Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp;



A new study from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Alberta</a> highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. 



This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide.



Over the past 15 years, a team of researchers led by Peter Thompson set up camera traps at more than 1,600 sites in the Bow River Valley and surrounding areas. 



These traps were in place between 2007 and 2022, capturing over a million images of humans and tens of thousands of images of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grizzly bears</a> and wolves.



The scientists then used statistical models to assess the relationship between human activity and carnivore presence on the landscape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-recreation-and-large-carnivores-nbsp">Human recreation and large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



Upon examining the images and activity patterns, the researchers discovered a significant disturbance effect from busy trails, extending far beyond the immediate path.&nbsp;



The results showed that wolves and bears did not merely avoid the immediate vicinity of high-traffic areas; they stayed away from locations hundreds of meters away as well.



Thompson, formerly a postdoctoral fellow with Colleen Cassady St. Clair in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, is now a postdoctoral fellow at <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simon Fraser University</a>.



“We initially thought bears might use hiking trails as efficient routes when humans weren’t around, but they actually avoid these areas altogether,” said Thompson.



“Our results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, substantially influencing their behaviour even hundreds of meters away from the trail.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-widespread-displacement-of-large-carnivores-nbsp">Widespread displacement of large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



For grizzly bears, half of the displacement effect from high-use trails remained in effect up to 300 meters from the trail. For wolves, this displacement was observed up to 600 meters away. Thompson noted that the phenomenon is considerably more extensive than was previously believed.



“When trails become busier, people may not realize the extent to which they are disrupting wildlife movement and habitat security,” Thompson added.&nbsp;



This finding demonstrates that outdoor enthusiasts using high-traffic trails, especially in popular regions, could unknowingly be displacing wolves and bears from substantial parts of their natural habitat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-effects-of-recreation-on-wolves-nbsp">Effects of recreation on wolves&nbsp;</h2>



While grizzly bears are visibly impacted by busy trails, the displacement effect was even more pronounced for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gray-wolves-are-a-crucial-component-of-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wolves</a>. Their avoidance of human activity at distances of up to 600 meters likely relates to their year-round activity cycle, which intersects with winter recreation such as skiing and snowmobiling.&nbsp;



This further highlights how multiple forms of recreation can compound the stress on top predators.



“Wolves are even more affected by human recreation than grizzly bears, and they are active year-round, coinciding with winter recreational activities,” said St. Clair, Thompson’s former supervisor.&nbsp;



“This research highlights the critical need to manage human use in a way that allows people to share the landscape with these wary predators.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mitigating-the-impacts-on-large-carnivores-nbsp">Mitigating the impacts on large carnivores&nbsp;</h2>



The Bow River Valley is particularly significant for wildlife, functioning as a key passageway for many species.&nbsp;



Shifts in animal movement due to human traffic on trails could compromise the valley’s role as a corridor for genetic exchange and resource access.&nbsp;



If large carnivores are consistently deterred from these areas, the consequences could include altered feeding patterns, reduced breeding success, and changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/danger-zones-climate-change-is-altering-predator-prey-dynamics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predator-prey dynamics</a>.



Land managers in this region may consider strategies such as creating buffer zones, limiting trail access during peak activity times, or issuing guidelines that reduce disturbance in critical wildlife areas.&nbsp;



Such steps might help maintain the valley’s ecological function and ensure that grizzlies, wolves, and other species can continue to move freely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-need-for-thoughtful-recreation-planning">Need for thoughtful recreation planning</h2>



The paper’s authors emphasize that as recreational use of mountain trails grows, the effects on wildlife will likewise increase.&nbsp;



Raising awareness about how trail use displaces animals, even far from the trail itself, could encourage more responsible behavior among outdoor enthusiasts.&nbsp;



Measures such as seasonal trail closures, visitor education programs, and designated wildlife corridors could help minimize the disruption to grizzly bears, wolves, and other sensitive species.



The findings in the Bow River Valley also reflect broader challenges faced worldwide as conservation areas strive to balance human recreation with wildlife protection.&nbsp;



By taking preemptive steps - whether through trail design, user quotas, or educational outreach - policymakers and conservation managers can better safeguard critical habitats for large carnivores and foster a more harmonious coexistence between people and nature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reevaluating-our-use-of-mountain-trails-nbsp">Reevaluating our use of mountain trails&nbsp;</h2>



This study provides actionable insights into how recreational activities influence the distribution and well-being of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/apex-predators-can-help-restore-ecosystems-but-not-immediately/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">apex predators</a>.&nbsp;



With wolves and bears essential to ecosystem balance, preventing their displacement has ecological significance beyond individual species.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Thompson, these results show that human recreation has significant effects on wildlife, and these findings are a call to reevaluate how we manage and use mountain trails.&nbsp;



Through careful planning and targeted conservation efforts, there is hope that humans and large carnivores can continue to share these magnificent landscapes for generations to come.



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14837" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



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Mountain recreation displaces large carnivores from their habitats

Recreational activities on mountain trails are pushing large carnivores like grizzly bears and wolves away from their native habitats, even when those trails lie hundreds of meters from where the animals roam.&nbsp; A new study from the University of Alberta highlights the need for improved land management practices that allow people and wildlife to peacefully coexist. This issue is particularly pressing in the Bow River Valley, long recognized as a natural corridor linking the prairies to the Continental Divide. Over the past 15 years, a team of...

A team of researchers have discovered that early human ancestors are not to blame for the extinction of large prehistoric African mammals. This revelation, published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, directly contrasts what scientists have believed for over half a century. 

Many have speculated that the disappearance of giant mammals over the last 50,000 years must have began in Africa due to the fact that our homo sapien ancestors were in Africa long before any other continent.

However, this has been proven false. The research team focused their attention on megaherbivores, the largest prehistoric mammal species weighing in at over 2,000 lbs. They compared a seven-million-year-record of African <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/risky-foraging-tactics-extinction/">extinctions</a> to milestones in human evolution, such as the development of stone tools, mammal butchery, and the evolution of homo erectus, which have all been previously linked to large mammal extinctions. 

Researchers found that extinction of megaherbivores in Africa was a completely independent process. What’s more is that their decline actually began 4.6 million years ago, a time before tool-wielding human ancestors roamed the earth. The only known hominem of that time is Ardipithecus, an ape-like human ancestor with a small-sized brain and hunting skills similar to that of chimpanzees.

[caption id="attachment_1862143" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-animals.png"><img class="wp-image-1862143" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-animals-1024x294.png" alt="" width="700" height="201" /></a> Image Credit: John Rowan[/caption]

One team member from the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a>, 2018 <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> doctoral graduate John Rowan, said, “If hominins were responsible for the extinction of megaherbivores, we would expect their decline to be more step-like and to track behavioral or adaptive milestones in human evolution. It is instead gradual — playing out over nearly five million years — long before the appearance of any hominin remotely capable of taking down rhino- or elephant-sized prey.” 

“This suggests to our research team that widespread impacts on the large mammal species and terrestrial ecosystems might be unique to us — Homo sapiens."

Instead, the researchers believe megaherbivores met their demise due to environmental change. Falling atmospheric carbon dioxide and the replacement of trees and shrubs with grasslands led to the extinction of tree-browsing mammals.

“Human impacts on Earth's biodiversity have been significant and sometimes catastrophic," Rowan said. "In this case, at least, our ancestors are not to blame. This is very clearly a long-term, bottom-up loss of diversity related to broader events in Earth's climate and environments over the last several million years."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: John Rowan

Humans did not cause the extinction of prehistoric African animals

A team of researchers have discovered that early human ancestors...

Ants keep the colony strong by working together. New findings from a collaborative study between the <a href="https://ist.ac.at/research/research-groups/cremer-group/">Sylvia Cremer group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria)</a> and the <a href="https://www.unil.ch/dee/en/home/menuinst/research--education/research/research-groups/keller-group.html">Laurent Keller group at the University of Lausanne</a> show that ants change their behavior when a pathogen enters their colony. By adapting their social organization, the ants work together to protect the queen, brood, and young workers from becoming sick.

Published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, the research reveals that, within each colony, ants are organized into subgroups based on their age and tasks. For example, younger worker ants, called “nurses,” protect the brood at the center of the colony, older ants, called “foragers,” leave the colony to collect food. These subgroups are vital if and when a pathogen enters the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ants-bees-community-first/">colony</a>.

To track the ants’ behavior when disease presents itself within the colony, the research team used the Keller group’s “barcode” system, for which digital markers are placed on ants and infrared cameras are used to monitor their actions within the colony. The team placed markers on 2,266 garden ants and then exposed 10% of the worker ants to fungal spores.

"The ants change how they interact and who they interact with,” Sylvia Cremer said regarding the ants’ social behaviors after detecting the fungal spores. "The cliques among ants become even stronger, and contact between cliques is reduced. Foragers interact more with foragers, and nurses more with nurses. This is a response by the whole colony — also animals who are not themselves treated with spores change their behavior."

Laurent Keller added, "This is the first scientific study that shows that an animal society is able to actively change its organization to reduce the spread of disease."

Furthermore, researchers noted that, once a pathogen is introduced into the colony, the ants regroup to protect the most valuable colony members, like the queen, nurses, and workers. These important colony members received less of the pathogen, meaning they were kept separate from those infected. And in survival experiments, ants with a high predicted spore load almost always died after nine days, whereas nurses rarely died and all the queens survived, showing that protecting the important players is key in ant society.

“Social interactions are the routes on which diseases travel and define how epidemics may spread,” Cremer said. She concluded, “Basic research on ants can help us to deeper understand epidemiological processes, which can be relevant also in other social groups."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Timothée Brütsch

Ants keep the colony strong by working together

Ants keep the colony strong by working together. New findings...

An investigation into the effects of traffic noise on amphibians has revealed that when frogs from quiet ponds are relocated close to the highway, they experience stress that impairs the production of important immunity defense compounds. On the other hand, frogs that are removed from sites near busy highways show a dampened stress response to traffic noise.

Study first author Jennifer Tennessen was a graduate student at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> at the time of the research.

“In the United States, traffic noise can be heard nearly everywhere,” said Tennessen. “Noise can have a number of negative consequences on wildlife, for example by interfering with communication and reducing the ability to find food.”

“Frogs are particularly vulnerable to noise because they rely on sound to find mates and reproduce. Wood frogs travel to ponds in the spring to mate and lay their eggs, but many of these ponds are located near noisy roads. We wanted to know if traffic noise has negative physiological effects on wood frogs and, if so, whether they can adapt.”

The analysis was focused on eggs collected from ponds within 300 feet of interstates and major highways and from remote ponds as far as three miles from major roads. After the eggs were raised in the lab, the offspring were exposed to either traffic noise or to ambient noise for 8 days, which is around the length of time they would spend in breeding ponds.

The study revealed that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/robotic-system-frogs-jump/">frogs</a> from the quiet ponds had increased levels of the stress hormone corticosterone after exposure to traffic noise for 8 days. Immune function was also altered among the frogs from quiet sites when they were exposed to the sounds of traffic. The researchers found elevated numbers of white blood cell called monocytes and impaired production of important defensive compounds called antimicrobial peptides.

Study co-author Louise Rollins-Smith is a professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the <a href="https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University School of Medicine</a>.

“In frogs from quiet ponds, exposure to traffic noise impaired the ability to produce antimicrobial peptides in the brevinin and temporin families,” said Professor Rollins-Smith. “Antimicrobial peptides are components of the immune defense system that provide important protection against pathogens like bacteria and fungi. Brevinin-family peptides in particular strongly inhibit the fungal pathogen that causes the infectious disease chytridiomycosis, or chytrid, which is responsible for widespread mortality of amphibians around the world.”

Frogs from noisy ponds did not have elevated levels of corticosterone after exposure to traffic sounds for 8 days. This indicates that frogs from ponds in noisy areas have a dampened stress response.

“We're not sure if the frogs from noisy sites have a suppressed stress response to noise specifically or if they have a suppressed stress response overall,” said study senior author Tracy Langkilde. “Both offer the benefit of avoiding stress-related costs of noise, but having a dampened stress response in general could have other negative effects, for example not being able to properly mount a behavioral response to predators.”

The frogs from noisy ponds actually had increased monocyte counts when exposed to the ambient noise that is heard at quiet ponds. The researchers believe that this kind of immune response may happen in unfamiliar situations. The finding also suggests that frogs from noisy sites have adapted to avoid the physiological costs of noise.

“In the future, we hope to pinpoint the mechanism of how frogs are adapting to noise,” said Tennessen. “The roads near the ponds we studied were built between the 1940s and 1960s, so these changes may have occurred within 15 to 35 frog generations. People usually think of adaptation and evolution occurring over huge timescales, but here we see that animals can respond relatively quickly to new threats, though the consequences of that response are still unclear.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Lindsey Swierk

Traffic noises hurt the immune systems of frogs who aren’t adapted

An investigation into the effects of traffic noise on amphibians...

As travelers become more conscientious, traditional animal attractions are increasingly being rejected. These attractions are being replaced with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lion-voluntourism-trips-harm/">voluntourism</a> and animal sanctuary experiences. While these experiences appeal to ethical tourists, they can be crueler than they seem.

There has been a clear shift in the way people interact with captive wild animals in recent years. While circuses used to be a grand spectacle, a<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/183275/say-animals-rights-people.aspx"> 2015 Gallup poll</a> showed that 69% of Americans are concerned with how animals are treated in the circus. Just last year, Ringling Bros. Circus closed their show after 146 years. Americans also showed high levels of concern with other animal attractions such as animal sports and contests, aquariums and zoos.

Travelers now want to visit wild animals in a more natural and humane setting. This new wave of animal tourism provides travelers with a feel-good experience, but these experiences can be marked by the same inhumane conditions as traditional animal attractions.

The elephant camps throughout Thailand, which offer travelers the opportunity to ride, bathe and watch elephants, are a prime example of this phenomenon.

Elephant camps came to rise after commercial logging was banned in Thailand in 1989. Elephants in the country had been trained to work in the logging industry transporting people and logs. The ban left many captive elephants displaced as they could no longer work but were too accustomed to people to be released into the wild. Many elephant handlers turned towards the tourism industry. There are now an<a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-57-01-A5.pdf"> estimated</a> 200 elephant camps in Thailand alone.

While many of the elephants at the camps came from the logging industry, some have been captured from the wild. A 2014<a href="http://www.trafficj.org/publication/14_An_Assessment_of_the_Live_ElephantTrade_Thailand.pdf"> report</a> by the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC found that an estimated 79 to 81 wild elephants were illegally captured for sale into the tourism industry in Thailand during a two-year period.

Today, Thailand is home to fewer than 3,500 Asian elephants in the wild and 3,500 to 4,000 elephants in captivity. The Asian elephant is currently listed as endangered with populations decreasing throughout the world. Illegally smuggling elephants from the wild could have negative impacts on elephant populations, especially considering the high commercial value of young individuals.

In addition to concerns on the conservation of elephants, animal advocates point to the inhumane living conditions of elephants at the camps. A<a href="https://d31j74p4lpxrfp.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/int_files/pdfs/taken_for_a_ride.pdf"> report</a> by World Animal Protection found that nearly 75% of the elephants they studied living in Asian elephant camps lived in poor conditions.

The report notes “When not giving rides or performing, the elephants were typically chained day and night, most of the time to chains less than 3m long. They were also fed poor diets, given limited appropriate veterinary care and were frequently kept on concrete floors in stressful locations near loud music, roads or visitor groups.”

A<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139092"> 2015 study</a> published in PLOS One found similar results. The study examined the welfare of Asian elephants, Pig-tailed macaques and tigers at tourism venues in Thailand. Eighty-six percent of the elephants were kept on short chains when they were not interacting with tourists and 25.6% were kept on concrete ground which can cause health issues in elephants. Further, over one-third of the elephants were kept isolated from each other. For the highly social species, this can cause severe distress and boredom.

Proponents of elephant tourism in Thailand argue that the camps provide an income for the elephant handlers and a home for the elephants who can no longer be used for the logging industry.

The tourism industry may be able to help the both local people and elephants if it is done right. Travelers’ desire to visit the beautiful giants in person will not dissipate soon. Tourism venues can provide these awe-inspiring experiences and protect elephants in the country by adhering to strict welfare standards.

<a href="https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/elephant-conservation/travel-guide/elephant-sanctuaries">Responsible Travel</a>, a travel website which promotes responsible tourism, recommends avoiding places where elephants are forced to perform or give rides. The website screens elephant sanctuaries to ensure they are humane before featuring them on their website. Their recommendations mirror the results in the World Animal Protection report which found that the elephants with the highest welfare conditions were living at camps that did not allow rides or performances.

Sadly, responsible tourism is not as easy as avoiding notoriously cruel animal attractions such as circuses and animal contests. Travelers need to conduct thorough research before visiting an animal attraction to ensure they are visiting a truly humane attraction.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Elephant sanctuary attractions may not be as ethical as they seem

As travelers become more conscientious, traditional animal attractions are increasingly...

Male birds of paradise have some of the most colorful plumage and feather ornaments, but pretty colors are only a small part of the equation. 

Wild dance moves and complex bird songs make up a wholly unique mating spectacle that the male uses to try and attract a female’s attention. 

A new study, conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, has found that female preferences are a major driving factor in these mating rituals, and the female birds of paradise dictate what dance moves, calls, and where a male ends up performing. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2006962">PLOS Biology.</a>

Female birds of paradise judge a male based on his looks, songs, and moves, all of which help signify suitability in a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bermuda-fireworms-glow-mating/">mate</a>.

The researchers say that the evolution of female preferences has created a “courtship phenotype” which are combinations of genetic and environmental traits that males use to improve their chances. 

For the study, the researchers reviewed and analyzed 961 video clips and 176 audio clips from the Cornell Macaulay Library archive. 

The researchers also examined 393 museum specimens from the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a>. 

After observing different species and mating dances, the researchers found the more colorful a male is, the more complex sounds he makes. Birds that have interesting dance moves have a larger variety of calls. 

There is room for self-expression within the confines of these mating rituals according to the study as many males will “experiment” with different moves and calls while still maintaining their attractive qualities.

Location also plays a role in mating for birds of paradise, as the researchers found males who court their females on the ground have more complex dance moves compared to birds who try and attract a mate in the treetops. 

“On the dark forest floor, males may need to up their game to get female attention,” said Edwin Scholes, the co-author of the study. 

The results of the study shed light on the mating rituals of one of the world’s most colorful groups of birds and show how influential sexual selection can be within the animal kingdom.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Timothy G. Laman

Female preferences drive the mating routines for birds of paradise

Male birds of paradise have some of the most colorful...

Research recently published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a> reveals that a certain mysterious gene may be responsible for heart regeneration. Scientists are currently studying the Mexican cavefish, a translucent, blind, guppy-sized species living within the cave systems in northern Mexico, to better understand why some fish and mammals can regenerate their <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/weight-lifting-heart-health-benefits/">hearts</a> whereas others simply scar.

Co-senior author Mathilda Mommersteeg, developmental scientist at the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, explained that these cavefish are descendents of river surface fish, who, millions of years ago, were trapped in the caves when the rivers flooded. Here, they lost their eyesight and pigment in order to adapt to life within the cave.

“We have discovered that, like zebrafish, the river surface fish regenerate their heart, while some cavefish cannot and form a permanent scar,” Mommersteeg continued. “We introduce the Mexican cavefish as a new model for heart regeneration research."

Mommersteeg and her team bred both surface and cavefish species in their lab and removed parts of each fish species’ hearts to document regeneration. They found that surface fish slowly regenerate heart tissue, however the cavefish just develop scarring. When crossbred, surface and cavefish hybrid species could regenerate, showing that the regeneration gene is heritable.

After testing Irrc10, a mysterious heart muscle-related gene found in fish, mice, and humans, the team believes it, along with three DNA segments, may be responsible for the surface fish’s ability to regenerate heart tissue.

“Quantitative trait locus analysis is a method that has allowed us to find out what part of all the surface fish DNA is most crucial for heart regeneration," co-senior author Yoshiyuki Yamamoto, developmental biologist at <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>, said. "We have identified three regions in the DNA that contain genes that make the difference between regeneration or scarring after heart injury.”

The next discovery the team hopes to make is to understand why the cavefish did not inherit this regenerative ability during their adaptation.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Colin Beesley

Mexican cavefish offer clues of how to repair damaged hearts

Research recently published in the journal Cell Reports reveals that...

A team of researchers has been investigating the way that some marine animals manage to launch their bodies above the surface of water. The experts designed a robotic system that mimics the fluid dynamics used by frogs and tiny crustaceans as they jump out of the water. 

Sunghwan Jung is an associate professor of Biology and Environmental Engineering at <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>, who is conducting the research with his student Brian Chang.

“We collected data about aquatic animals of different sizes - from about 1 millimeter to tens of meters - jumping out of water, and were able to reveal how their maximum jumping heights are related to their body size,” said Professor Jung.


Aquatic animals move in and out of water for different reasons, such as evading <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deep-ocean-predators-thrived/">predators</a> or catching prey.

“But since water is 1,000 times denser than air, entering or exiting water requires a lot of effort, so aquatic animals face mechanical challenges.”

As an animal jumps through water, mass is added to it. This extra force, referred to as “entrained water mass,” limits the height to which the animals can jump.  

“We're trying to understand how biological systems are able to smartly figure out and overcome these challenges to maximize their performance, which might also shed light on engineering systems to enter or exit air-water interfaces,” said Professor Jung.

Most marine animals are streamlined and water just slides off their bodies, limiting the effect of entrained water mass.

“That's why they're such good jumpers. But when we made and tested a robotic system similar to jumping animals, it didn't jump as much as animals. Why? Our robot isn't as streamlined and carries a lot of water with it. Imagine getting out of a swimming pool with a wet coat - you might not be able to walk due to the water weight.”

Professor Jung explained that the system may ultimately be used for surveillance near water basins.

The research was presented at the <a href="https://www.aps.org/">American Physical Society</a> (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics 71st Annual Meeting.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New robotic system mimics how frogs jump out of water

A team of researchers has been investigating the way that...

Ok, I’ll admit it, living in a world where you could conceivably go to a zoo and check out a woolly mammoth like it’s a hippo is awesome.

The giant behemoths of the ancient world have always held a special fascination for us, whether it’s the woolly mammoth, the saber-tooth tiger, or even megalodon, the largest shark ever to swim the world’s oceans. 

Just look at Jurassic Park, a novel and film franchise centered around one main theme: Man likes dinosaurs, man brings dinosaurs back from extinction, dinosaurs wreak all havoc on man. 

As we make more and more scientific advances in gene mapping and uncover more species in the fossil record, de-extinction has quickly been jettisoned from the realm of science fiction into the realm of possibility. 

Already there are projects in the works involving bringing back the woolly mammoth, the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros, and even the passenger pigeon. 

Right now in eastern Siberia, Russian scientists are working on bringing back the ice age… well, within a 50 square mile nature reserve that is. Pleistocene Park is the brainchild of father-son duo, Sergey and Nikita Zimov. 

While resurrecting woolly mammoths is part of the plan for the park, the directors of the park are quick to point out that the project is actually designed to help solve the problems of climate change. 

“It will be cute to have mammoths running around here,” Nikita told <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/pleistocene-park/517779/">The Atlantic</a> in an interview. “But I’m not doing this for them, or for any other animals. I’m not one of these crazy scientists that just wants to make the world green. I am trying to solve the larger problem of climate change. I’m doing this for humans. I’ve got three daughters. I’m doing it for them.”

However, as scientists race to make the seemingly impossible possible, it’s worthwhile to stop and take a minute to consider the ramifications of de-extinction and if it will actually be as beneficial as de-extinction experts propose. 

Several alarming studies have shown that we’re well on our way to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn">sixth mass extinction</a> as species are dying off at a rapid rate. An average of two vertebrate species have gone extinct per year over the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warning-imminent-mass-extinction/">last 100 years</a>. 

Animal populations are shrinking due to climate change, habitat loss, and human activities like fishing, hunting, and tourism. Given the rate that Earth is losing its precious biodiversity, is it really worth spending countless resources, energy and time resurrecting an ancient species? 

Wouldn’t that time be better spent on conservation measures that could slow down species decline? 

The researchers working on bringing back northern white rhinos using <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/researchers-create-first-ever-in-vitro-rhino-embryos-to-save-species/">hybrid embryos</a> are somewhat exempt from this question because the animals they are trying to save are still found on Earth, even if there are just two individual northern white rhinos left. 

But take, for example, the passenger pigeon. This year, in a historic win for de-extinction, 13 pigeons became the first pigeons to contain the Cas9 gene in their reproductive systems. 

In a bid to bring back the passenger pigeon, which went extinct in 1914 thanks to overhunting and habitat declines, scientist Ben Novak plans to breed the pigeons and eventually edit the DNA of the pigeon's offspring to create a passenger pigeon-like hybrid.

As truly novel and revolutionary as Novak’s work is, there are concerns that hybrid passenger pigeons will meet the same fate as their long-since extinct ancestors. 

“The habitat the passenger pigeons need to survive is also extinct,” Beth Shapiro, a researcher whose work on sequencing the passenger pigeon genome has been a central part of Novak’s work, told the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/meet-the-scientists-bringing-extinct-species-back-from-the-dead-1539093600">Wall Street Journal</a>.

Shapiro has taught a class on de-extinction and says that there isn’t a good reason to justify de-extinctions. 

“What’s the point of bringing something back if we don’t know why it went extinct?” Shapiro asked, “or if we do know why it went extinct but haven’t fixed the problem?”

Shapiro makes a valid point. Before we can bring a species back, researchers need to first fully understand what led to the species’ extinction in the first place and make sure these problems are fully addressed before attempting to resurrect the species. 

Douglas McCauley, an ecologist from the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California-Santa Barbara</a>, came up with a rather apt metaphor that emphasizes one of the biggest problems with de-extinction. 

How can we expect species from ages past to thrive in today’s world, especially one with such an uncertain future due to the projected impacts of climate change? 

“What some are proposing to do with de-extinction will be like manufacturing a part from the engine of a Model T and trying to shove it into a Tesla,” McCauley said in a UCSB statement offering smart solutions for de-extinction. “You just can’t take apart and put it into a brand new system and expect it to work without considering how its ecological context has changed.”

But what if a de-extinction expert finds a way around this, or picks a species that will seamlessly fit into Earth’s modern eco-system? 

That brings us to another glaring problem with de-extinction. What’s the point, what purpose will it serve, how will the de-extinct species benefit the natural world, and are there unforeseen consequences not being accounted for? 

It’s argued that the woolly mammoth will help transform the Arctic tundra into grasslands, a helpful defense in preventing the release of carbon from the Arctic permafrost.

[caption id="attachment_1862056" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/wooly.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1862056" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/wooly-1024x731.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="500" /></a> Woolly mammoth illustration, Image Credit: Shutterstock/AuntSpray[/caption]

Woolly Mammoths will knock down trees and spread grass seeds, just as large ice age herbivores did thousands of years ago maintaining an ice age-like biome. 

The question still remains, is there a way to do this without bringing back woolly mammoth hybrids? Can you transform Pleistocene Park into grasslands, incorporating native herbivores into the landscape to do the job the woolly mammoths would do? 

Even if a de-extinct species was able to adapt to its new environment, it’s important to consider it’s purpose, ecologically speaking. For Pleistocene park, the woolly mammoth’s purpose could help combat climate change by maintaining grasslands. 

Every species has an important ecological function, some of the species once lost, irrevocably change local food webs and it can start a downward spiral of other species declines. 

When considering de-extinction, researchers should first look at the animal they want to bring back, and it’s original ecological function. 

Douglas McCauley and his colleagues at the UCSB stated that only animals that are irreplaceable should be considered for resurrection when coming up with a set of guidelines for de-extinction. 

Another issue with de-extinction is the matter of population or numbers. 

Resurrecting a species takes time because the researchers are actually piecing as much original DNA as possible and transferring it to a close relative in order to create hybrid embryos and later hybrid de-extinct species. 

“You need to have enough individuals to perform their function well enough to affect the ecosystem,” UCSB graduate student Molly Hardesty-Moore said in a statement. “One wolf hunting and killing has minimal impact, but hundreds of wolves performing that function will change the ecosystem.”

It will be interesting to see what new achievements are made with de-extinction, and if Pleistocene Park will be a reality or if there will be flocks of hybrid Passenger Pigeons re-shaping North American forest land in the future. 

However far de-extinction goes, I would hope that researchers and conservationists at least reserve as much time and energy protecting the threatened species that currently call our world home.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Resurrecting ancient animals: The ramifications of de-extinction

Ok, I’ll admit it, living in a world where you...

In northeastern Brazil, there exists an expansive network of millions of termite mounds so large you can see them from space using Google Earth. 

The still-inhabited mounds cover an area about the size of Great Britain, and each cone-shaped formation is approximately 8 feet tall and around 30 feet wide. 

What’s remarkable about the termite mounds is that they were formed by a single species of termite and team researchers recently discovered that the mounds are nearly 4,000 years old. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.salford.ac.uk/">University of Salford</a> in the UK and the <a href="http://www.uefs.br/">Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana</a> conducted a study examining the mounds in hopes of uncovering more about the origins of the structures and termites that made them. 

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

[caption id="attachment_1862061" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/mounds.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1862061" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/mounds-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="525" /></a> Image Credit: Roy Funch[/caption]

The termite mounds are not <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fairy-circles-cause-revealed/">nests</a> but instead are the result of years and years of depositing soil while excavating networks of interconnected underground tunnels. 

“These mounds were formed by a single termite species that excavated a massive network of tunnels to allow them to access dead leaves to eat safely and directly from the forest floor,” said 
Stephen Martin, the lead author of the study. “The amount of soil excavated is over 10 cubic kilometers, equivalent to 4,000 great pyramids of Giza, and represents one of the biggest structures built by a single insect species.”

The researchers collected soil samples from the centers of eleven of the mounds, and after dating the samples, it was determined that the mounds were filled 690 to 3,820 years ago. 

It’s a discovery that matches the age of the oldest known termite mounds in the world which are located in Africa. 

“This is apparently the world's most extensive bioengineering effort by a single insect species," adds Roy Funch of Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana in Brazil. “Perhaps most exciting of all--the mounds are extremely old--up to 4,000 years, similar to the ages of the pyramids.”
After dating the soil samples, the researchers were curious about the regular spatial pattern of the mounds and wanted to know if it was the result of competing or aggressive termite interactions. 

The team conducted behavioral tests with the termites in nearby and farther apart mounds and found that the termites were not aggressive with their neighbors. 

Instead, the researchers hypothesize that the pattern and layout are driven by food availability and where leaves fall in the forest where the mounds are located. 

The termite mounds have created more questions than answers, and the researchers say that further studies are needed, but the fact that the same termite species still inhabit the area offers an impressive research opportunity. 

“It's incredible that, in this day and age, you can find an ‘unknown’ biological wonder of this sheer size and age still existing, with the occupants still present,” said Martin. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Roy Funch

4,000 year-old termite mounds in Brazil are visible from space

In northeastern Brazil, there exists an expansive network of millions...

New research has revealed the behavioral strategies of a Florida ant that decorates its nest with the dismembered body parts of other ants. Study author Adrian Smith is a scientist at the <a href="https://naturalsciences.org/">North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences</a> and North Carolina State University.

“Add 'skull-collecting ant' to the list of strange creatures in Florida,” said Smith. “In 1958, shortly after this ant was described as a species, scientists reported something weird about it.” 

It was previously discovered that nests belonging to Formica archboldi were home to the decapitated heads of fierce insect predators called trap-jaw ants, which are not easy prey for other ants. This led researchers to believe that F. archbold either inherits old trap-jaw ant nesting sites or is a specialized <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deep-ocean-predators-thrived/">predator</a>.

“This was a study that grew out of reading a peculiar observation in a 60-year-old research paper,” said Smith. “Odds were that these ant heads weren't in Formica nests by chance and that there was some interesting biology behind this natural history note.” 

Smith was surprised to find that F. archboldi mimic their trap-jaw ant prey using formic acid, which is normally used as a chemical defense. Video footage revealed that F. archboldi can immobilize trap-jaw ants with a targeted spray of formic acid.

In laboratory colonies, time-lapse video observation of the interior nest chambers showed that after the trap-jaw ants are killed they are dragged into the nest and dismembered.

“The scientifically surprising finding of this study was that these ants chemically match or mimic the chemical profiles of two species of trap-jaw ant,” said Smith. 

“It's really unusual for an ant species to display this much variation in chemical signature. Also, chemical mimicry is usually a tactic used by social parasites, but there's no evidence that F. archboldi are a parasitic species.”

“In aiming to figure out one unusual aspect of this ant's biology, this research has turned up another in the chemical data.”

According to Smith, the chemical mimicry most likely represents a long evolutionary history between the two ant species. 

“Now Formica archboldiis the most chemically diverse ant species we know of. Before this work, it was just a species with a weird head-collecting habit. Now we have what might be a model species for understanding the evolution of chemical diversification and mimicry.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/40">Insectes Sociaux</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Adrian Smith

Florida “skull-collecting” ants dismember the bodies of their prey

New research has revealed the behavioral strategies of a Florida...

After mapping the brain of African mormyrid fish with great precision, a team of researchers has found that these fish have a larger cerebellum compared to their relatives. The experts believe this enlarged cerebellum may be linked to electric discharges that are used by the fish to communicate and locate prey.


Bruce Carlson is professor of Biology in Arts &amp; Sciences at <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis</a>. He explained that the size finding in itself is not particularly surprising for those who follow this <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shellfish-harvests-declining-warming/">fish</a>. This is because African mormyrid fishes are known for having a brain-to-body size ratio that is similar to humans. 

“It had almost become a truism,” said Professor Carlson. “In mormyrids, at least, the thinking went, ‘big brains mean big cerebellums.’”

The researchers are excited to find out how their new measurements may help to shed light on longstanding mysteries in neuroanatomy, such as whether all brain regions scale up in a predictable way as brains get bigger or if natural selection influences brain regions independently of each other. 

“When you look at human brains, the cerebral cortex has become this giant part that has engulfed the other regions of the brain,” said study first author Kimberley V. Sukhum. “We see something similar with the cerebellum in the mormyrids. But it wasn't known how this region had gotten so big - or even if all of the species had a very big cerebellum.”

For the investigation, the team compared individuals from six mormyrid species, one species that was considered a close relative, and three other distantly related fish species.

The researchers used micro-CT technology to collect full scans of the soft tissue of the fishes' brains, creating 3D maps which allowed them to measure the volume of individual regions of the brain with remarkable accuracy. 

Among all of the fish examined in the study, the team found that the sizes of individual regions within the brain increased in a predictable fashion as the total brain size increased. In the mormyrids, however, the size of the cerebellum could not be fully predicted by the total size of the brain.

“Here, we see the mosaic increases only in the mormyrids, and not in the outgroups,” said Sukhum. “And one of the things that we see in the mormyrids and not the outgroups is the electrosensory system. There is a potential relationship between these two things.”

While the study did not produce a definitive answer for why mormyrids have such big cerebellums, Professor Carlson believes that this part of the brain may be responsible for most of the mormyrid's motor planning, and also for anticipating any sensory feedback that will be received after the fish's electrical charges are released. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why do electric fish have such unusually large brains?

After mapping the brain of African mormyrid fish with great...

A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a> used small tracking devices to monitor food consumption in four very different wild vertebrates. The experts have discovered that animals using a high-risk strategy to find food are particularly threatened with extinction. 

Over a six year study period, the researchers used thumbnail-sized electronic tags to record the movement of condors, cheetahs, penguins, and sheep in Argentina, South Africa, and Northern Ireland. 

The tags, which are nicknamed the “Daily Diary,” capture everything from the surrounding temperature to the animal's minute movements. Data from the tags can be used to measure: the probability of finding <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/food-waste-united-states/">food</a>, the size of the food, the effort used to find the food, and the energy used for other activities such as rest and play.  

Professor Rory Wilson is a world-renowned expert on animal movement and the study's lead author.

“We know that animal populations across the world are taking a hit, with the most charismatic animals like lions and cheetahs being among the worst affected, but up until now it hasn't been clear why,” explained Professor Wilson.

“Our study has revealed that animals that use a high-risk gambling strategy to find food, like lions and tigers, which have to search for long periods before they get lucky and find prey, are more likely to fail to accrue the energy they need to breed, compared to animals that adopt a low-risk gambling strategy, like herbivores such as zebras.”

[caption id="attachment_1861942" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-penguin.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861942" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-penguin-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="464" /></a> Image Credit: David Grémillet[/caption]

The amount of time that young members of a species can survive without food depends on their size, but all of the newborns examined in this study could not live without food for more than a few days.

The animals who engaged in a high-risk food-finding strategies put their offspring at risk. The dangers of this hunting behavior can be seen by comparing two penguin species. Magellanic penguins of Argentina find fish with no problem, while African penguins have very poor odds for their food-finding stakes.

“It appears that commercial fishing has changed the game rules for the worse for the African penguins. When animals are taking rare prey anyway, even small changes in the ecosystem stemming from human activities can be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of breeding success, and this seems to be the case for the African penguin, whose population is now just 1% of what it was 100 years ago,” said Professor Wilson.

The model developed by the research team may prove to be critical to the development of successful conservation plans to protect species worldwide. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Emily Shepard

Animals with risky foraging tactics are most at risk of extinction

A team of researchers led by Swansea University used small...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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