Octopuses have long fascinated scientists with their intelligence, camouflage abilities, and unique biology. 



These remarkable creatures continue to surprise researchers, revealing new secrets about their evolutionary past. One of the most intriguing mysteries has been the question of how octopuses determine their sex.



Scientists at the University of Oregon recently identified a sex chromosome in the California two-spot octopus. This discovery confirms that cephalopods, a group that includes squid and nautiluses, rely on chromosomes for sex determination. 



The research also suggests that this chromosome has existed for at least 480 million years, making it one of the oldest known sex chromosomes in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/turquets-octopus-dna-tells-scientists-that-west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse-is-close/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animal kingdom</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sex-chromosome-in-octopuses">Sex chromosome in octopuses</h2>



“Cephalopods are already such interesting creatures, and there are so many things we’re still learning about them, especially in neuroscience,” said Gabby Coffing, a doctoral student at the <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oregon</a>. 



“This is just showing one more interesting thing about them: They have really ancient sex chromosomes.”



The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, provide new insights into the genetic history of octopuses and their relatives. Understanding this ancient sex determination system could help scientists uncover more about how these intelligent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-octopus-day-the-intelligent-creatures-of-the-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">creatures</a> evolved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sex-determination-varies-across-species">Sex determination varies across species</h2>



Sex determination is not the same for all animals. While humans and most mammals rely on the X/Y chromosome system, other species follow different methods. 



In turtles, sex depends on the temperature at which the eggs incubate. Some fish determine sex using a single gene rather than a whole chromosome. 



Even in humans, sex chromosomes are not always straightforward. Gene mutations or extra sex chromosomes can lead to biological variations that do not fit into a simple male or female category.



Cephalopods have long posed a challenge for genetic research. They are not standard laboratory animals like mice or fruit flies, making it difficult for scientists to study their genetics in depth. 



Although researchers have sequenced the genomes of some octopus <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopus-suckers-the-future-of-underwater-adhesives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">species</a>, they still struggle to link specific genes to particular traits. The discovery of an octopus sex chromosome marks a major breakthrough in understanding how these animals develop and reproduce.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unique-sex-chromosome-in-female-octopuses">Unique sex chromosome in female octopuses</h2>



The research team at the University of Oregon made an unexpected discovery when sequencing the DNA of a female California two-spot octopus. 



Among its 30 chromosomes, one stood out because it contained only half the usual amount of genetic material. This anomaly had not appeared in previous studies of male octopus DNA.



“This particular chromosome had half the amount of sequencing data, which indicated there was only one copy,” Coffing explained. “Then as we explored that more, we reached the conclusion that we must have stumbled upon a sex chromosome.”



This finding suggested that female octopuses carry a unique chromosome that males do not. The scientists needed to confirm their discovery by comparing it with data from other cephalopods. 



If this chromosome appeared in multiple species, it would indicate an ancient and consistent pattern of sex determination.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sex-chromosome-exists-in-other-cephalopods">Sex chromosome exists in other cephalopods</h2>



The team analyzed genomic data from other octopus species and found similar evidence of this unique chromosome. 



The experts also detected the sex chromosome in squid, a species that diverged from octopuses between 248 and 455 million years ago. More surprisingly, they identified traces of it in the nautilus, a mollusk that split from the octopus lineage approximately 480 million years ago.



“This indicates that their common ancestor had this similar sex determination system,” Coffing said.



Most sex chromosomes change rapidly over time because they play a crucial role in reproduction. However, this cephalopod sex chromosome appears to have remained stable for hundreds of millions of years. 



This suggests that octopuses and their relatives have relied on this system without significant evolutionary changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-ancient-sex-chromosomes">Comparing ancient sex chromosomes</h2>



While the octopus sex chromosome is one of the oldest known, other ancient sex chromosomes exist in nature. 



Some plants, like mosses and liverworts, evolved their sex chromosomes early in Earth’s history. Insects also have sex chromosomes that date back about 450 million years, though these have changed considerably over time.



The discovery in octopuses challenges the idea that sex chromosomes always evolve quickly. It suggests that some systems remain stable if they continue to work effectively over long periods. Cephalopods seem to have found a genetic formula for sex determination that has stood the test of time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mystery-of-the-missing-w-chromosome">Mystery of the missing W chromosome</h2>



One question remains unanswered: how exactly does the sex determination system work in octopuses? Scientists initially suspected that octopuses might have a system similar to birds and butterflies, where males have two identical chromosomes (ZZ) and females have one of each (ZW).



Kern and his team searched for a W chromosome in female octopuses but didn't find one. This leaves open the possibility that octopuses follow a different system in which males have two copies of a single chromosome (ZZ), while females have only one (Z).



Researchers still need more evidence to confirm how octopus sex chromosomes function. While this study has solved one piece of the puzzle, many questions remain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-secrets-of-the-octopus">Secrets of the octopus </h2>



Octopuses continue to be one of the most enigmatic creatures in the ocean. Their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-octopus-has-mastered-the-art-of-multispecies-hunting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intelligence</a>, problem-solving skills, and unique genetics set them apart from most other animals. 



The discovery of an ancient sex chromosome adds another layer to their <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">evolutionary story</a>. For now, researchers know that this octopus sex chromosome has been around for nearly half a billion years. However, the exact mechanics of how it works remain uncertain.



As scientists continue to explore cephalopod genetics, they will uncover more about how these fascinating animals developed their extraordinary traits.



The octopus has revealed one of its secrets, but it still holds on to many more.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00005-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

Sex chromosome discovered in octopuses is 480 million years old

Octopuses have long fascinated scientists with their intelligence, camouflage abilities, and unique biology. These remarkable creatures continue to surprise researchers, revealing new secrets about their evolutionary past. One of the most intriguing mysteries has been the question of how octopuses determine their sex. Scientists at the University of Oregon recently identified a sex chromosome in the California two-spot octopus. This discovery confirms that cephalopods, a group that includes squid and nautiluses, rely on chromosomes for sex determination. The research also suggests that this chromosome has existed for...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/">Durham University</a> are reporting that dogs could be trained to sniff out malaria in people. While investigating ways to prevent the spread of the deadly disease, the experts found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dogs-understand-words-mri/">dogs</a> could identify the scent of malaria in samples of socks worn by infected children.

The findings could ultimately lead to the first rapid, non-invasive test for malaria. 

"There is no test diagnostic that is 100% effective," Professor Steve Lindsay, study lead investigator, exclusively told <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>. "The best we have is Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays which can be used to identify very low densities of parasites, but this requires blood to be taken. It is too early to give costs for the dogs. But we see the dogs being used in malaria-free countries to help reduce the number of people carrying malaria parasites into the country. The cost of a malaria resurgence in a country that was once malaria free is huge."

Even though the research is in its early stages, the scientists hope that trained sniffer dogs can help pinpoint infected people faster so that they can be treated more quickly, which would also help to keep malaria from spreading to other countries.

“While our findings are at an early stage, in principle we have shown that dogs could be trained to detect malaria infected people by their odor with a credible degree of accuracy,” explained study lead investigator  Professor Steve Lindsay.

“This could provide a non-invasive way of screening for the disease at ports of entry in a similar way to how sniffer dogs are routinely used to detect fruit and vegetables or drugs at airports.”

“This could help prevent the spread of malaria to countries that have been declared malaria free and also ensure that people, many of whom might be unaware that they are infected with the malaria parasite, receive antimalarial drug treatment for the disease.”

For the study, the researchers used nylon socks to collect foot odor samples from seemingly healthy children between the ages of 5 and 14 in the Upper River Region of The Gambia in West Africa. The children were also tested for the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in their blood.

Using the sock samples, a Labrador-Golden Retriever and a Labrador at the Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) charity were trained to distinguish between the scent of children infected with malaria parasites and those who were uninfected. 


Overall, there were 30 sock samples from malaria-positive children and 145 samples from uninfected children. The dogs were able to correctly identify 70 percent of the malaria-infected samples, as well as 90 percent of the samples without malaria parasites.

Study co-author Dr. Claire Guest is the Chief Executive Officer of Medical Detection Dogs, located in Milton Keynes, UK.

“MDD have had positive results training dogs to detect diseases including cancer and diabetes sugar changes by odor. This is the first time we have trained dogs to detect a parasite infection and we are delighted by these early results,” said Dr. Claire.

“The possible potential to train dogs to detect tropical disease where diagnostics are poor, such as leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis is huge. I believe that this study indicates that dogs have an excellent ability to detect malaria and if presented within an individual infected with the parasite or a piece of recently worn clothing, their accuracy levels will be extremely high. This is a reliable, non-invasive test and is extremely exciting for the future.”

Study co-author Professor James Logan is the Head of the Department of Disease Control at the <a href="https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/">London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine</a>.

“Worryingly, our progress on the control of malaria has stalled in recent years, so we desperately need innovative new tools to help in the fight against malaria,” said Professor Logan. “Our results show that sniffer dogs could be a serious way of making diagnosis of people who don't show any symptoms, but are still infectious, quicker and easier.”

The research, which was funded by the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</a>, was presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Medical Detection Dogs

&nbsp;

Dogs can be used to quickly and easily diagnose malaria

Researchers at Durham University are reporting that dogs could be...

Ahead of Halloween, wildlife officials are urging people to take precautions to protect wildlife. While fake cobwebs are meant to be a fun part of the festivities surrounding the holiday, they pose a risk to wild animals who can become entangled in the fabric.

Fake cobwebs can catch a number of species who live in close proximity to humans such as deer, squirrels, raccoons and insects. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wind-turbines-harm-birds-100-miles-away/">Birds</a> are likely at the greatest risk of entanglement, especially when cobwebs are hung off the ground and obstruct a bird’s flight path. Since the cobwebs are lightweight, they can also blow away and enter animals’ habitats.

Even if wild animals normally keep their distance from humans, they may be attracted to the area by other Halloween decorations. Pumpkins left outside are a tempting treat and may entice wild animals to a front yard where they can encounter the cobwebs. The Arizona Game and Fish Department even warned residents ahead of Halloween this year that they could be fined up to $300 if wild animals eat their Halloween decorations, according to<a href="https://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2018/10/24/residents-could-be-fined-for-wildlife-eating-halloween-decorations/"> News 4 Tucson</a>.

In one instance, an owl in California became entangled in a fake cobweb on Halloween night. When the owl tried to escape, he panicked and only became more ensnared. Thankfully, the Marin Humane Society responded to the scene and rescued him. He was then taken to WildCare in San Rafael for treatment and was returned to the wild. The family took down their cobwebs after the incident and decided to stop using the decorations permanently.

It’s not just Halloween that threatens wildlife. WildCare has seen animals clash with decorations throughout the year.

"It's a lot more common than people realize," said WildCare Director Melanie Piazza told<a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Real-Owl-Caught-in-Fake-Halloween-Spider-Web-132831773.html"> NBC Bay Area</a>. "We've had squirrels come in with Fourth of July banners wrapped around their tails and deer that have been stuck in Christmas lights."

Fireworks can also cause harm to wild animal through loud noises, toxins and direct obstructions. One Arkansas neighborhood famously brought in the New Year in 2011 with<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/us/04beebe.html"> thousands of dead birds falling from the sky</a>. Wildlife officials believe the fireworks caused the birds to become disorientated. The birds began flying at lower heights to avoid the fireworks and collided into homes and trees, resulting in their death.

People who want to enjoy their holidays do not need to forgo all decorations. For Halloween, people can hang fake cobwebs up from inside their windows or use other decorations such as jack-o’-lanterns with fake candles. This way the only ones who are spooked are the trick-or-treaters.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Fake cobwebs can cause more than just a spook to wildlife

Ahead of Halloween, wildlife officials are urging people to take...

Researchers have captured a rare sighting of a “ghostly” octopus gliding through the deep ocean waters off the coast of California. Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the experts spotted the white cephalopod near the Davidson Seamount in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The octopus is known as a dumbo, or an umbrella octopus, with wing-like fins and a “web” that fans out like an umbrella. The rarely-seen sea creature, which was caught on video by the <a href="https://www.nautiluslive.org/ev-nautilus">Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus</a> team, looks like a cartoon apparition drifting across the dark sea.

The cephalopod was spotted during the first of a series of dives at the Davidson Seamount, when the ROV was deployed to examine an unexplored “oasis” that features fields of coral and sponge. The experts estimate that the octopus was about two feet in length.

“At first the ghostly octopod drifted past the camera on ROV Hercules flapping its pair of wing-like fins, then it inverted its web, spreading it like an umbrella to reveal the eight arms each with a single series of suckers and two series of finger-like muscular structures called cirri,” said the researchers.

The team is exploring an area near the Davidson Seamount, which is located 80 miles southwest of Monterey and 75 miles west of San Simeon, that stretches from 3,100 to 3,600 meters deep. The goal of the study is to document the presence of deep-sea life and to collect water and sediment samples.

According to E/V Nautilus: “Davidson Seamount is an inactive volcanic undersea mountain habitat off the coast of central California, and is considered to be an area of special national significance. One of the largest known seamounts in U.S. waters, the seamount has been called ‘an oasis in the deep’ in an otherwise flat seafloor, hosting large coral forests, vast sponge fields, crabs, deep-sea fishes, shrimp, basket stars, and high numbers of rare and unidentified benthic species.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: National Marine Sanctuaries/<a href="http://noaa.gov">NOAA</a>

A rare look at a ghostly octopus off the coast of California

Researchers have captured a rare sighting of a “ghostly” octopus...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.fiu.edu/">Florida International University</a> (FIU) have discovered a new species of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tiny-fossil-jurassic-crocodiles/">crocodile</a> for the first time in 85 years. The experts were studying the critically endangered slender-snouted crocodile when they realized that it was not just one species, but two.

Matthew Shirley is the team's lead researcher and a crocodile expert at FIU’s Tropical Conservation Institute.

“Recognizing the slender-snouted crocodile as actually comprised of two different species is cause for great conservation concern,” explained Shirley. “We estimate only 10 percent of slender-snouted crocodiles occur in West Africa, effectively diminishing its population by 90 percent.” 

“This makes the West African slender-snouted crocodile one of the most critically endangered crocodile species in the world.”

Slender-snouted crocodiles live in remote areas where they have little interaction with people. They camouflage themselves from potential predators in bodies of water with thick vegetation, which has made the task of collecting DNA samples from them very challenging. 


After analyzing the DNA and physical characteristics of the crocodile across six African countries, the scientists recognized two distinct species. Beyond the DNA evidence, the scientists found differences in the skull shape and scales of the crocodiles.

One group of slender-snouted crocodiles is unique to West Africa, and the other is unique to Central Africa.

Slender-snouted crocodiles have been classified on the IUCN list as “critically endangered” since 2014. They are threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and overfishing.

The FIU research will provide new insight into crocodile evolution and diversity, as well as conservation.

“We hope that this better understanding of slender-snouted crocodile evolution and taxonomy draws much-needed attention to the plight of this species, which has long been recognized as the least known crocodilian in the world,” said Shirley.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/">Zootaxa</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: Florida International University

New species of crocodile discovered for the first time in 85 years

Researchers at Florida International University (FIU) have discovered a new...

A new study by scientists at <a href="https://www.murdoch.edu.au/">Murdoch University</a> in western Australia has found that tourist activities are making dolphins more vulnerable to sharks and other predators. The experts are also warning that interactions with tourists may be disrupting the social and reproductive behavior of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dolphins-work-together-coordinate/">dolphins</a>.

The investigation, which was focused on spinner dolphins in Hawaii, revealed that these beloved dolphins spend more than 82 percent of the daytime in contact with vacationers. According to the researchers, chronic exposure to swimmers and boats is the depriving the dolphins of rest.

Study lead author Dr. Julian Tyne explained, “During periods of activity, animals usually exhibit enhanced brain function, which is often referred to as vigilance.”

“Vigilance is required for many activities including foraging, socializing and predator avoidance. As animals undertake these cognitively challenging activities they tire. This can manifest as a decreased ability to detect predators or prey.”

“To recover from their energetic and cognitively challenging night-time foraging activities, spinner dolphins need to rest.”

The spinner dolphin gets this name from the impressive acrobatic skill of launching out of the water and spinning - a very popular attraction for tourists in Hawaii. The new study has found that these particular dolphins are exposed to 25 percent more human interaction than any other type of dolphin.

“Dolphins were exposed to human activities within 100 meters for 82.7 percent of the daytime,” said Dr. Tyne. The dolphins were found to have an average of only ten minutes of rest between each group of tourists.

Bottlenose dolphins that live in coastal regions have also been found to suffer from a lack of rest due to interactions with humans. 

“Dolphins need time to recover from a disturbance to return to a pre-disturbed activity state,” explained Dr. Tyne. “For example, bottlenose dolphins in Milford Sound, New Zealand, required at least 68 minutes between interactions to return to their pre-disturbed behavior.”

“It is likely the short time intervals between successive exposure events are insufficient for spinner dolphins to return to a natural behavioral state between exposures.”

Rest deprivation can lead to impaired cognitive and decision making abilities among dolphins.

“Impaired cognition, may affect the success of this cooperative foraging strategy, by compromising the development and reinforcement of social bonds or to properly perceive prey patches during foraging activities,” said Dr. Tyne.

“Impaired cognition can adversely affect the social cohesion of a community. Moreover, mothers and calves may be particularly susceptible to rest deprivation if the ability of mothers to properly care for, feed and protect their calves is compromised.”

“Elsewhere, dolphin communities with considerably less cumulative exposure to human activities have had their natural behavioral patterns disrupted.”

For example, populations of bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand and Western Australia have been reduced by tour boats. According to Dr. Tyne, the spinner dolphins of Hawaii are under similar pressure, and signs of displacement are emerging.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

--

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

Constant human interaction makes dolphins vulnerable to sharks

A new study by scientists at Murdoch University in western...

As we <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aquarium-fish-caught-cyanide/">reported recently</a>, the destructive practice of poisoning fish with cyanide to capture them for the aquarium trade is sadly quite common.  Not only are some of the fish accidentally killed with the cyanide used, other species are poisoned and sometimes hiding fish are pried from broken reefs after being poisoned.  An estimated 14 million fish are killed before they can be sold as aquarium pets due to unsafe wild capture techniques. 

Interestingly, different fish poisons have been used for much longer periods with less devastating effects.  Cyanide in many ways is just a poor adaptation of ancient techniques to the modern world via chemistry and global economics.    

Different plants have been used to poison fish to catch as food the world over.  Yellow cheesewood, (Nauclea orientalis) is a tree native to Australia, Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia.  Yellow cheesewood has a bark that was traditionally used in Australia as a poison added to slow moving water to stun fish making them easier to catch.  <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256362">One study</a> of Indigenous people in Guyana found that at least 11 species of plants were used by Amerindians for fish poison.  The practice of using toxins to catch fish is a global one, having been used independently in Africa, North America and Europe as well.

The practice of fishing with poison is ancient.  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_toxins">King Frederick II</a> of Germany outlawed certain fish poisons in 1212 and other European countries followed suit a few centuries later.  Poison fishing has been practiced the world over much longer than that, with much of it probably predating any written record by centuries.        

Another type of fishing similar in some ways to the practice of using poison for fishing is dynamite fishing, or blast fishing.  Blast fishing is similar to fishing with poison superficially in that the explosion doesn’t always immediately kill fish. Instead, shock waves from an explosion stun fish that then float to the water’s surface to be captured.  This type of fishing began to spread across the world from contact between locals and European militaries. Soldiers sometimes used grenades to stun fish for quick meals during World War I, sometimes locals learned the technique this way and adapted it to dynamite.

Fishing with explosives is illegal in most of the world but it doesn’t stop people from trying anyway.  <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-earthquake-fishing-idUSN0532212720080806">Reuters</a> quotes a Peruvian fisherman saying that the illegal practice of fishing with dynamite allows some to catch as many as 100 or 200 kilos of fish with ease.  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/world/asia/philippines-dynamite-fishing-coral.html">The New York Times</a> reported earlier this year on the devastation fishing with bombs is causing in the Philippines.  The World Bank reported in 2015 that $8 in dynamite can capture about 400 fish in Tanzania. 

The thing that is interesting about these practices is that they aren’t carried out by large, highly commercial fishing vessels.  The New York Times article describes a man in an outrigger canoe fishing this way.  The Reuters article gives the impression that the people in Peru are largely small scale fishermen just supporting their families.  But $8 isn’t a largescale commercial investment. Another thing to note about dynamite fishing: it takes place in fresh water streams, rivers and lakes as well as in the ocean.

The Philippines are in the midst of the oceanic biodiversity of coral reefs.  With climate change, reefs are already threatened with bleaching. Overfishing is a continuous global problem hurting the Philippines as well.  Practices like blast fishing can exasperate threats already facing the local environment. Not only do blasts kill or stun fish indiscriminately, they kill other smaller organisms unused by fishermen and even blow apart the reef systems where fish live.  According to the New York Times, 90% of Philippine reefs surveyed from 2015 to 2017 were found to be poor or fair in condition, none found to be excellent.  

An unfortunate effect of fishing with explosives (or cyanide for that matter) as opposed to organic toxins is that it often kills fish, even if they aren’t eaten.  Some of the organic fish toxins used by many indigenous groups didn’t actually kill fish. The poisons only stunned fish long enough for them to be caught. Fish not picked out of the water to be eaten often survived the encounter, swimming away when the toxins wore off.  This isn’t always the case. Toxins vary widely by region but one thing is true: organic toxins eventually break down and they don’t harm the physical environment with explosions. 

Blast fishing is more dangerous, and in places like the Amazon Rainforest, the practice comes from contact with outsiders.  Fishing and hunting practices in many indigenous groups have changed from contact with outsiders less familiar with the region.  

<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130213094115.htm">Science Daily</a> reported on research from Stanford in 2013 finding that contact from missionaries has changed taboos related to meat consumption in the Amazon region.  The change in consumption habits has in turn affected the biodiversity of the world’s largest tropical rainforest. One of the researchers, Jose Fragoso, told Science Daily:

“Based on field observations, I think that the removal of shamans has translated into more killing of animals… Our perception is that they are killing more animals that are not taboo, such as pigs, and also that they are making kills in the holy areas, which were previously off-limits.”

Along with the change in food taboos, technology has changed as well.  Hunting now may be done in the Amazon with a shotgun instead of arrows or blow gun darts.  Fishing may now be done with gunpowder instead of tree bark poison. Certain taboos and technical limitations are part of what made the lives of many indigenous peoples the world over sustainable.  These factors are certainly part of fishing. 

The Philippines, so hurt by blast fishing, is reported by the <a href="https://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines">Asia Society</a> to be the only Christian nation in Asia.  86% of the country is said to be Roman Catholic with another 8% belonging to other Christian sects.  Religion also plays a role in places like Fiji, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/reeling-in-religious-messages-how-faith-impacts-fisheries-in-fiji/">Mongabay</a> reports, a nation where both Christianity and fishing play important roles in daily life.  

To a degree, limiting the dangers of technology like dynamite and other explosives may depend on new laws but also the restrictions of new taboos.  In a world where traditional taboos limiting hunting, gathering and fishing have been eroded, it is important that new taboos based on sustainability and ethics are developed.  Despite blast fishing being illegal in the Philippines, it continues and ideas that fish are doing well despite marked declines are popular. Ideas of environmental health often seem to be driven by belief systems more than direct evidence.       

Mongabay reported in 2014 that the belief that abundance of fish is directly controlled by God was a commonly held one in Fiji.  Mongabay also reported on efforts to promote a different philosophy of humans being held responsible as stewards of nature, including fisheries.  Sometimes ideas like these hold more weight than scientific ones of sustainable harvest. Religion, unlike law, is a choice and may help turn people away from blast fishing in the end as well as promote the idea that protected areas are sacred.                                                                                 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

From organic poison to blast fishing, technique has an impact

As we reported recently, the destructive practice of poisoning fish...

As <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/can-living-near-wind-turbines-have-an-effect-your-health/">wind turbines</a> increase in popularity as a form of sustainable energy production, certain bird species may be at risk of depletion. According to a recent report by the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6315657/Could-wind-farms-wipe-BIRDS-Populations-smaller-close-turbines.html">DailyMail</a>, a new study from Ireland’s <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/">University College Cork (UCC)</a>, published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13239?af=R&amp;">Conservation Biology</a>, shows that the clearing of land for the construction of wind turbines has led to a 10% decline in bird populations within that area.

UCC researchers warn that if wind energy ends up providing a fifth of the world’s energy by the middle of the century, as experts predict it will, biodiversity within the area of wind farms could suffer greatly.

“Most people are familiar with the problem of bird collisions with wind turbine blades,” UCC’s  head researcher Dr. Darío Fernández-Bellon told the DailyMail. “But this study highlights how indirect effects, such as the alteration of habitats, can also be important. Our study shows that wind farms have different effects on different bird species depending on the habitats they use and how these habitats are affected by wind farm development.”

Furthermore, after comparing 12 Irish wind farms to 12 control sites throughout two breeding seasons, Dr. Fernández-Bellon noted that turbine noise, human activity, and visual disturbance, may also send birds away from the area. 

“Total bird densities were lower at wind farms than at control sites, and the greatest differences occurred close to turbines,” Dr. Fernández-Bellon added.

The most-affected birds were forest species such as chaffinches, great tits and gold-crests, which had lessened populations within 330 feet of turbines than at greater distances, according to the study’s findings.

This study shows that, although wind energy is beneficial on a global sphere, turbines could be indirectly damaging environments and biodiversity much closer to home.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wind turbines could be the cause of dwindling bird populations

As wind turbines increase in popularity as a form of...

In an effort to better protect the less than 4,000 free-ranging tigers left in the world, researchers at <a href="http://english.pku.edu.cn/">Peking University</a> in Beijing set out to finally find how many subspecies of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nepals-tigers-double-population/">tiger</a> exist. After analyzing the complete genomes of the 32 representative tiger specimen, researchers now know for sure that there are six genetically different tiger subspecies.

The report of their findings, published in Current Biology on October 25th, list the six groups as followed: the Bengal tiger, the Amur tiger, the South China tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the Indochinese tiger, and the Malayan tiger. The report also notes that three other tiger subspecies have already been lost to extinction.

“The lack of consensus over the number of tiger subspecies has partially hindered the global effort to recover the species from the brink of extinction, as both captive breeding and landscape intervention of wild populations increasingly requires an explicit delineation of the conservation management units," Peking University’s Shu-Jin Luo said. "This study is the first to reveal the tiger's natural history from a whole-genomic perspective. It provides robust, genome-wide evidence for the origin and evolution of this charismatic megafauna species."

Luo and his colleagues knew that using a whole-genome approach to reexamine the evolution of tiger species was the only way to see which subspecies of tigers had undergone natural selection to adapt to specific environments. Luo’s team found that, between tiger groups. there is low gene diversity. However, despite this, the team discovered that groups evolved separately and uniquely.

The differences between the above listed subspecies are mainly physical in terms of coloring and size. Despite a common ancestor, this evidence alone shows researchers natural selection was at play. Luo added, “In the end, we were quite amazed that, by performing a stepwise genome-wide scan, seven regions including 14 genes stood out as the potential regions subject for selection.”

With better understanding as to how tiger species and subspecies differ, the hope is that efforts to keep them from extinction can be more uniquely tailored to tigers in specific areas throughout the world.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Of 6 separate tiger species, only 4,000 tigers remain in the wild

In an effort to better protect the less than 4,000...

Scientists are describing a new species of the “first bird,” which they have named Archaeopteryx albersdoerferi. The study confirms that these creatures, which had teeth and clawed fingers, served as an evolutionary transition point between dinosaurs and birds.

Using synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography, the researchers were able to virtually dissect the fossil and identify skeletal adaptations that would have enabled A. albersdoerferi to fly.

Study lead author Martin Kundrát from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Slovakia explained:

“Archaeopteryx albersdoerferi is one of the most important specimens of Archaeopteryx because it is around 400,000 years younger than any of the others found so far.”

“This is the first time that numerous bones and teeth of Archaeopteryx were viewed from all aspects including exposure of their inner structure. The use of synchrotron microtomography was the only way to study the specimen as it is heavily compressed with many fragmented bones partly or completely hidden in limestone.”

Study co-author Dr. John Nudds from <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">Manchester University</a> added, “Geochemical analysis of the rock encasing the bones implies this specimen came, unlike others, from the younger Mörnsheim Formation.”

The analysis revealed that A. albersdoerferi shares more features in common with modern birds than with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/massive-dinosaurs-sneak-prey/">dinosaurs</a>.

The birdlike traits suggest that A. albersdoerferi may have had improved flying ability compared to older species of Archaeopteryx. The most notable of these avian traits were thin air-filled bones, an increased area for attachment of flight muscles on the wishbone, and a reinforced configuration of bones in the wrist and hand.

“Significantly, however, when we examined the evolutionary relationships of various species of Archaeopteryx we found that its flight-related characteristics had appeared separately from those of more advanced bird-line dinosaurs, implying that flying lifestyles have developed more than once,” said study co-author Dr. Benjamin Kear of Uppsala University.

The 150-million-year-old fossils of Archaeopteryx have been known since 1861, and a total of 12 specimens have been recovered to date. The fossil in this study, the “Daiting Specimen,” is one of the most mysterious.

The fossil was discovered in a quarry near Daiting in southern Germany in 1990, but has been held in private ownership until its purchase in 2009 by palaeontologist Raimund Albersdoerfer.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ghbi20">Historical 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: Zhao Chuang

New species marked the transition between dinosaurs and birds

Scientists are describing a new species of the “first bird,”...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> have been investigating how animals communicate using chemicals called <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/insecticide-attracts-mosquitoes/">pheromones</a>. The study revealed that a substance found in the tears of juvenile mice causes adult females to reject the sexual advances of males. Because pheromones are highly species specific, this behavior does not necessarily apply to humans.

“If humans can detect anything in tears, we won't use the same pheromone signal or receptor as mice,” explained study lead author Professor Kazushige Touhara. “But we are investigating if species share the basic neurocircuitry of how the brain processes an olfactory signal to affect behavior.”

The pheromone, exocrine gland-secreting peptide 22 (ESP22), is only produced by juvenile mice aged one to three weeks. ESP22 is not airborne or noticeable by scent, but is easily spread around the territory as mothers and young mice wipe tears during grooming.

“It is unlikely that other animals would be affected because pheromones are so species specific,” said Professor Touhara. “The sex-rejecting behavior is an innate instinct, so it's also unlikely that the mice will learn to change their behavior or ignore the artificial pheromone.”

Exposure to ESP22 was found to cause both mothers and virgin female mice to reject male sexual advances. In theory, this would benefit juvenile mice by reducing the number of siblings that will be born to compete for resources.

According to the researchers, the tear pheromone could be used in the future as a type of natural birth control to reduce mouse populations.

“ESP22 is difficult to artificially synthesize, so we want to find a smaller portion of the pheromone molecule that could be added to mouse drinking water,” said Professor Touhara. “This could prevent mice breeding in areas where they are pests.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pheromones in baby tears cause females to reject sexual advances

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have been investigating how...

According to new research from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, published in Science, the evolution of major species of fish recognizable today took place in shallow coastal waters, referred to as “fragile near shore environments.”

Researchers from the University, along with colleagues from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">Universities of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="https://umich.edu/">Michigan</a>, and <a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/">Manchester</a>, used fossil records of global primitive fish to obtain their findings. The aim of their study was to figure out what early <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-waters-fish-behavior/">fish</a> species diversification looked like more than 420 million years ago. The team used a “big data” approach by studying 2,700 early fossil records and then used mathematical modelling to theorize the type of habitat from which these fish emerged.

"Most of today's major groups of fishes, from jawless hagfish and lampreys through to sharks and the bony fish we are familiar with make their first appearance during the Ordovician, around 480 million years ago, or shortly thereafter" Dr. Ivan Sansom, senior lecturer in palaeobiology at the University of Birmingham and co-lead author of the study, said. "The big surprise for us was that all of these seem to have started their evolutionary journey in these very shallow waters close to the shoreline."

Thanks to their mobility, fish which developed more flexible bodies moved away from the shoreline, whereas others headed toward fresh water. More rigid fish species lingered in shallower waters due to their limited swimming ability. And some fish species even migrated toward the shore where they eventually evolved into land-dwelling vertebrates.

Researchers also found that many of the fossils they looked at were contained within extremely similar environments, which suggests this specific environment may have been ideal for fish evolution.

Dr. Sansom noted that they aren’t sure what it is exactly about these environments that made them so special, “but we do think they provided evolutionary 'hotspots', responsible for generating this rich diversity,” he said.

The research also suggests that the current threats of climate change, elevated sea levels, over-fishing, and ocean pollution could have severely negative effects on future fish species diversification.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Nobumichi Tamura

The evolution of modern fish took place in shallow waters

According to new research from the University of Birmingham’s School...

Druck

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns. Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a> discovered why some species of colorful African cichlid fish have stripes while others don’t.

The study sheds insight on the genetic basis of convergent or repeated evolution, where different biological features will show up repeatedly independent of each other in a species' history. 

In this case, the researcher’s findings help explain what’s driving the repeated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evolution-changes/">evolution of stripes</a> for cichlids in African lakes.How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns

The study was published in the journal Science. 

Stripes are common in the animal kingdom and among the thousand or so types of cichlid fish in Africa, there are many different variations of vertical and horizontal stripes and well and distinct color patterns. 

This makes the cichlid an excellent model for studying repeated evolution, according to the researchers.

[caption id="attachment_1861287" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/color.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861287" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/color-1024x724.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="495" /></a> Image Copyright: Claudius Kratochwil[/caption]

"They are extremely diverse in terms of social behaviour, body shape, colour pattern, and many other biological aspects, but at the same time certain features repeatedly evolved independently in the different lakes,” said Axel Meyer, the leader of the study. 

The researchers were able to identify the genetic mechanisms responsible for stripes and reconstructed the expression of genes necessary to turn stripes “on” or “off” in different breeds of cichlids using CRISPR, a precise tool for editing genes.

“If we use CRISPR-Cas to remove the gene from the genome of a species without stripes,” said Claudius Kratochwil, the first author of the study. “Then even a ‘stripeless’ fish will suddenly develop stripes, as we showed with a CRISPR-Cas mutant fish. This proves that the stripes gene is the decisive genetic factor.” 

The stripe gene is called agrp2 and is similar to the genes responsible for coloring and patterns in different species as well. 

“In breeding experiments, we can exactly determine on which of the 22 chromosomes, even on which area of the chromosome of the fish, the genetic instruction for stripes is located,” said Kratochwil.

Cichlids' stripes have disappeared and re-emerged over the course of millions of years which is why the fish are so intriguing to researchers. Typically when an evolutionary characteristic is lost, it’s lost forever in favor of new traits that better serve a species. 

The specific stripe gene agrp2 of the cichlid fish makes repeated evolution a possibility. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Copyright: Claudius Kratochwil

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns. Researchers...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...