Climate change could trigger a cascade of extinctions domino effect

A team of experts at the European Commission’s Joint Research...

Dogs seem to be so emotionally in tune with humans that they are commonly perceived as being far more intelligent than other animals. However, a new study has revealed that dogs do not have exceptional cognitive ability when compared to many other smart animals. 

Using existing data on the behavior and abilities of different mammals, a team of psychologists led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> compared the cognitive skills among these species. The comparisons were based on associative learning, sensory cognition, physical cognition, spatial cognition, social cognition, and self-awareness.

Study co-lead author Professor Stephen Lea said that dogs appeared to be no better than other animals at associative learning. and their physical cognition was comparable to that of other species. While dogs performed well in spatial tasks, they did not necessarily stand out.

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/identification-shelter-dogs-adoption/">Dogs</a> are known for their impressive social skills, particularly in the way that they interact with humans. However, other animals were found to be even more perceptive of social cues, including horses.

“Some other domestic species may do as well as dogs, though no other social hunters (except for wolves) have been shown to do as well,” wrote the researchers. “Dogs also have impressive capacities for social learning, and they seem to do better at these tasks than any other carnivorans, except wolves. Nevertheless, they have not demonstrated any capacities that have not also been shown in other social hunters.”

In addition to dogs, dolphins, seals, and pigs were found to be the best at human pointing, while wolves, cats, and raccoons proved to be the best at string-pulling. Sheep, pigeons, and chimpanzees were just as good as dogs at identifying humans by their faces, and cats were excellent at identifying humans by their voices.

Pigs, pigeons, and chimpanzees were found to have an episodic-like memory that is not present in dogs, which is the ability to remember the what, when, and where of an event. 

Furthermore, many people assume that dogs have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom, yet the researchers found that pigs may have an even better sense of smell. The scientists explained that early research did not compare the cognitive abilities of dogs to other animals. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/13420">Learning and Behaviour</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs are not smarter than cats and other animals, study finds

Dogs seem to be so emotionally in tune with humans...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[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...