On April 8, 2024, millions across North America paused to watch a rare and awe-inspiring celestial event. A group of scientists was there, prepared to track bird behavior during the total solar eclipse.



The researchers discovered that birds fell unusually quiet. This behavior, however, only occurred in areas where the sun was almost completely obscured.



The research was led by scientists from <a href="https://www.loggerhead.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Loggerhead Instruments</a> and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>.



The experts analyzed data from 344 Haikubox devices (small, community-powered acoustic monitors spread across the continent). This was the first large-scale study to use the Haikubox network for scientific analysis. 



A neural network detected changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-songs-human-speech-common-vocal-genetic-origin-syrinx/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bird vocalizations</a> while controlling for human interference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-did-birds-go-silent">Did birds go silent?</h2>



“Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that birds fall silent or exhibit nighttime <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-behavior-productivity-being-directly-impacted-by-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">behaviors</a> during a total solar eclipse,” said Dr. David Mann, lead author of the study and researcher at Loggerhead Instruments.



“Our study shows that, on average, birds do get quiet during and just after totality, but we also learned that this behavior is strongly linked to the degree of darkness experienced."



The findings confirmed that birds generally reduced their vocal activity during totality - but only in areas where the eclipse brought more than 99% obscuration. This threshold made all the difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bird-reactions-to-the-eclipse-varied">Bird reactions to the eclipse varied </h2>



Interestingly, not all birds responded the same way. Even birds of the same species behaved differently at different locations. 



For example, black-capped <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chickadees-are-genetically-inclined-to-have-a-remarkable-memory/">chickadees</a> in New York remained silent well after totality. The same birds in Vermont became more vocal during and just after the darkest moment.



Other examples were just as varied. Some American robins in Kentucky continued singing through the eclipse.



In contrast, pine siskins in Maine fell completely silent. These site-to-site variations left researchers with more questions than answers.



“The variability in bird responses and site differences was fascinating,” said Dr. Mann. "We really don’t know why birds had such different responses to the total darkness during the eclipse." 



"Despite examining factors like temperature, cloud cover, and wind speed, we found no significant relationship with changes in vocalization rates." 



"This strongly suggests that the sudden total darkness and associated changes in wind and temperature were the primary drivers of the observed behavioral shifts.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keeping-human-noise-out-of-the-data">Keeping human noise out of the data</h2>



One key feature of the study was its effort to isolate the human factor. Haikubox data that may have been influenced by people nearby was adjusted accordingly.



This helped ensure the birds’ behavior was truly in response to the eclipse and not to excited human activity.



“Our first, quick look at Haikubox data just a few hours after the eclipse showed a large dip in bird vocalizations around the time of peak totality,” said Dr. Mann.



“When we dove deeper into the data and removed any sites where humans may have influenced the birds’ behaviors, we found a much more complicated story. People were pretty excited about the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/total-solar-eclipse-captured-from-one-million-miles-away/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">total solar eclipse</a>, and their celebrations likely affected the birds’ reactions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-monitoring-nature-using-sound">Monitoring nature using sound</h2>



The Haikubox platform is built on the idea that everyday people can help monitor the natural world using sound. 



Each device records local bird vocalizations and uploads them to a central database. It’s a non-intrusive way to gather wildlife behavior data at scale, and it doesn't require a team of observers in the field.



“In a time when technology often pulls us away from the natural world, Haikubox does the opposite - it fosters a deeper connection to it. By combining AI technology with a love for the environment, Haikubox helps people engage with nature in a modern and educational way,” noted Dr. Mann.



This passive acoustic monitoring allows scientists to study how animals respond to natural events across large areas - without disrupting them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-from-bird-behavior">Learning from bird behavior</h2>



Beyond eclipses, the study may have broader implications for understanding how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/habitat-and-evolution-shape-the-unique-sounds-of-birds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">birds</a> react to sudden changes in light.



“Our findings can inform future research on the impacts of light pollution and sudden changes in light levels on bird behavior," noted Dr. Mann.



“Furthermore, it proves that when we combine the power of community science with clever technology, we can learn amazing things about wildlife without disturbing them, which may inform future continental-scale studies."



The researchers hope this will inspire more people to get involved in community science. More participants also means expanding the listening network.



“Passive acoustic monitoring is a terrific tool for gathering data about animal behavior, and regular folks play an important role in widening our listening network,” said Dr. Mann.



“Putting a Haikubox in your yard helps us add to the already 1 billion acoustic recordings we’ve gathered. Our community is enabling tomorrow’s scientific discoveries.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-94901-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Darkness at noon: What the 2024 eclipse revealed about bird behavior

On April 8, 2024, millions across North America paused to watch a rare and awe-inspiring celestial event. A group of scientists was there, prepared to track bird behavior during the total solar eclipse. The researchers discovered that birds fell unusually quiet. This behavior, however, only occurred in areas where the sun was almost completely obscured. The research was led by scientists from Loggerhead Instruments and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The experts analyzed data from 344 Haikubox devices (small, community-powered...

The colorful tropical birds that are instantly recognizable due to their bright bills and plumage may not have always lived in their lush jungle habitats. 

A new study shows that many tropical birds likely migrated from temperate zones millions of years ago. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> and <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a> found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-climate-changed/">millions of years of climate change</a> could have driven birds from their northern habitats to tropical areas.  

This redistribution of many major bird groups was only possible due to the slow pace of past climate change, which allowed birds enough time to adapt to new environments. 

The researchers worry that current climate change may be moving at too fast a rate to allow for existing species to adapt. 

In a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers used climate and ecological modeling to show how past climate shifts impacted ten bird groups found only in the tropics today. 

“Palaeontologists have documented long-term links between climate and the geographic distributions of major bird groups, but the computer models needed to quantify this link had not been applied to this question until now,” said Dr. Daniel Field, the co-lead author of the paper.

[caption id="attachment_1873773" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Knysna-Turaco.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873773" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Knysna-Turaco.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="975" /></a> Knysna Turaco, Image Credit: Daniel J. Field[/caption]

The researchers focused on bird groups in Africa, South America, and Australasia, areas that were once part of the supercontinent Gondwana.

Data on temperature, rainfall, and current habitat range were used to create an “ecological niche model,” which helped map suitable habitats for each bird group.

The ecological niche model was then used to find optimal habitats for the bird groups at different points in the Earth’s history. 

 Despite being limited to these areas, researchers have discovered ancient fossils belonging to early relatives of the different bird groups on northern continents. 

“We modelled the habitable area for each group of birds and found that their estimated habitable ranges in the past were very different from their geographic distributions today, in all cases shifting towards the equator over geological time,” said Dr. Erin Saupe,  the co-lead author of the study. 

One group of birds called turacos live in sub-Saharan Africa today, but fossils of a close turaco relative have been found in Wyoming. 

“Many of these groups don’t contain a large number of living species, but each lineage represents millions of years of unique evolutionary history,” said Saupe. “In the past, climate change happened slowly enough that groups were able to track suitable habitats as these moved around the globe, but now that climate change is occurring at a much faster rate, it could lead to entire branches of the tree of life going extinct in the near future.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: Daniel J. Field

Past climate change drove many birds to tropical regions

The colorful tropical birds that are instantly recognizable due to...

Trichoplax is one of the simplest marine organisms in the world. It lacks a mouth, organs, and is made up of only six cells. But despite being so incredibly simple, scientists from the <a href="https://www.mpi-bremen.de/en/Home.html">Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology</a>, the <a href="https://www.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> have found that Trichoplax actually lives in a complex symbiosis with a very unusual form of bacteria. 

Since the first discovery of bacteria in Trichoplax about 50 years ago, no one has really looked into the relationship between the organism and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-ethiopian-hot-springs-mars/">bacteria</a> in depth. But now, the team of international researchers have assembled the bacteria’s genome and used high-resolution microscopy to see exactly where the bacteria are located.

"Despite being so simple, Trichoplax harbors two very different and highly unusual bacterial symbionts in its cells," said Harold Gruber-Vodicka from the Max Planck Institute. "Both symbionts are very picky — or cell-specific, as we call it. Each symbiont lives in only one type of host cell."

The team identified one symbiont, called Grellia, which lives within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of Trichoplax. It is the first symbiont known to permanently reside within the organism's ER, which helps with the production of protein and membrane.

"We reconstructed a detailed three-dimensional model of the ER to show that Grellia lives inside of it, supported by the electron microscopy facility of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden," the Institute’s Niko Leisch explained. "Other parasitic bacteria imitate the structure of the ER to trick the hosts into thinking they are not harmful. However, our imaging data clearly showed that Grellia lives inside its host's ER." 

Grellia, though closely related to parasites, does not harm the Trichoplax, Leisch said. "Although it has genes that would allow it to steal energy from its host, it does not use them.”

The second symbiant to be identified is Ruthmannia, which belongs to a group of bacteria called the Margulisbacteria. It lives within the cells of the Trichoplax and helps the organism digest its algal food.

"Before our study, Margulisbacteria were part of the so-called microbial dark matter — the vast majority of microbial organisms that biologists find through sequencing, but are unable to culture," said Harald Gruber-Vodicka. "We have never actually seen them, even though their genetic traces were found in aquatic samples all over the globe." 

Gruber-Vodicka and Leisch were able to take the first images of a Margulisbacteria. 

“Ruthmannia appears to only eat the fats and other lipids of the algae, and leaves the rest to its host,” Gruber-Vodicka continued. “In return, we think Ruthmannia may provide Trichoplaxwith vitamins and amino acids." 

"In this study, we focused on the symbiotic partners of a single Trichoplax species," said Nicole Dubilier, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. "However, at least 20 more species have been described, and our first results indicate that each host species has its own, very specific set of symbionts. We are excited about taking a closer look at this remarkable diversity and how it evolved. These tiny animals not only look like potato chips, they also pack a crunch when it comes to what's inside them."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Michael Hadfield / University of Hawaii

One of the simplest organisms lives in complex symbiosis with bacteria

Trichoplax is one of the simplest marine organisms in the...

Andean bears, also known as spectacled bears, are almost mythical animals among South American wildlife enthusiasts. For starters - they’re South America’s only bear, and you’re incredibly lucky if you see one.

According to the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22066/123792952">IUCN Red List</a>, there is estimated to be between 2,500 and 10,000 of Andean bears left in the wild and the population is decreasing. The <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/profiles/mammals/spectacled_bear/specbear_population_distribution/">World Wildlife Fund</a> reports that in 1999, there were approximately 4 to 5,000 individual bears in Columbia, representing 25% of the original population. 

Data is sparse on the whole wild population of Andean bears, though. The bears themselves live in rugged climates of cloud forests that are thick with vegetation, cold at night, rainy and hard to penetrate. I once heard a story from a biologist who saw an Andean bear in Ecuador where he was working. The biologist was so excited that he followed the bear, scaling down a cliff overlooking a stream. The biologist realized he couldn’t scramble back up the cliff and had only one choice – leap into the stream and hope it was deep enough for him to survive. 

You can spend years in the subalpine habitats of the Andes and never see a bear. This is partially because the bears are shy and secretive, but also because Andean Bears have been exploited and hunted by humans, making them more rare than ever in their homes. The bears are agile climbers, though. Like juvenile black bears, adult Andean bears will climb trees, one of the attributes that can make them hard to find. Andean bears are also largely nocturnal, most active in times when people are not. When people do find the bears, it doesn’t always turn out well. 

Sometimes, Andean bears are captured to be made into <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scotland-bans-animals-circuses/">circus performers</a>. To keep humans safe, the bear’s teeth are sometimes broken out, their claws ripped off to make them ‘harmless’. Cholita, a famous Andean bear, also lost all of her fur from trauma before being rescued in Peru and taken to a shelter in the US, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/03/27/395810942/after-abuse-in-a-peruvian-circus-a-bear-awaits-a-new-home">NPR</a>. It’s unclear how much harm collecting bears for the circus does for the species, but poaching has certainly been detrimental. In Peru, the government banned hunting of the Andean bear in 1970, and international law is supposed to stop any trade in the animal or its body parts. 

Despite this, bears are still killed and sold for bizarre reasons.  <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/andean-paddington-bears-poached-in-peru/">National Geographic</a> reports that Peru is one of the places selling weird elixirs with questionable properties. Shamans make these elixirs as folk remedies, using local plant ingredients as well as wildlife parts and pieces. The Andean bear’s penis bone is the main ingredient in one of these elixirs that supposedly cures sexual impotency. These elixirs are popular in Peru despite lack of scientific evidence that they do anything and their illegal nature. Other folk remedies offer you the strength of the Andean bear or claim to heal a number of other maladies. Unfortunately, the trend of dealing in Andean bear parts for hokey ‘medicine’ follows a trend that has devastated other wild animals in other places. 

According to National Geographic, traditional Chinese medicine that often uses animal parts for ‘remedies’ is now estimated to have an industry value of $60 billion annually and has spread to 180 countries world wide. Tigers, rhinos, pangolins and other endangered species have all been targeted for traditional Chinese medicine and have suffered for it. The Andean bear seems to be suffering the same fate for superstitious medicine within its own home range. 

To see what the future could hold in store for the beleaguered bear, one need just look to other cases of trafficked animals. Over a million pangolin were poached between 2000 and 2013. Rhinos and tigers have taken serious hits as well from poaching. Beyond the traditional approach to protecting these animals through law, there has also been progress in discouraging animal part use within the traditional Chinese medicine community. There is still a long way to go, but perhaps something can be learned from these conservation efforts to help with those of the Andean bear as well. 

One method that has been used unsuccessfully to slow the harm from traditional Chinese medicine is to farm bears and tigers. The problem with this approach is that the farms often capture animals from the wild and are not sustainable. Other wild animals such as crocodiles have been farmed successfully to increase wild populations. Part of the problem in allowing some traffic in animals is that it reduces them to simply an economic value and allows a continued incentive for killing the animal. So far, it’s unclear what will protect the Andean bear. 

<a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/species/andean-bear">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> works on Andean bear conservation in Columbia by partnering with the parks service there. Their work has focused on monitoring the decline in bear population and training rangers. On the other hand, <a href="https://wildnet.org/wildlife-programs/spectacled-bear/">Wildlife Conservation Network</a> promotes the work of Spectacled Bear Conservation (SBC) in building community pride for wildlife and habitats; the goal being to promote non-destructive human behavior towards Andean bears and other wild animals. The organization also studies the biology of the bear to best understand how to protect the bear by observing the bears behaviors and needs. 

Unfortunately, the trade in wildlife is a nasty business fueled by financial inequity. When poor people living in the forest find ways to make money quickly, they often jump at the chance, without considering the consequences. I’ve seen this tragedy play out in west Africa as well, where you can buy roasted monkey or even live apes. Monitor lizards are piled live into mesh bags and sit for hours or days in cramped conditions. These markets continue often due to a lack of care by the police or perhaps even corruption. Police walk by people openly selling illegal animal parts in these types of markets without a second glance. Unfortunately, animals like the Andean bear often suffer from human ignorance and greed.                             

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH

Andean bears are threatened by superstitious trade of their body parts

Andean bears, also known as spectacled bears, are almost mythical...

Escaped parrots are making their homes in California, Texas and Florida – along with much colder states like New York, Illinois and Washington. 

But unlike their untamed ancestors or the South American cousins who still live in wild habitats, these birds are more at home in cities.

"It's pretty clear that, even though in their native range these species live in the wild, of course, in the United States, virtually every one of these naturalized populations is living in human-modified habitats," Dr. Stephen Pruett-Jones told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/tropical-pet-parrots-settle-united-states/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=Editorial::add=Animals_20190606::rid=18462481">National Geographic</a>. "Here, in the wild in the United States, they're urban and parkland and city dwellers."

Pruett-Jones, a bird expert and ecologist at the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a>, teamed up with <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> doctoral student Jennifer Uehling and Jason Tallant, a data manager at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>, to determine how many species of escaped parrots are living in the United States.

They found that 56 species have been spotted in the wild, of the nearly 200 species that have been imported to the U.S. as pets. Those sightings have taken place in 43 states, with breeding populations representing 25 species established in 23 of those states, the team told National Geographic.

The team analyzed data from two databases: the <a href="https://www.audubon.org/">Audubon Society’s</a> annual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/audubon-society-christmas-bird-count/">Christmas Bird Count</a> and Cornell’s <a href="https://ebird.org/home">eBird</a>. They found that the three species seen most often in the wild are the monk parakeet, the nanday parakeet and the red-crowned Amazon. The red-crowned Amazon is actually thriving in California, while it is endangered in its native Mexico.

In some cases, the escaped parrots are even spreading to areas with vastly different climates than the ones they evolved in – like the monk parakeet, which has established itself in Brooklyn and Chicago. 

"We think they're basically pre-adapted to survive in cold climates because they build their own nests and they can vary their diets so dramatically across the year," Pruett-Jones said. "They roost in their nest every single night of the year, so the nest is really more like a home to the monk parakeet. And their diet changes completely during the winter to seed in backyard bird feeders."

Pruett-Jones and another student are now studying some of the cold-weather populations to see if they’re show adaptations like denser or thicker feathers.

The team’s research has been published in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10336-019-01658-7">Journal of Ornithology</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Escaped parrots make new homes in 23 U.S. states

Escaped parrots are making their homes in California, Texas and...

Box caterpillars are wreaking havoc in English hedgerows. The box caterpillar, Cydalima perspectalis, is making quick work of England’s hedgerows as the pest has made the top of the Royal Horticultural Society’s “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warmer-temps-rise-stink-bugs/">most wanted list</a>.” 

Native to East Asia, the caterpillar was first spotted in Europe in 2007 and was discovered in the UK in 2011. Now there are reports of box caterpillars all across Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as in Britain. 

In its larval stage, the box caterpillar is a menace to box plants which adorn many stately home gardens and are often used for topiary displays and hedgerows. Box caterpillars are wreaking havoc in English hedgerows 

Cydalima perspetalis can strip a box plant bare, and unfortunately, the invasive species are running free. While feeding on the leaves of box plants, the caterpillar covers itself and its feeding area in a blanket of webbing. 

There are limited options for controlling and eradicating the pest, and homeowners are instructed to simply remove them from plants by hand. 

Box caterpillars have destroyed large areas of wild box plants and many UK homeowners are rightfully concerned about the potential damage the pests could inflict on their iconic hedges.  If the caterpillars spread to wild trees in the UK, box plants could be at risk of being completely wiped out. 

“We have 4.5 million members, who are allowed to ask us questions,” Stephanie Bird, an entomologist of the <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/">Royal Horticultural Society</a>, told <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/invader-has-gardens-on-the-hedge-of-oblivion-35kr3chrn">The Times</a>. “Based on the questions we work out the number one inquiry. Historically slugs and snails are always top. This year it is set to be the box caterpillar.”

In their native regions, box caterpillar populations are kept in check thanks to hornets who feed on the bugs. 

<a href="https://www.ebts.org/">European Boxwood and Topiary Association</a> are continually monitoring the plants, and the Royal Horticultural Society is working to find effective methods to safely eliminate and control invasions. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Floki

Box caterpillars are wreaking havoc in English hedgerows

Box caterpillars are wreaking havoc in English hedgerows. The box...

New evidence shows sloth family tree needs to be rewritten. New molecular and mitochondrial evidence has caused researchers to rethink the sloth family tree. Years of general scientific consensus on how living and extinct sloths evolved and are related may be inaccurate, according to new research.

Two new studies, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a> and <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, were conducted by two separate research groups that used different methodology but arrived at the same conclusion which helps confirm the innovative findings. 

“All of us were initially surprised by our results because they thoroughly contradicted what seemed to be the accepted view based on anatomy,” said Frédéric Delsuc, a corresponding author for one of the research groups.New evidence shows sloth family tree needs to be rewritten 

Unlike past sloth studies which linked ancient megafauna to the humble sloths alive today using physical traits, the new studies provide molecular evidence proving how different sloths group are related and how the sloth family tree diverged and branched out. 

The research groups collected molecular data from living two-toed and three-toed sloths and extinct sloths like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossilized-tooth-diet-giant-ground-sloth/">giant ground sloth</a>.

One research team focused on mitochondrial DNA, which can be extracted from tissues preserved in fossils.

The second research group looked at collagen. Using collagen, a protein, to help classify and identify species is a new field, but bone collagen provides researchers with more accurate and reliable data as it degrades more slowly than DNA and can be found in abundance in fossils. 

“Structural proteins like collagen potentially last much, much longer after death than the relatively fragile DNA molecule,” said Samantha Presslee, the lead author on the Nature Ecology and Evolution. “This means that scientists can extract and interpret protein evidence from a wide range of extinct species well beyond the current reach of ancient DNA.”

The collagen research group was able to recover proteins from a fossil that was between 120,000 and 400,000 years old. 

“Having the results of both sources of molecular information in front of us, we knew that we were standing on solid ground, and that it was time to revisit sloth evolution and classification,” said Hendrik Poinar, a corresponding author on the mitochondrial paper.

The analysis revealed that even though three and two-toed sloths live similar lifestyles, they evolved separately from one another. 

The researchers also found that some sloth groups were more closely related than realized. The three-toed sloth, for example, has its own evolutionary branch, but the evidence showed that they share many similarities with ancient sloths like the ground sloth. 

After dating the molecular samples, the researchers found that West Indian Sloths diverged from their megatheroid ancestors 30 million years ago. 

“The combined molecular results are surprising on many levels,” said Graham Slater, who was involved in the collagen research. “Not only do they rewrite sloth classification, they suggest much of what we thought we knew about how sloths evolved may be wrong. We’ve been used to thinking that today’s sloths evolved independently for life in the trees from a ground-dwelling ancestor, but our results suggest that the basal, or ancestral, sloth may have been at home in both.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: AMNH/D. Finnin

New evidence shows sloth family tree needs to be rewritten

New evidence shows sloth family tree needs to be rewritten....

According to a new study from researchers at <a href="https://montereybay.noaa.gov/">California's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary</a>, microplastics, those being bits of consumer product-derived plastic debris measuring less than 5 millimeters across, which are commonly found from ocean surface to sea floor, are also entering the marine food web of Monterey Bay.

This study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>, is the first to systematically look at <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-natural-carbon-storage/">microplastic</a> contamination via repeated sampling at the same locations and ranges of depths.

Small ocean animals are currently consuming microplastic, which therefore introduces the debris to the entire marine food web.

"Our findings buttress a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the waters and animals of the deep sea, Earth's largest habitat, as the biggest repository of small plastic debris," said lead author Anela Choy, a former postdoctoral fellow at the <a href="https://www.mbari.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute</a> (MBARI) and current assistant professor at <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/">Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego</a>. "Our study demonstrates a link between microplastics distributed across the water column and entry of this foreign material into marine food webs by important marine animals, such as pelagic crabs and giant larvaceans."

"This research shows how we can leverage scientific, engineering and conservation expertise to develop new technology that provides powerful insights into how humans are impacting the ocean,” added MBARI engineer Kakani Katija.

To better understand the impact of microplastic on marine life, the research team used MBARI's underwater robots, each equipped with sampling devices, to obtain and filter ocean water from two different locations in Monterey Bay. Some samples were taken from just 5 meters below the surface, whereas others were taken about 1,000 meters below the surface.

They found almost identical concentrations of microplastics in samples taken from waters near the surface and at the deepest levels. They also found four times the concentration of microplastics in midwater ranges than in waters near the surface.

Choy and her team then observed two filter-feeding marine species, pelagic red crabs and giant larvaceans, to see if microplastic invaded the food web. Unsurprisingly, it has — microplastic was found in all of the animals surveyed. 

A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) concluded that the most common plastics found in the samples taken were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide, and polycarbonate, all of which are most commonly used for consumer products like food and beverage packaging. Furthermore, all of the plastic sampled was weathered, suggesting in had been in the environment for months or years. And most of the particles were collected more offshore than nearshore.

[caption id="attachment_1873621" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/plastic.png"><img class="wp-image-1873621" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/plastic.png" alt="" width="650" height="613" /></a> Image Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute[/caption]

"This suggests that most of the particles did not originate from local fishing gear," said coauthor Kyle Van Houtan, chief scientist at <a href="https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium</a>. "It also suggests that at least some of the microplastic was transported into the area by ocean currents."

"These results are intriguing and show the need for similar deep-water surveys in other locations, so we can find out how widespread the problem is,” said coauthor Bruce Robison, a senior scientist at MBARI.

"The ubiquitous presence of plastic pollution throughout the water column points to source reduction--making and using less plastic in the first place--as one of the most effective means of solving this issue," Van Houtan said. "It may be virtually impossible to remove existing microplastic from the deep sea," he continued. "But when we slow the flow of plastic from land, we can help prevent the increasing accumulation of plastic in our global ocean."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Johnny Adolphson

Microplastics have penetrated marine food webs in Monterey Bay

According to a new study from researchers at California's Monterey...

Elephants use their trunks to count. While bees can connect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-connecting-numbers-symbols/">symbols to numbers</a>, lions know not to attack another pride that outnumbers their own, and <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/04/monkeys-can-do-math">monkeys can do basic addition</a>, a new study has found that elephants also have a nose for math, literally. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www2.cuny.edu/">City University of New York</a>, <a href="http://thinkelephants.org/">Think Elephants International</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> discovered that elephants use their sense of smell to sniff out quantities.Elephants use their trunks to count 

The study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/05/28/1818284116">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, offers the first evidence of an animal using olfaction to tell the difference between quantities of items. 

Elephants have a powerful sense of smell and more genes involved in smell than any other animal. For an elephant, that sense of smell is crucial for finding food and water and sniffing out potential mates over long distances. 

The researchers tested elephants counting abilities by filling two buckets with different quantities of sunflower seeds. The buckers were covered but had holes for the scent to escape. 

Elephants aged 12 to 45 years old at the <a href="https://www.anantara.com/en/golden-triangle-chiang-rai">Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort </a>were presented with the buckets, and the researchers recorded how often an elephant choose the bucket with more seeds. 

The elephants accurately chose the bucket with more seeds time and time again. Two male bull elephants had an 80 percent accuracy rate. 

If the quantities were closer together, the elephants had a harder time distinguishing between the two, but if the amounts of seeds were further apart, the elephants could easily pick the fuller bucket. 

“In this study, by contrast, elephants showed that they can detect differences between various quantities of food using only their sense of smell,” the researchers wrote. “Thus, elephants may be unique in their use of olfaction in cognitive tasks.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/dirkr

Elephants use their trunks to count

Elephants use their trunks to count. While bees can connect...

Surviving the bitter cold Arctic winters isn’t easy, just ask the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/polar-bears-climate-change-2/">polar bears</a>. On second thought, don’t do that. But they must have some secret that helps them live in subzero temperatures with no down jackets or space heaters. That secret happens to be in their hair, which engineers are now attempting to replicate with synthetic materials.

Materials scientists in China have developed an insulator that reproduces the structure of individual polar bear hairs, while scaling toward a material made up of many hairs for real-world applications in architecture and aerospace. Polar bear hairs are hollow, and the shapes and spacing of their hollow centers is responsible for their distinctive white coats, as well as being a source of incredible heat-holding capacity, water resistance, and stretchiness.

“Polar bear hair has been evolutionarily optimized to help prevent heat loss in cold and humid conditions, which makes it an excellent model for a synthetic heat insulator,” explains Shu-Hong Yu, a professor of chemistry at the <a href="https://en.ustc.edu.cn/">University of Science and Technology of China</a> (USTC) and co-senior author of the paper published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/chem/home">Chem</a>. “By making tube aerogel out of carbon tubes, we can design an analogous elastic and lightweight material that traps heat without degrading noticeably over its lifetime.”

In an effort to copy the structure of these hairs and scale it to a practical size, the research team manufactured millions of hollowed-out carbon tubes, each the size of a single strand of hair, and wound them into a spaghetti-like aerogel block. 

The team found that the faux-polar bear hair tube design was lighter in weight and more resistant to heat flow compared to other aerogels and insulation components. It was also barely affected by water, which exhibits the principles that help keep polar bears warm while swimming. This synthetic material is also extremely stretchy, which could help with its engineering applicability.

The next challenge for researchers is to now scale up the manufacturing process from a centimeter scale to a meter scale. “While our carbon-tube material cannot easily be mass produced at the moment, we expect to overcome these size limitations as we work toward extreme aerospace applications,” says Yu.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Zhiltsov Alexandr/Shutterstock

Synthetic polar bear hair could be the next big step in architecture, aerospace

Surviving the bitter cold Arctic winters isn’t easy, just ask...

According to a new study, drinking stations for koalas could be key to their survival, especially amidst hotter and drier conditions.

It was long thought that koala bears, one of Australia’s most iconic native animals, don’t drink much water because their leafy diet provides the hydration they need. 

However, as temperatures increase and Australia’s record-breaking summer heat waves take their toll on both the koala and its habitat, researchers from the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> found that koalas will seek out and drink from water stations. 

If koalas get their water from leaves, you might think that the easiest answer for the furry marsupial to stay hydrated would be to eat more. But koala diets are unique in that toxins in the leaves prevent koalas from eating more to compensate for thirst.  

Add climate change to the mix and koalas could soon be threatened with extinction. Koala populations along the east coast of Australia have been declining due to disease, habitat loss, and human activity. 

The <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/">Australian Koala Foundation </a>released a statement last month reporting that there were only <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/koala-bears-heading-towards-extinction/">80,000 koalas left in the country</a>. 

“It is predicted that increased CO2 emissions will increase the level of phenolics and tannins in eucalyptus leaves,” said Dr. Valentina Mella from the University of Sydney. “This means koalas will need alternative strategies to find water - and’  that’s where we can help with drinking stations.”

Mella and a team of colleagues set up water stations in Western New South Wales, where a heat wave wiped out 25 percent of the local koala population in 2009. The team wanted to see if providing an artificial secondary water source could help vulnerable marsupials stay hydrated. 

“We weren’t sure if the water stations could be used to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events,” said Mella. “But our results clearly show koalas will regularly use these stations to supplement their water needs.”

Over several years, Mella and her team monitored ten pairs of water stations, and in 12 months the researchers recorded 401 visits where the koalas drank from the water stations.

[caption id="attachment_1873544" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/koala.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873544" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/koala.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="871" /></a> A Koala bear drinking from a birdbath. Image Credit: University of Sydney[/caption]

The number of visits to the stations doubled during the summer months, showing that water stations provide a crucial lifeline for the koalas. 

“Drinking stations could help koalas during heat and drought events and might help mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Mella. “Frequent access to water may be fundamental for koalas to assist thermoregulation when temperatures are high.” 

Not only could drinking stations help thirsty koalas, but the researchers say that other animals like sloths, lemurs, and possums could benefit from artificial drinking spots. 

Now, water stations are being regularly used as a conservation and management strategy for koalas, and the researchers say that future studies are needed to ensure that water stations are effective and beneficial over the long-term. 

The researchers published their findings in a new study in the journal PLOS ONE. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: University of Sydney

Drinking stations could help at risk koala bears stay hydrated

According to a new study, drinking stations for koalas could...

The fearsome dragonfish looks a lot like the type of fish that inspires such a name – although it’s considerably smaller than the dragons we read about in books or see on certain ultimately-disappointing TV shows. 

Measuring in at just 15 centimeters, this deep-sea fish makes up for its lack of size by sporting a set of enormous teeth, which they use to eat <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pressure-important-forage-fish/">smaller fish</a> up to 50% of their size. These impressive teeth were the focus of a study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/home">Matter</a> by a team of oceanographers.

The study’s authors were interested in one unique characteristic of this species teeth -- they are transparent. 

“Most deep-sea fauna have unique adaptations, but the fact that dragonfish have transparent teeth puzzled us, since the trait is usually found in larger species,” says Marc Meyers, a researcher at the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California, San Diego</a> and senior author of the study. “We thought that the nanostructure would be different, and when we looked at this, we found grain-sized nanocrystals embedded throughout the teeth are responsible for this uncanny optical property.”

In their investigation, the research team found that the transparency of the teeth is different from how other organisms have evolved this same adaptation. Dragonfish teeth are composed of an outer enamel-like later and an inter dentin layer, just like our own teeth. 

The nanocrystals in their teeth are scattered throughout the matrix of the enamel, preventing light in the environment from reflecting or scattering off the surface of the teeth. It also helps that the teeth are rather thin compared to other predatory fish, which helps with the light scattering effect.

[caption id="attachment_1873503" align="aligncenter" width="592"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dragonfish-teeth.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1873503" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/dragonfish-teeth.jpeg" alt="" width="592" height="594" /></a> Transparent dragonfish teeth. Image Credit: Velasco-Hogan et al./Matter[/caption]

“Down at great depths there’s almost no light, and the little light there is comes from fish, such as the dragonfish, that have small photophores that generate light, attracting prey,” explains Meyers. “But the dragonfish’s teeth are huge in proportion to its mouth – it’s like a monster from the movie Alien – and if those teeth should become visible, prey will immediately shy away. But we speculate that the teeth are transparent because it helps the predator.”

The researchers believe that the transparent teeth make it harder for prey to see the fish’s wide-open mouth headed their way – which is good for the dragonfish, but bad for any other smaller fish nearby. With the results of this study, the research team is now raising funds to create transparent materials inspired by dragonfish teeth, using a combination of nanocrystals and ceramics.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Audrey Velasco

No time for reflection: Why the deep-sea dragonfish has transparent teeth

The fearsome dragonfish looks a lot like the type of...

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem. If you walk past a fence post in an open prairie or a small patch of trees amidst a grassland in North America, you might find a small sign of the remnant bison populations. On these upright posts or tree trunks, tufts of dark brown fur cling in shaggy clumps. 

Bison are known for scratching themselves on any number of upright objects and their fur gets easily caught in the cracks or bark. Once bison were despised for (among other things) knocking over telegraph poles planted across the prairie. It’s possible that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bison-american-survival-story/">bison</a> were also significantly important in keeping trees out of the prairies by knocking them over when scratching.Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem 

Bison fur is often used by birds for nest material and the hair was used by Native Americans for making cordage, something that can still be done. Sometimes genetic studies are done simply by leaving hair traps to catch the fur of an animal like a brown bear (or potentially bison) that rubs against a tree or are attracted to bait. 

Footprints are the most obvious and readily noticed sign of animals in a landscape, but other signs like fur or scat often give greater context to an animal and connect it more deeply to the landscape.

Dung can tell you a lot about an animal. Some scat is easily assigned to an animal. In Australia, little cubes of dung, one of the strangest shapes for droppings, are made by wombats. Hiking in the US, the apple-like dung from wild horses is obvious as are pats of dung from cattle or bison. Some scat requires looking closer to identify. As repugnant as dung may be, it gives interesting clues to the life of an animal.

Sometimes scat appears to be little more than a tangle of fur, one of the animal parts not easily digested. Fur in scat is sure evidence that the scat came from a carnivore. In survival situations, it might be a useful clue to examine droppings and determine what other animals are eating, although this isn’t foolproof. Droppings also show the ecological importance of an animal. Seeds found in droppings show one way in which a plant is dispersed across a landscape. Delicate bone shards can show the truth of a predatory relationship. Fresh scat may alert you to the near proximity of an animal, perhaps even an animal carefully watching you from a hiding spot. For many animals, dung is a way to track down prey.

Animals like sloths climb from trees to bury their waste, so as not to attract unwanted predators to their tree. Others like some caterpillars have evolved the ability to shoot their ‘frass’ (dung) long distances to avoid attention from predators or wasps that inject them with their eggs to be eaten from the inside out. When you see dung, remember that it’s an important insight into the animals life, so important that animals want to hide that data from those who would eat them.

Similar to dung are owl pellets that you may have poked through in school. Owl pellets are the harder elements of an owls food that are vomited up after digestion. Other birds create pellets but what makes owls so special is that their stomach acid is mild enough to leave more bones and fur intact, so you can actually make reasonable guesses as to what the owl was eating. 

When I collected data on sea birds in Alaska, startled chicks would sometimes vomit a chunky, fishy stew which we collected. It turns out vomit can be important for science, as it’s one of the easiest ways to see what an animal was eating and fear often leads to vomiting in birds. Ditching a bit of weight can mean that much faster getting off the ground for adult birds or a distraction. Carefully following animal traces like vomit or scat allow you to see through the eyes of a predator carefully teasing out clues of prey.

Predators themselves leave interesting and unique clues. Coyotes don’t usually hide their scat like the sloth. Instead, <a href="https://urbancoyoteresearch.com/coyote-info/signs-coyote-presence">Urban Coyote Project</a> points out that scat is used by coyotes to communicate. Coyote scat is often left in the middle of trails (including hiking trails which they sometimes use) and can be found even piled on rocks to make them more obvious. Coyote scat sometimes delineates a sort of territorial boundary for the canids.

Another sign of a predator is vertical scratches along a tree trunk. It may be that mountain lions are simply grooming their claws as many house cats do on sofas, but the <a href="https://mountainlion.org/featurearticlesign.asp">Mountain Lion Foundation</a> reports that some researchers also think this behavior is used for communication. Unfortunately scratches in a tree, it isn’t enough evidence that a mountain lion is nearby. Bears also mark trees with their claws. Sometimes bears also <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm03242832/page01.htm">strip the bark</a> from trees to get a carbohydrate rich snack in the green wood below the bark right as well. 

Tracks are sometimes quite obvious. Raccoon prints pressed into the drying mud around a small pond are hard to miss. It’s easy to stare at blurred, large dog tracks, wanting them to be mountain lion tracks before you notice the claw marks that make them obviously canine. Other traces left in the mud or dust of the earth are less obvious. 

The weird tracks of a sea turtle on the beach are reminiscent of tracks made by tanks before they’re washed away in the tide. Snakes leave sinuous trails in the dirt and sometimes lizards leave long drag marks from their tails. Even insects leave small tracks in the earth. Some like leaf cutter ants leave obviously groomed but minuscule trails, even through dense rainforests. 

Some trackers claim to glean enormous amounts of information from tracks, including the health of an animal or its intentions. But even without these abilities, looking closely at animal traces is a way to imagine yourself in the skin of another.               

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in the ecosystem

Animals often leave behind traces that reveal their role in...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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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 



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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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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...

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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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