Observers watching baboons in Namibia were impressed when they saw how the baboons responded to glowing spots shone onto their arms and legs. They poked and scratched at these bright areas with evident curiosity, hinting at a level of awareness about what appeared on their own bodies. 



However, the mood changed when those same spots were placed on baboon body parts that were only visible in a mirror.



Although they sometimes stared at their own reflection, the baboons showed no indication that they knew the marks in the mirror were on themselves.



Dr. Alecia Carter, affiliated with University College London (UCL Anthropology), led a field study tracking these baboons over several months. Her team documented how baboons interacted with laser marks and mirrors while in a wide-open habitat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-self-recognition-in-animals">Self-recognition in animals</h2>



The mirror test has long been used to examine whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-animal-will-replace-humans-as-earths-dominant-species-this-scientist-has-an-idea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animals</a> recognize a reflected image as their own. 



Psychologist Gordon Gallup was among the first to observe that some great apes touched paint marks on their heads when placed in front of mirrors.



Subsequent efforts revealed that <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC33317" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dolphins</a> and a few <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0608062103" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elephants</a> also showed behavior suggesting they noticed marks on their bodies through reflection. These findings inspired further research into how different animals handle the challenge of seeing themselves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-baboons-were-chosen">Why baboons were chosen </h2>



Scientists wanted to see if wild baboons that had never been in captivity, would respond differently than <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-monitoring-will-help-protect-endangered-spider-monkeys/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animals</a> in controlled environments.



Many earlier studies used limited samples, often involving apes or monkeys that were kept in enclosures where mirrors might not be entirely new.



Chacma baboons flourish in Namibia’s drier areas and do not often encounter reflective surfaces. This made them good candidates for determining whether they would link the moving shapes in a mirror to their own bodies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-baboons-with-mirrors-and-laser-spots">Baboons with mirrors and laser spots</h2>



Researchers introduced small safety mirrors near spots where baboons congregate. They then used laser pointers to place harmless green or red marks on the baboons’ fur, targeting areas that were visible without a mirror and other places that were only visible when looking at a reflection.



Baboons frequently touched or scratched at marks they could see right away. Yet the animals showed no equivalent reaction to marks that were only apparent in a mirror.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-results-of-the-baboon-mirror-test">Results of the baboon mirror test</h2>



“The Chacma baboons we observed in Tsaobis Nature Park certainly enjoyed using the mirrors as a new toy, but throughout our study they didn’t quite understand that the mirror’s reflection represented their own bodies,” said Dr. Carter.



She and her collaborators believe it confirms a pattern seen in many monkey species that do not show full self-recognition in mirrors.



“Monkeys don’t spontaneously recognize themselves in a mirror,” noted corresponding author Esa A. Ahmad, who helped analyze the data. 



The experts explained that this latest work adds to a broader discussion about which mental abilities are needed to pass mirror tests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-about-other-species">What about other species?</h2>



Some great apes, including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-apes-will-suffer-through-frequent-and-extreme-climate-events/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chimpanzees</a>, bonobos, and orangutans, have been documented to pass mirror mark tests. 



Researchers also mention bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants, and certain birds, like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2517622/">magpies</a>, that appear to notice a mark when seeing it in a reflection.



Domestic cats, dogs, and most monkeys typically fail to show convincing self-recognition. Scientists point out that these animals may rely more on other senses, so a mirror might not be the best measure of how they perceive themselves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-possible-future-directions">Possible future directions</h2>



Some experts suggest that alternative experiments might capture different kinds of self-awareness in species that depend less on vision. 



Scent-based or social-behavior tasks could reveal that some animals are aware of their identity but do not prove it through mirror-based tests.



Meanwhile, wild baboon research highlights the role of age and temperament. Younger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humpback-whale-travels-farther-than-any-mammal-ever-recorded/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animals</a> showed more interest in new objects or stimuli, while older ones often lost curiosity fast, which might influence how they respond to novel visual scenarios.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-human-animal-connections">Implications for human-animal connections</h2>



Understanding how self-awareness varies across species can shift how people view intelligence and cognition in non-human animals. 



These mirror-based observations open deeper questions about whether awareness looks the same in every creature, given that some use their visual sense more than others.



Many anthropologists see such findings as a window into evolutionary processes that shape thinking and perception. Insights from field studies add a fresh dimension, since animals roam and behave naturally, away from the artificial conditions of captivity.



The mirror test has drawn <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/04/fish-mirrors-animal-cognition-self-awareness-science/673718/">criticism</a> for its emphasis on the sense of sight. Yet, it remains a straightforward way to check if an animal perceives the reflection as an extension of itself.



The baboons gave scientists plenty to think about by investigating visible marks but ignoring those that only appeared in the mirror. Researchers plan to refine methods further and explore alternative signals of self-awareness out in the wild.



The study was published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2024.1933" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</a>.



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Wild baboons fail to recognize themselves in mirrors

Observers watching baboons in Namibia were impressed when they saw how the baboons responded to glowing spots shone onto their arms and legs. They poked and scratched at these bright areas with evident curiosity, hinting at a level of awareness about what appeared on their own bodies. However, the mood changed when those same spots were placed on baboon body parts that were only visible in a mirror. Although they sometimes stared at their own reflection, the baboons showed no indication that they knew the marks in...

Planthoppers, so named for their quick “hop” reflex that allows them to leap away from danger, are small <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-wings-host-plant/">plant-eating bugs</a> found in most corners of the world. 

One unusual trait of the planthopper is the way the bug attracts a mate by sending vibrational calls along the plant stems that they perch upon. The strong vibrations travel along the stems, and both males and females use this unique mating call to signal to one another. 

To produce a strong enough vibrational call, the bug needs to expel a large amount of energy and quickly release it. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> discovered the secret behind the planthopper’s quick release of stored energy, a complex organ that quickly snaps open and closed to produce the vibrational calls. 

The research was published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000155">PLOS Biology</a>. 

With the snapping organ, the bug can release stored energy like a catapult, and the release occurs cyclically in a repetitive pattern.  

Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou, the lead author of the study, was examining 3D images of planthoppers when he discovered the organ. 

“I was studying 3D images of planthoppers that I had collected using X-ray imaging in a particle accelerator, trying to understand the evolutionary relationships between different groups," said Davranoglou. “But as I dissected the bugs in virtual reality on my computer, I immediately realised that I was looking at something entirely new, so decided to investigate further.”

Davranoglou, along with a team of researchers, collected live planthoppers around Athens to see if the snapping organ was found in other species of planthoppers and to understand how the mechanisms worked. 

The snapping organ was found in all the specimens collected and was present across different families of the bug. 

The researchers made a series of measurements, cross sections, and vibrational scans using microtomography, laser vibrometry, confocal microscopy, and high-speed video recordings. 

Next, the researchers created a theoretical model of the organ to help aid in future studies into the planthopper’s unique anatomy. 

“These insects include several economically important pest species, including the brown planthopper, which is one of the most serious pests on rice in the developing world,” said Dr. Beth Mortimer, a co-author of the study. “Understanding how these insects signal to each other may help in disrupting their communication channels or detecting their calls. Silent to the ear, the planthoppers have come up with their own novel way to communicate with potential mates.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit: L.-R. Davranoglou

Planthoppers vibrate plants with a “snapping” organ as a mating call

Planthoppers, so named for their quick “hop” reflex that allows...

The Western Ghats mountain range in Southern India is one of the most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-dictates-biodiversity-hotspots/">biodiverse regions </a>on Earth, and yet the area has remained largely unexplored. 

Researchers led by S.P. Vijayakumar, a postdoctoral scientist at <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University,</a> and Kartik Shanker, an associate professor at the <a href="https://www.iisc.ac.in/">Indian Institute of Science</a>, conducted a large scale survey of amphibians and reptiles across the Western Ghats.

The researchers set out on nocturnal expeditions to better understand the biomass and diversity of frogs and reptiles in the region. 

These expeditions led to the discovery of a small frog that has a vivid orange belly and white spots around its face.

Because the species of the frog was unknown, the researchers sequenced the frog’s DNA to help identify where it belonged in relation to other groups of amphibians. 

“We used molecular sequence data to estimate the historical relationships of this ancient lineage, along with 3-dimensional micro-CT scans of the skeleton,” said R. Alexander Pyron, a co-author of the study. “This gives us crucial information about the historical evolutionary relationships of not only Western Ghats frogs, but also of the deeper structure of the Amphibian Tree of Life.”

[caption id="attachment_1869529" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/frog.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869529" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/frog.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> Astrobatrachus kurichiyana, also known as the Starry Dwarf Frog. Image Credit: S.P.Vijayakumar[/caption]

While the DNA sequencing results showed that the frog was related to two endemic subfamilies of frogs in the area. The frog was also genetically and morphologically different enough that the researchers discovered it was a new species belonging to a new subfamily.

The researchers gave it the name Astrobatrachus kurichiyana or Starry Dwarf Frog.

“The Western Ghats is a critical region that houses many ancient lineages and spectacular radiations,” said Dr. Vijayakumar. “This new frog is a window into the deep history of the landscape. Persistence of such evolutionarily old frogs in the southern parts of this mountain range is a potential signature of a historical climatic refugium in this Gondwanan fragment.”

The researchers detailed their findings in a new study published in the journal PeerJ. 

Future surveys will help determine how abundant the Starry Dwarf Frog is in the area and if conservation measures are needed to help protect the new species.

The study illustrates the rich biodiversity of the Ghats and emphasizes the importance of surveying and studying the region.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: S.P.Vijayakumar

New frog species discovered in biodiversity hotspot in India

The Western Ghats mountain range in Southern India is one...

The fossilized teeth of a newly described but long-extinct species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-analysis-mysterious-monkey/">Old World monkey</a> found in Kenya are helping researchers fill in blanks of Old World monkey evolution and diet.  

Between the discovery of a 25 million-year-old fossil monkey tooth found in Tanzania and a 19-million-year-old fossil tooth discovered in Uganda, researchers have been unable to find a fossil that helps link the two.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a> and <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis </a>decided to focus on a fossil-rich area in West Turkana that millions of years ago would have been home to thriving populations of Old Work monkeys in the hopes of filling the six-million-year void. 

“For a group as highly successful as the monkeys of Africa and Asia, it would seem that scientists would have already figured out their evolutionary history,” said John Kappelman, the corresponding author of the study. “Although the isolated tooth from Tanzania is important for documenting the earliest occurrence of monkeys, the next 6 million years of the group's existence are one big blank. This new monkey importantly reveals what happened during the group's later evolution.”

In West Turkana, the researchers found many fossils from reptiles and mammals dating from 21 million years to over 24-million-years-old. Among these fossils were primitive monkey teeth that lacked the molar crests or “lophs” that other Old World monkeys possess. 

The newly described species is called Alophia metios.

[caption id="attachment_1869526" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fossil-jaw.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869526" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fossil-jaw.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="530" /></a> A fossil jaw of the newly discovered ancient Old World monkey named Alophia. Image Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA[/caption]

The findings, published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that monkeys later evolved lophs to fit a more varied diet. Today, Old World monkeys can eat plants and animal foods with ease. 

“You can think of the modern-day monkey molar as the uber food processor, able to slice, dice, mince and crush all sorts of foods,” said Mercedes Gutierrez, an anatomy professor at the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a>.

However, it is not well understood when Old World monkeys developed their highly useful and effective teeth. 

The researchers hypothesize that Old World monkeys evolved lophs when they started eating leaves, something the Alophia would have been unable to do. 

“It is usually assumed that the trait responsible for a group's success evolved when the group originated, but Alophia shows us this is not the case for Old World monkeys,” said Samuel Muteti, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.museums.or.ke/">National Museums of Kenya</a>. “Instead, the characteristic dentition of modern monkeys evolved long after the group first appeared.”

The researchers will continue hunting for fossils that will help confirm their hypothesis and shed more insight into the evolution of Old World monkeys. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA

Fossilized monkey teeth help fill six million year gap in evolution

The fossilized teeth of a newly described but long-extinct species...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a> (ZSL) are reporting that the UK's wild newt population appears to be unaffected by the lethal flesh-eating fungus that has been plaguing privately-owned amphibian populations in Western Europe. The scientists are urging private owners to abide by strict regulations to protect <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/killer-fungus-amphibians/">amphibians</a> in the wild.

In 2010, the deadly fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) killed 99 percent of fire salamanders in a population that was being monitored in the Netherlands. There were also drastic declines of the amphibians across Belgium and Germany, with some local populations becoming totally extinct within months of exposure. 

For the current investigation, the researchers collected skin samples from more than 2,400 wild newts in ponds across the UK, and testing showed that Bsal was not present. Study lead author Professor Andrew Cunningham is the Deputy Director of Science at ZSL.

“Identifying potential wildlife health risks before they develop is crucial to protecting species from the potentially devastating impacts of disease,” explained Professor Cunningham. “Having identified that Bsal appears to be absent from wild newts in the UK, we now need to ensure effective biosecurity policies governing the trade of amphibians into the UK are in place, including adequate quarantine and testing of imported amphibians.”

[caption id="attachment_1869501" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/uk-wild-newt.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869501" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/uk-wild-newt.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="867" /></a> Image Credit: Angelia Julian[/caption]

Dr. Becki Lawson added, “We know that infection with Bsal fungus is widespread in captive amphibians in the UK, therefore amphibian owners must take steps to avoid any direct or indirect contact between wild and pet newts, by keeping animals indoors and disinfecting equipment and tanks thoroughly. These actions will help to safeguard the health of both wild and captive amphibians.”

“ZSL's Garden Wildlife Health Project monitors the health of the wildlife found in British gardens, through collating public reports of ill or deceased animals and undertaking subsequent post-mortem examinations. Reports from the public provided crucial information for this study.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Andy Harmer

Wild newts escape a deadly flesh-eating fungus

Experts at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are reporting...

West African chimpanzee numbers have declined dramatically in recent years. Habitat loss due to mining is the biggest driving factor behind the chimpanzee declines, and populations have decreased by nearly 80 percent. 

But the chimpanzee isn’t the only endangered animal suffering from habitat loss and climate change-driven habitat degradation. Other great apes like bonobos, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/recycling-phones-endangered-gorillas/">gorillas</a>, and orangutans are classified as endangered or critically endangered.

Conservationists working to manage West African chimpanzee populations and find a way to protect chimpanzees and other animals at risk of habitat loss without stifling mining operations, which are a great economic boon to the people of Senegal and other West African countries. 

The problem is that there are concerns that protected areas do little to help species in these regions. For example, locals outsides of the Niokolo-Koba National Park have said that the animals in the park were all gone.

To see if this was the case, Stacy Lindshield, a biological anthropologist at <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University </a>conducted a study comparing Chimpanzee populations both inside and outside the park. 

The study was published in the journal Primatologica. 

“We saw the same number of chimpanzee species inside and outside the park, but more species of carnivores and ungulates in the protected area,” Lindshield said. “There were qualitative and quantitative differences between what people were telling me and what I was seeing in the park. Niokolo-Koba National Park is huge, and the area we study is nestled deeply in the interior where it's difficult for humans to access. As a consequence, we see a lot of animals there.”

Lindshield led a team of researchers and conducted field surveys around two sites, one inside the park and one outside. The researchers also set up cameras to record rarely spotted nocturnal animals. 

Even though the chimpanzee populations were the same at the two sites, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carnivores-healthy-ecosystem/">carnivore populations</a> were 14 percent higher, and hooved animal populations were 42 percent higher in the park. 

One reason for the similar chimpanzee populations is that in some other West African countries, chimpanzees are hunted and killed for meat. The researchers theorize that if parks were utilized in other countries, there might be more noticeable differences in populations in protected areas. 

However, the fact that both carnivore and ungulate (hooved animals) populations were higher in the park shows that national parks in developing regions offer protection and allow populations to grow. 

“This provides evidence that the protected area is effective, at least where we are working, counter to what I was hearing from the public,” said Lindshield. “The management of protected areas is highly complex. Myriad challenges can make management goals nearly impossible, such as funding shortfalls or lack of buy-in from local communities, but I think it's important for people to recognize that this park is not a lost cause; it's working as it's intended to at Assirik, especially for large ungulates and carnivores.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

National parks provide a safe habitat for endangered species

West African chimpanzee numbers have declined dramatically in recent years....

Warmer temps have led to a rise in stink bugs in the US and Europe. The <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/">Royal Horticultural Society</a> (RHS) in the UK recently listed the southern green shield bug as number 6 on its top 10 list of the country’s worst garden pests. 

2018’s unusually hot and dry summer was the catalyst and created the optimal climate for the pest to thrive and wreak havoc in vegetable gardens. The pest is an invasive bug from mainland Europe, and it’s a sap feeder. 

In recent years in the US, there has been a rise in invasive stink bug infestations, and other troublesome pests include aphids and the spotted lanternfly. 

Like the green shield bug, the <a href="http://npic.orst.edu/pest/stinkbug.html">brown marmorated stink bug</a> in the US is also benefiting from climate change. Increases in temperatures are bringing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spring-arriving-earlier-animals/">earlier springs</a> in the US, giving the stink bug more time to feed on plants. 

The stink bug’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29069361">rapid spread worldwide</a> is a major cause for concern due to the damage the pest can inflict on crop yields. 

The Royal Horticultural Society reported that besides shield bugs, pear rust is becoming an increasing problem for gardeners due to the warmer summer seasons. 

“Our pest and disease ranking may be evidence of how climate change is impacting on what we find in our gardens,” said Matthew Cromey, the principal scientist at the RHS. “With the UK predicted to see wetter winters, warmer summers, and more extreme weather events, root diseases of trees and shrubs could become even more problematic and the array of pests is likely to change.” 

Box tree caterpillars are spreading across the UK and into northern Ireland, and the bug is ranked first on the RHS top ten list. 2018 marks the third time that box tree caterpillars topped the list in the UK.Warmer temps have led to a rise in stink bugs in the US and Europe 

As climate change continues to shift seasonal temperature norms creating dry summers, wet winters, and weather extremes become more and more common, the impacts that these weather changes pose to agricultural operations will need to be heeded to ensure that crop yields can meet rising food demand. 

--

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>

Warmer temps have led to a rise in stink bugs in the US and Europe

Warmer temps have led to a rise in stink bugs...

Suitable conditions for marine microorganisms will become extremely limited in the Southern Ocean by the end of the century, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a>. At the current rate of ocean acidification, the researchers found that the depth at which some shelled organisms can survive will shrink from an average of 1,000 meters to just 83 meters by the year 2100.


In localized areas, this drastic drop in viable habitat could happen suddenly over a period as short as one year. A transformation of this magnitude would cause cascading changes across ocean ecosystems, severely impacting marine food webs and disrupting global fisheries.

Study co-author Nicole Lovenduski is a professor in CU Boulder's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR).


“These calcifying organisms will struggle to build and maintain their shells as acidification proceeds,” said Professor Lovenduski. “In the future, a pocket of corrosive water will sit just below the surface, making life difficult for these communities of primarily surface-dwelling organisms.”

Simone Metz is the program director for the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research. 

“This study shows that our current carbon dioxide emission rates are influencing not only the chemistry of the Southern Ocean but its food web structure as well,” said Metz.


[caption id="attachment_1869408" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pteropod.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869408" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pteropod.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="455" /></a> Southern Ocean pteropod, Image Credit: Kristen M. Krumhardt[/caption]

The colder waters of the Southern Ocean increase the solubility of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/high-co2-levels-stratus-clouds/">CO2</a>, making this region particularly vulnerable to acidification. The Southern Ocean also experiences a persistent upwelling that pulls carbon-rich water closer to the surface.

The research team used data from the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to predict ocean acidification under several CO2 emission scenarios, and analyzed water samples collected from the Southern Ocean.

“We suspect that previous studies have overlooked the emergence of the shallow horizon by averaging together data from a number of different models as opposed to looking at individual model realizations,” said study lead author Gabriela Negrete-García, formerly of INSTAAR and now a graduate student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

While the exact timing of the transition is not clear, the research suggests that the change is inevitable in large regions of the Southern Ocean.

“If emissions were curbed tomorrow, this suddenly shallow horizon would still appear, even if possibly delayed,” said Professor Lovenduski. “And that inevitability, along with the lack of time for organisms to adapt, is most concerning."

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/natureclimatechange">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

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>

Rising CO2 levels will limit habitats for life in the Southern Ocean

Suitable conditions for marine microorganisms will become extremely limited in...

On Friday, March 8th, the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) lifted a ban on AquaBounty, the company behind genetically modified salmon that grow twice as fast as normal salmon. The ban previously prohibited AquaBounty from importing its modified <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/salmon-smell-ocean-acidification/">salmon</a> eggs to an Indiana growing facility, where the fish would be grown for about 18 months before being sold for human consumption.

The FDA stated that AquaBounty salmon have undergone safety reviews and the ban has been lifted due to a new regulation that states companies must disclose when a food product is “bioengineered.”

AquaBounty, which was founded in 1991, have modified the Atlantic salmon using DNA from other fish species in order to make the salmon grow faster. The company says they are therefore helping to feed the growing population and meet the demand for animal protein, according to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/1be7085378684f4990e240870e7c546c">Associated Press</a>.

Despite the ban being lifted, AquaBounty still has hurdles to jump before they’re able to sell their salmon in the U.S. A coalition of consumer, environmental, and fishing groups has challenged the FDA’s decision and have recently filed a lawsuit to prevent the fish, dubbed AquAdvantage, from being sold.

“We think a remedy in our case would stop sale of the fish before they’re allowed to be sold,” said George Kimbrell, legal director for the Center for Food Safety, one of the groups suing the FDA.

The concern is that the AquAdvantage salmon, although all bred to be sterile female fish, may leak into the surrounding natural environment. And if not all of the AquAdvantage fish are sterile, as tests have shown can be possible, the entire species of Atlantic salmon may be at risk for being genetically modified.

Furthermore, Kimbrell and others against the decision also fear that the term “bioengineered” is less recognizable to the consumer than “genetically modified,” and using the former term on packaging may lead unwitting consumers astray.

However, AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf told the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/1be7085378684f4990e240870e7c546c">AP</a> that AquAdvantage fish have already been sold in small quantities in Canada, a country that does not require marked packaging for genetically-modified foods, without issue. Wulf doesn’t believe the lawsuit will affect the company’s progress in the U.S.

The implementation of the new regulation to simply label packaging of bioengineered foods will begin in 2020, and all companies must comply by 2022.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

FDA green lights genetically modified salmon for consumption

On Friday, March 8th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

A new species of small <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-flourishing-killed-off/">dinosaurs</a> has been described based on the discovery of five fossilized upper jaws in the Gippsland region of southeastern Australia. The fossils were embedded in 125 million-year-old rocks that date back to the Cretaceous period.


The new dinosaur, Galleonosaurus dorisae, was a small-bodied herbivore within the larger family of ornithopods. Study lead author Dr. Matthew Herne of the <a href="https://www.une.edu/">University of New England</a> explained, “These small dinosaurs would have been agile runners on their powerful hind legs.”

Dr. Herne also pointed out that the “jaws of Galleonosaurus dorisae include young to mature individuals - the first time an age range has been identified from the jaws of an Australian dinosaur.”

Galleonosaurus dorisae was named after the shape of its upper jaw, which resembled the upturned hull of a sailboat called a galleon, and for the work of Dr. Doris Seegets-Villiers.

[caption id="attachment_1869413" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fossils.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869413" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fossils.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="576" /></a> Fossils and 3D CT model of Galleonosaurus dorisae. Image Credit: Matthew Herne[/caption]

The species represents the fifth small ornithopod genus named from Victoria. According to Dr Herne, this fact “confirms that on a global scale, the diversity of these small-bodied dinosaurs had been unusually high in the ancient rift valley that once extended between the spreading continents of Australia and Antarctica.”


Prior to the new study, the only other ornithopod from the Gippsland region was Qantassaurus intrepidus, who was discovered in 1999. Dr. Herne explained that Qantassaurus had a shorter more robust snout than that of Galleonosaurus. He added, “We consider that these two, similarly-sized dinosaurs fed on different plant types, which would have allowed them to coexist.”

The researchers determined that the ornithopods from Victoria are closely related to those from Patagonia. “We are steadily building a picture of terrestrial dinosaur interchange between the shifting Gondwanan continents of Australia, South America and Antarctica during the Cretaceous period,” said Dr. Herne. He added that these are exciting times for dinosaur research.

“Using advanced techniques, such as 3D micro-CT scanning and printing, new anatomical information is being revealed on dinosaurs such as Galleonosaurus dorisae. These techniques are helping us to delve deeper into the mysterious world of dinosaur ecology - what they ate, how they moved and how they coexisted - and their evolutionary relationships with dinosaurs from other continents.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jpaleontol">Journal of Paleontology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main image copyright James Kuether

New small dinosaur species discovered in southeastern Australia

A new species of small dinosaurs has been described based...

Western Australia is the home ground of three newly discovered species of peacock spider – each about the size of a grain of rice.

Maratus aquilus, Maratus felinus and Maratus combustus are recognizable due to their distinctive and colorful patterns, according to Joseph Schubert, a research assistant at <a href="http://chownlab.com/">ChownLab</a>, a research group at <a href="https://www.monash.edu/">Monash University</a>.

“They're incredibly small but so charismatic and so colourful,” Schubert told the Australian news site <a href="https://10daily.com.au/">10 daily</a>.

The spiders were discovered by a group of photographers who work with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/projectmaratus/">Project Maratus</a> and described by Schubert. The group made their discovery while visiting Lake Jasper and Mount Romance in Western Australia. 

Each of the three new peacock spider species got its name from its abdominal markings: “aquilus” for markings resembling an eagle’s face, “felinus” for a cat-like design, and “combustus” for a “fiery explosion” pattern. 

Unlike other spiders, which are identified by their hair, fangs or other features, peacock spider species can be distinguished using their coloring and markings.

The males tend to be brightly colored while the females are more “drab,” Schubert said. Male peacock spiders, like some other jumping spiders, use their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-spiders-rainbow-colors/">bright coloration</a> to attract a mate.

There are 74 known species of peacock spider in the world, around 60 of them discovered in the past 10 years alone. Around half can only be found in Western Australia, most in the state’s southwestern region.

“The Southwest Australia ecoregion is known as one of the planet’s major biodiversity hotspots and a hotspot for peacock spider diversity,” Schubert wrote in his research.

Another recent discovery among peacock spiders is Maratus sagittus, named for an arrow-like marking. Schubert and fellow researcher Robert Whyte of the <a href="https://www.qm.qld.gov.au/">Queensland Museum</a> described this species, found in Queensland, in January. 

The three new species are described in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1">Zootaxa</a>. The description of Maratus sagittus, published in the journal <a href="https://peckhamia.com/peckhamia.html">Peckhamia</a>, can be read at <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330580003_A_new_peacock_spider_from_the_Cape_York_Peninsula_Araneae_Salticidae_Euophryini_Maratus_Karsch_1878_Peckhamia_1771_1-6">ResearchGate</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Joseph Schubert

Expert names three new peacock spider species

Western Australia is the home ground of three newly discovered...

Humans were most likely involved in the extinction of megafauna. Using advanced technology to re-date giant ground sloth remains, scientists have found evidence suggesting that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-giants-study-reveals-shocking-decline-of-large-mammals-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">megamammals</a> did not make it out of the Pleistocene era alive as previously thought. 

Instead, human involvement most likely caused the extinction of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/relict-megafauna/">megafauna</a> — including said megamammals — prior to the Holocene era.

The evidence, released via the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>, shows that the giant sloth found in the Argentinean Pampas region was hunted and killed by humans about 10,570 years ago (plus or minus about 170 years). 

Researcher Gustavo G. Politis and his colleagues used XAD purification chemistry, a process that isolates the amino acids in a bone's collagen, thus resulting in a more accurate radiocarbon date, to re-date the remains. 

In 2007, researchers originally dated the bones to be about 9,730 years old, placing it firmly in the Holocene period. However, Politis confirms the collagen used to date the bones in 2007 was contaminated, and therefore, researchers obtained a “younger” age. 

The newer, more accurate age of the remains proves that the giant sloth was killed in the Pleistocene era, showing that the killing and exploitation of megamammals most likely occurred and ended in the Pleistocene era due to extinction.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans were most likely involved in the extinction of megafauna

Humans were most likely involved in the extinction of megafauna....

A potentially new species of killer hornet was recently discovered in China along the border of Myanmar. Measuring 2.4 inches long and with a wingspan of 3.5 inches, the killer hornet is one of the largest Asian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-largest-bee-spotted/">giant hornets ever recorded</a>. 

The hornet may not even be the largest of its kind, as the researchers say they have yet to locate the queen of the hive which would likely be larger than the specimens they found. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Eel67aXZc">Huaxi Insect Museum</a> in Chengdu city led by Zhao Li, the curator of the Insect Museum of West China in Sichuan Province, were on an expedition to the city of Pu’er in the Yunnan province. 

After a local showed Li a picture of a giant hive on a cell phone with a man who could barely wrap his arms around the diameter of the hive, Li was instantly intrigued.

[caption id="attachment_1869344" align="aligncenter" width="628"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/hornets.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1869344" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/hornets.jpg" alt="" width="628" height="400" /></a> Image Credit: Huaxi Insect Museum - Zhao Li[/caption]

Soon, Li was able to see the hive up close when he spotted it in the market where the hive was being used to sell fresh honey. 

Zhao Li followed the seller to the location where the hive was found at the border between China and Myanmar, and the researchers were able to collect hundreds of hornet samples for future analysis. 

After examining the specimens, the researchers say that the hornet is unlike any other Asian giant hornet species prompting Li to conclude that the hornet belongs to a never before described subspecies of killer hornet. 

The killer hornet gets its name because it preys on honeybees, sometimes stealthily waiting outside hives and snatching up worker bees by their wings. 

While native to East Asia, invasive killer hornets in Europe threaten honeybee populations and apiaries.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Huaxi Insect Museum - Zhao Li

Giant killer hornet discovered in China may belong to a new species

A potentially new species of killer hornet was recently discovered...

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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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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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"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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...