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...

For most homeowners, a quiet neighborhood is an ideal place to live. But for fish looking for a home in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-protect-coastlines/">coral reefs</a>, noise is actually a good thing, according to a new study. 

Young fish use the noise from coral reefs to find a good home and place to mate. The sounds of a coral reef can be heard for miles and the species that call corals home use sounds to communicate with each other, warn others in case of predators, and for mating. 

Snapping shrimp, chirps from damselfish, and chattering clownfish create a symphonic soundscape that is a key indicator of a healthy reef. 

Over time, due to the increase in bleaching events, pollution, and habitat degradation, coral reefs have become much quieter and in turn, attract less fish. 

This was the major takeaway from research conducted by an international team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 

The researchers performed several field experiments on the Northern Great Barrier Reef and discovered that years of bleaching and cyclones due has put a literal damper on the “coral reef orchestra”. 

It’s had a silencing effect over the years and coral reefs are much quieter now compared to five years ago.  

“It's heartbreaking to hear. The usual pops, chirps, snaps, and chatters of countless fish and invertebrates have disappeared. The symphony of the sea is being silenced.” said Tim Gordon, the study’s lead author. 

The degraded reefs are now attracting 40 percent fewer juvenile fish, which put corals in even more danger, as fish are required for a healthy and thriving reef system. 

“If fish aren't hearing their way home anymore, that could be bad news for the recovery prospects of reefs,” said Harry Harding, a co-author of the research.  “Fish play critical roles on coral reefs, grazing away harmful algae and allowing coral to grow. A reef without fish is a reef that's in trouble.”

The team of scientists built experimental reefs to test how much sound plays a role in attracting fish. The researchers used underwater loudspeakers and played both healthy and degraded reef sounds to see which attracted more fish. 

The difference is audible, as sound clips from the research show just how stark and muted degraded reefs’ soundscapes are in comparison to healthy reefs. 

“Over the last 15 years my research group have discovered how important sound can be for fish to locate and select specific reefs,” said Steve Simpson, the senior author of the study. “We have marveled at the remarkable diversity and complexity of coral reef soundscapes. But in the last few years, the reefs we know and love have died before our eyes. And the deserted and crumbling rubble fields have turned eerily quiet.”

Coral bleaching has killed up 80 percent of some corals in the Great Barrier Reef and climate change continues to threaten marine ecosystems and reef recovery. The researchers say more must be done to keep reefs from going quiet. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Tim Gordon, <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

Silence of the reefs: how quiet coral reefs are keeping fish away

For most homeowners, a quiet neighborhood is an ideal place...

While the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-right-handed/">blue whale</a> is largest living species on Earth, the title of largest living fish goes to the filter feeding whale shark. 

Whale sharks can measure up to 40 feet in length and have a distinctly large mouth that can expand and scoop up plankton, small fish and crab as it swims along. 

Don’t let the shark in its name scare you off, because despite their large size they are considered gentle giants and many tour groups specialize in letting you swim with groups of whale sharks. 

But sadly the species is endangered and it’s been reported that over the past 75 years, almost half of the world’s whale sharks have disappeared. 

There is a surprisingly limited amount of research that has been done on whale sharks, but a new study reported the longest whale shark migration that’s ever been recorded, revealing new insight into their migration patterns and behaviors. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> tagged a female whale shark near the Coiba Island in Panama. 

Whale sharks can be found in both the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, and large groups of whale sharks have been reported near the Galapagos, Australia, southern China, and Seychelles. 

For this study, the researchers tagged sharks near the Coiba Island in a World Heritage Site that is protected. 

The female whale shark was named Anne and the tag attached to the shark signaled her position during migration using the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS). 

At first, Anne stayed near Panama for 116 days before swimming toward Clipperton Island in France, next she moved on to the Cocos Island in Costa Rica as she made her way toward the Galapagos. 

The signal was lost for 235 days during her migration which meant that Anne was swimming too deep for the satellite to pick up the signal from the shark’s tag. Anne was detected again near Hawaii and she eventually arrived at the Marianas Trench which houses the deepest spot in the Earth’s surface. 

Overall, Anne traveled from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Indo-Pacific covering a distance of over 12,000 miles. 

Whale sharks can dive to more than 6,000 feet, but researchers are not sure why the species dive down to these lower depths or migrate such large distances. 

“We have very little information about why whale sharks migrate,” said Héctor M. Guzmán, lead author of the study. “Are they searching for food, seeking breeding opportunities or driven by some other impulse?”

Previous genetic research has revealed that whale sharks worldwide are closely related which means they must travel long distances to mate, but this latest tracked migration covers the longest distance ever recorded. 

The whale sharks’ endangered status unfortunately is not doing enough to protect it from hunting or getting caught in fishing nets as regulations are often not enforced. Their pull as a tourist attraction can also be harmful to the sharks’ populations. 

“Whale sharks in Coiba have already changed their behavior to avoid the surface and tourists,” said Guzman. “These studies are critical as we design international policy to protect transboundary species like the whale sharks and other highly migratory marine species.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Kevan Mantell

Female whale shark sets the record for longest migration

While the blue whale is largest living species on Earth,...

Pika, Medecine Lake, Near Jasper, Alberta

American pikas are smaller relatives of rabbits and hares that live in the mountains of western North America. There have been concerns that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drought-wildfires-pacific-northwest/">global warming</a> will pose a threat to the survival of pikas, but the findings of a new study suggest otherwise.

Previous investigations found that, when the weather conditions became warmer and drier, pikas no longer occupied their usual sites in the Great Basin. It was assumed that pikas had sought refuge in higher grounds or had died. However, these studies were conducted in regions where pikas had lived historically, and other potential habitats were not explored.

The current study tracked the distribution of pikas across the entire Great Basin. Pikas were documented in territories and climate conditions they had never been observed in before. 

Pikas were found in wetter in colder conditions as well as warmer and drier conditions. They were discovered at sites ranging from 5,350 feet to over 13,000 feet in the mountain ranges of California, Oregon, Utah, and Nevada.

Study lead author Connie Millar is a senior research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service's <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/">Pacific Southwest Research Station</a>.

“This evidence provides an important new perspective on the status of pikas in the Great Basin,” said Millar.”Pikas are persisting broadly across the region, and these findings give us reason to believe that the species is able to tolerate a wider set of habitat and climate conditions than previously understood.”


The researchers analyzed over 2,000 records of pika sites, and could not identify a consistent pattern in elevation or climate across these sites.

“Climate conditions do not adequately explain locations of the extirpated and ‘old-sign’ sites, suggesting that other factors interact with climate and contribute to the loss of pika populations in some environments,” said Millar.

Identifying other factors that may cause declines in pika populations will be important in predicting how they will respond to future climate conditions.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uaar/current">Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

American pikas are adapting surprisingly well to climate change

American pikas are smaller relatives of rabbits and hares that...

According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” children need to be exposed to germs so that their immune systems can develop resistance to diseases. A recent study from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a> is providing more evidence to support this theory, finding that growing up in a rural environment around animals is linked to a more stress-resistant immune system and a lower risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meditation-mental-health-benefits/">mental health</a> issues.

“It has already been very well documented that exposure to pets and rural environments during development is beneficial in terms of reducing risk of asthma and allergies later in life,” said co-author Christopher Lowry. “This study moves the conversation forward by showing for the first time in humans that these same exposures are likely to be important for mental health.”


The investigation, which was led by Professor Stefan Reber of the <a href="https://www.uni-ulm.de/en/">University of Ulm</a>, was focused on 40 healthy German males between 20 and 40 years old. Half of the individuals had grown up on a farm around animals and the other half had grown up in the city without any pets.

The study participants were tasked with giving a speech in front of a neutral audience before attempting to solve a challenging math problem while being timed. The researchers collected blood and saliva samples from the individuals before and after the challenges.

Those participants who had grown up in cities had a heightened immune response to the experience, including higher levels of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), prolonged elevation of the inflammatory compound interleukin 6, and muted activation of the anti-inflammatory compound interleukin 10.

“People who grew up in an urban environment had a much-exaggerated induction of the inflammatory immune response to the stressor, and it persisted throughout the two-hour period,” said Lowry

Despite intense immune responses, the participants from urban backgrounds surprisingly reported feeling less stress after the tests compared to participants from rural backgrounds.

“This exaggerated inflammatory response is like a sleeping giant that they are completely unaware of,” said Lowry.

In past studies, exaggerated inflammatory response has been linked to a higher risk of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) later in life. 

Previous research has also demonstrated that our immunoregulatory response to stress develops in childhood and is strongly influenced by our microbial environment.Humans are exposed to far fewer microorganisms in the city, which is now home to more than half of the global population.

“If you are not exposed to these types of organisms, then your immune system doesn't develop a balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory forces, and you can develop a chronic, low-grade inflammation and exaggerated immune reactivity that makes you vulnerable to allergy, autoimmune disease and, we propose, psychiatric disorders,” said Lowry.


The researchers recommend eating probiotics, spending more time in nature, and getting a pet.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> (PNAS).

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Exposure to animals and the outdoors strengthens mental health

According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” children need to be exposed...

The slithering, wave-like movements of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/roundworms-protection-alzheimers/">worms</a> and other invertebrates are a major defining trait. Some worms, like the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, can even move backwards and forwards in a fluid repetitive sine-wave shape. Imagine the wave patterns in a sound frequency and you can get the idea of repetitive sinusoidal waves and roundworm movements. 

For some time, backward movement of C. elegans was not well understood, but now a new study has identified the protein and receptors that control the backward movement. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/">Indian Institute of Science Education &amp; Research</a> conducted a study of genetically diverse worms and found that the backward movement of C. Elegans is controlled by a neuropeptide protein. 

The study, published in the journal JNeurosci, shows that the proteins fluctuate in response to food availability. 

Previous research had found that a long reversal movement of C. Elegans increased the likelihood that the roundworm would change directions toward a food source. 

For the study, the researchers wanted to better understand the backward movements and what drove changes in direction. 

The researchers studied strains of C. Elegans with varying expressions of the protein FLP-18 and its receptors NPR-4 and NPR-1. 

After examining the worms, the researchers found that FLP-18 controlled backward movement by regulating sensory neurons and interneurons in a circuit. 

The researchers also conducted an experiment where the worms fasted for 24 hours. This increased levels of FLP-18 and reduced the chances that the worm would change direction.

The results show what factors control the backward movement in roundworms, and shed insight on the way genetic and environmental factors influence the way an animal moves and explores its surroundings.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How roundworms are able to travel backwards

The slithering, wave-like movements of worms and other invertebrates are...

A new water <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/boozing-beetles-alcohol/">beetle</a> discovered in Malaysian Borneo by a team of experts and citizen scientists has been named after actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio. The name is a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) in recognition of the organization's efforts to protect biodiversity.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is committed to supporting “the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth's inhabitants.” 

Founded in 1998, the LDF has awarded $80.1 million in grants to 132 environmental organizations in 50 countries. These grants have funded over 200 climate change mitigation, wildlife conservation, and habitat preservation projects.

Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi is one of three previously unknown water beetles found during the first field trip of Taxon Expeditions, an organization that unites nature enthusiasts and international experts to search remote regions for new species.

The group recovered G. leonardodicaprioi at a waterfall in the Maliau Basin. Dr. Iva Njunjic is an entomologist and the founder of Taxon Expeditions.

“Tiny and black, this new beetle may not win any Oscars for charisma, but in biodiversity conservation, every creature counts,” said Dr. Njunjic.

Taxon Expeditions hopes to harness the power of citizen scientists for biodiversity discovery and protection. Despite 250 years of research, scientists estimate that only 20 percent of the world's species are currently known.

In 2016, Leonardo DiCaprio said in a statement, “We've been given this gift, our planet, and we've found no other place in the universe that we can inhabit. I want to do something to create radical change to help save it. It's our responsibility.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">ZooKeys</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Taxon Expeditions - Hendrik Freitag

New beetle named after Leonardo DiCaprio for his environmentalism

A new water beetle discovered in Malaysian Borneo by a...

Acanthochromis polyacanthus/ spiny chromis

An international team of researchers is reporting that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-saving-coral-reefs/">reef fish</a> are more equipped to handle global warming than previously realized. The experts have discovered that the ability to adjust to warming ocean waters is passed down in reef fish from parents to offspring.

The study, which was led by the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a> (Coral CoE) is the first to demonstrate the potential for reef fish to adjust to global warming on a genetic level.

“When parents are exposed to an increase in water temperature, we found that their offspring improved their performance in these otherwise stressful conditions by selectively modifying their epigenome,” said senior author Professor Philip Munday.

Epigenetic changes are modifications of the DNA that signal genes to be expressed or suppressed. These adaptations are influenced by many factors, and the study revealed that heat stress has triggered such changes in reef fish.

The researchers found that when both parents and offspring were exposed to the same warmer water temperatures, epigenetic changes took place that enhanced the next generation’s tolerance of the elevated temperatures.

“We reared spiny chromis damselfish, a common Indo-Pacific reef fish, for two generations under three different water temperatures, up to 3 degrees Celsius warmer than current-day ocean temperatures,” explained study co-author Timothy Ravasi.

“The next generation appeared to be advantaged by parental exposure to elevated temperatures. The offspring's altered gene expression, also referred to as ‘acclimation,’ allowed them to maximize oxygen consumption and energy use.”

Professor Munday added, “Acclimation may buffer populations against the impacts of rapid environmental change and provide time for genetic adaptation to catch up over the longer term.”


While this is great news for reef fish, the study authors pointed out that these fish are still seriously threatened by climate change due to the loss of  their coral habitats.


The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies/ Jennifer Donelson

Some reef fish have genetically adapted to global warming

An international team of researchers is reporting that reef fish...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> have investigated how fish adapt their bodies to acclimate to the shifting water flow in streams caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-sea-levels-and-increased-urbanization/">urbanization</a>. A species of minnow was found to adjust to environmental changes in urban areas by becoming more streamlined and sleek, while a close relative species living in the country grew deeper-bodied.

Urban development creates conditions that make streams flow more rapidly and less predictably during rain storms. A team of biologists theorized that fish would respond by evolving a body shape to improve their swimming.

“We wanted to test rapid body shape evolution in western and central North Carolina stream fish in response to urbanization,” said study senior author Brian Langerhans. 

“While some species cannot handle the altered conditions and have disappeared or reduced in abundance, some remaining species may rapidly evolve adaptive trait changes to contend with the human-induced changes in their environment.”


The researchers documented patterns of different fish species in streams located in western and central North Carolina. They used fish in museums to track changes in body shape, and analyzed whether the changes were due to nature or nurture using lab experiments.

A minnow called western blacknose dace exhibited the changes in body shape predicted by the researchers, becoming more streamlined in urbanized areas. In rural areas, this minnow maintained its original body shape and was less sleek.

A cousin of the western blacknose dace, the creek chub, was found to evolve in the opposite manner. These fish adapted deeper bodies in urbanized areas surrounded by impervious surfaces such as sidewalks.

“One species showed morphological changes that nicely matched evolutionary predictions of increased streamlining to better handle the altered conditions, but the other species showed a change that did not match our simple prediction, highlighting how different species can solve similar problems in different manners,” explained Langerhans.

When creek chub minnows from both rural and urban areas were raised in a common environment in the lab, the same differences were found as those identified in the field. Urban creek chub individuals became less streamlined than rural individuals, demonstrating that changes in body shape were more influenced by nature than by nurture.

“Human activities are having real-time evolutionary impacts on the organisms capable of living in our human-dominated environments; some of these changes may be predictable and some may be difficult to predict,” said Langerhans.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit:  Elizabeth Kern

City fish develop different body shapes than rural fish

Researchers at North Carolina State University have investigated how fish...

Horses can sense and remember human facial expressions, emotions. A team of psychologists led by the <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/">University of Sussex</a> has found that horses remember people's facial expressions, which allows them to identify individuals who may be a threat.

Professor Karen McComb is a specialist in animal behavior and a co-lead author of the study.

She explained, “What we've found is that horses can not only read human facial expressions but they can also remember a person's previous emotional state when they meet them later that day - and, crucially, that they adapt their behavior accordingly. Essentially horses have a memory for emotion.”

For the investigation, the researchers showed images of happy or angry human faces to domestic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/domesticating-wild-horses-genome/">horses</a>. Several hours later, the individuals from the photographs were presented to the horses with a neutral facial expression.

The experts found distinctive differences in how the horses responded to individuals depending on the emotional expression conveyed in the images. The head orientation and gaze direction of the horses showed that individuals who looked angry in the photographs were perceived more negatively.

Previous studies have demonstrated that animals usually view negative events with their left eye. This is due to the fact that threatening stimuli are processed in the corresponding right brain hemisphere.

In order to prevent the humans from behaving a certain way, they were not informed of whether the horse was shown an angry or happy picture of themselves. The researchers also noted that the cautionary reactions observed in the horses were only given in response to the people they had previously seen with angry expressions and not to other individuals.

“We know that horses are socially intelligent animals, but this is the first time any mammal has been shown to have this particular ability,” said co-lead author Dr. Leanne Proops from the <a href="http://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a>. 

“What's very striking is that this happened after just briefly viewing a photograph of the person with a particular emotional expression - they did not have a strongly positive or negative experience with the person.”

This is the first study to demonstrate that horses have a memory of emotional experiences with specific humans, an ability that may inform their decision to bond with people or to avoid them.

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Horses can sense and remember human facial expressions, emotions

Horses can sense and remember human facial expressions, emotions. A...

The last remaining population of wild red wolves in North Carolina has dwindled down from 120 to 40 in just a decade, according to a new report by the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2018/04/red-wolf-remains-endangered-and-work-continues-on-future-management-of-non-essential-experimental-population-in-eastern-north-carolina/">U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. </a>

Conservation efforts including releasing captive wolves and controlling the coyote population brought the species back from the brink of extinction in the 1980s, and for a brief period, the wolves seemed to bounce back with populations numbering over 100. 

However, hunting, collisions with cars, and disease have all taken a major toll on the wolves. 

The new report which included a five-year assessment of the wolves found that their remaining population cannot be sustained in the wild and could be wiped out in the next twelve years. 

“The population cannot recover from their losses and overcome mortality resulting in a steadily declining population,” <a href="https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/five-year-reviews/red-wolf-2018.pdf">the review</a> says.

Leopoldo Miranda, an Assistant Regional Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5652969/Government-Wild-red-wolf-population-soon-wiped-out.html">Daily Mail</a> that the agency already spends $1 million on red wolves annually. 

“The conditions conducive to self-sustainability are not present at this time in eastern North Carolina,” Miranda said. 

230 wolves are currently living captivity but this is not likely to have any impact on the wolves living in the wild as efforts to release captive red wolves have halted in recent years. 

The purpose of the assessment, according to the report, was to examine the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/judge-us-failed-protect-red-wolves/">red wolves</a> to see if their status had changed at all since they were first declared endangered. 

The two major factors impacting the wolves decline were gunshots resulting in more than 80 deaths over a 25 year period, and collisions with vehicles that caused 70 deaths during that same period. 

The results show that the species is still endangered and may well be on the fast track to extinction. 

However, while the outlook is bleak, conservation groups are claiming federal officials were negligent and have not done enough in recent years to protect the wolves. 

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is not taking the action that is required to recover the species, and indeed these documents indicate that they're going to continue down that path,” Sierra Weaver, an environmental lawyer told the Daily Mail. 

Weaver is part of a group of lawyers working on a lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service stating that the agency has purposely stopped recovery efforts in the last five years. 

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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

Wild red wolves confirmed as endangered and only 40 remain

The last remaining population of wild red wolves in North...

Anyone familiar with scuba-diving has probably heard of the bends, the potentially fatal “diver’s disease” where surfacing too quickly can cause nitrogen bubbles to build up in the bloodstream. 

While diving to high-pressure depths, our lungs, and the lungs of any air-breathing mammal, compress and nitrogen bubbles build up in the body's tissues. 

These nitrogen bubbles need an adequate amount of time to be exhaled from the lungs but ascending too quickly can cause nitrogen bubbles to build up in the bloodstream. 

While the bends are a problem for human divers, what about marine mammals like whales who spend their lives effortlessly diving down for prey and surfacing back up again for oxygen? 

Previous research has found that marine mammals are capable of succumbing to the bends, but a new study may have identified the biological mechanisms that reduce the risk of decompression sickness in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossils-earliest-toothless-whales/">whales</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bottlenose-dolphins-canadian-pacific/">dolphins</a>. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> (WHOI) and the <a href="https://www.oceanografic.org/fundacion/">Fundacion Oceanografic</a> in Spain and published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

“How some marine mammals and turtles can repeatedly dive as deep and as long as they do has perplexed scientists for a very long time,” said Michael Moore, the co-author of the study. “This paper opens a window through which we can take a new perspective on the question.”

The researchers hypothesized that the unique lung structure of whales, dolphins, and porpoises allows them to dive and surface with more freedom than humans. 

The team examined this lung architecture by taking CT images of a deceased dolphin, seal, and pig in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber. 

In the pressure chambers, their lungs created two pulmonary regions and one collapsed while the other was filled with air. 

The researchers suggest that the constricted pulmonary region allows blood flow but limits nitrogen bubbles from entering the bloodstream and tissues. This could help explain why marine mammals don’t get the bends as frequently as humans do. 

However, the system could be interrupted and fail, causing the same decompression sickness symptoms in whales and dolphins as are experiences by humans. 

“Excessive stress, as may occur during exposure to human-made sound, may cause the system to fail and increase blood to flow to the air-filled regions,”  said Daniel García-Parraga, the study’s lead author. “This would enhance gas exchange, and nitrogen would increase in the blood and tissues as the pressure decreases during ascent.”

There have actually been reports of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/sonar-could-be-giving-whales-the-bends-700901.html">catastrophic whale beaching incidents</a> related to nearby naval sonar testing. 

The researchers hope this study will aid in future research aimed at understandings how lung blood flow and ventilation patterns change due to different stressors in marine mammals. 

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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 

Image Credit: Lance Wills, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Secret weapon helps marine mammals avoid the bends

Anyone familiar with scuba-diving has probably heard of the bends,...

Scientists are able to learn extremely detailed and interesting things about long-extinct species just by examining the teeth they left behind. They’re often able to assess everything from what food they ate to how they caught their prey. 

In a new study published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home?code=cell-site">Current Biology</a>, researchers reveal that predatory, bird-like theropod <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-asteroid-struck/">dinosaurs</a> that existed during the Upper Cretaceous (100.5 to 66 million years ago) in Spain and Canada, all used the puncture-and-pull bite method to kill and consume their prey. However, these dinosaurs weren’t always in competition for their next meal. The researchers found that some would prey on larger, struggling prey, while others would go for smaller and less tough prey.

“All these dinosaurs were living at the same time and place, so it is important to know if they were competing for food resources or if they were aiming for different prey,” says Angelica Torices of <a href="http://www.unirioja.es/">Universidad de La Rioja</a>, Spain. “Through this work we [can] begin to understand the interactions between these predatory dinosaurs in the ecosystem a bit better.”

Torices examined the microwear – which is the patterns of tiny scratches on the teeth – of these dinosaurs to see if there was any pattern to the way certain dinosaurs were eating. Her research team used a modeling approach known as finite elements analysis, used to solve problems in mathematical physics and engineering, in order to determine how the dinosaurs’ teeth likely behaved at different cutting angles.

The results of these analyses showed that all of the dinosaurs studied used a puncture-and-pull feeding movement, which caused parallel scratches to form while they bit down into their prey, then oblique scratches as the head pulled backwards with the jaw closed. But they also determined that different tooth shapes performed variably under a number of simulated biting angles.

[caption id="attachment_1213967" align="aligncenter" width="996"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/theropod-dinosaurs.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-1213967" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/theropod-dinosaurs-1024x500.jpg" alt="" width="996" height="486" /></a> Image Credit: Sydney Mohr/Current Biology[/caption]

The teeth of Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes were well suited for holding struggling prey, or for processing bone as part of their diet. On the other hand, Troodon teeth were less likely to succeed at awkward bite angles, and the findings suggest that troodontids may have preferred softer and smaller prey that would require less bite force or could be swallowed whole. They also may have gone after immobile prey, such as carrion. 

Torices is continuing this line of research, as her team is working to develop more complex models that include the roots of teeth as well as dinosaurs’ jaws, in order to get a better idea of their biting process and thus their eating and hunting strategies.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Teeth fossils reveal how dinosaurs attacked and ate their prey

Scientists are able to learn extremely detailed and interesting things...

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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



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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?

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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



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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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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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"

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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...