For many years, scientists believed that prehistoric kangaroos in Australia had specialized diets, relying specifically on certain types of plants or vegetation for their survival. This idea suggested that they were unable to adapt to changes in their environment, such as shifts in climate or vegetation patterns. 



When the kangaroos' preferred food sources became scarce, it was assumed that their dietary inflexibility contributed to their extinction. This theory placed dietary specialization as a key reason for the disappearance of some kangaroo species during the Pleistocene epoch.



However, recent research challenges these assumptions, suggesting that these marsupials were more resilient than we initially realized.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diverse-diets-of-prehistoric-kangaroos"> Diverse diets of prehistoric kangaroos</h2>



The study was carried out by experts from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flinders University</a> and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (<a href="https://www.magnt.net.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MAGNT</a>). 



The researchers used cutting-edge techniques to analyze the microscopic patterns of wear on fossilized kangaroo teeth. These patterns revealed the types of food the kangaroos ate.



The results showed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-kangaroos-of-the-past-didnt-hop-they-walked-on-all-fours/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prehistoric kangaroos</a> were not limited to specific types of food. Instead, they were generalists, capable of eating a wide variety of plants. This flexibility in diet helped them survive environmental changes over time.



Focusing on fossils from the Victoria Fossil Cave at the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area in South Australia, the experts analyzed kangaroo diets across 12 extinct species and compared them with 17 modern species.



The Naracoorte region contains the richest and most diverse fossil deposits of kangaroos from the Pleistocene epoch, making it an ideal location for this research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-diets-helped-kangaroos-survive">Flexible diets helped kangaroos survive</h2>



“Our study shows that most prehistoric kangaroos at Naracoorte had broad diets. This dietary flexibility likely played a key role in their resilience during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protemnodon-kangaroo-fossils-may-explain-their-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">past changes</a> in climate,” explained lead researcher Dr. Sam Arman.



Contrary to previous assumptions, the study revealed that most species were mixed feeders, capable of consuming both shrubs and grasses.



“The distinctive short-faced kangaroo anatomy led to a widespread view that sthenurines were unable to adapt their diets when climate change altered vegetation patterns, leading to their extinction,” said study co-author Professor Gavin Prideaux.



However, the findings suggest that their ability to consume a wide range of foods provided a survival advantage during periods of scarcity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-extinction-dynamics">Complex extinction dynamics </h2>



While the ability to adapt their diets likely helped prehistoric kangaroos survive for a time, it wasn’t the only factor influencing their fate. 



The extinction of these megafaunal kangaroos also involved other challenges, such as their large body size, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/not-all-kangaroo-ancestors-hopped-as-a-means-of-locomotion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how they moved</a> (locomotion), and their interactions with early humans, who may have hunted them or altered their habitats. 



To better understand these complex extinction dynamics, the researchers plan to study fossils from other Pleistocene sites. They will focus on the critical period between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago - a time when many large animal species disappeared.



This broader investigation could reveal how different factors worked together to drive kangaroo extinctions.



"Identifying what drove the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions on the continents remains one of the most contested topics in historical science," noted the study authors. 



"This is especially so in Australia, which lost 90% of its large species by 40,000 years ago, more than half of them kangaroos."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insights-into-ecosystem-vulnerabilities">Insights into ecosystem vulnerabilities</h2>



The study highlights the ecological roles of prehistoric marsupials, offering valuable insights into the evolution of Australia’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ecosystem-attack-predicting-the-success-of-species-invasions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystems</a>. 



“Understanding the resilience of ancient species helps contextualize why Australia has been so vulnerable to introduced large mammals like pigs, camels, and deer,” noted Professor Prideaux.



Dr. Arman uses a relatable analogy to describe dietary flexibility: “Most of the time, I don’t need to engage four-wheel drive, but this capability becomes crucial when I do need it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extinction-of-australia-s-megafauna">Extinction of Australia’s megafauna </h2>



The research, funded by the <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Australian Research Council</a>, reflects a long-standing partnership between Flinders University and MAGNT.



The research also honors the traditional custodians of the Naracoorte region, the Meintangk, Marditjali, and Potaruwutj peoples, and acknowledges the contributions of volunteers and students in collecting and preparing specimens.



The study marks an essential step in understanding the resilience of prehistoric kangaroos, their adaptable diet and the complex interplay of factors that led to the extinction of Australia’s megafauna.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq4340" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Prehistoric kangaroos changed their diets to survive climate change

For many years, scientists believed that prehistoric kangaroos in Australia had specialized diets, relying specifically on certain types of plants or vegetation for their survival. This idea suggested that they were unable to adapt to changes in their environment, such as shifts in climate or vegetation patterns. When the kangaroos' preferred food sources became scarce, it was assumed that their dietary inflexibility contributed to their extinction. This theory placed dietary specialization as a key reason for the disappearance of some kangaroo species during the Pleistocene epoch. However,...

Interbreeding may have been a crucial component to the continued existence of early elephants, according to a new expansive study on the evolutionary and genomic history of elephant families ranging as far back as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-woolly-mammoths-extinction/">woolly mammoth</a> and mastodon.

An international team of researchers conducted the study which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 

The results emphasize that interbreeding amongst early elephant relatives was an important part of their evolution.

Interbreeding is not seen in today’s elephants, which would be a bad sign for the future survival of current species.

“Interbreeding may help explain why mammoths were so successful over such diverse environments and for such a long time, importantly this genomic data also tells us that biology is messy and that evolution doesn't happen in an organized, linear fashion,” said Hendrik Poinar, a senior author of the study. 

The researchers sequenced the genomes from several elephant species, living and long extinct, two American mastodons, a 120,000-year-old straight-tusked elephant, and a Columbian mammoth. 

By studying the genomes from such a wide array of elephant species and their relatives, the researchers were able to gain a bigger understanding of elephants and their complicated evolutionary history. 

The results showed that interbreeding occurred among several ancient species including the Columbian and woolly mammoths. This is particularly noteworthy because Columbian and woolly mammoths lived in very different habitats.

However, the researchers did not find any evidence of interbreeding among current savanna or forest elephants today and that the two species lived in isolation for hundreds of thousands of years. 

The study is an expansive look at the evolution and genomic history of elephants and their relatives, but the researchers note that its results and implications are far reaching beyond that. 

“This paper, the product of a grand initiative we started more than a decade ago, is far more than just the formal report of the elephant genome,” said Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, a co-senior author. “It will be a reference point for understanding how diverse elephants are related to each other and it will be a model for how similar studies can be done in other species groups.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Interbreeding may have been key to survival early elephants

Interbreeding may have been a crucial component to the continued...

Researchers at the <a href="http://www.utoledo.edu/">University of Toledo</a> have tracked the migratory routes of tiny songbirds and found that the presence of these birds in their non-breeding sites is a strong predictor of population stability. This indicates that the birds are exposed to more difficult conditions and threats across the regions where they spend their winters.

The golden-winged warbler is a rare songbird that is about the size of a ping pong ball and weighs less than three pennies. The tiny birds have breeding sites in the Appalachian Mountains and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antidepressants-fish-great-lakes/">Great Lakes</a>. In the wintertime, the birds migrate south to the tropical climates of Central and South America.

The research team monitored the birds over the course of five years using tags to calculate their light-based location across thousands of miles. Data obtained from the geolocators revealed that different populations did not mix between their nesting grounds and their non-breeding tropical sites. 

The information showed a strong migratory connectivity, and confirmed that populations of golden-winged warblers stick together all year.

“These golden-winged warblers that breed throughout the Great Lakes region and Appalachian Mountains are going to different areas in the winter,” said study co-author Dr. Henry Streby. 

“That's pivotal because those tropical areas experienced different rates of forest loss during the last 60 years. When we look at forest-loss rates, it correlates closely with golden-winged warbler population changes on breeding grounds thousands of miles away."

The experts discovered that declining populations of warblers spent their winters in northern South America, while stable populations resided in Central America during the non-breeding season.

“They're separate, and it's remarkable,” said PhD student researcher Gunnar Kramer. “Most species we track like this don't show strong connections between breeding sites and wintering sites.”

The researchers explained that conservationists must shift their focus toward preventing further deforestation in Venezuela to protect the habitat of the golden-winged warbler, a species that is now being considered for federal protection.

“If the winter habitat keeps disappearing, the warblers that winter in northern South America won't survive and come back to the Appalachian Mountains no matter how much breeding habitat is available to them,” said Streby.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Gunnar Kramer

Tropical deforestation threatening rare songbird populations

Researchers at the University of Toledo have tracked the migratory...

Studying the movements of marine animals, especially those that travel long distances across open ocean, would not be possible without tracking devices. 

Tracking devices have benefitted many fields of research, shed insight on the behaviors and migratory patterns of animals that were previously a mystery, and allowed researchers to accurately record population totals. 

This method of monitoring is also helpful for understanding the impacts of habitat degradation and climate change on different species, particularly those that are already threatened or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/no-fishing-zones-penguins/">endangered</a>.

Now, in a new study, researchers from around the world combined the available tracking data on a variety of marine animals that revealed similarities in how the different species moved around. 

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“This paper is the result of a big international effort. We realized that if we all share our data and work together in a concerted manner, we can learn a lot more about these animals,” said Daniel Costa, a co-author of the study and a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California-Santa Cruz </a>(UCSC).

One of the major revelations of the study was that habitat seemed to drive movements and behaviors regardless of the species. The study found that movements were generally the same for species in the open ocean and for those in coastal habitats. 

If habitat is a major driver of behavior and movements, researchers can then fill in the gaps when it comes to species that aren’t tagged or closely monitored. 

“Many of these species are endangered, and we have no tracking data, but we can extrapolate from other species to understand how they are likely to interact with fisheries, shipping, or other human activities,” said Costa. 

Costa has devoted much of his career to developing tracking devices and monitoring marine species. He runs a lab that has studied albatrosses, California sea lions, and Weddell seals among other species using tracking methods. 

One of Costa’s most notable contributions is his ongoing work on elephant seals in collaboration with <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UCSC</a>. Those efforts gave researchers a wealth of information on elephant seals that had previously been unknown or even thought impossible. 

“Before we put tags on elephant seals, all the books said they were limited to the California Current. We had no idea they were traveling these incredible distances and using the entire North Pacific Ocean,” said Costa. “We went from studying them where we could watch them to having the animals tell us where they were going.”

Costa’s work and this recent study show the importance of tracking devices and what they can tell about marine wildlife. Tracking and monitoring species is also key to understanding how climate change will affect habitats and different populations. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Dan Costa

Different animals navigate the ocean in similar ways

Studying the movements of marine animals, especially those that travel...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a> are describing the challenges faced by King penguins as the climate changes across the Antarctic region. While this species has survived dramatic climate shifts in the past, the scientists warn that this is the first time that they also face the impacts of human activities. 

“The main issue is that there is only a handful of islands in the Southern Ocean and not all of them are suitable to sustain large breeding colonies,” explained first author Robin Cristofari.

When King penguins search for a site to reproduce and raise chicks for a year, they have some very specific requirements. The penguins need an island with a smooth beach and mild winter temperatures so that no sea ice forms. Most importantly, they need an abundant food source nearby to feed their chicks regularly.

For thousands of years, King penguins have been able to depend on a region where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-monster-discovered-antarctica/">Antarctic</a> waters collide and large concentrations of krill and other fish can be found, known as the Antarctic Polar Front. However, this natural boundary is beginning to drift away from the islands where most King penguins currently live as a result of climate change.

Parents must now swim farther to find food for their chicks. The researchers predict that, for most colonies, the length of the foraging trips will soon exceed the amount of time the offspring can survive without food. This will lead to massive population crashes if the King penguins do not relocate their colonies.

The research team used data from the King penguin’s genome to model worldwide population changes that have occurred over the last 50,000 years. The scientists discovered that past climate change and the subsequent shifts in marine currents and in the location of the Antarctic Polar Front have always been associated with critical episodes for the King penguin. 

The researchers pointed out that King penguins have already survived this exact same crisis several times in the last 50,000 years. 

“Extremely low values in indices of genetic differentiation told us that all colonies are connected by a continuous exchange of individuals,” said co-author Emiliano Trucchi. “In other words, King penguins seem to be able to move around quite a lot to find the safest breeding locations when things turn grim.”

But now, for the first time in history, the King penguins are dealing with the influence of global warming caused by human activities, and the strongest impacts can be seen in polar regions.

“There are still some islands further south where King penguins may retreat, but the competition for breeding sites and for food will be harsh, especially with the other penguin species like the Chinstrap, Gentoo or Adélie penguins, even without the fisheries,” explained co-author Celine Le Bohec. 

“It is difficult to predict the outcome, but there will surely be losses on the way. If we want to save anything, proactive and efficient conservation efforts but, above all, coordinated global action against global warming should start now.”

The study is published in <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 Copyright: Celine LeBohec

King penguins face tough decisions due to global warming

Researchers from the University of Vienna are describing the challenges...

Researchers at the <a href="http://www5.usp.br/english/?lang=en">University of Sao Paulo</a> have found that less green space in urban areas allows disease-bearing mosquitoes to thrive. These particular insects are more adapted to urban areas and benefit from declining populations of other species.

The researchers analyzed 37,972 specimens collected in parks across Sao Paulo and found that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/swatting-mosquitoes-avoid-scent/">mosquitoes</a> belonged to 73 species and 14 genera. The study revealed that the overall number of species is dropping, and that mosquitoes which transmit diseases are benefitting as other species disappear.

“The vector species have adapted to urban environments. As green areas are reduced, wild species gradually disappear, and urban-adapted species dominate the territory,” explained study co-author Antonio Ralph Medeiros-Sousa. “They are precisely the species that transmit the most pathogens.”

The scientists found that seven out of the eight most common species in the area were disease-bearing mosquitoes. The experts also discovered that only five species made up 68 percent of all the mosquitoes observed.

“There's a correlation between the size of green spaces and species diversity,” said Medeiros-Sousa. “Smaller green areas tend to have a subset of the species found in larger green areas, and the range of species in smaller areas tends to comprise mainly vectors.”


The researchers emphasize that the presence of higher concentrations of vector mosquitoes does not necessarily mean that there is a higher risk of disease transmission, but it does imply a greater likelihood that humans will come into contact with disease-bearing mosquitoes.

Study co-author Mauro Marrelli explained:  “It doesn't mean there will be more disease. The other factor that determines the incidence of disease is the presence of pathogens, such as dengue, Zika or yellow fever virus. The study shows that there's an imbalance, with less species diversity in smaller and less conserved areas.”

According to the study authors, the research exposes the need for further studies focused on how habitat loss in urban areas affects vector insects and the risk of disease transmission.

The study is published <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Disease-bearing mosquitoes thrive in cities with less greenery

Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo have found that...

When it comes to brand logos and advertising, humans aren’t so different from our primate cousins. A new study found that rhesus macaques, like humans, are influenced by advertising based on sex and social status.

The study, conducted by a team of business, psychology and neuroscience researchers from across the United States, wanted to know if other primates shared humans’ susceptibility to advertising.

“To test this idea, we asked whether rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) show choice behavior that is similar to humans in response to sex and social status in advertising,” the researchers wrote in their study, published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193055#sec002">PLOS One</a>. “Our results show that monkeys form preferences for brand logos repeatedly paired with images of macaque genitals and high status monkeys.”

The macaques even showed brand loyalty, repeatedly choosing brand logos associated with sex or status even when they received no tangible reward.

The researchers studied the behavior of a laboratory colony of rhesus macaques, native to South and Central Asia. The monkeys are social and share a few traits with humans, most notably caring for kin, exchanging information, and sometimes giving up rewards to help one another.

The researchers paired images of high-status and low-status male monkeys or female macaque sexual traits with brand logos. They found that the macaques developed a preference for logos they saw paired with the high-status or sexual images. They didn’t show the same kind of conditioning when it came to logos paired with the low-status males.

The study may begin to answer why advertisements using sex or status are so effective, even when they have little to do with the product being marketed. The findings point to an evolutionary and social component that such ads tap into, the researchers said.

“[O]ur results endorse the hypothesis that the power of sex and status in advertising emerges from the spontaneous engagement of shared, ancestral neural circuits that prioritize information useful for navigating the social environment,” the researchers concluded.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

When it comes to brand logos, sex sells – even for monkeys

When it comes to brand logos and advertising, humans aren’t...

Spring is in the air, and the days are getting warmer and longer. In a few short weeks, bees and butterflies will be on the hunt for nectar to eat and pollen to spread. What better way to help them out than planting a pollinator garden?

A garden can be any size, from a window box or a couple of containers on an apartment patio to a full garden full of flowering plants. Some farmers are even including flowering native plants among their acres of crops to make sure the bees and butterflies that help grow our food have something to eat all year long.

An ideal pollinator garden will include a variety of plants that flower throughout the spring and summer, providing food for bees, butterflies, caterpillars and other insects, and possibly hummingbirds and bats.

Fortunately, planting a pollinator garden is simpler than it sounds. Read on for tips about what to plant and why.
<h3>Pick native plants</h3>
Choosing the rest of your plants will depend on where you live. That’s because different pollinators are native to different areas, and the best food sources for those pollinators are native plants.

“Native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climates, are usually the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators,” the Xerces Society, a nonprofit focused on invertebrate conservation, writes in its <a href="https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/plant-lists/">pollinator plant guides</a>. “Incorporating native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees into any landscape promotes local biological diversity by providing shelter and food for wildlife. Native plants are better adapted to regional climate cycles, do not need fertilizers, and are less likely to become weedy.”

For example, honeybees are not native to North America. They’re domesticated, and were brought to the U.S., Canada and Mexico <a href="https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/1999/November/111199OSL.html">by European settlers</a>. However, North America is home to more than 4,000 native bee species, and those species have come to rely on different species of plants, depending on where they live.

North Carolina alone has native bees from more than 500 species, including squash bees, sweat bees and carpenter bees. Squash bees – as their name implies – are a big fan of plants like pumpkin, which are native to that region. Purple coneflower, bee balm and goldenrod are all native to North Carolina and favorites among bees.

Minnesota has about 400 native bee species – or did, the last time species in the state were thoroughly surveyed <a href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mbs/grasslandbees.html">nearly 100 years ago</a>. Mining bees, sweat bees and leaf-cutters in the northern prairies, from Canada to the upper U.S. Midwest, feed on native plants like American vetch, scarlet globemallow and Rocky Mountain beeplant – of course. 

Other pollinators – butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, moths, some fly species and others – have also developed preferences. 

The coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon to British Columbia, are home to butterflies like the Oregon silverspot, Taylor’s checkerspot, Fender’s blue and Puget blue, according to the Xerces Society. In that region, bigleaf lupine is a host plant for blue butterflies, as well as a favorite snack spot for bees and hummingbirds. Douglas aster and meadow checkermallow are also attractive to pollinators in the Northwest.

In Florida, blue mistflower, east coast dune sunflower and white wild indigo make good choices. For those with room for shrubs and trees, eastern redbud and flatwoods plum can provide some early nourishment for pollinators each year. In California, redbud and McMinn manzanita are among the more permanent choices, with California poppy, California fuschia and common sunflowers also making good options. 

The internet offers a ton of resources for finding native plants that will keep your local pollinators well-fed and happy. Aside from the Xerces Society guides, the United States Department of Agriculture <a href="https://plants.usda.gov/pollinators/nrcsdocuments.html">keeps a database of pollinator plants</a>, and many U.S. states and Canadian provinces have chapters of the <a href="http://nanps.org/">North American Native Plant Society</a>.

Native plant groups can be found in several places outside of North America, such as <a href="http://anpsa.org.au/">Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/">New Zealand</a>.
<h4>Milkweed</h4>
Milkweed has two major benefits: First, despite the name, the wildflower is native to just about everywhere in the mainland United States and much of North America, meaning that it’s easy to find local species and there’s less risk of crowding out other native plants.

Second, milkweed is a vital food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars, which cannot eat anything else, and the butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed each year in the spring. The North American population of the stunning orange and black butterflies has been in decline for years for several reasons. One of those is that agricultural pesticides and development have played havoc on the traveling insects’ milkweed habitat along migration routes.

That makes milkweed an excellent choice for any pollinator garden – and not just for monarchs. Some bees and other butterfly species like it, too. 

When choosing milkweed, it’s important to get the right kind. Try to get a milkweed plant native to your area, rather than the tropical variety available throughout the U.S. The tropical variety <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/01/plan-save-monarch-butterflies-backfires">doesn’t die back in the winter</a>, encouraging monarch butterflies to stay in areas that become chilly in the winter. It also sometimes hosts a parasite that can badly weaken the butterflies.

To order native milkweed seeds, try the seed finder database maintained by the <a href="https://xerces.org/milkweed-seed-finder/">Xerces Society</a>. For other milkweed sources, check out <a href="http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/">Monarch Watch</a>, which hosts a “Milkweed Market.”
<h3>Building your pollinator garden</h3>
The National Pollinator Garden Network launched its <a href="http://millionpollinatorgardens.org/">Million Pollinator Garden Challenge</a> in 2016. The challenge will run until the network registers 1 million gardens or more, whether window boxes or full gardens. 

Why not join in and be counted? 

If you’re an experienced gardener, it’s as easy as adding some region-appropriate plants that provide pollen and nectar to your garden or yard. 

But even inexperienced gardeners can get involved. If you have room for a couple of window boxes or containers, you can grow plants for pollinators.

A few tips:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Try to grow three or four different types of plants that flower at different times of the year. This is where the Xerces Society guides can come in handy – in addition to listing plants native to an area, they also list how large the plants get and what time of year they bloom.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Avoid hybrid flowers. They often have less pollen, nectar or scent that will attract pollinators.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">If you have the space, try to provide a few host plants – plants that provide a place to lay eggs and food for caterpillars in addition to flowers for pollinators.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Try to avoid pesticides in favor of pest control methods like ladybugs, predatory mites, or other bugs that act as natural pest control. When pesticides are the only option, choose the least toxic ones that you can find that get the job done. Local nurseries, garden clubs or native plant societies are a good resource here.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Put out more than just flowers. Some pollinators also eat rotting fruit or vegetation. Tossing these items (sparingly) into your garden can provide an additional food source. Bees and butterflies also need water and salt to thrive. A <a href="https://gardentherapy.ca/bee-bath/">bee bath</a> is a great way to provide some much needed water in a pollinator garden. You can also use a drip system and a salt lick to help them get salt.</li>
</ul>
Now’s the time to start planning your pollinator garden if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Start choosing plants now to help feed the bees, butterflies and other pollinators passing through your region.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Prepare for bees and butterflies with a pollinator garden

Spring is in the air, and the days are getting...

For about a month, I’ve been working on the fossil of an ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-shaped-airplanes-zeppelins/">shark</a>.  The shark is in the genus Ptychodus, a name roughly meaning ‘fold teeth’ in Greek.  The name comes from the animal’s strange teeth, designed for crushing shells rather than tearing flesh like classic shark teeth.  

The individual I’ve been patiently removing a rock layer from has revealed a strange and twisted face.  Two eye sockets are splayed on either side of plates of rounded, blunt teeth.  The teeth seem to have once been arranged in neat rectangles, though some of the tooth plates seem twisted and a few teeth are scattered around the head.  The whole shark fossil has been flattened and appears as little more than a dark etching in a light stone.  The body inhabits several broken pieces of rock lying next to each other on a table.  A long column of vertebrae stretch back in the same basic arrangement as in a live shark, except for a couple that have dropped out of place, dipping in the middle of the back.  Two fins reveal delicate, hand like cartilage skeleton structures on either side of the body. At the tail there is a section of delicate illuminating skin, but it’s cut short by pieces of rock on either side that simply weren’t collected at the quarry where the Ptychodus was found.

Such is the testimony of the Earth’s past.  Broken rock and distorted fossilized skeleton pieced together with sediment, chemistry, physics, genetics, biology and geology to reveal what we know, what we can know about the planet’s past.  

Although my particular shark was found in Texas, the genus Ptychodus was originally discovered in Kansas.  Some may think of corn fields, or Dorothy and Toto, and decide that Kansas is an unlikely place to discover a shark.  But Kansas as we know it now is not even roughly the same place as Kansas of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway.  The Western Interior Seaway split what is now the United States roughly in half.  The entire states of Colorado and Wyoming were actually underwater at one time.  The middle of Utah and Kansas were on the opposite sides of the sea and most of the south, including all of Texas, was under water.  

In the small museum in Hill City South Dakota, attached to Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, I once worked hangs the skeleton of an enormous turtle.  The turtle is suspended from the ceiling, appearing to swim through the air above your head, peering down curiously, tilted head slightly down.  The turtle is a sea turtle and very much resembles living leatherback sea turtle skeletons.  The difference between the turtle in South Dakota of the genus Archelon and modern Leatherbacks is mostly size and distribution.  Imagine that the world’s largest known sea turtle was discovered in South Dakota, a very landlocked state.  The largest Archelon specimen is about 13 feet long and 16 feet wide.  Adult leatherback sea turtles measure about 6-7 feet long and weigh approximately 500-1500 lbs. 

Archelon, swam in the same enormous inland sea as Ptychodus.  The sea stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all through Canada into the Arctic ocean, the sea was 2,500 feet deep at its deepest and home to a menagerie of weird and wild creatures.  The Western Interior Seaway was also home to Xiphactinus, another fish I worked on, the genus larger (at 18 feet long) than any known bony fish.  Mostly Xiphactinus looks like a normal fish but with jutting, pencil like teeth that could make the impressionable think twice about swimming in the ocean.  

Truly strange animals such as the long snake-necked plesiosaurs, looking like sea dragons from mythology swam through the middle of our continent once.  Pterosaurs, like the famous pterodactyl and swimming birds both fished the Western Interior Seaway.  

The Western Interior Seaway was subtropical as far north as Wyoming.  Partially the climate was warmer because the North American continent has moved over time but evidence is strong that the whole world was warmer.  Antarctica wasn’t the entirely ice covered freezer we know but once a place dinosaurs could roam.  

The Western Interior Seaway lasted for about 60 million years, longer than the human species, but all things must come to an end and the last we saw of the seaway was 70 million years ago.  Climate change likely dried up the interior seaway and held its waters frozen in the poles.  The history of the earth is one of cycles, not entirely linear, so one may wonder if seaways once ancient may be part of the future as well.  How are you building tomorrow’s ocean?   

--

By<a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com"> Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Inland seas and the Western Interior Seaway

For about a month, I’ve been working on the fossil...

Scientists are reporting that bats have adapted a dampened antiviral immune pathway, known as the STING-interferon pathway, which protects against illness without triggering a heightened immune response.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-echolocation-hunt-prey/">Bats</a> are known to harbor dangerous pathogenic viruses like Ebola, Marburg, and Hendra, yet show no signs of having the disease. Experts at the <a href="http://english.whiov.cas.cn/">Wuhan Institute of Urology in China</a> discovered that the STING-interferon pathway is their secret weapon.

“We believe there is a balance between bats and the pathogens they carry,” said senior author Peng Zhou. “This work demonstrated that in order to maintain a balance with viruses, bats may have evolved to dampen certain pathways.”

In humans and other mammals,overstimulation of the immune system in response to pathogenic viruses can trigger serious illness. For example, an activated STING pathway promotes severe autoimmune diseases in humans.

“In human history, we have been chasing infectious diseases one after another, but bats appear to be a 'super-mammal' to these deadly viruses,” said Zhou.

Now that they have identified a STING pathway that is weakened but not inoperative, the researchers have gained a new understanding of how bats can effectively keep highly pathogenic viruses at bay without initiating an overactive immune response.

The study authors theorize that this defense strategy evolved as part of three interconnected physiological features of bats including their ability to fly, live long lives, and host a large pool of viruses.

“Adaptation to flight likely caused positive selection of multiple bat innate immune and DNA damage repair genes,” explained Zhou. 

These adaptations likely modified certain antiviral pathways such as STING, making them effective viral reservoir hosts.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/home">Cell Host &amp; Microbe</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bats carry dangerous viruses but don’t get sick. Here’s how.

Scientists are reporting that bats have adapted a dampened antiviral...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a> have stumbled upon a new potential method of biofuel production while analyzing the digestive system of a primitive insect. The firebrat, which has been on Earth for hundreds of millions of years, has the ability to rapidly break cellulose down into glucose.

The experts believe that this unique ability could be a model for creating earth-friendly industrial practices, such as the production of sustainable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biofuel-compete-oil/">low carbon fuels</a>.

Firebrats were previously shown to thrive on crystalline cellulose, which is a natural fiber that is found abundantly in cardboard, paper, and straw.

“Firebrats belong to one of the most primitive groups of insects; they appeared on land during the Devonian Period, some 420 million years ago,” explained study co-author Simon McQueen Mason. 

“Cellulose forms the fibers that give the cell walls of plants their strength and has a high degree of structural order, making it solid and tough.”


Prior to this study, it was unknown how firebrats could digest cellulose so effectively. The team's analysis of their digestive system revealed something unexpected.

“Inside their gut the firebrats had a group of uncharacterized proteins that make up 20% of their carbohydrate digestive enzymes,” explained co-author Dr. Federico Sabbadin.

“On further inspection, these proteins proved to be a new class of enzyme, called lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), which attack crystalline polysaccharides. Our study revealed that these enzymes are used by firebrats to greatly increase the rate of cellulose digestion.”

LPMOs were thought to occur exclusively in fungi, bacteria, and viruses. The findings suggest that these enzymes could be adopted in industrial processes to break down cellulose into fermentable sugars for biofuel production.

“These digestive LPMOs appear to have evolved from enzymes that digest a substance called chitin, which protects the respiratory system of insects,” said Professor Mason.

“We found that these ancestral genes are essential for metamorphosis and that interfering with their function is lethal to insects. This could have important implications for the development of new methods to control disease-carrying mosquitoes and agricultural pests such as locusts.”

The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: The University of York

Ancient insects provide hints on how to produce biofuel

Experts at the University of York have stumbled upon a...

An international team of researchers has been studying the characteristics of a very unique amphibious species in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brazils-sugarcane-crop/">Brazil</a>. The experts discovered that Brazilian caecilians have enlarged mucous and poison glands throughout their serpent-like bodies that evolved from different selective pressures.

Cecilians may look like snakes or worms, but they are actually amphibians with no limbs that are related to frogs and salamanders. They can be found on the continents of Africa, Asia, and America, where they prefer tropical climates.

The limbless creatures, which are grayish in color and measure about 18 inches in length, mostly live in holes that they burrowed themselves.

<a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> ecologist Edmund "Butch" Brodie, Jr. teamed up with researchers in Brazil for the study.

“My Brazilian colleagues noticed the burrows made by this species were lined with a shiny, slick substance,” said Professor Brodie. “We didn't think it was a secretion from the poison glands, so we decided to investigate.”

Professor Brodie explained that the Brazilian cecilian is a surprisingly fast burrower.

“When caecilians burrow, they force their snouts into the ground and essentially dive into the soil,” he said.

The analysis revealed that all of the skin glands in the caecilian’s head region were very enlarged and densely packed with mucous glands. The lubrication greases the path as the caecilian makes its escape into the ground, often evading predators such as coral snakes.

“We know of no other amphibian with this high concentration of mucous glands,” said Professor Brodie. “In other terrestrial amphibians, mucous is mainly related to the uptake of oxygen. Here, in caecilians, it's obviously used in locomotion.”


Further analysis of these mucous gland revealed that their numbers gradually decline throughout the body, and lead to the poison glands.

“The poison glands, resulting from a different selective pressure, provide another defense from predators,” explained Professor Brodie. “In addition to chemical defense, the tail acts as a 'plug,' blocking the tunnel and further deterring predators.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</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: Carlos Jared, Butantan Institute

Amphibious creature evolved poison glands for protection

An international team of researchers has been studying the characteristics...

Research from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> is providing new insight into the ancestry of horses. The study reveals that wild horses are actually the descendants of ancient domesticated horses, which came as a surprise to the researchers.

It was previously thought that today's modern breeds of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/horses-read-posture-humans/">horses</a> emerged from the earliest known domesticated horses. Experts believed that Botai horses from Kazakhstan were the forefathers of all modern domesticated breeds.

The researchers found genetic and archaeological evidence that Botai horses are instead the ancestors of wild Przewalski's horses, which roamed freely along the border of Mongolia and China. The study authors also concluded that there are no purely wild horses left today.

Ludovic Orlando is a professor of Molecular Archaeology at the University of Copenhagen and the study's lead author.

“Our findings literally turn current population models of horse origins upside-down: what we used to understand as the last wild horse on earth is in fact the descendant of the earliest domestic horses, which simply escaped human pressure and became feral during the last few millennia,” said Professor Orlando.


The researchers analyzed the DNA of 88 horses with origins in both ancient and modern times from across Eurasia. They found that many of the earliest Przewalski's horses had white coats that were spotted like Dalmatians.


The experts said that a large number of the Przewalski's were bred to have the Dalmatian-style coats, which was likely because people found this look to be attractive. The horses have recently been reintroduced in the Mongolian-China border region after being taken into captivity and saved from extinction.

“Ironically, we used to think that the endangered population of Przewalski's horses should be preserved as the last wild horses in the planet,” said co-author Charleen Gaunitz. “We now find that they must be preserved as the closest descent of the earliest domestic horses.”


The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</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: Ludovic Orlando, Seas Goddard and Alan Outram

Wild horses actually descended from domesticated horses

Research from the University of Exeter is providing new insight...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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...