Creatures,Of,The,Cambrian,Period,,Underwater,Scene,With,Anomalocaris,,Opabinia,

A new investigation of tiny Cambrian shells has sparked excitement among experts who study how life changed when animals, both predators and prey, first expanded in number and variety. 



The research, published in&nbsp;Current Biology, focuses on shell fragments from a small animal related to brachiopods.



These ancient remnants come from the ocean covering what is now South Australia. The shells are dotted with tiny perforations that some unknown marine creature must have made about 517 million years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cambrian-waters-and-shells-of-prey">Cambrian waters and shells of prey</h2>



The <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2024/07/revisiting-the-cambrian-explosion-s-spark" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cambrian Explosion</a> was a phase in Earth’s history when many animal groups appeared in the fossil record in a short span of time. 



It began roughly 541 million years ago, and it introduced an incredible diversity of organisms that possessed shells, spines, and other protective structures. Yet specialists have questioned how these defense features developed so quickly.&nbsp;



Did <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/largest-predator-prey-feast-ever-seen-in-the-ocean-enormous-quickly-altered-food-chain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predators force prey</a> to reinforce their shells and adapt? Or did environmental changes spark widespread new traits in ocean life? 



After puzzling over these questions for decades, experts are now pointing to new shell damage as possible proof of a rapid back-and-forth struggle between attackers and the creatures they targeted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shell-holes-reveal-predator-prey-interactions">Shell holes reveal predator-prey interactions</h2>



This fresh look at the shells was spearheaded by <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Russell-Bicknell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Russell Bicknell</a> of the American Museum of Natural History. 



Bicknell joined forces with colleagues from the <a href="https://www.une.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of New England</a> and <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Macquarie University</a> to study the tiny armor of a Cambrian species called <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288292290_New_data_on_the_sclerite_morphology_of_the_tommotiid_species_Lapworthella_fasciculata" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lapworthella fasciculata</a>.&nbsp;



The shell fragments ranged from a little larger than a grain of sand to something about the size of an apple seed. Researchers spotted more than 200 pieces with punctures that look as if a worm-like or snail-like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/danger-zones-climate-change-is-altering-predator-prey-dynamics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predator</a> produced them. 



Over time, the shells appear to have become thicker and stronger, which suggests a quick answer by L. fasciculata to defend itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evidence-reveals-attacks-on-shelled-prey">Evidence reveals attacks on shelled prey</h2>



The team examined the fossil remains across different points in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/cambrian" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cambrian</a> history. They found that holes in the shells gradually rose in frequency while the shell walls became tougher in a short window.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/fossil-shells_Lapworthella-fasciculata_Cambrian_credit-Bicknell_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/fossil-shells_Lapworthella-fasciculata_Cambrian_credit-Bicknell_1s.webp" alt="Examples of Lapworthella fasciculata shells (under scanning electron microscope) from the Mernmerna Formation, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, showing holes made by a perforating predator. Scale bars represent 200 micrometers. Credit: R. Bicknell, et al (2025) Current Biology" class="wp-image-1956329"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Examples of Lapworthella fasciculata shells (under scanning electron microscope) from the Mernmerna Formation, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, showing holes made by a perforating predator. Scale bars represent 200 micrometers. Credit: R. Bicknell, et al (2025) Current Biology</figcaption></figure>



“Predator-prey interactions are often touted as a major driver of the Cambrian explosion, especially with regard to the rapid increase in diversity and abundance of biomineralizing organisms at this time. Yet, there has been a paucity of empirical evidence showing that prey directly responded to predation, and vice versa,” said Bicknell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unexpected-speed-of-adaptation">Unexpected speed of adaptation</h2>



Scientists have long suspected that early animals developed new defenses to keep up with evolving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogfish-lure-their-prey-with-a-built-in-fishing-rod-and-bait/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predators</a>. This shift is frequently described as an arms race because each improvement from one side pushes the other side to respond.&nbsp;



The remarkable part is how swiftly L. fasciculata managed to boost its shell thickness. In a few generations, the predator must have increased its ability to break through stronger shells.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Paleozoic-Era" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> from 1987, early <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Paleozoic-Era">Paleozoic</a> life underwent several bursts of diversification, partly driven by escalating attacks in marine environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiny-shells-big-implications">Tiny shells, big implications</h2>



The tiny shells open a window into the daily struggles of creatures that once lived in shallow seas filled with new forms of life. 



These findings add weight to the idea that confrontation between small <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-octopus-has-mastered-the-art-of-multispecies-hunting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predators</a> and their prey influenced the rapid spread of protective traits, such as tougher shells, in the early Cambrian.&nbsp;



A thickened shell could have meant the difference between living and becoming a snack. Some scientists propose that these predator-prey interactions may have shaped early marine communities more than previously assumed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-filling-gaps-in-the-fossil-record">Filling gaps in the fossil record</h2>



Fossils from the Cambrian are not always easy to interpret. 



Soft-bodied creatures rarely fossilize well, and skeletal fragments often appear in fragments scattered through sedimentary rock. Many experts have struggled to figure out exactly which predators might have roamed these waters.&nbsp;



The punctured shells from L. fasciculata provide valuable clues because they are preserved well enough to show unmistakable signs of drilling or piercing. 



These marks are a real boost to understanding how shells and predatory tools advanced in lockstep.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-it-matters-for-today-s-shelled-preys">Why it matters for today’s shelled preys</h2>



Shell protection still matters in modern oceans, from clams to snails. When researchers look at how Cambrian animals beefed up their shells, they see patterns that may match modern dynamics. 



Crabs, for instance, often feed on shelled prey, and those prey can shift their own growth strategies in response.&nbsp;



Looking at these ancient shells confirms that this tug-of-war between attacker and defender is nothing new. While more discoveries are needed, the takeaway is that even half a billion years ago, survival hinged on how well an organism handled the never-ending threat of becoming someone else’s lunch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-connections-to-broader-evolutionary-questions">Connections to broader evolutionary questions</h2>



Fossil shells tell us that the Cambrian Explosion’s rapid spread of animal life involved a tense duel between those doing the hunting and those trying to avoid it. 



This new research highlights that predation is more than a violent encounter; it is a potent force pushing creatures to adapt in surprising ways.&nbsp;



Scientists will likely hunt for similar evidence in other early animal groups. Future work may close gaps in our knowledge of who attacked whom in those ancient seas and how quickly the defenders responded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960982224016476" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Shell fossils reveal ancient predator-prey battle 517 million years ago

A new investigation of tiny Cambrian shells has sparked excitement among experts who study how life changed when animals, both predators and prey, first expanded in number and variety. The research, published in&nbsp;Current Biology, focuses on shell fragments from a small animal related to brachiopods. These ancient remnants come from the ocean covering what is now South Australia. The shells are dotted with tiny perforations that some unknown marine creature must have made about 517 million years ago. Cambrian waters and shells of prey The Cambrian Explosion...

The remains of a previously unknown arachnid have been discovered in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ticks-trapped-amber/">amber</a> from Myanmar. The specimen, which resembles a spider with a tail, dates back 100 million years to the mid-Cretaceous age.

Paul Selden of the Paleontological Institute and Department of Geology at the <a href="https://www.ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a> was part of the international research team that described the insect.

“There's been a lot of amber being produced from northern Myanmar and its interest stepped up about ten years ago when it was discovered this amber was mid-Cretaceous; therefore, all the insects found in it were much older than first thought,” said Selden. 

“It's been coming into China where dealers have been selling to research institutions. These specimens became available last year to Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology.”
The new animal has many features that belong to spiders including fangs, male pedipalps, four walking legs, and silk-producing spinnerets. Unlike a spider, however, it has a long flagellum or tail.

Four tiny new specimens have been found, measuring only about 2.5 millimeters in length aside from a nearly 3-millimeter-long tail.

“Any sort of flagelliform appendage tends to be like an antenna,” said Selden. “It's for sensing the environment. Animals that have a long whippy tail tend to have it for sensory purposes.”

The species was named Chimerarachne after the Greek mythological Chimera, a hybrid creature composed of the parts of more than one animal. At this point, not much is known about the creature’s behavior.

“We can only speculate that, because it was trapped in amber, we assume it was living on or around tree trunks,” said Selden. “Amber is fossilized resin, so for a spider to have become trapped, it may well have lived under bark or in the moss at the foot of a tree.”

Selden explained that, despite the fact the tailed spider had spinnerets, it is unlikely that it spun webs.

“We don't know if it wove webs,” said Selden.. “Spinnerets are used to produce silk but for a whole host of reasons -- to wrap eggs, to make burrows, to make sleeping hammocks or just to leave behind trails. If they live in burrows and leave, they leave a trail so they can find their way back. These all evolved before spiders made it up into the air and made insect traps. Spiders went up into the air when the insects went up into the air. I presume that it didn't make webs that stretched across bushes. However, like all spiders it would have been a carnivore and would have eaten insects, I imagine."

The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</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: University of Kansas | KU News Service

Strange spider with a tail found in 100 million-year-old amber

The remains of a previously unknown arachnid have been discovered...

Do woodpeckers ever sustain brain damage from drilling against such hard surfaces? 

This was the question asked by researchers from the <a href="https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/">Boston University School of Medicine</a>, who set out to examine the possibility of trauma in woodpecker brains.

Woodpeckers do not peck lightly, and each peck is equivalent to the force of 1,200 to 1,400 gs. A person could get a concussion from just 60 to 100 gs of force to the head. 

Not surprisingly, the immense capabilities of woodpeckers to withstand such force has led to manufacturers and designers modeling helmets and safety gear after the woodpecker’s skull. 

“There have been all kinds of safety and technological advances in sports equipment based on the anatomic adaptations and biophysics of the woodpecker assuming they don't get brain injury from pecking,” said Peter Cummings, co-author of the new study. “The weird thing is, nobody's ever looked at a woodpecker brain to see if there is any damage.”

In the study, published in the journal PlOS ONE, researchers examined woodpecker brains in order to fully determine whether or not they suffered brain damage from their pecking. 

The results showed that woodpeckers have an accumulation of protein that in humans indicates brain damage, but the researchers say this doesn’t conclusively prove one way or another if pecking causes damage. 

For the study, the research team analyzed bird brains from bird specimens in the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum </a>and the<a href="https://hmnh.harvard.edu/"> Harvard Museum of Natural History</a>, looking specifically for a buildup of tau proteins. 

Both woodpecker and red-winged blackbird brains were removed from the preserved birds themselves, and the researchers cut the brains into incredibly thin pieces and stained the samples silver in order to show the tau proteins. 

Tau proteins are an important part of the brain’s functioning as it can protect and stabilize brain cells, but an accumulation of the proteins after an injury can disrupt neural communication and cause problems in cognitive functioning. 

The woodpecker brain samples had far more tau proteins than the blackbirds which were used as a control group for the study.  The findings, however, don’t necessarily prove that woodpeckers get brain damage. 

“We can't say that these woodpeckers definitely sustained brain injuries, but there is extra tau present in the woodpecker brains, which previous research has discovered is indicative of brain injury," said George Farah, the lead author. 

The study highlights the possibility that the tau buildup is a protective measure on the part of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/animals/magellanic-woodpecker-campephilus-magellanicus/">woodpeckers</a> and keeps the brain from being harmed. 

The results are interesting as it raises more questions about the inner workings of woodpecker brains and could further help improve helmet design and sporting equipment. Cummings also notes that the results could help with researching new treatments for neurodegenerative disease.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Do woodpeckers get brain damage?

Do woodpeckers ever sustain brain damage from drilling against such...

The living world is one of movement; movement vast and tiny.  Reindeer or Caribou make enormous migrations across a vast and to many terrifying landscape.  Migrations like this don’t exclude humans either.  The Sami people of Scandinavia actually herd Reindeer in a sort of recreated natural migration.  

One can easily think of traditional cattle herding in the US (and elsewhere) in the same way.  Cattle moved from a summer grazing area to a wintering area are essentially migrating in a similar way to wild animals.  There is even a word for nomadic pastoralism with migrations involved: Transhumance.  I’ve personally seen cows being moved on foot along roads in Madagascar where the cattle men sleep by campfires at night.  Seen from the windows of a public transportation van, fires of the herdsmen give the night an otherworldly flavor.  

The difference between herdsmen and people who merely follow game can be a bit blurry as with the reindeer, which are essentially a wild animal being herded.  North American plains natives have long followed the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bison-american-survival-story/">Bison</a> for their livelihood, making the animal a deep part of their cultural identity.  There is a darker side to human interference in migrations.  As Joy Williams recounts in the essay wildebeest in her book, Ill Nature:

“In Botswana in the 1970’s they died by the tens of thousands during the drought, and their populations have never recovered.  It was not that there was no water.  It’s that the wildebeest and many other wild animals were prevented from reaching it by a fence…A hundred thousand wildebeest which had been spread out across a vast wilderness were forced by the fence to take the same migratory route to water that they would never reach…Their heads hanging, they tottered and fell, their eyes plucked out by vultures while they still lived, their ears and testicles chewed off by scavengers while their legs still moved, as though they were moving still toward the water.”

If the bison weren’t already mostly eradicated in North America, one might easily wonder if today they’d face the same fate due to cattle fencing. 

There are migrations everywhere though.  The documentary film Elk River shows the impressive annual journey of elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.  The mammals travel over 10,000 foot mountain passes and swim through chilly rivers.  For something even closer to home for most people, find a duck pond or a corn field and watch for Canada Geese or Mallard Ducks.  Canada Goose migrations can be as long as 2-3,000 miles.  However the availability of waste grain and grass in the forms of lawns and golf courses have caused more geese to stay in one area year round than was previously possible.  Satellite tracked mallard ducks travelled on average as individuals almost 875 miles during fall migration according to Ducks Unlimited.  

A great migration that holds a special place in my heart is that of the Sandhill Crane.  While my partner Erin and I were living in South Dakota, we figured we were as close as we were ever likely to be to the famed Sand Hills of Nebraska.  The Sand Hills are a prairie habitat of rolling, sandy hills covered in dense grass.  The area is overtaken by farming and in some places the landscape is forbiddingly empty dominated by cut fields when we visited in the fall.  The Platte River dominates the area and is beautiful near Kearney Nebraska.  If you get up early in the morning in March to brave the crisp air or wait for sunset near the river, you won’t be disappointed.  Standing on a bridge over the river, it seems like a never ending procession of cranes is flying overhead.  We didn’t get close but the v’s of red headed birds poured over us in wave after wave.  The air was filled with the trill, unmistakable and indescribable call of the Sandhill Crane.  

Nebraska is not the end or beginning of the Sandhill Crane, just a convenient and popular stop over.  The birds are flying from wintering grounds in Arizona and New Mexico to breeding grounds in the Arctic.  In the past native grasses and abundant aquatic wildlife of the river valley provided food for hungry cranes flying enormous distances.  Now the cranes largely subsist on leftover grains from agriculture, mainly corn.  It saddens me to think of these birds being now so dependent on what we as humans consider our garbage or our excess.  In my mind though, I’m standing in the hush chill of Nebraska, I close my eyes and listen carefully to the first early morning trilling in the darkness  and I know all the wildness of the crane isn’t yet gone.  Some creatures still move by the ancient patterns of season and wind and wildness.                           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The magic of great migrations

The living world is one of movement; movement vast and...

A large chunk of rock discovered in a <a href="http://nasa.gov">NASA</a> parking lot has preserved the ancient footprints of at least 70 different mammals and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-dinosaurs/">dinosaurs</a> from over 100 million years ago. The scientists are reporting that the massive piece of sandstone, which measures 8.5 feet in length, is the largest known slab containing animal tracks anywhere in the world.

In 2012, paleontologist Ray Stanford was dropping his wife off for work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, when he spotted the rock. 

Stanford had found a loose rock with the footprint of a small theropod at this same site a few years earlier. The brownish stone was made of iron-rich sedimentary material that Stanford recognized when he saw it again.

Experts found approximately 100 prints on the rock, including those from early squirrel-like mammals, an armored nodosaur and her baby, and theropod dinosaurs.

Study co-author Martin Lockley is a Geology professor at the <a href="http://www.ucdenver.edu/">University of Colorado Denver</a>.

“I know of four or five sites in the whole age of dinosaurs that have mammal tracks and some of them only have one or two,” said Lockley. “Here, we've got approximately 100 footprints on it. It's amazing.”

The scientists were able to determine that the animals passed over this particular area in a relatively short period of hours or days due to the fact that none of the tracks overlapped. 

“It’s unusual to have such a large concentration of different kinds of tracks and small tracks in such a small space,” said Lockley.

While the patterns of the prints suggest the dinosaurs may have been hunting for food, this cannot be confirmed.

The scientists were most interested in the distinctive footprints of early mammals, which are a rare find. Lockley said this was one of only two sites where dozens of mammal footprints from this era had been found.

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: Rebecca Roth/NASA/GSFC

Parking lot stone preserved 100 million year old animal tracks

A large chunk of rock discovered in a NASA parking...

If you have ever been bitten by a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/puppies-talk-older-dog/">dog</a>, it may have had something to do with your personality type, according to a new study.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-and-global-health/">Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool </a>assessed the number of dog bites that occurred in a town in northern England in order to accurately determine the frequency of dog bites and how often they required treatment. 

The results also showed that certain personality types were more at risk of being bitten than others, as anxious people showed a higher percentage of dog bites. 

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 

In the United Kingdom there are 8.5 million dogs, and over 6,500 people require hospital treatment for dog injuries annually. 

The research team wanted to isolate dog bites from other dog-related injuries that are reported by hospital record statistics, and found that the number of dog bites may be much higher than people realize. 

According to the research, 694 people across 385 households were asked about any dog bite instances, if treatment was needed, if they owned a dog themselves, and if they knew the dog that bit them. 

The study participants were also given the<a href="https://gosling.psy.utexas.edu/scales-weve-developed/ten-item-personality-measure-tipi/"> Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) </a>which measures emotional stability and personality type. The researchers wanted to see if there was a correlation between dog bites and certain personality traits. 

The TIPI scores did show a link between anxious personality traits and an increased risk of a dog bite.

Every point increase in the TIPI scores which showed higher emotional stability was associated with a 23 percent decreased risk of being bitten. 

The results also showed men were twice as likely to have been bitten as women, and 1 in 4 of the study participants reported being bitten at one time or another. 

Owning a dog drastically increased the likelihood of having been bitten, but a little over half of the study participants reported that they had been bitten by a dog they didn’t know. 

The researchers then used these results to create a likely national average of dog bites per 100,000 people in the UK. Current hospital records say that dog bites occur in 740 per 100,000 people, but the results of the new study put those numbers at 1,873. 

There are limitations to the study and researchers say that the results may not apply to rest of the world, and important factors like breed and age of the dog in question were not considered. 

The results still suggest that dog bite statistics may need to recalculated and more research should be done looking at dog bite prevention methods based on risk factors and personality type. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Anxious people are more likely to get bitten by a dog, study says

If you have ever been bitten by a dog, it...

As the Atlantic Forest shrinks, scientists are concerned that species are vanishing faster than they can be studied. The Atlantic Forest once covered roughly 463,000 square miles of habitat, but only around 12 percent of the original habitat remains today.

The Atlantic Forest is the second most biodiverse forest system in South America, spanning the Atlantic coast of Brazil into eastern Paraguay and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whatsapp-heart-attack-treatment/">Argentina</a>. Deforestation in this region is a major threat to native species of plants and animals, and habitat loss is the main driver of extinction among mammals.

A group of nearly 100 scientists teamed up to bring awareness to the issue of habitat loss in the Atlantic Forest by reporting on the condition of mammals native to the region. The experts compiled trait information such as body mass on 39,850 individuals from 279 different mammal species.

Study co-author Noe de la Sancha is a research associate at the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> in Chicago.

“This is the first comprehensive dataset of this forest system's mammalian trait data,” said de la Sancha. “We wanted to create a resource so that scientists wouldn't have to dig through every natural history museum in the country to find these data. It's a stepping stone for future research, putting that out for everybody to use - it's a really big change in science.”


Lead author Fernando Goncalves agreed that this paper creates more opportunities for future zoological and ecological research.

“Ninety-six authors accepted the challenge to go back to their field notes and send as much information on mammal morphological traits as they could,” said Goncalves. “And thanks to them, we'll be able to provide raw data for ecological and evolutionary studies for researchers all over the world.”

The scientists hope their work can draw attention to the Atlantic Forest as a region to protect, so that they can conduct further research to learn more about the impacts on mammal species from climate change and human activities.


“There's still a great deal we don't know about our biodiversity - and as a consequence, we don't know what we're losing,” said de la Sancha. 


“Hopefully if these types of papers start getting attention, people will start to value what they have in their backyards. This paper highlights the importance of this forest system, and that could potentially get locals pumped about conserving it.”

The paper is published in the journal <a href="http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1939-9170/">Ecology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image (c) Noé de la Sancha, The Field Museum.

Protecting animals in the Atlantic Forest amidst deforestation

As the Atlantic Forest shrinks, scientists are concerned that species...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-ice-challenges-polar-bears/">Polar bear</a> survival rates and population numbers have been in decline for years, and it’s likely due to a number of factors. Climate change is having major effects on the Arctic sea ice, causing polar bears to move greater distances and making it more difficult for them to catch prey. As climate change affects their habitats, many bears are no longer able to catch enough prey to meet their energy needs. But now, a new study has found that polar bears in the wild have higher metabolic rates than previously thought, exacerbating this issue.

The study — published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/journals">Science</a> — identifies the physiological mechanisms behind the declines in polar bear populations. 

“This study identifies the mechanisms that are driving those declines by looking at the actual energy needs of polar bears and how often they’re able to catch seals,” explains Anthony Pagano, a Ph.D. candidate at <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UC Santa Cruz</a> and first author of the paper.

The research team assessed the behavior, metabolic rates, and hunting success of adult female polar bears without cubs on the sea ice of the Beaufort Sea in the spring. Using high-tech collars on the bears, they could record video, locations, and activity levels over eight to 11 days. Metabolic tracers allowed the team to also determine how much energy the bears were expending. The field metabolic rates they found measured more than 50 percent higher than previous studies had predicted. Additionally, five of the nine bears in the study lost body mass, indicating that they weren’t catching enough fat-rich marine mammal prey to meet their energy needs.

It’s even more concerning since “this was at the start of the period from April through July when polar bears catch most of their prey and put on most of the body fat they need to sustain them throughout the year," says Pagano. 

In the Beaufort Sea, the ice starts to move away from the continental shelf in July, resulting in most of the bears moving north on the retreating sea ice. As the climate warms, polar bears are moving greater distances than ever before, and thus expending more energy during the summer. The summer is when the bears are fasting, waiting for the ice to return, so it’s imperative for their survival that they bulk up before the ice begins to melt.

During the spring, the bears are mainly preying on recently weaned ringed seals, which are much easier to catch than the craftier adult seals. But by the fall, the seals are older and wiser, and polar bears have a harder time hunting them. 

“It’s thought that bears might catch a couple per month in the fall, compared to five to 10 per month in the spring and early summer,” says Pagano.

Recent population estimates have found that the polar bear population in the Beaufort Sea area has declined roughly 40 percent in the last decade. As technology improves, researchers are able to hone in on the reasons behind this decline and the devastating effects of climate change. 

“We now have the technology to learn how they are moving on the ice, their activity patterns, and their energy needs,” explains Pagaon. “So we can better understand the implications of these changes we are seeing in the sea ice.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Anthony Pagano, USGS

Polar bears aren’t getting enough to eat

Polar bear survival rates and population numbers have been in...

Researchers led by the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/">University of Birmingham</a> have found that turtles have a brain that has slowly yet consistently evolved over the last 210 million years. The turtle’s brain has ultimately become more complex than that of most other animals, with a range of shapes and sizes.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/video/hatchlings-show-surprising-endurance/">Turtles</a> have been around for nearly 250 million years, and they have not changed very much in that time. Most fossil turtles closely resemble today's turtles, which likely saved them during mass extinction events.

An international team of scientists from the UK, Brazil, and Germany set out to examine the evolution of the turtle’s brain using modern computer analysis. The researchers focused their study on the remains of the oldest turtle with a fully-formed shell, Proganochelys quenstedti, who dates back 210 million years to the Triassic Period.

CT scans of two fossil skulls allowed the research team to generate digital models of the brain of Proganochelys, which were compared to brain models of modern turtles.

“Our results demonstrate that Proganochelys, the oldest turtle with a real shell, had a very simple brain structure,” explained lead author Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager. “Vision and hearing were probably not very good, while the sense of smell was moderately developed.”

The experts also discovered that the turtle brain increased in size and complexity over the course of millions of years. Modern turtles have a wide variety of brain shapes and sizes that represent their sensory capabilities and lifestyles.

“Over a period of 200 million years the brain of turtles became more complex, allowing them to adapt to different habits and living conditions,” said co-author Dr. Ingmar Werneburg. “This is very important as we see similar diversifications in other animal groups such as mammals and birds.”

The study also helped the researchers understand the origins of turtles.

Study co-author Gabriel Ferreira explained: “By comparing the digital brain reconstruction of Proganochelys with those of modern turtles we can show that the first turtles with a fully formed shell were very likely living on land and not in the water or in an fossorial environment. It was only later that they explored those different habitats.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.

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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

Turtles have developed complex brains that allow them to adapt

Researchers led by the University of Birmingham have found that...

Scientists have identified the remains of a rare 200 million-year-old ichthyosaur sea reptile 22 years after it was first uncovered. The fossil is only the second specimen of an ichthyosaur named Wahlisaurus massarae, a new species discovered by paleontologist Dean Lomax of <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">The University of Manchester</a>.

Ichthyosaurs lived during the time of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-fossil-racist-nazi-science/">dinosaurs</a> and traveled by sea. Many of their fossils have been found in the UK, and Lomax has described five different species of ichthyosaurs in recent years.

In 2016, Lomax described an ichthyosaur skeleton from the collections of Leicester's New Walk Museum and Art Gallery. He had found several unusual features of the bones which he determined were unique and represented a new species. Lomax named the prehistoric reptile Wahlisaurus massarae to honor two of his mentors, Bill Wahl and Professor Judy Massare.


“When Wahlisaurus was announced, I was a little nervous about what other paleontologists would make of it, considering the new species was known only from a single specimen,” said Lomax. “As a scientist you learn to question almost everything, and be as critical as you can be. My analysis suggested it was something new, but some paleontologists questioned this and said it was just 'variation' of an existing species.”

For the current study, Lomax teamed up with museum curator and paleontologist Dr. Mark Evans and fossil collector Simon Carpenter. The researchers examined a nearly complete coracoid bone from Carpenter's collection and discovered that it had the exact same features as that of Wahlisaurus.

“You can only imagine my sheer excitement to find a specimen of Wahlisaurus in Simon's collection,” said Lomax. “It was such a wonderful moment. When you have just one specimen, 'variation' can be called upon, but when you double the number of specimens you have it gives even more credibility to your research.”

The Wahlisaurus fossil dates back 200 million years to a time known as the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, which occurred right after a world-wide mass extinction. This time frame makes it difficult for the experts to determine whether the ichthyosaur was latest Triassic or earliest Jurassic in age.

Carpenter has donated the rare fossil, which was originally uncovered in 1996, to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The study is published in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1034">Geological Journal</a>.

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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

Image © of James McKay

Prehistoric sea reptile lived 200 million years ago

Scientists have identified the remains of a rare 200 million-year-old...

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A new study from <a href="https://www.anglia.ac.uk/">Anglia Ruskin University</a> has revealed that geese reduce their heart rate and body temperature in order to endure freezing cold weather.

“We were interested in how geese regulate their metabolic rate and therefore energy expenditure over the annual cycle, and in particular how they deal with the harsh winter months,” said lead author Dr. Claudia Wascher.

As endotherms, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-mammals-climate-change/">birds</a> have the ability to regulate their core temperature, and they typically do so in colder weather by expending more energy.

Geese have an alternative way of dealing with the cold that the experts refer to as “winter hypometabolism,” a condition characterized by a lower heart rate which allows the birds to tolerate a lower core body temperature.
The research team focused its study on 25 wild greylag geese. They equipped the birds with small transmitters to measure body temperature and heart rate over 18 months. The researchers used the heart rate measurements to estimate the energy expenditure of the geese.

The experts found substantial seasonal changes of heart rate and body temperature in all 25 geese, with highs in the summer and lows in the winter. During December and January, the average heart rate was 22 percent lower than the summer peak. In addition, the average body temperature dropped by 1 degree Celsius from summer to winter.

“In order to cope with the challenges of low ambient temperatures and food shortage in winter, it is known that some non-hibernating mammals, such as red deer or Alpine ibex, reduce their energy expenditure in winter and function with lower body temperatures,” said Dr. Wascher. “Our research shows that birds, such as these greylag geese, adopt similar strategies.”

Dr. Wascher explained that birds at the research station are fed all year long, and so a lack of food did not influence body temperature and heart rate. She said that the number of daylight hours combined with the ambient temperature were found to be the main determining factors of energy expenditure.

“Our study helps us to gain an understanding of how individuals regulate their physiology in order to adapt to environmental factors,” said Dr. Wascher. “Strikingly it shows similarities in these mechanisms between mammals and birds, despite their large genetic differences.”

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: Dr Claudia Wascher, Anglia Ruskin University

Geese lower their body temperature and heart rate during winter

A new study from Anglia Ruskin University has revealed that...

A new study has revealed a key difference in the genetic makeup of humans, chimps, and other primates.

Bonobos and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-learn-tools/">chimpanzees</a> are our closest relatives, sharing 99 percent of the same DNA. 

Genome sequencing of chimps, bonobos, and other primates has revealed many similarities, but recently, a good deal of research has been devoted to understanding the genetic differences that separate humans from other primates. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.cshl.edu/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</a> (CSHL) and <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> found that a key difference between humans and primates has to do with the way our genes are regulated. 

The research included complete genome analyses of three different primate species including human, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques. 

The study focused primarily on gene enhancers and promoters which regulate the genes. Both promoters and enhancers regulate and activate the genes, but enhancers are located much farther from the genes they regulate than promoters. 

The researchers measured the generation of RNA copies of genomic DNA using PRO-Seq technology. Measuring the RNA copies up and downstream of the original genes allowed the researchers to identify which promoters and enhancers regulate different genes. 

The results showed differences in the way the genes were regulated across the three different species, particularly with a group of enhancers that work together to target a gene. This group of enhancers is called an ensemble. 

“These ensembles come in various sizes,” said Adam Siepel, a member of the research team. “And we found that when they are large, the expression levels of the target genes tend to be stable over evolutionary time. When they are small, the expression levels are less stable.”

The ensemble of enhancers work together and determine gene expression depending on the species. The study shows that these differences are responsible for the evolutionary genetic  differences that separate humans from other primate species. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Small differences in gene regulators separate humans and chimps

A new study has revealed a key difference in the...

When I was very young, my family visited an aunt in Georgia and I discovered the thrill of chasing fireflies through the sticky, summer night.  Like many children, we captured the glowing insects alive and put them in jars together to watch for a short time before releasing them.  

Years later I was amazed to see <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glow-dark-trees-street/">bioluminescent</a> beetles in Ecuador on a field biology course.  When the professor netted the insects, we were able to see closer that the beetles lit up different parts of their bodies in different colors.  There was still the flash of green that people in North America will associate with fireflies, but there was also a glow of red light that flashed at a different interval from the green.

In the Bahamas, walking along a road at night with the sea smell in my nostrils, I was again enchanted by insects flashing in the dark.  I had a hard time believing a friend of mine when he told me a story of seeing fireflies in the Peruvian rainforest.  In some parts of the tropics (and even in Great Smokey Mountain National Park) beetles in the family Lampyridae synchronize their flashes.  My friend told me of being in the jungle at night and seeing a whole tree light up in a flash and just as quickly disappear into darkness; covered in synchronous fireflies.  The phenomena of synchronous fireflies can extend beyond a single tree in places and whole hillsides can light up in an eerily beautiful display.  

Caves are a holdout for unique bioluminescent animals as one might expect, although even more simply go without the ability to see and some use echolocation.  I travelled to Tasmania and visited a few tour caves situated in Australia’s National Park system to see the spectacular display of glow worms.  Watching glow worms high up on the ceiling of a cave in complete darkness is akin to watching the twinkling of stars on a primordial night.  

The name ‘glow worm’ is deceptive though, as the insects in question are actually larvae from one of several species of fungus gnat.  The larvae create strings of sticky material similar to spider webs that hang below them in the cave.  The glowing of the insect attracts other insects (as moths to flames) which become stuck in the sticky strand.  When an insect becomes entangled, the glow worm hauls up its line and eats whatever is stuck there, sometimes even adult fungus gnats.  The glowing of fungus gnat larvae also increases when a larvae is about to hatch out as an adult, especially in female gnats which attracts male gnats.  Male gnats will mate with females cocooned up and about to break free as adults but there is a danger.  Especially hungry larval gnats will glow like females close to hatching, so sometimes they catch an adult male fungus gnat which is then cannibalized.  Adult gnats have no mouth parts, after mating they starve to death rather quickly.  If you can look past the barbarity of the natural history of fungus gnats, the beauty of glow worms is actually enchanting.  I’ve heard of other caves in Australia and New Zealand where glow worms are reflected in pools of water, surrounding boaters with specks of light.  There are also related glow worms in caves in the southeastern US.  

Bioluminescence isn’t only for insects.  While I volunteered with sea birds in Alaska, part of our job was to snag dietary samples from rhinoceros auklets.  We waited in the dense salmon berry bushes and other vegetation on the hill of an auklet colony.  We sat in the lingering twilight before the unsatisfyingly bright night of a northern winter.  We could hear the birds quick wing beats as they landed, once on the ground it was quite hard for them to escape our nets though, needing to throw themselves from a cliff to fly free.  Mercilessly we collected a few fish the birds had in their mouths.  In the shade of the vegetation, I could make out the glow of the fish dimly.  In this case, the fish didn’t create the light themselves.  The fish glowing in an Alaskan ocean were covered in bacteria or algae that in turn create luciferin, the chemical that glows.  

Many marine animals use bioluminescence for their own purposes.  The Hawaiian Bobtail Squid has a special organ colonized by bioluminescent bacteria shortly after birth.  The squid actually controls the chemical reactions of the bacteria, using the light for her own purpose.  Some squid shoot out glowing chemicals to confuse predators.

Lantern fish of course dangle a glowing bait in front of their mouths to attract prey within biting range. Bioluminescence is perhaps best known in the ocean by glowing tides in certain areas, where the waves of the ocean are delicately lit by millions of microscopic animals in the water.  

In the Ecuadorian cloud forest, I was thrilled to discover a phenomena I’d long wanted to experience.  On dark hiking trails, people sometimes use bioluminescence to their advantage.  For utility or fun pieces of wood can sometimes mark trails in a magical way.  Fungi that glow at night sometimes colonize rotting wood and appear completely invisible during the day but at night the wood glows faintly.  I collected a few of the pieces of this glowing wood and placed it on the edge of the steps of the nature lodge my partner and I were managing.     

Bioluminescence has actually evolved separately over 40 different times, which points to how important and useful it can be for the organisms that use it.  It’s not always clear why bioluminescence is useful though, and part of the joy of it is the mystery.           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bioluminescence: The secrets of animals who glow in the dark

When I was very young, my family visited an aunt...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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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

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

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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"

[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...