While a mosquito bite may often be just a temporary nuisance, it can be a serious concern in many parts of the world. Some mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, are responsible for spreading viruses that cause over 100 million cases of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika each year.&nbsp;



Another species, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria, leading to more than 400,000 deaths annually, according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a>. These figures have earned mosquitoes the title of the deadliest animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-mosquitoes-locate-their-hosts">How mosquitoes locate their hosts</h2>



Male mosquitoes are harmless, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-habitats-are-expanding-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">female mosquitoes require blood</a> for egg development. Given this, scientists have dedicated over a century to understanding how mosquitoes locate their hosts.



Through this research, experts have discovered that mosquitoes don’t rely on a single cue; instead, they use a combination of different senses at various distances to find their targets.



A team led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (<a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCSB</a>) has now added a new sense to the mosquito’s known capabilities: infrared detection. 



They found that infrared radiation from a source at roughly the temperature of human skin doubles the mosquitoes’ host-seeking behavior when combined with CO2 and human odor.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strong-preference-for-the-infrared-source">Strong preference for the infrared source</h2>



The mosquitoes showed a strong preference for the infrared source during their host-seeking activities. The researchers also identified where this infrared detection occurs and uncovered how it functions at the morphological and biochemical levels.&nbsp;



“The mosquito we study, Aedes aegypti, is exceptionally skilled at finding human hosts,” said Nicolas DeBeaubien, co-lead author of the study and a former graduate student and postdoctoral researcher at UCSB in Professor Craig Montell’s laboratory. “This work sheds new light on how they achieve this.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-detecting-new-hosts-from-a-distance-nbsp">Detecting new hosts from a distance&nbsp;</h2>



It is well known that mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti use multiple cues to home in on their hosts from a distance. 



“These include CO2 from our exhaled breath, odors, vision, (convection) heat from our skin, and humidity from our bodies,” explained Avinash Chandel, co-lead author and current postdoc at UCSB in Montell’s group. “However, each of these cues have limitations.”&nbsp;



The insects have poor vision, and strong winds or rapid movements can disrupt their ability to track <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquitoes-are-attracted-to-specific-scents-and-colors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chemical signals</a>.



Given these limitations, the researchers wondered if mosquitoes could detect a more reliable directional cue, like infrared radiation.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mosquitoes_thermal-infrared_track-humans_UCSB_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mosquitoes_thermal-infrared_track-humans_UCSB_1s.webp" alt="Loose fitting clothing lets through less IR, as demonstrated in this image. Photo Credit DeBeaubien and Chandel et al." class="wp-image-1942526"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Loose fitting clothing lets through less IR, as demonstrated in this image. Photo Credit DeBeaubien and Chandel et al.</figcaption></figure>



Within about 10 centimeters, mosquitoes can detect the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bad-news-mosquitoes-prefer-heat-and-thrive-in-the-warming-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat</a> radiating from our skin. They can also sense the temperature of our skin once they land on it. 



These abilities correspond to two of the three types of heat transfer: convection (heat carried away by air) and conduction (heat through direct contact).&nbsp;



However, heat energy can also travel longer distances when converted into electromagnetic waves, typically in the infrared (IR) spectrum. 



Animals like pit vipers can detect thermal IR from warm prey, so the team wondered if mosquitoes, like Aedes aegypti, could do the same.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-focus-of-the-study">Focus of the study</h2>



The researchers placed female mosquitoes in a controlled environment and measured their host-seeking behavior in two zones.&nbsp;



Both zones were exposed to human odors and CO2 at concentrations similar to what we exhale. However, only one zone was also exposed to IR from a source at skin temperature.&nbsp;



A barrier was used to prevent heat exchange through conduction and convection. The researchers then counted how many mosquitoes began probing as if searching for a vein.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-infrared-radiation-and-mosquito-behavior-nbsp">Infrared radiation and mosquito behavior&nbsp;</h2>



Adding thermal infrared radiation from a 34º Celsius source (about skin temperature) doubled the mosquitoes' host-seeking activity, identifying infrared radiation as a newly documented sense mosquitoes use to locate humans. The team discovered that this sense remains effective up to about 70 centimeters (2.5 feet).



“What struck me most about this work was just how strong of a cue IR ended up being,” DeBeaubien said. “Once we got all the parameters just right, the results were undeniably clear.”



Previous studies didn’t observe any effect of thermal infrared on mosquito behavior, but senior author Craig Montell suspects this is due to differences in methodology.&nbsp;



“Any single cue alone doesn’t stimulate host-seeking activity. It’s only in the context of other cues, such as elevated CO2 and human odor, that IR makes a difference,” Montell said. Indeed, his team found that infrared alone has no impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-mosquitoes-detect-infrared-radiation">How do mosquitoes detect infrared radiation?</h2>



It’s impossible for mosquitoes to detect thermal infrared radiation the same way they detect visible light because the energy of IR is far too low to activate the rhodopsin proteins that detect visible light in animal eyes.&nbsp;



Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than about 700 nanometers won’t activate rhodopsin, and the IR generated from body heat is around 9,300 nm. 



No known protein is activated by radiation with such long wavelengths, Montell said. However, there is another way to detect infrared radiation.



Consider heat emitted by the sun: it’s converted into IR, which streams through space and, when reaching Earth, warms the planet by interacting with atoms in the atmosphere.&nbsp;



“You have heat converted into electromagnetic waves, which is being converted back into heat,” Montell explained, noting that the IR coming from the sun has a different wavelength from the IR generated by our body heat, as the wavelength depends on the temperature of the source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-body-heat-and-mosquito-neurons-nbsp">Human body heat and mosquito neurons&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers hypothesized that our body heat, which generates IR, might hit certain neurons in the mosquito, activating them by heating them up. This would enable mosquitoes to detect the radiation indirectly.



Scientists have known that the tips of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mating-secrets-of-mosquitoes-may-help-us-gain-control-of-them/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mosquito’s antennae</a> contain heat-sensing neurons. The team found that removing these tips eliminated the mosquitoes’ ability to detect infrared radiation.



Another lab had identified the temperature-sensitive protein TRPA1 at the end of the antenna. The UCSB team observed that mosquitoes without a functional TRPA1 gene, which codes for the protein, couldn’t detect infrared radiation.



The tip of each antenna has peg-in-pit structures well-suited for sensing radiation. The pit shields the peg from conductive and convective heat, allowing highly directional IR radiation to enter and warm up the structure. The mosquito then uses TRPA1 - a temperature sensor - to detect infrared radiation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mosquito-ir-detection-range">Mosquito IR detection range</h2>



The heat-activated TRPA1 channel alone might not fully explain the range over which mosquitoes can detect IR. A sensor that exclusively relied on this protein may not be useful at the 70 cm range the team observed. 



At this distance, there likely isn’t sufficient IR collected by the peg-in-pit structure to heat it enough to activate TRPA1.



Fortunately, Montell’s group had previously discovered in fruit flies that some rhodopsin proteins are quite sensitive to small increases in temperature.&nbsp;



Although rhodopsins were originally thought to be light detectors, Montell’s group found that certain rhodopsins can be triggered by a variety of stimuli. 



They discovered that proteins in this group are versatile, involved not only in vision but also in taste and temperature sensing.&nbsp;



Upon further investigation, the researchers discovered that two of the 10 rhodopsins found in mosquitoes are expressed in the same antennal neurons as TRPA1.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mosquito-sensitivity-to-infrared-radiation-nbsp">Mosquito sensitivity to infrared radiation&nbsp;</h2>



Knocking out TRPA1 eliminated the mosquito’s sensitivity to infrared radiation. But mosquitoes with defects in either of the rhodopsins, Op1 or Op2, were unaffected.&nbsp;



Even knocking out both rhodopsins together didn’t entirely eliminate the mosquitoes’ sensitivity to IR, although it significantly weakened it.



The results indicated that more intense thermal IR - like what a mosquito would experience at closer range (about one foot) - directly activates TRPA1.&nbsp;



Meanwhile, Op1 and Op2 can be activated by lower levels of thermal IR and then indirectly trigger TRPA1. Since our skin temperature is constant, extending the sensitivity of TRPA1 effectively extends the range of the mosquito’s IR sensor to around 2.5 feet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study-nbsp">Broader implications of the study&nbsp;</h2>



Half the world’s population is at risk for mosquito-borne <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-may-slow-the-spread-of-dengue-fever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diseases</a>, and about a billion people are infected each year, Chandel said.&nbsp;



Moreover, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquito-habitats-are-expanding-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a> and global travel have expanded the range of Aedes aegypti beyond tropical and subtropical countries, bringing these mosquitoes to areas in the U.S., such as California, where they were not found just a few years ago.



The team’s discovery could help improve methods for controlling mosquito populations. For example, incorporating thermal IR from sources around skin temperature could make mosquito traps more effective.&nbsp;



The findings also help explain why loose-fitting clothing is particularly good at preventing bites. Loose clothing not only blocks mosquitoes from reaching our skin but also allows the IR to dissipate between our skin and the clothing, making it harder for mosquitoes to detect.



“Despite their diminutive size, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal. Our research enhances the understanding of how mosquitoes target humans and offers new possibilities for controlling the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases,” DeBeaubien concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07848-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Mosquitoes use infrared vision to track and bite humans

While a mosquito bite may often be just a temporary nuisance, it can be a serious concern in many parts of the world. Some mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, are responsible for spreading viruses that cause over 100 million cases of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika each year.&nbsp; Another species, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria, leading to more than 400,000 deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization. These figures have earned mosquitoes the title of the deadliest animals. How mosquitoes locate...

Aipysurus laevis Timor Sea reefs. Credit: Rick Stuart-Smith

Across Australia, there has recently been an unexpected uptick in the disappearance of sea snakes, particularly in the highly-protected Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, protected reefs in New Caledonia, and the southern Great Barrier Reef. Researcher Dr. Vimoksalehi Lukoschek of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/">James Cook University</a> set out to discover why this was occurring.

For her study – published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1472-4642">Diversity and Distributions</a> – Lukoschek collected genetic samples from more than 550 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-snakes-atlantic-ocean/">sea snakes</a> around Australia. This led her to discover that there is actually a previously unknown array of genetically different sea snake populations on the Western Australia coast. “The previously unappreciated genetic distinctiveness in coastal Western Australia is critically important,” explains Lukoschek. “It means that this region is home to genetic diversity not found elsewhere in Australia. If those populations die out, then that biodiversity and potential for adaptation is lost forever.”

The reason for this sudden disappearance is still unexplained. Lukoscheck found none of the usual indicators of species disappearance, such as changes in habitat or over-fishing. “We are left with a list of other possible causes including disease, invasive species, pollution, seismic surveys or recruitment failure,” the researcher says.

Moving forward, Lukoscheck believes that there is a need for more focused research on habitat and diet requirements, disease susceptibility, reproductive biology, and the impacts of man-made processes on these sea snake populations. Furthermore, she says that conservation planners should be incorporating genetic information into their work, including identifying and prioritizing evolutionarily significant lineages. 

“It’s important we investigate sea snakes in particular, as traditional conservation actions that focus on tackling common causes of species decline, such as habitat loss, may not optimize the conservation of genetic divergence and diversity in these vulnerable populations,” she says.

While further, long-term research must take place, in the short term it’s important that destructive activities such as trawling be minimized in order to reduce stress on the ecological systems in these reefs. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Rick Stuart-Smith, www.reeflifesurvey.com

Hidden genetic diversity behind disappearance of sea snakes

Across Australia, there has recently been an unexpected uptick in...

Climate change, habitat degradation, and anthropogenic interference, have all posed a threat to already dwindling species across the globe. Ecosystems depend on biodiversity, but as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/battling-climate-change-misinformation/">climate change</a> continues to progress unchecked, more and more species will suffer. 

But some species are simply rare by nature and are somehow able to persist through the years without large populations. 

What makes a species chronically rare and how do they continue to survive even in the wake of other species facing extinction? 

These are the questions answered in a new paper by Geerat Vermeij from the<a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/"> University of California, Davis</a> and published in the journal Ecology Letters. 

Rarity, according to Vermeij, is typically associated with endangered or threatened species, but chronically rare species might have characteristics that specifically allow them to withstand becoming extinct. 

Vermeij, in his paper co-authored by Rick Grosberg, a UC Davis evolution and ecology professor, examines some of the characteristics that could give rare species an advantage and guarantee continued survival. 

One of the reasons that rare species can persist has to do with their reproduction. According to the authors, a species can sustain smaller numbers based on several different reproduction methods.  

These methods include fertilization that occurs inside or close to an adult, if adults are highly mobile, if they have pollinators that deliver egg cells and sperm across long distances, or if they can attract mates from afar. 

“Not all species have to have many individuals close to each other for the species to survive,” said Grosberg. “The strategy for establishing viable populations is to consider how they reproduce.”

Species that don't use these kinds of reproduction methods would not be able to recover from major population declines by the very nature of their evolutionary and biological makeup. 

Grosberg and Vermeij’s work could help conservation efforts by shining a light on the little-discussed species that are chronically rare by nature. The research can also help manage and protect species who don’t have the same advantages as those that are rare. 

Not much is known about rare species, and the authors call for more research to better understand how they persist and survive even while other species face steep declines. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Flickr/prilfish

Why some rare species persist while others face extinction

Climate change, habitat degradation, and anthropogenic interference, have all posed...

Science could offer a new solution to city pest problems by genetically modifying rats to be infertile or only have male offspring. 

According to a new report from the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5148577/Researchers-reveal-plan-create-infertile-GM-rats.html">Daily Mail</a>, researchers from the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh </a>have suggested make populations of rats infertile over the next two years. 

Researchers in Australia have already used gene-modifying technology to help combat malaria, which is carried by insects. Many mosquito populations are now almost entirely male in certain areas which means that breeding is practically an impossibility. 

Even though this has been successful with mosquitos, this is the first time that researchers will be using the method on mammals. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rats-major-cities-monitored/">Rats</a> are, of course, a nuisance in urban areas. They can spread disease and are difficult to deal with once they infest a home or area. Their population numbers also fluctuate dramatically, leading to periodic surges in city subways and streets.

The United Kingdom spends an estimated £1.2 billion each year on pest control, and in New York City,<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/nyregion/new-york-city-escalates-the-war-on-rats-once-again.html"> annual budgets have approved millions </a>of dollars to “wage war on rats.”

Instead of investing thousands of dollars in rat traps and other expensive pest control options, genetic modification is a much less traumatic way of controlling the species. 

“There are obvious benefits of this gene drive strategy compared to current control measures that are really quite brutal – shooting, poisoning, trapping, kind of 'bash over the head' techniques,” said Gus McFarlane, co-author of a study told the Daily Mail. “'It is more humane to cause a population decline with minimal animal suffering.”

The researchers suggest using CRISPR/Cas 9 which is a tool that allows scientists to edit DNA with exact precision. 

CRISPR has been likened to a pair of “molecular scissors, ” and in this case, the Edinburgh researchers would specifically target fertility genes or sex chromosomes in rats. 

The rats would then pass on their genes to other rats or only have male rats in the next generations which would drastically decrease rat populations. 

The researchers are hoping to start trial studies on lab rats in the next couple of years. 

CRISPR is not without its controversy, with some scientists urging for caution as the long-term risks of precision gene editing are still unknown. 

“'We have the makings of a technology that could reduce or eliminate a pest population in a humane and species-specific manner,”  Bruce Whitelaw, a principal investigator at the Roslin Institute, told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>. “We need more research to better understand the risks, and whether these can be mitigated, but we believe the potential benefits merit further investigation.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, Earth.com Staff Writer

Genetic modification could manage rat populations

Science could offer a new solution to city pest problems...

Last winter, the state of California experienced more rain from October to February than it had in over 100 years. Marine biologists from the <a href="https://serc.si.edu/">Smithsonian Environmental Research Center</a> have discovered that the record-breaking season took its toll on some marine species in the San Francisco Bay.

"As you get wetter and wetter, there are fewer and fewer [marine] species that can tolerate those conditions," said the study’s lead author, Andrew Chang. 

Chang has been observing invasive species in the San Francisco area since 2000. Chang is particularly interested in aquatic animals like tunicates and bryozoans that grow on boats, docks and fishing equipment. Though some of the creatures are visually stunning, they destroy fishing nets and clog gear.

Chang has noted that some species need the salty water of the bay to survive. When a wet winter sets in and brings large amounts of freshwater into the bay, these types of organisms suffer. 

Extreme changes in the climate like the years of drought in California leading up to the wet winter of 2016 are predicted to become more common with climate change. In the past, scientists have tracked how these shifting weather patterns affect certain species.

Chang and his team examined how San Francisco's fouling community as a whole changed over 13 years of wet, dry, and average weather. The team tracked the growth of these species in Richmond Marina, a mostly saltwater marina in northeastern San Francisco Bay, beginning in 2001. 

The study revealed that when bay waters remained salty during the dry years, the invasive tunicate Ciona robusta dominated. This translucent filter feeder from Asia has invaded five continents, including North America's West Coast. Due to its rapid growth, the species is known for crowding out other species.

When wetter winters occurred, however, the Ciona and similar tunicates were unable to withstand the massive influx of fresh water, and mat-like colonial tunicates and encrusting bryozoans took over in their place.

Chang says that freshwater years reset the system, which will work to the advantage of some invasive species.

"If you're a new invader arriving to San Francisco Bay, for example, what better time to come in than right after a wet winter has killed off most of your potential competitors?" he said.

Chang's team observed a couple of native species that thrived in wet years as well, indicating that wet seasons could be used to benefit native species.

The study is published in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486">Global Change Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rainy winters can shake up marine ecosystems

Last winter, the state of California experienced more rain from...

How do jaguars, hamburgers and border walls relate to each other?

Beef is usually not thought of as sustainable. Yet there has been some progress towards making beef a more sustainable enterprise.

In a world where ‘sustainable’ has become the gold standard of buzz words, we must ask, ‘Is sustainable enough?’ Is sustainable beef good for jaguars? Basically something being sustainable means that it can go on for the long term; however you define ‘long term’. Sustainable beef means it has only sustainable inputs, there aren’t finite resources being used for the creation of your hamburger. Sustainable resources are those like water and sun, resources that aren’t going to run out in the foreseeable future. Things get a little murky here though. If water is being pumped from an aquifer that fills at an extremely slow rate, it becomes a less sustainable source of water. If solar panels are made in an intensively fossil fuel dependent process, they’re less sustainable. Is sustainable enough?

Even in a truly sustainable beef production model, things don’t necessarily bode well for big predators. Long have predators been the bane of the rancher. Wolves were villainized throughout the US partly because they were blamed for cattle death. Wolves and their place in the western US is still incredibly contentious. The place of jaguars in the west is on even rockier terrain than that of wolves.

In 1963 a hunter shot a big cat which he thought was a big bob-cat; it turned out the man had killed a jaguar. The jaguar was heralded as the last jaguar in the US, the end of an era. Since that time, other jaguars have been seen crossing the US Mexico border but no evidence of a US breeding population has been found.

Some say, so what? Jaguars wander into the US occasionally and wander out. Their home is further south, not in most of North America. However, it’s hard to deny that historically the jaguar didn’t have a much larger home range, extending further into the US.

In Mexico as in the US, ranchers do not like jaguars. Jaguars have been poisoned and shot for as long as European cattle have been threatened by the big cats. One jaguar with a radio collar was burned to destroy evidence. Recently I saw hope of that changing. At a talk at a Tucson REI, the Northern Jaguar Project expounded on their relationship with ranchers. NJP has started paying ranchers for photos; photos of live predators. Jaguars caught with camera traps on ranchers land pay the most but there is also a reward for ocelots, bobcats and mountain lions. In the US the government and other organizations have offered reimbursement for predation by wolves and other protected predators. NJP however is the first example I know of with positive reinforcement. The project is small but it’s growing, trying to recruit and sign contracts with more ranchers even as they expand the size of a more traditional reserve.

North of the border there is no positive incentive for ranchers to abstain from killing jaguars. Then again, there aren’t a lot of jaguars in the US and making true of the threatened border wall won’t help anything. An almost negligible amount of beef in the US comes from Central and South America, so the hamburger you’re eating isn’t necessarily the problem. Beef isn’t the problem with the jaguar’s current situation. With climates trending warmer, there is the potential of more conflict between jaguars and American <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-start-regulating-gas-emissions-cows/">cattle ranchers</a>, then that burger becomes something else. It’s my view that we shouldn’t be happy with keeping the world as it is but should be involved in making things better; better for jaguars as well as humans.

--

By Zach Fitzner, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Earth.com exclusive: Beef, jaguars, and the border wall

How do jaguars, hamburgers and border walls relate to each...

A new species of marsupial lion that has been extinct for 19 million years was recently discovered in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. 

The discovery was made by scientists from the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales </a>who were excavating in the <a href="https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/boodjamulla-riversleigh/about.html">Riversleigh World Heritage Area</a>.

The researchers found fossilized remains including part of the animal's skull, teeth, and upper arm bone. After analyzing the fossil pieces, the researchers concluded that it was a newly discovered species that lived 18 to 26 million years ago during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs.

The new species was named Wakaleo schouteni and would have been comparable to a dog in size and have hunted in Australia’s ancient rainforests. 

The findings were featured in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

According to the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/">UNESCO World Heritage Organization</a>, Riversleigh is one of the world's top ten richest fossils sites.

This discovery follows another new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marsupial-relative-powerful-bite/">marsupial lion</a> that was uncovered in the same site a year prior named Microleo attenboroughi. 

Wakaleo schouteni is now thought to be one of two marsupial lion species that lived during the late Oligocene epoch, the other species being Wakaleo pitikantensis, first discovered in South Australia in 1961.

The two species are extremely similar and are most likely the earliest members of their genus, according to the researchers. 

“The identification of these new species have brought to light a level of marsupial lion diversity that was quite unexpected and suggests even deeper origins for the family,” said Gillespie. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Schouten in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

Extinct species of marsupial lion found in Australia

A new species of marsupial lion that has been extinct...

An international research team is describing a new genus and bird-like species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-fossil-racist-nazi-science/">dinosaur</a> which is extremely unique. The discovery of the 75 million-year-old predator, Halszkaraptor escuilliei, is giving scientists new insight into the lifestyle of some raptorial dinosaurs. 

A well-preserved dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia has a unique combination of features that is helping experts to define the new group of semi-aquatic predators, which are related to Velociraptor. The species lived during the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous period.

The fossil, nicknamed Halszka, was found in area of southern Mongolia that is often targeted by poachers. 

"Illicit fossil trade presents a great challenge to modern palaeontology and accounts for a dramatic loss of Mongolian scientific heritage," explained study co-author Pascal Godefroit. "Illegally exported from Mongolia, Halszka resided in private collections around the world before it was acquired in 2015 and offered to palaeontologists for study and to prepare its return to Mongolia.”

For 160 million years during the Mesozoic Era, terrestrial carnivores like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor became the dominant predators on all continents, yet never conquered aquatic environments. 

Using detailed 3D synchrotron analysis, the researchers found that Halszka had a swan neck and flippers on its forelimbs. This indicates that these dinosaurs adopted a semi-aquatic lifestyle, which is an unanticipated find. Halszka also had sickle-shaped “killer claws” on its feet like Velociraptor.

"The first time I examined the specimen, I even questioned whether it was a genuine fossil" said lead author Andrea Cau of the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187801-d2002758-Reviews-Museo_Geologico_Giovanni_Capellini-Bologna_Province_of_Bologna_Emilia_Romagna.html">Geological Museum Capellini in Bologna</a>. "This unexpected mix of traits makes it difficult to place Halszka within traditional classifications.”

While several significant groups of predatory dinosaurs have been uncovered in Mongolia, Halszka does not belong to any of them. Features identified on the fossil resemble those of reptilian and avian groups with semi-aquatic or aquatic lifestyles.

"Our first goal was to demonstrate that this bizarre and unexpected fossil is indeed a genuine animal: multi-resolution scanning confirmed that the skeleton is not a composite assembled from parts of different dinosaurs," explained Dennis Voeten of the <a href="http://www.esrf.eu/">European Synchrotron Radiation Facility</a>. 

"We implemented new methods for the acquisition and optimisation of tomographic scan data, which not only confirmed the integrity of the specimen, but also revealed additional palaeontological information," said co-author Vincent Fernandez.

The synchrotron was even able to show parts of the skeleton that have been preserved deep within the rock ever since the dinosaur got buried. 

"Our analysis demonstrated that numerous teeth, which are not visible externally, are still preserved inside the mouth," said co-author Vincent Beyrand. "We also identified a neurovascular mesh inside its snout that resembles those of modern crocodiles to a remarkable degree. These aspects suggest that Halszka was an aquatic predator."

"When we look beyond fossil dinosaurs, we find most of Halszkaraptor's unusual features among aquatic reptiles and swimming birds," explained Cau. "The peculiar morphology of Halszkaraptor fits best with that of an amphibious predator that was adapted to a combined terrestrial and aquatic ecology: a peculiar lifestyle that was previously unreported in these dinosaurs. Thanks to synchrotron tomography, we now demonstrate that raptorial dinosaurs not only ran and flew, but also swam!"

The findings of the study are published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Lukas Panzarin and Andrea Cau for scientific supervision

Newly discovered dinosaur displays surprising features

An international research team is describing a new genus and...

Already-endangered tigers in the Sumatran jungle could face steep population declines if their jungle habitats undergo any more deforestation, according to new research. 

Even though tigers in Sumatra had revived their populations over the last two decades thanks to anti-poaching efforts, their habitats are now decreasing and becoming more and more fragmented. 

17 percent of the Sumatran jungle forests were cleared between 2000 and 2012. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/remote-sensing-oil-palm-industry/">Oil palm</a> plantations are the biggest culprit for logging and habitat degradation in the area. 

A new study, published in the journal Nature, followed and tracked endangered tigers in Sumatra for a year. 

The team, led by Matthew Luskin, a research fellow with the <a href="https://www.si.edu/">Smithsonian Institution</a>, spent a year in remote jungle forests and mounted cameras that would take videos and pictures. 

After compiling all of the footage, the researchers were able to calculate the Sumatran Tiger’s home range, which is approximately 150 square miles. 

This is especially challenging because it means the tigers need large protected reserves to thrive. 

“The loss of key habitat is causing significant conservation challenges for Sumatra -- and in particular for this critically endangered species,” said Luskin. 

The researchers also discovered that tiger populations are 47 percent denser in forests that have not been degraded or logged. The degraded forests have caused Sumatran tiger populations to become more scattered and splintered. 

The results of the study show that there now remain only two areas large enough to support more than 30 breeding females, which is what is necessary for the continued survival of the species. 

According to Luskin, reforestation of Sumatra’s jungle forests is unlikely and protecting what little remains of the endangered tigers’ habitats should be a priority. 

“Safeguarding the remaining expanses of primary forests is now absolutely critical to ensuring tigers can persist indefinitely on Sumatra,” said Mathias Tobler, the study’s co-author.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Matthew Luskin

Sumatran tigers struggle in fragmented forests

Already-endangered tigers in the Sumatran jungle could face steep population...

A new study suggests that gorillas have an innate sense of how to clean their food. The researchers found that gorillas spontaneously learn food cleaning without having to observe the behavior in others.

Researchers developed a study to challenge the theory that wild gorillas learn food-cleaning habits by watching other gorillas. Their observation of captive gorillas, who had never witnessed food cleaning before, revealed that the behavior is not always learned and that animals can come up with the idea on their own.

Damien Neadle from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/">University of Birmingham</a> led the study.

"In four of our five gorillas, at least one of the techniques for cleaning was similar to that observed in the wild.” said Neadle. “Given that these two groups are culturally unconnected, it suggests that social learning is not required for this behavior to emerge."

The researchers focused their investigation on a captive population of western lowland gorilla at the Wolfgang Kohler Primate Research Centre in Leipzig Zoo, Germany. The team provided the gorillas with both clean and dirty apples.

Over 75 percent of the time, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-com-film-review-koko-gorilla-talks/">gorillas</a> cleaned the dirty apples which were coated with sand. 

"This fact does not discount the importance of social learning, but simply emphasises the role of individual learning in the emergence of food cleaning behavior in western lowland gorillas,” explained Neadle. “Here, we argue that individual learning is responsible for the form of the behavior, whilst social learning possibly contributes to its frequency."

"Rather than being a binary consideration of either cultural learning or not, behaviors like food cleaning, which can be propagated by shared learning but are also capable of being learnt spontaneously by individuals, could be deemed to be 'soft culture'," said Neadle.

The research is published in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLoS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Gorillas have the natural instinct to clean their food

A new study suggests that gorillas have an innate sense...

The flight patterns of falcons could help researchers develop drones specifically designed to take down other rogue drones. 

A new study, conducted by researchers from <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a>, found that contrary to popular belief, falcons followed similar flight trajectories to guided missiles while steering into an attack. 

Previously it was thought that peregrine falcons hunted using exclusively geometric rules while flying. However, the researchers found that falcons are quick to intercept moving targets. 

The results could pave the way for drones that are programmed to take down drones in airports or prisons. 

For the study, the researchers used GPS receivers to track falcons. The falcons were given dummy targets to attack that were thrown by a falconer or attached to a drone.

The researchers monitored the falcons using both the GPS receivers and on-board video footage that showed the falcon’s perspective during the attacks. 

Mathematical simulations were then later applied to mirror the falcon attack patterns better understand the guidance system employed by the falcon. 

The surprising results showed that falcons use the same law as visually guided missiles during terminal attack trajectories, called proportional navigation. 

The uptick of drones being used to smuggle contraband in prisons and fly near airports is a matter of growing concern. But with this new research, new drones could be designed with the falcon flight patterns to efficiently take out problem drones. 

“Our GPS tracks and on-board videos show how peregrine falcons intercept moving targets that don't want to be caught,” said Graham Taylor, the study’s principal investigator. “Our next step is to apply this research to designing a new kind of visually guided drone, able to remove rogue drones safely from the vicinity of airports, prisons, and other no-fly zones.” 

The research was funded by the US <a href="http://www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl/">Air Force Research Laboratory</a>, and could pave the way for future studies that examine the attack and pursuit trajectories of other predators, not just falcons.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Falcon attack strategies could help seize rogue drones

The flight patterns of falcons could help researchers develop drones...

The abstract concepts of space and time are something that we know we as humans are able to perceive, even without using tools such as a watch or a measuring stick. We have this ability due to the parietal cortex region of our brain, which is a combination of part of the cerebral cortex and the outermost layer of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stress-risky-decision-making/">brain</a>. Primates also use this region in order to comprehend space and time, and now new research points to another species that has the ability to discriminate the concepts of space and time – you guessed it, pigeons!

One interesting part of this research is that pigeons do not have a parietal cortex region of their brain. The researchers were curious what area of the pigeon’s brain is used to discriminate between space and time. 

Their study involved putting pigeons through a series of tasks called the “common magnitude” test. This consisted of the birds being shown a computer screen with a horizontal line of either 6 cm or 24 cm for either 2 seconds or 8 seconds. They could peck one of four visual symbols to “report” the length of duration of the line, and if they did so correctly they would receive food.

To progress the tests, the researchers introduced additional line lengths, adding increased variability in judging whether a line was short or long. They also showed the line to the birds for either a shorter or longer duration. “The task now forces pigeons to process time and space simultaneously because they cannot know on which dimension they’re going to be tested,” says Edward Wasserman, professor of experimental psychology at the <a href="https://uiowa.edu/">University of Iowa</a>.

The results showed that the length of line affected the pigeons’ discrimination of line duration, and the duration of the line affected their discrimination of the line length. These findings parallel research done with humans and primates, although the lack of parietal cortex in the pigeon brain shows that it’s not necessary for comprehending space and time. “The cortex is not unique to judging space and time,” says Benjamin De Corte, a graduate student at the <a href="https://uiowa.edu/">University of Iowa</a> and first author on the paper. “The pigeons have other brain systems that allow them to perceive these dimensions.”

These findings are additional evidence in the growing argument that lower-order animal species – like birds, fish, and reptiles – are actually capable of upper-level thinking and abstract decision-making. “Indeed, the cognitive prowess of birds is now deemed to be ever closer to that of both human and nonhuman primates,” says Wasserman, who has also studied intelligence in pigeons, crows, baboons, and other animals for over 40 years. “Those avian nervous systems are capable of far greater achievements than the pejorative term ‘bird brain’ would suggest.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pigeons are smarter than you think and can sense space and time

The abstract concepts of space and time are something that...

Researchers have determined that medium-sized carnivores spend more time hunting for food than smaller and larger carnivores. This means that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/battling-climate-change-misinformation/">climate change</a> will have a bigger impact on medium-sized predators, as changes in the environment will affect the availability of their food.

It has been long assumed that foraging time decreased as animal size increased. But now, a study from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London </a>demonstrates that this is not the case.

The researchers obtained data on land predators worldwide, from small predators to large predators. For their investigation, the team used tracking methods such as radio collars and GPS. Overall, they examined 73 land-based carnivore species.

The analysis revealed that medium-sized species of predators, such as the leopard cat and the crab-eating fox, spent the largest amount of time foraging. The researchers explained that the findings of the study provide a more accurate model to forecast the vulnerability of animals to habitat loss and climate change.

"We propose a simple mathematical model that predicts how foraging time depends on body size,” said study co-author Dr Samraat Pawar. “This can help predict potential risks to predators facing environmental change.”

"Habitat changes can mean that predators have to move more to find the same amount of food, causing them greater stress,” said Pawar. “This impacts the health of the individual, and therefore the health of the population.” 

Study co-author Matteo Rizzuto explained that the extent to which species are vulnerable will also depend on the kind of prey they feed on. "If they are able to adapt their diet and diversify their prey, they may fare better,” said Rizzuto.

The mathematical model developed by the researchers helped explain why medium-sized predators spend so much more time searching for food. This is because they tend to feed on animals that are small in relation to their own body size.

Study co-author Dr. Chris Carbone said, "Prey that are much smaller than a predator are hard to find and catch, and therefore do not easily satisfy the predator's energy needs and provide insufficient 'bang for the buck'."

The study is published today in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Medium-sized carnivores face biggest threat from climate change

Researchers have determined that medium-sized carnivores spend more time hunting...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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...