Urban coyotes are thriving in cities, but not for the reasons one might expect. A recent study reveals that human-related factors, rather than access to natural habitats, have a stronger impact on their survival.&nbsp;



Researchers tracking coyotes in Chicago discovered that densely populated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-living-causes-chronic-stress-for-some-coyotes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human areas</a> are linked to longer coyote lifespans, overturning the conventional belief that wildlife fares better in more natural settings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-presence-plays-a-surprising-role">Human presence plays a surprising role</h2>



“What we found was really interesting, in that the societal characteristics seem to play a much more important role in predicting coyote survival time than the environmental characteristics,” said Emily Zepeda, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Ohio State University</a>.&nbsp;



“And then we found this positive effect of human population density on survival time. Both of those things are unexpected because we usually associate human activity with detrimental effects on wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-urban-coyote-research-project">The Urban Coyote Research Project</h2>



The study, recently published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01643-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Urban Ecosystems</a>, stems from the Urban Coyote Research Project, a long-term study of coyote ecology in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.&nbsp;



This research, led by wildlife ecologist Stan Gehrt, has monitored the behavior and ecology of Chicago’s estimated 4,000 coyotes, offering rare insights into how they adapt to urban life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-coyote-survival">Tracking coyote survival</h2>



For this study, researchers analyzed movement data from 214 coyotes tracked between 2013 and 2021. Using the length of time each coyote was monitored as a proxy for survival, they evaluated societal and environmental factors such as neighborhood income, human density, road density, and proximity to parks.



The findings revealed that human population density positively influenced coyote survival. Coyotes in areas with low human density tended to have shorter lifespans, while those in densely populated areas lived longer. Interestingly, the interaction between income and density also played a role.&nbsp;



In low-density areas, income had little effect on survival, likely due to the lack of human presence. However, in moderate- to high-density neighborhoods, coyotes in lower-income areas were 1.5 times more likely to survive to age two than those in wealthier areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-resources-and-competition-in-urban-settings">Resources and competition in urban settings</h2>



The researchers theorize that higher human population density provides urban coyotes with essential resources like food and shelter, helping them endure harsh conditions such as Chicago winters.&nbsp;



“We’ve hypothesized that population density may have a positive effect because it’s actually providing resources like human-related structures or food that allow coyotes to weather the harsh conditions of the winter, which is a major mortality factor for Chicago coyotes,” Zepeda explained.



However, these benefits may come at a cost in higher-income areas, where vegetation and better waste management can attract more coyotes, leading to increased competition and disease transmission.&nbsp;



“There might be more individuals in those areas, but survival time may be shorter there,” Zepeda said. “You might die younger in an area where there are a lot of competitors.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adaptability-of-coyotes">Adaptability of coyotes</h2>



Surprisingly, the study found no significant link between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-species-are-shifting-their-habitats-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural habitats</a> and coyote survival. Parks and nature preserves, often assumed to be ideal environments for coyotes, did not seem to offer a survival advantage.&nbsp;



“Anecdotally, we see really high densities of coyotes in nature preserves and urban parks. That’s often where you see coyotes in the city if you see them at all,” Zepeda said.



The researchers speculate that this finding could result from a variety of factors, including limitations in how habitat types are classified on city maps or more frequent hunting and trapping in natural areas.&nbsp;



Alternatively, it may highlight the adaptability of coyotes, which seem capable of thriving in urbanized environments despite their preference for natural habitats.&nbsp;



“It could speak to how adaptable they are that they might prefer natural habitat, but at least in terms of survival, they can do just as well in more urbanized areas,” Zepeda added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-societal-factors-and-urban-ecosystems">Societal factors and urban ecosystems</h2>



This study adds to growing evidence that societal factors affecting human populations also influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-biodiversity-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-attainable-for-everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urban ecosystems</a>. The presence or absence of humans, combined with the conditions in which they live, may overshadow natural influences on wildlife survival.&nbsp;



Gehrt’s long-term research emphasizes the importance of understanding these dynamics as urban areas expand.



As urban ecosystems continue to evolve, studies like this provide critical insights into how wildlife interacts with human populations.&nbsp;



Further research could explore specific societal factors - such as waste management practices or public attitudes toward coyotes - and their influence on urban <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-disturbing-details-about-the-state-of-earths-wildlife/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife</a>.



By better understanding these relationships, cities can develop strategies to foster coexistence between humans and animals, creating urban environments where both can thrive.



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Coyotes live longer in densely populated human areas

Urban coyotes are thriving in cities, but not for the reasons one might expect. A recent study reveals that human-related factors, rather than access to natural habitats, have a stronger impact on their survival.&nbsp; Researchers tracking coyotes in Chicago discovered that densely populated human areas are linked to longer coyote lifespans, overturning the conventional belief that wildlife fares better in more natural settings. Human presence plays a surprising role “What we found was really interesting, in that the societal characteristics seem to play a much more important...

Researchers have discovered how some spiders take flight after gauging wind conditions and spinning out tiny nanoscale fibers. 

Ballooning is the term used to describe how certain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spiders-recycle-gene-head/">spiders</a> travel on the wind because they spin out long, thin threads that sail with the direction of whatever breezes are present. 

Ballooning is typically associated with young spiders as it is commonly seen among recently hatched babies who use ballooning to travel away from their birth site.

Spiders also use ballooning to find food, a new home, or a mate and while previous research has examined flying in spiders before, this new study is the first of its kind to make detailed measurements of the silk fibers that ballooning spiders spin out and use to catch the wind. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.tu-berlin.de/">Technische Universität</a> in Berlin and published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2004405">PLOS Biology</a>. 

Large crab spiders were used for the study, and the researchers conducted a series of field observations as well as wind tunnel experiments to better understand how these spiders prep for their launch and sense meteorological conditions. 

The crab spiders evaluated wind conditions by raising their front legs and orienting to the direction of the wind. 

If conditions were right for the spider, it would spin out multiple strands of silk threads, some up to seven meters long. 

The researchers found that when wind speeds were below seven miles per hour with light updrafts, the spiders spun out up to 60 threads measuring three meters long and launched themselves from an anchoring line that was attached to a blade of grass. 

Ballooning spiders seem to be able to accurately assess wind conditions including speed, direction, and updrafts and only fly when the conditions are just right. Updrafts play a crucial role in the spider’s ability to travel long distances. 

“The pre-flight behaviors we observed suggest that crab spiders are evaluating meteorological conditions before their takeoff,” said  Moonsung Cho, the study’s lead author. “Ballooning is likely not just a random launch into the wind, but one that occurs when conditions most favor a productive journey.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Moonsung Cho, Technical University of Berlin

Flying spiders assess weather conditions before taking flight

Researchers have discovered how some spiders take flight after gauging...

Frogs have existed on Earth for about 200 million years – much longer than our species has been around. But despite their longevity, getting to know how different species of this amphibian have evolved and what their origins may be is rather difficult. Because frogs are generally small and lightly built, they don’t tend to preserve well after their demise. Luckily, one individual juvenile frog that lived 99 million years ago had the misfortune of being trapped in a blob of sap with a beetle – likely it’s intended dinner – and was preserved perfectly for our scientists almost 100 million years later.

The now extinct species (Electrorana limoae) that was preserved in amber – the fossilized version of sap – is one of four fossils that provide the earliest evidence of frogs living in wet, tropical forests. These are the oldest known examples of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/transparent-skin-glass-frogs/">frogs</a> preserved in amber. The study was published in Nature’s <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

“It’s almost unheard of to get a fossil frog from this time period that is small, has preservation of small bones and is mostly three-dimensional. This is pretty special,” says David Blackburn, the associate curator of herpetology at the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a> and co-author of the study. “But what’s most exciting about this animal is its context. These frogs were part of a tropical ecosystem that, in some ways, might not have been that different to what we find today – minus the dinosaurs.”

Amber deposits have been a godsend for scientists the world over, preserving species that would have withered away over millennia without its protection. The amber deposits in northern Myanmar especially provide a unique record of ancient forest ecosystems. This discovery of the Electrorana species, the first frogs to be found in these deposits, add to our knowledge of frog species in the Cretaceous period. In particular, they contribute to our understanding that frogs inhabited wet, tropical forests for at least 99 million years.

“Ask any kid what lives in a rainforest, and frogs are on the list,” says Blackburn. “But surprisingly, we have almost nothing from the fossil record to say that’s a longstanding association.” The frog fossil record heavily favors larger species that lived in arid, seasonal environments – even though most frogs today live in tropical forests.

Despite this discovery, Electrorana actually raises more questions than answers, according to Blackburn. Many of the characteristics herpetologists use to determine the details of a frog’s life history – such as the inner ear, top of the backbone, hip bones, and more – are either missing or were not fully developed in the young frog. However, the bones that are visible do provide clues about the species’ possible living relatives. Interestingly, the species that have similar features include fire-bellied toads and midwife toads, which are Eurasian species that live in temperate, not tropical, environments. 

More of these discoveries will need to be made in order to paint a clearer picture of the frog’s evolutionary history in tropical rainforest environments. But in the meantime, we can thank sap for helping preserve this tiny species for almost 100 million years.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Lida Xing/China University of Geosciences

Amber fossil reveals oldest evidence of frogs in tropical forests

Frogs have existed on Earth for about 200 million years...

Human encroachment into animal territory has many negative effects on the species that once called these habitats home. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-activity-cancer-animals/">Our presence</a> generates fear in wild animals, and they can respond by changing their behavior to avoid contact with us. This risk avoidance may have significant effects on their fitness and physiology, trickling down the food chain and negatively impacting the survival of a population.

As further proof of this, a new study led by Kaitlyn Gaynor of the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkley</a>, has found that human activity is causing many mammals around the world to become more active at night – where they are less likely to encounter humans. 

Gaynor conducted a large-scale review of 76 studies covering 62 species from six continents in order to determine the impact of humans on the daily activity patterns of mammals. The studies monitored animal activity using GPS trackers and motion-activated cameras, allowing researchers to gather data to compare nighttime activity of each species during times of high and low human disturbance.

The results of the study, published in <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6394/1232">Science</a>, showed that higher levels of human disturbance – which can be anything from hunting to hiking to agriculture – resulted in nocturnal mammal activity increasing by a factor of 1.36. This change can result in a major fitness cost to individual animals, as they engage in behavior to avoid predators at the expense of reproduction. 

“Eventually, long-term disturbances may result in lower fitness, lower juvenile survival, or lower reproduction rates, with negative consequences at [the] population level,” says Ana Benítez-López in a related Perspective. 

However, these changes in animal behavior may actually help humans and animals coexist. This study shows that animals at least have the ability to adapt to our presence. Unfortunately, it may ultimately come at a cost of lower reproduction rates and higher stress for some species.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Human activity causing mammals to be nocturnal to avoid people

Human encroachment into animal territory has many negative effects on...

An investigation led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> has found that if forage fish continue to be farmed at the current rate, their populations will be overextended by the year 2050 or possibly even sooner. The experts report that this threshold could be avoided with simple changes in aquaculture and agriculture production.

Small forage fish such as anchovies and sardines play a critical role in the marine food web, but are also a major food source for farmed seafood and land-based livestock such as pigs and poultry. 

Furthermore, in order to keep up with a growing demand, aquatic farming now puts the most pressure on forage fish to feed larger farmed fish such as salmon, carp, and tilapia.

“Aquaculture has a lot of potential to keep feeding the future planet, but we do probably need to make some changes for sustainability,” said co-author Tim Essington. “We are in a position to start thinking about different scenarios and how we want to invest in technological advances to shape how the aquaculture field is run.”

The aquaculture industry is growing by around six percent each year, and currently produces 75 million metric tons of seafood worldwide. Schooling fish are caught in the ocean and processed into fishmeal and oil to feed other fishes and crustaceans in aquatic farms, and livestock animals have also been eating these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/technology-fishermen-conservationists/">fish</a> since the 1960s.

“Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food sector in the world and has already surpassed beef, as well as wild fisheries seafood production. There's a lot of concern about forage fish use and whether or not what we're doing - feeding fish to fish - is sustainable,” said lead author Halley Froehlich.

The team used computer simulations to examine different changes in agriculture and aquaculture practices that could relieve some of the pressure on forage fish. 

The study revealed that eliminating the use of small fish in food for farmed carp and other freshwater fish produced the best results. These fish do not need to eat forage fish for survival, but are fed the fishmeal and oil because it makes them grow faster.

The researchers found that it would also be beneficial to remove forage fish from livestock feed, which is a trend that has already been underway for a few decades.

For some fish, such as farmed salmon and tuna, eliminating forage fish in their diets would be harder to accomplish because these fish rely more on animal protein for survival.


According to the study authors, the biggest unknown is how much fish will be consumed by humans in the future if people begin to favor seafood over other meat. This trend would expand aquaculture even more and place additional strain on forage fish.


“There are very clear steps that can be taken to mitigate the pressure from aquaculture, but if the whole world ate a little more fish, then that degrades the savings you get from these mitigating measures at the levels we assessed,” said Froehlich. “These unknowns really emphasize how important alternative feed sources are for the long-term sustainability of aquaculture.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain">Nature Sustainability</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pressure on important small fish could soon hit a breaking point

An investigation led by the University of Washington has found...

How cool would it be to name a new species of animal? If given the opportunity, what would you name it? Would you name it after yourself, a family member, or maybe an ex if it were a particularly ugly species? Well, if you were present in Ecuador and had the financial means, you might’ve gotten that chance. 

Five new species of snakes with unique eating habits were found in the forests of Ecuador, with three of the five species being discovered during expeditions between 2013 and 2017. These snakes have a particular taste for snails, which are not part of the normal diet for most snakes. But through evolution, these species have specially-sculpted jaws that allows them to actually suck the slimy body of the snail right out of its shell.

Because four of the five new species were already deemed at risk of extinction, the international research team that discovered them decided to auction their naming rights – using the money to buy and save a previously unprotected 178-acre plot of land where some of these species live. Furthermore, <a href="http://www.fjocotoco.org/">Fundación Jocotoco</a> will be adding an additional plot in the Buenaventura reserve, expanding the only protected area where two of the new species are found. 

These fascinating snail-sucking snakes are described by Alejandro Arteaga, an Ecuadorian-Venezuelan PhD student at the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a> and scientific director of <a href="http://www.tropicalherping.com/">Tropical Herping</a> and his team. Their study is published in the open access journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">ZooKeys</a>.

Three of these species were discovered during rainforest expeditions conducted by Arteaga and Dr. Alex Pyron, of <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> and the <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/">National Museum of Natural History</a>. The other two species were found in dry forest habitats by Ecuadorian scientists Dr. Omar Toress-Carvajal, David Salazar-Valenzuela, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Juan Carlos Sánchez, Mario Yánez-Muñoz, and Peruvian scientist Pablo Venegas. To confirm that these five snakes were indeed new species, the international research team counted scales and gathered measurements from over 200 museum specimens, and extracted DNA from almost 100 individual snakes.

In the auction for naming rights of these new species, the Rainforest Trust and Bob Ridgely made the highest bids at auction, which allowed them to name three of the five new snakes. Now, the species Dipsas georgejetti is officially named, and done so in honor of George Jett, who supported the inception of Fundación Jocotoco’s reserves in Ecuador. The species Dipsas bobridgelyi is named after – you guessed it – Dr. Robert “Bob” Ridgely, who is a leading ornithologist and conservationist. Ridgely also helped establish the Buenaventura reserve. When it was Ridgely’s turn to name his species, he chose Sibon bevridgely (Bev Ridgely’s Snail-Eater) in honor of his father.

The final two species were named Dipsas oswaldobaezi and Dipsas klebbai, after Dr. Oswaldo Báez and Casey Klebba, respectively, as a token of recognition for their passion for Ecuador’s biodiversity and conservation.

“Several companies let you name a star after a loved one, but, generally, such names have no formal validity,” says Arteaga. “Naming an entire species after someone you love or admire is different. With few exceptions, this is the name that both the general public and the whole scientific community will use. So, why not let people choose the name of a species in exchange for a donation that protects its habitat?”

Through the naming of these species, the researcher not only raised awareness and increased the protection for these snakes, but they also recognized and honored the work of the people and institutions fighting to protect these animals. 

“Everybody knows elephants and orangutans,” says Dr. Martin Schaefer of Fundación Jocotoco. “But some reptiles and amphibians are even more threatened. Yet, we still lack even basic information needed to protect them better. This is why the work by scientists is so important; it provides the necessary information to guide our conservation decisions.”

So if you’re looking for the chance to name your own new species, you might want to consider dedicating your life to environmental conservation – or just go out into nature and keep your eyes open, you might get lucky.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Alejandro Arteaga

Snake species naming rights auctioned to save Ecuadorian forests

How cool would it be to name a new species...

What are the motives behind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and how do we make a difference?

There’s been a line drawn in the hot desert sands of Southern Africa. On one side, you’ll find angry herds of biologists, activists, and conservationists stomping their feet; on the other – a pack of politicians and hunters bearing their teeth. Consequently, with the recent ban lift on the wildlife trophy importation of elephants, it’s become an all-out primal battle between them on who represents the animal kingdom’s best interests.

The <a href="https://www.safariclub.org/">Safari Club International</a> (SCI) announced that the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> (FWS) has reversed protections on sport-hunted trophies, established during the Obama era, allowing imports of elephant mementos from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Needless to say, there’s been an uproar of debate on this controversial issue. 

Animal rights groups continue to argue the ethics and increased hunting of a threatened species in an already tainted trade, and how it will be regulated in a country riddled with corruption. Meanwhile, hunting advocates offer points on the how controlling proper wildlife stalking and killing can not only boost conservation in a species, but also keep its surrounding ecosystem sustained without overpopulation taking its toll. In their minds, since the going rate of a single elephant can range from $4,000 to $50,000, they, price-wise, deduce such a bounty could do great things in the funding of conservative efforts.  

For the status quo, there has been a growing distaste for wildlife hunting since the backlash of Cecil the Lion’s senseless murder in 2015. It also doesn’t help that President Trump has <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trump-allows-elephant-hunting/">wavered</a> his stance on the subject, either – combined with his own sons’ trophy-sporting pictures of elephant, leopard and buffalo carcasses being shared all over social media. To further contradict matters, Trump’s own International Wildlife Conservation Council is amassed with staunch hunting advocates. 

When you take out any personal morals and beliefs, you have to wonder if the FWS motives are indeed pure and selfless. One has to ask, can this ban lift logistically follow through with the growth of wildlife preservation through the financially-endowed operations of safari groups, and, moreover, can it be regulated in an principled and controlled platform?

Tragically, the number of Zambian elephants has depleted from 200,000 in 1972 to 21,000 in 2016. But, it’s important to keep in mind that these statistics are not nearly based on legal hunting. Similar to the rest of the world, the African continent has also seen a depletion in water and food, as well as a change in climate and survival requirements for all animals in the past several decades. Thus, even with a global community fighting against the ivory trade, the environment remains a common denominator in the imminent extinction of these beautiful creatures.

Still, while the FWS preaches, with the proper framework, these African countries could benefit wildly from this new focus, we have yet to see whether that would actually be for the conservative efforts leading their campaign, or the greedy undertones that naturally raise cause for concern. With Zimbabwe in military coup – its leader, Robert Mugabe, currently on house arrest – and a history of financial corruption in the hunting trade, it’s dubious to determine the FWS has any solid ground to stand on.

So, what can we do with this information? On the whole, turning our frustrations into logical forward motion is the best choice of action. In addition to signing the many circulating petitions to ban trophy hunting, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us">The Guardian</a> also provided 50 great resources that we can use in making impactful change on this important issue <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/13/what-can-i-do-to-help-elephants">here</a>.

Notably, Ellen Degeneres has launched a campaign #BeKindToElephants, in which all t-shirt proceeds will be donated to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, whose mission is to protect and preserve Africa’s wilderness and endangered denizens.

Whether you choose to donate, volunteer or take a frontline stance, your voice needs to be heard for the sake of an entire species. Let us remember the words of primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, whom was an incredible ally to the ivory ban, “Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:drkcopy@gmail.com">Derek Kaplan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Behind the backlash on elephant trophy imports and why it matters

What are the motives behind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...

Dogs have a famously incredible sense of smell and can detect drugs, weapons, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-sniffing-cancer-cells/">even cancer cells</a>. 

But now, new research shows that dogs could be an asset to the avocado industry and detect early signs of disease in groves by sniffing laurel wilt disease in trees. 

Laurel wilt disease is caused by the redbay ambrosia beetle, an invasive species native to Asia, and the beetles carry a fungus that can spread and infect host trees. The fungus <a href="http://www.ncforestservice.gov/forest_health/forest_health_laurelwiltfaq.htm">prevents water </a>from traveling throughout the tree which quickly kills it. 

The disease has killed over 300 million laurel trees in the United States, and this has put a major strain on avocado trees. 

Laurel wilt is affecting avocado harvests in South Florida, and there are concerns that the disease could spread to Mexico and California, causing even more devastation. 

There is hope though, as a new study from <a href="https://www.fiu.edu/">Florida International University </a>found that specially trained dogs can sniff early signs of the disease in avocado trees which could aid in preventing further infestation. 

Dogs trained to sniff out certain scents are often used in law enforcement to locate drugs, and researchers found that scent-discriminating dogs could be trained to detect laurel wilt-disease.

For the study, the researchers conducted 229 trials where dogs detected laurel wilt disease, and out of those, only twelve involved false alerts. 

The results of the research also showed that dogs would be well suited to detecting laurel wilt even in harsh climates such as the high heat and humidity that Florida is known for. 

“It is the best 'technology' so far that can detect a diseased tree before external symptoms are visible,” said DeEtta Mills, one of the study's authors. “The old saying that ‘dogs are man's best friend’ reaches far beyond a personal bond with their handler and trainer. It is depicted in their excitement every day as they deploy to the groves. Man's best friend may even help save an industry.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: DeEtta Mills

Dogs can detect deadly fungal disease in avocado trees

Dogs have a famously incredible sense of smell and can...

A new study from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has revealed that bumblebees can distinguish between different types of flowers by studying the unique arrangement of their scents. 

Flowers go to great lengths to attract bees and other pollinators, using visual signals such as color patterns or lines to guide them to their nectar and speed up the pollination process.

Flowers also have different scented patterns across their surfaces. For example, the center of a flower smells differently than the edges of its petals. Researchers have now demonstrated that bumblebees can tell flowers apart by recognizing this specific layout.

“If you look at a flower with a microscope, you can often see that the cells that produce the flower's scent are arranged in patterns,” said study lead author Dr. Dave Lawson.

“By creating artificial flowers that have identical scents arranged in different patterns, we are able to show that this patterning might be a signal to a bee. For a flower, it's not just smelling nice that's important, but also where you put the scent in the first place.”

The researchers also found that, after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hive-bound-bees-pesticides/">bees</a> became familiar with a particular flower’s scented pattern, the bees preferred to visit unscented flowers that had a similar arrangement of visual spots on their surface.

“This is the equivalent of a human putting her hand in a bag to feel the shape of a novel object which she can't see, and then picking out a picture of that object,” said Dr. Lawson. “Being able to mentally switch between different senses is something we take for granted, but it's exciting that a small animal like a bee is also able to do something this abstract.”

Study co-author Professor Lars Chittka added, “We already knew that bees were clever, but we were really surprised by the fact that bees could learn invisible patterns on flowers - patterns that were just made of scent.”

“The scent glands on our flowers were either arranged in a circle or a cross, and bees had to figure out these patterns by using their feelers. But the most exciting finding was that, if these patterns are suddenly made visible by the experimenter, bees can instantly recognize the image that formerly was just an ephemeral pattern of volatiles in the air.”

Senior author Dr. Sean Rands explained that flowers often use a combination of color, texture, shape, and appealing scents to advertise to their pollinators.

“If bees can learn patterns using one sense (smell) and then transfer this to a different sense (vision), it makes sense that flowers advertise in lots of ways at the same time, as learning one signal will mean that the bee is primed to respond positively to different signals that they have never encountered,” said Dr. Rands. “Advertising agencies would be very excited if the same thing happened in humans.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bees can recognize flowers by their unique scented patterns

A new study from the University of Bristol has revealed...

Marine mammals recognize the sound of killer whales on the hunt. Marine mammals may be able to sense when a killer whale is on the hunt simply by hearing its calls, a new study has found.

Killer whales are one of the ocean’s more formidable predators and part of what makes orcas so dangerous are the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/killer-whales-killer-weapon-brain/11352/">stealthy hunting tactics </a>orca pods use to kill seals and other whales. 

Some killer whales though have been known to leave mammals alone and instead eat only fish. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> set out to see if marine mammals that are prey to killer whales can distinguish the calls of predatory orcas from other orcas and whales that pose no risk. 

The study was published in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/221/11/jeb162479">Journal of Experimental Biology</a> and involved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whale-dies-plastic-stomach/">pilot whales</a> and Risso's dolphins. 

The results show that orca calls sometimes take on the similar characteristics of a human scream, and these particular calls alert nearby prey and cause dolphins to flea. However, other less threatening mammal calls do not provoke this response. 

For the study, the researchers monitored pods of pilot whales off the coast of North Carolina and Risso’s dolphins off the coast of California. 

While observing the pods, the researchers played recordings of killer whales, social calls from pilot whales, and other sounds from dolphins and humpback whales and recorded each pods response to the different calls. 

For most of the sounds, both the pilot whales and Risso’s dolphins were unphased and didn’t respond to the calls, including the non-threatening killer whale calls. 

However, when the researcher played the killer whale “scream,”  the dolphins quickly clustered together and fled in the opposite direction of the predatory call. The pilot whales, upon hearing the aggressive orca call, grouped together and headed toward the sound. 

“It was crazy to see a group of animals respond so strongly to something you're doing,” said  Matthew Bowers, a member of the research team. “The strong and differential responses to this subset of killer whale calls was eye-opening.” 

The way that the pilot whales and dolphins responded to the distressing killer whale calls, as opposed to the calls from other mammals, suggest that a species can interpret specific calls and understand if they are in danger of being hunted. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Marine mammals recognize the sound of killer whales on the hunt

Marine mammals recognize the sound of killer whales on the...

LED lights last longer, but some shades are harmful to wildlife. Noise and light pollution can be harmful to natural ecosystems, and studies have shown that human-caused <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-reproduction-birds/">noise pollution can disrupt habitats</a> and even drive species decline. 

Now, a new study has found that certain shades of LED (light-emitting diode) outdoor lamps can also negatively impact wildlife, and researchers have created a database for consumers to know which LED colors are the least harmful.

The team determined that blue and white LED lights are the worst for animals while softer yellows, greens, and ambers are more benign. 

The study was conducted by a team of biologists from the <a href="https://www.usc.edu/">University of Southern California </a>and published in the journal Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Interactive Physiology. 

LED lamps are popular and are expected to make up 69 percent of the global market by 2020. LEDs have many benefits including conserving energy and lasting longer than other traditional lights, however, these benefits can come at a cost to wildlife.

Previous studies have examined how light brightness and direction affects species’ migration, attraction, and circadian rhythms.

The researchers collected data from these light studies to help build a new database that developers, designers, and policymakers can use to choose wildlife-friendly LED lighting colors. 

“Outdoor environments are changing rapidly and in ways that can impact wildlife species," said Travis Longcore, lead author of the study. “We provide a method to assess the probable consequences of new light sources to keep up with the changing technology.”

For the study, the researchers focused on insects, sea turtles, salmon and the Newell’s shearwater seabird.

The researchers also found that sea turtles and insects are more vulnerable to bright LED lights at night. Sea turtles can follow the bright light inland after hatching instead of going to the sea. 

In order to reduce further species decline and help protect those species most vulnerable to LED light brightness, the researchers created the "Rapid Assessment of Lamp Spectrum to Quantify Ecological Effects of Light at Night,” a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19325231">database</a> that shows how two dozen different types of artificial lights impact animals. 

The hope is that city planner and policymakers will use the database to help pick the least disruptive and harmful light options for species. 

“If we don't provide advice and information to decision makers, they will go with the cheapest lighting or lighting that serves only one interest and does not balance other interests,” said Longcore. “We provide a method to assess the probable consequences of new light sources to keep up with the changing technology and wildlife concerns.”

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

LED lights last longer, but some shades are harmful to wildlife

LED lights last longer, but some shades are harmful to...

A new study from the <a href="https://vet.purdue.edu/">Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine</a> has demonstrated that veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can benefit physiologically from the company of service dogs.

Study lead author Maggie O'Haire is an assistant professor of Human-Animal Interaction in the College of Veterinary Medicine, who conducted the study with the help of <a href="https://www.k9sforwarriors.org/">K9s for Warriors</a>, the nation's largest provider of service dogs to veterans.

“Our long-term research goal is to quantify how service dogs may affect the health and well-being of military members and veterans with PTSD,” said Professor O'Haire. 

“This study compared a group of veterans with PTSD who had a service dog to a group on the waitlist to receive one. Our previous research suggests that the presence of a service dog reduced clinical PTSD symptoms and improved quality of life. In this study, we wanted to determine if those beneficial effects also included changes in the physiology of stress.”


Study author Kerri Rodriguez explained that the investigation was focused on cortisol because it is directly involved in the stress response system. The veterans collected saliva samples first thing in the morning and then around 30 minutes later for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cortisol-indicate-stressed/">cortisol</a> measurements.

Morning levels of cortisol are significant in gauging the magnitude of the effects of chronic and acute stress, which is referred to as the “cortisol awakening response.” Healthy adults with no symptoms of PTSD experience an increase in cortisol after waking up.

“We found that military veterans with a service dog in the home produced more cortisol in the mornings than those on the waitlist,” said Rodriguez. “This pattern is closer to the cortisol profile expected in healthy adults without PTSD. Having a service dog was also associated with less anger, less anxiety, and better sleep.”

Professor O'Haire said that despite the importance of this discovery, it should be taken in context.

“These findings present exciting initial data regarding the physiological response to living with a service dog,” said Professor O'Haire. “However, the study did not establish a direct correlation, on an individual level, between cortisol levels and levels of PTSD symptoms, and further study is needed. It is important to keep in mind that service dogs do not appear to be a cure for PTSD.”


The researchers are currently conducting an analysis based on a large-scale trial by the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the effects in veterans with and without service dogs over an extended period of time. 

“Our research team will be able to look at morning cortisol levels both before and after getting a service dog to see how these physiological effects manifest over time,” said Professor O'Haire. “The longitudinal nature of this clinical trial should bring about a better understanding of the interrelationships between physiological and behavioral processes, PTSD symptoms, and service dogs.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/psychoneuroendocrinology?">Psychoneuroendocrinology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Service dogs help reduce stress in veterans suffering from PTSD

A new study from the Purdue University College of Veterinary...

Encouragement helps dogs improve at problem-solving tasks.  A new study has found that the way you interact with your dog impacts their ability to learn and perform complex, problem-solving tasks.

A number of factors can influence how well a dog can pick up a new command or solve puzzles, including past training and genetics, but researchers from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> set out to see how interaction with an owner or handler during a task affected a dog’s problem-solving ability.

The researchers set up two different experiments where 31 pet dogs and 28 search and rescue dogs were presented with a puzzle box that contained a treat. The dogs then had two minutes to solve the puzzle and get the reward. 

In one experiment, the dogs had to solve the puzzle on their own without anyone present. 

In the other experiment, the dogs’ owners were present and the owners either gave verbal encouragement to their dog or stood in a neutral position without acknowledging the dog or treat. 

The pet dogs solved the puzzle when they were with their owner and when they were alone, however, the search and rescue dogs did not tackle the puzzle when they were alone. 

“We thought that was unusual because search and rescue dogs are trained to work independently, we expected that they would out-perform pet dogs on this independent task and that wasn't the case,” said study lead author Lauren Brubaker. “This suggests that the behavior of the owner, including the expectation of their dog and how they engage with their dog on a day-to-day basis, may influence the dog during a problem-solving task.”

Pet dogs also seemed to perform worse with encouragement compared to the efficient search and rescue dogs.

The researchers suggest that this is because the pet dogs saw the encouragement as a cue to play and treated the puzzle more like a toy. 

The study also suggests that because so much is expected of search and rescue <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/test-predicts-best-guide-dogs/">dogs</a>, they are better at taking encouragement from their owners and using it to guide problem-solving. 

The results show that how an owner interacts with their dog can influence problem-solving abilities, but Brubaker notes that future work is needed to examine how worker dogs differ from pets. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Encouragement helps dogs improve at problem-solving tasks

Encouragement helps dogs improve at problem-solving tasks.  A new study...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...