SECORE International has developed a coral seeding method that utilizes assisted reproduction - breeding corals to help restore reefs. This approach has been implemented across the Caribbean through a network of training and partners.&nbsp;



A recent study confirms that the coral seeding method is making a significant impact: during the severe 2023 heatwave in the Caribbean, young <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-corals-and-reefs-are-showing-surprising-resilience-as-global-waters-warm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">corals</a> that were bred through SECORE's efforts remained healthy, while many wild corals bleached and died.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coral-seeding-in-the-caribbean-nbsp">Coral seeding in the Caribbean&nbsp;</h2>



The summer of 2023 brought devastation to many coral reefs in the Caribbean Basin. An unprecedented <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-heatwaves-escalate-coral-bleaching-threats/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heatwave</a>, both in intensity and duration, hit the region, leading to widespread coral bleaching. 



With high seawater temperatures persisting, many corals were unable to recover and perished.&nbsp;



However, during this time of crisis, a hopeful discovery was made by SECORE’s Restoration Coordinator in Mexico, Sandra Mendoza Quiroz.&nbsp;



While conducting a routine dive to monitor their outplanted corals, she found that the young corals they had bred were healthy, standing out among the bleached and dying reefs.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-assisted-reproduction-and-coral-survival">Assisted reproduction and coral survival</h2>



Similar findings were reported by SECORE’s team in Curaçao, where another species of bred coral had withstood the heat.



“We were excited to observe this pattern showing another benefit of using assisted coral recruits in restoration,” said Margaret Miller, research director of <a href="https://www.secore.org/site/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SECORE</a>.



The team in Curaçao and Mexico, working with Coralium Lab at the <a href="https://www.unam.mx/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México</a>, collected data on the health of various species and groups of outplanted corals. 



The experts reached out to partners across their Caribbean Restoration Network, including the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies, the <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/caribbean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean</a>, and Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire. 



Together, the researchers confirmed that young corals bred for restoration were significantly more resistant to bleaching compared to their wild counterparts across six coral species at 15 reef sites in five different Caribbean nations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coral-seeding-builds-resilience-nbsp">Coral seeding builds resilience&nbsp;</h2>



This study marks the first scientific evidence that corals restored using natural reproduction methods demonstrate greater resistance to extreme sea temperatures than wild or fragmented corals.



Miller, who has been breeding corals in the Caribbean for over 30 years, expressed optimism about the findings.&nbsp;



“These results provide a lot of encouragement and confirmation that restoration using assisted coral recruits can play an important role in orchestrating coral persistence into our warmer future,” said Miller.&nbsp;



“Nonetheless, truly securing the future of coral reefs is absolutely dependent on humankind’s success in controlling global warming.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-producing-millions-of-coral-embryos-nbsp">Producing millions of coral embryos&nbsp;</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reef-sounds-the-melodic-key-to-coral-restoration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coral restoration</a> methods have evolved significantly in the past decade. Traditionally, corals were propagated by breaking fragments off source colonies and growing them in nurseries before manually transplanting them onto the reef. 



Today, SECORE’s coral seeding approach, which breeds corals specifically for restoration, is widely implemented throughout the Caribbean.&nbsp;



This method involves collecting coral spawn from wild corals, fertilizing the eggs and sperm in a controlled environment (either on a boat or beach), and producing millions of coral embryos.&nbsp;



The coral larvae are grown in ocean enclosures and settled on special substrates before being outplanted onto the reef.



Each generation of corals that reproduces naturally receives a new combination of genes, enhancing their ability to adapt.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-the-new-breeding-efforts">Importance of the new breeding efforts</h2>



The study revealed that the young corals produced through breeding showed greater resistance to bleaching than adult coral colonies and fragments.&nbsp;



However, due to the recruitment failure of many reef-building species in the Caribbean, natural offspring are rare, which further underscores the importance of SECORE’s breeding efforts.



Dirk Petersen, the founder of&nbsp; SECORE, is thrilled with the study’s positive results.&nbsp;



“Our coral seeding approach is an important contribution to help coral reefs deal with climate change,” said Petersen. “Our investment over the past five years to build a large network for coral restoration in the Caribbean has paid off.”&nbsp;



“This network not only produces and outplants tens of thousands of corals every year but could also immediately assess how these corals responded to this unprecedented heatwave. Our priority is now to further scale efforts to the ecosystem level.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-chance-for-coral-reefs-to-survive">A chance for coral reefs to survive</h2>



Coral restoration, however, is not a solo endeavor. It requires collaboration across various disciplines, from science and engineering to on-the-ground implementation.&nbsp;



The process involves logistics, effectiveness, and thorough training, and must be grounded in strong management strategies that engage local communities.&nbsp;



While coral restoration is crucial, it alone cannot solve the broader challenges posed by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-study-provides-answers-to-how-coral-reefs-can-survive-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a>. Still, it provides vital time to help coral populations survive in the face of environmental pressures.



“Our Caribbean Training and Capacity Building Program has turned out to be a successful model, which we urgently need to take to other regions across the world,” Petersen said.&nbsp;



In his view, as extreme weather events continue to increase in frequency and severity, regions beyond the Caribbean will also be affected.&nbsp;



“Restoration measures are best implemented at an early stage to strengthen the reefs. Once degradation has reached a critical level, restoration becomes much more challenging,” said Petersen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-expanding-coral-restoration-efforts">Expanding coral restoration efforts</h2>



SECORE is now expanding its efforts globally. In 2023, the organization hosted its first training session for participants from U.S. jurisdictions in the Western Pacific and plans to establish a team in Mauritius by the end of the year.&nbsp;



This new base will serve as a hub for restoration training in the Indian Ocean. “Restoration truly is a cooperative effort - let’s all work together to give these valuable ecosystems a future!” Peterson concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309719" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLoS ONE</a>.



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‘Coral seeding’ increases resistance to extreme heatwaves

SECORE International has developed a coral seeding method that utilizes assisted reproduction - breeding corals to help restore reefs. This approach has been implemented across the Caribbean through a network of training and partners.&nbsp; A recent study confirms that the coral seeding method is making a significant impact: during the severe 2023 heatwave in the Caribbean, young corals that were bred through SECORE's efforts remained healthy, while many wild corals bleached and died. Coral seeding in the Caribbean&nbsp; The summer of 2023 brought devastation to many coral...

The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered feline species. The global conservation effort undertaken to prevent the Iberian Lynx’s extinction has paid out, and from a shrinking population of less than 100 individuals in 2002, now 404 cats live in the Mediterranean forests of the Iberian Peninsula.

Recently, a group of Spanish scientists have sequenced the genome of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), currently one of the world's most endangered felines. They have confirmed the "extreme erosion" suffered by its DNA. The Iberian lynx has one of the least genetically-diverse genomes. It is even less diverse than other endangered mammals, such as the cheetah or Tasmanian devil, or birds, like the crested ibis or osprey.

The study, being published today in the scientific journal Genome Biology, has been coordinated by scientists from the Doñana Biological Station (CSIC). The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) contributed to this research project from the very beginning including several groups and facilities. In particular, the laboratories of Roderic Guigó, Cedric Notredame, and Toni Gabaldón at the Bioinformatics and Genomics Programme as well as the CRG Bioinformatics unit. This is the first mammal genome of reference generated entirely in Spain.

The project, financed by Banco Santander and managed by the Fundación General CSIC, has integrated the efforts of 50 scientists from research groups of 12 institutions, two of them from outside Spain, that cover a broad range of disciplines, including bioinformatics, genomics, oncology, evolution and conservation.

The scientists have managed to read and organize 2.4 billion letters of DNA from Candiles, a male lynx born in the Sierra Morena lynx population, who now forms part of a program for breeding in captivity. To do so, they have used new sequencing techniques and developed innovative procedures to generate a high-quality draft genome on a limited budget.

A total of 21,257 genes were identified, a number similar to that of human beings and other mammals, and they have been compared to those of cats, tigers, cheetahs and dogs. Specifically, Toni Gabaldón's group at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona has compared the Iberian lynx genome with those of other species, attempting to identify genes that have lost their function because they have remained isolated and the existence of a small population of specimens of this species. Researchers have found evidence of modifications in genes related with the senses of hearing, sight and smell to facilitate the adaptation of the lynx to its environment, which have enabled them to become exceptional hunters specialized in rabbits as prey.

History and diversity of the Iberian lynx

With the aim of studying the history and genetic diversity of the species, analysis was conducted on the genomes of another ten Iberian lynxes from Doñana and Sierra Morena, the only two surviving populations on the Iberian Peninsula, which have been isolated from each other for decades. Researchers have also completed a comparative analysis with a European lynx, to discover the bonds between the two lynxes that inhabit Eurasia.

The Iberian lynx began to diverge from its sister species, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) some 300,000 years ago, and the two species became completely separated some 2,500 years ago. Throughout that period, they continued to cross-breed and exchange genes, probably in the periods between glaciations, when the climatology allowed the species to spread and encounter each other on the Iberian Peninsula and in southern Europe.

The demographic history of the Iberian lynx has been marked by three historic declines, the last of which took place some 300 years ago, decimating its population. In addition to this, there was a drastic drop in the number of specimens in the 20th century due to its persecution, the destruction of its habitat, and two major viral epidemics suffered by the rabbit, its main food source.

Scientists have interpreted these demographic drops as the cause of the low levels of diversity observed, and warn that this could impair the lynx's capacity to adapt to changes in its environment (climate, disease, etc.). Furthermore, existence of multiple potentially harmful genetic variants has been confirmed, which could be contributing to the reduced survival and reproduction rates of the species.

This genetic deterioration is especially marked in the Doñana population-smaller, and isolated for a longer period-which has half the genetic diversity of the Sierra Morena group. Nevertheless, the study reflects the situation before the exchange between the two relict populations and their inter-breeding in captivity were begun. These measures, taken within the Iberian lynx conservation program, have led to improvement of the species' genetic situation in recent years.

The use of new genomic resources, within the framework of the project, will contribute to optimizing management aimed at preserving the greatest genetic diversity, in addition to diminishing these populations' genetic defects as much as possible.

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Credit: Earth.com Staff/<a href="http://www.crg.es/">CRGenomica</a>

Scientists sequence the genome of the endangered Iberian lynx

The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered feline species. The...

Horses and humans have a special bond. Scientific studies have shown that both the horse and the human become attuned to each other’s physical and mental ways, thus developing the state of co-being.

Taking this one step further, researchers at Kobe University Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies have proved that when horses face unsolvable problems they use visual and tactile signals to get human attention and ask for help. The study also suggests that horses alter their communicative behavior based on humans' knowledge of the situation. These findings were published in the online version of Animal Cognition on November 24.

Communicating with other individuals in order to get information about foraging sites and predators is a valuable survival skill. Chimpanzees, who are evolutionarily close to humans, are especially skilled at understanding others. Studies suggest that chimpanzees distinguish the attentional states of other individuals (seeing or not seeing), and they are also able to understand others' knowledge states (knowing or not knowing). Some domestic animals are also very good at communicating with humans - recent studies of dogs have revealed that they are excellent at understanding various human gestures and expressions. It is thought that these abilities were influenced by the domestication process.

Since they were domesticated 6000 years ago, horses have contributed to human society in various shapes and forms, from transport to companionship. Horse-riding has recently drawn attention for its positive effects on our physical and mental health. The high social cognitive skills of horses towards humans might partially explain why humans and horses have a collaborative relationship today. However, the scientific evidence for this ability is still scarce.

In this study, scientists investigated horses' social cognitive skills with humans in a problem-solving situation where food was hidden in a place accessible only to humans. The experiment was carried out in a paddock belonging to the equestrian club at Kobe University, where eight horses from the club participated with the cooperation of their student caretakers.

For the first experiment, an assistant experimenter hid food (carrots) in a bucket which the horse could not reach. The researchers observed whether and how the animal sent signals to the caretaker when the caretaker (unaware of the situation) arrived. The horse stayed near the caretaker and looked at, touched and pushed the caretaker. These behaviors occurred over a significantly longer period compared to cases when they carried out the experiment without hiding the food. The results showed that when horses cannot solve problems by themselves they send signals to humans both visually (looking) and physically (touching and pushing).

Building on these results, for the second experiment they tested whether the horses' behavior changed based on the caretakers' knowledge of the hidden food. If the caretaker hadn't watched the food being hidden, the horses gave more signals, demonstrating that horses can change their behavior in response to the knowledge levels of humans.

These two experiments revealed some behaviors used by horses to communicate demands to humans. They also suggest that horses possess high cognitive skills that enable them to flexibly alter their behavior towards humans according to humans' knowledge state. This high social cognitive ability may have been acquired during the domestication process. In order to identify the characteristic that enables horses to form close bonds with humans, in future research the team aims to compare communication between horses, as well as looking more closely at the social cognitive ability of horses in their communication with humans.

By deepening our understanding of the cognitive abilities held by species who have close relationships with humans, and making comparisons with the cognitive abilities of species such as primates who are evolutionarily close to humans, we can investigate the development of unique communication traits in domesticated animals. This is connected to the influence of domestication on the cognitive ability of animals, and can potentially provide valuable information for realizing stronger bonds between humans and animals.

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Credit: Earth.com Staff/<a href="http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies</a>

Horses ask humans for help when they're in trouble

Horses and humans have a special bond. Scientific studies have...

Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is the hard pearly iridescent substance forming the inner layer of a mollusk shell. This beautiful biomineral has been shown to accurately record ancient ocean temperatures.

A team of researchers led by University of Wisconsin-Madison physics Professor Pupa Gilbert studied the physical attributes of nacre in modern and fossil shells and discovered that the biomineral provides an accurate record of ancient ocean temperatures as the material is formed, layer upon layer, in a mollusk.

"We can very accurately correlate nacre tablet thickness with temperature," says Gilbert, explaining that mother-of-pearl is formed as mollusks lay down microscopic polygonal tablets of the mineral aragonite like brickwork to build layers of the shiny biomineral.

The work is important because it provides scientists with a new and potentially more accurate method of measuring ancient ocean temperatures, improving on methods now used with other biominerals to tease out the record of the environmental conditions at which the materials formed in the distant past.

"Everyone else measures temperatures in the ancient world using chemical proxies," says Gilbert, referencing methods that, for example, use ratios of isotopic oxygen locked into tiny fossil shells made by marine microorganisms known as Foraminifera to get a snapshot of ocean temperatures in the distant past.

[caption id="attachment_124770" align="alignleft"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-124770" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/nacre-mother-of-pearl-UWisc-150x150.jpg" alt="Nacre, mother-of-pearl" width="150" height="150" /> Nacre, mother-of-pearl[/caption]

The method devised by Gilbert and her collaborators is extraordinarily simple: using just a scanning electron microscope and a cross section of shell, it is possible to measure the thickness of the layered microscopic tablets that compose nacre in a shell. The thickness of the tablets, explains Gilbert, correlates with ancient ocean temperatures as measured in modern shells when ocean temperatures were known at the time the shells were formed.

The new work by the researchers from Wisconsin, Harvard, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory provides a novel physical approach to measuring past climate, says Gilbert, an expert in biomineral formation.

"If what you are measuring is a physical structure, you see it directly," says Gilbert. "You just measure nacre tablet thickness, the spacing of the lines, and it corresponds to temperature. When the temperature is warmer, the layers get thicker."

The new study looked at fossil samples of nacre as old as 200 million years from a mollusk in the family Pinnidae, large, fast-growing saltwater clams that live in shallow ocean environments. Today, as in the distant past, the bivalves are widespread in tropical and temperate coastal and shallow continental shelf environments.

The new method is potentially more accurate, Gilbert notes, because the chemistry of fossil shells can be altered by diagenesis. Diagenesis occurs over geologic time, during or after sediments rain down on ocean beds to form sedimentary rock. Fossil shells may partially dissolve and re-precipitate as calcite, which fills cracks in aragonite nacre, thus skewing the chemical analysis of a sample, if analyzed as a bulk sample.

"If the chemistry changes after the death of a fossil, the formation chemistry isn't necessarily preserved," says Gilbert. On the other hand, "if the physical structure is altered by diagenesis, you will notice immediately that nacre is no longer layered, and so you will know that it's not worth analyzing that area. If just a few nacre tablets are preserved, their thickness can easily be measured" meaning the new technique can augment current geochemical methods used to assess past temperatures, and thus help reconstruct ancient climates, especially the shallow marine environments that preserve most of the world's invertebrate fossil record.

The family of mollusks in the new study has lived in the world's oceans for more than 400 million years, potentially leaving a clear record of ocean temperatures into the distant past. For purposes of assessing climate, the record is valuable because not only does it say something about past climate, but the data can also help modelers forecast future climate and environmental change.

"The only thing you can do to understand climate in the future is to look at climate in the past," Gilbert notes.

--

Credit: Earth.com Staff/<a href="http://www.wisc.edu" target="_blank">University of Wisconsin</a>

Mother-of-pearl shown to accurately record ancient ocean temperatures

Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is the hard pearly iridescent substance forming...

Scientists have discovered a group of exciting new sea creatures -- six new animal species in undersea hot springs 1.7 miles deep in the southwest Indian Ocean.

The unique marine life was discovered around hydrothermal vents at a place called Longqi ('Dragon's Breath'), 2000 kilometres southeast of Madagascar and is described in the journal Scientific Reports.

A research team, led by Dr Jon Copley, explored an area the size of a football stadium on the ocean floor, pinpointing the locations of more than a dozen mineral spires known as 'vent chimneys'. These spires, many of which rise more than two storeys above the seabed, are rich in copper and gold that is now attracting interest for future seafloor mining. However, the spires are also festooned with deep-sea animals, nourished by hot fluids gushing out of the vent chimneys.

The team, which includes colleagues at the Natural History Museum in London and Newcastle University, carried out genetic comparisons with other species and populations elsewhere to show that several species at Longqi are not yet recorded from anywhere else in the world's oceans.

The expedition, which took place in November 2011, provides a record of what lives on the ocean floor in the area, which is licensed for mineral exploration by the International Seabed Authority of the United Nations, before any mining surveys are carried out.

The Longqi vents are the first known in the region and the expedition was the first to explore them using a deep-diving remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The deep-sea animals that are so far only known from Longqi include: a species of hairy-chested 'Hoff' crab, closely related to 'Hoff' crabs at Antarctic vents; two species of snail and a species of limpet; a species of scaleworm; and another species of deep-sea worm. Apart from one species of snail, which has been given the scientific name Gigantopelta aegis, most have not yet been formally described.

"We can be certain that the new species we've found also live elsewhere in the southwest Indian Ocean, as they will have migrated here from other sites, but at the moment no-one really knows where, or how well-connected their populations are with those at Longqi," said Dr Copley. "Our results highlight the need to explore other hydrothermal vents in the southwest Indian Ocean and investigate the connectivity of their populations, before any impacts from mineral exploration activities and future deep-sea mining can be assessed."

The scientists also found other species at Longqi that are known at other vents far away in other oceans. Another new species of scaleworm lives at vents on the East Scotia Ridge in the Antarctic, 6,000 kilometres away, while a species of ragworm live at vents in the eastern Pacific, more than 10,000 km away.

"Finding these two species at Longqi shows that some vent animals may be more widely distributed across the oceans than we realised," added Dr Copley.

[caption id="attachment_124640" align="aligncenter" width="400"]<img class="size-full wp-image-124640" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jabberwocky-mineral-chimney_USouthampton.jpg" alt="The high-temperature mineral chimney ‘Jabberwocky’" width="400" height="840" /> The high-temperature mineral chimney ‘Jabberwocky’[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_124650" align="aligncenter" width="962"]<img class="size-full wp-image-124650" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/scaleworm-Peinaleopolynoe-USouthampton.jpg" alt="A new scaleworm called Peinaleopolynoe" width="962" height="640" /> A new scaleworm called Peinaleopolynoe[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_124651" align="aligncenter" width="962"]<img class="size-full wp-image-124651" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ragworm-Hesiolyra-USouthampton.jpg" alt="A new ragworm called Hesiolyra" width="962" height="640" /> A new ragworm called Hesiolyra[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_124649" align="aligncenter" width="962"]<img class="size-full wp-image-124649" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/barnacle-Neolepas-USouthampton.jpg" alt="A new barnacle called Neolepas" width="962" height="640" /> A new barnacle called Neolepas[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_124662" align="aligncenter" width="962"]<img class="size-full wp-image-124662" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/3B6C948B00000578-4039030-image-a-28_1481844805547.jpg" alt="Pictured is a new species of snail called Phymorhynchus" width="962" height="640" /> Pictured is a new species of snail called Phymorhynchus[/caption]

--

Credit: Earth.com, Inc./<a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank">University of Southampton</a>

Exciting new sea creatures found on the deep ocean floor

Scientists have discovered a group of exciting new sea creatures...

Though wildlife biologists in the field have been tracking and reporting animal populations, sometimes a bird’s eye view can give a clearer picture. That’s why scientists are using satellites to see how animals react to changing habitats.

At the <a href="https://sites.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union</a> meeting this week in San Francisco, three researchers shared how they’ve been using satellite data and imagery to model how changing habitats are likely to affect animal populations.

For example, by studying Arctic data from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> and other agencies going back to 1979, the researchers found that sea ice in the Arctic region has been shrinking at an average rate of about 20,500 square miles per year, they said.

Because polar bears are dependent on sea ice, the loss of habitat could have a profound effect on their survival, said Dr. Kristin Laidre, a scientist at the <a href="http://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington's</a> Polar Science Center.

With her colleague Eric Regehr of the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>, Laidre calculated the length of a polar bear generation. Then, using the satellite data on sea ice decline and statistical modeling, Regehr, Laidre, and fellow researchers provided an estimate of polar bear populations in three generations for the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>'s Red List to use in their assessment for polar bears.

Currently, some sub-populations of the snowy white bears are shrinking, but others are doing well, Laidre said.

"For example, in some parts of the Arctic, such as the Chukchi Sea, polar bears appear healthy, fat and reproducing well – this may be because this area is very ecologically productive, so you can lose some ice before seeing negative effects on bears,” Laidre said. “In other parts of the Arctic, like western Hudson Bay, studies have shown that survival and reproduction have declined as the availability of sea ice declines."

Laidre’s analysis of polar bear populations was published in the journal <a href="http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Biology Letters</a>.

A second project, led by Dr. David Stoner of <a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a>, used satellite data to monitor how drought in the U.S. Southwest is affecting mule deer habitat. 

The satellites showed a strong correlation between plant productivity in the region, and deer population, Stoner said. And that may be bad news for mountain lions, which prey on the deer, if the ongoing drought continues, he added.

It could also affect humans living in the area, as deer leave dry, barren regions and enter cities in search of vegetation to each. Aside from destroying landscaping or farm crops, they could cause car accidents.

By correlating the satellite data about vegetation, beginning in 2002, with recorded data on populations of both animals, Stoner believes satellites can make estimating the animals’ numbers easier for scientists.

In a third project, Dr. Andrey Petrov of the <a href="https://www.uni.edu/">University of Northern Iowa</a> used satellite data going back to 1969 to see how movements of the Taimyr reindeer herd had changed. 

The Taimyr herd’s numbers have fallen about 40 percent since 2000, and other reindeer herds are seeing similar declines, Petrov said.

He found that the Taimyr reindeer had shifted eastward, away from growing human settlements and activity. He also found that the reindeer are migrating farther north and higher into the mountains in the summer.

"Taimyr reindeer now have to travel longer distances between their winter and summer grounds, and this is causing a higher calf mortality," Petrov said. 

However, the satellite images did show that overgrazing was not a problem as scientists previously suspected, he said. Vegetation in the reindeers’ grazing grounds was rebounding quickly.

The three projects showed how satellites can be used in unique ways to study the changing habitats of wildlife, NASA officials said. NASA funded Laidre’s and Stoner’s research.

Satellites offer big picture view of changing habitats, wildlife numbers

Though wildlife biologists in the field have been tracking and...

A man may have found an ice age coyote, dog, or even a bobcat while dowsing in his son’s backyard in Riverside, California. 

Just before Thanksgiving, Gary Braithwaite had been showing his son how to use a dowsing rod, made from two metal hangers, to find the sprinklers in his yard. However, his son found several “anomalies” while trying the technique, Braithwaite told the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/06/california-man-finds-what-may-be-ice-age-bobcat-in-backyard-of-sons-home/">San Jose Mercury-News</a>. 

He believed that the anomalies pointed to underground metal – maybe even a meteorite, he said.

So he and his son began digging in the area the dowsing rod had pointed to. About four feet down in one hole, they found the skeletal remains of an animal. A slipped shovel knocked some teeth loose.

The pair thought the remains might belong to an ancient bobcat, so they took them to the <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> to ask a paleontologist. 

Jess Miller-Camp, a museum scientist at UC Riverside, said the skeletal remains could belong to a bobcat, though they were more likely to be an ice age coyote or dog. Based on the soil conditions they were found in, she believes they date back to the Pleistocene Epoch, which ended with the most recent ice age about 12,000 years ago.

She plans to go to the site with some students to excavate the rest of the skeleton, she said.

The fossils are not the first Pleistocene remnants found in California. Parts of the state, especially in the south, are practically graveyards for the creatures that lived during the last ice age.

In July 2015, construction workers at a housing development in San Diego County <a href="http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/09/06/Ice-Age-fossils-up-to-200000-years-old-found-at-California-construction-site/9591441555454/">found fossils</a> of mammoths, horses, turtles, and a bison. The Pleistocene fossils ranged from 50,000 to 200,000 years old. 

Just before Thanksgiving of this year, construction workers on the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ice-age-20161130-story.html">Los Angeles subway</a> discovered the remains of an ice age mastodon, an ancient relative of elephants. 

And, of course, the <a href="http://www.tarpits.org/">La Brea Tar Pits</a> are known for their vast collection of Pleistocene fossils, from mastodons to skunks, bobcats, and coyotes.

The fossils give paleontologists insights into the diversity of live during the Pleistocene, and how animals adapted during the period of warming that ended the last ice age.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

California man's dowsing rod points him to possible ice age coyote

A man may have found an ice age coyote, dog,...

Hit BBC series <a href="http://www.bbcchannels.com/earth/planetearth2">Planet Earth II</a> has broken its own rule to never interfere with nature after a particularly emotional scene involving lost baby turtles. 

Sir David Attenborough, creator of the <a href="http://www.bbcamerica.com/all-shows">Planet Earth</a> series, had been quoted just last year remarking on the importance of nature documentaries staying on the sidelines while filming wildlife. “If you’re a film cameraman you are trained, as it were, to be the observer, a non-participant. That’s very important.” 

Wildlife cameraman Doug Allen echoed this sentiment, saying, “For me, at least, my job is to look and not interfere. If I feel my presence is tilting the balance of the predator or the prey, then I’m doing something wrong.”

The policy has resulted in viewers getting a very candid look at the brutality of nature and the animal experience. Said Attenborough, “Of course you see really tough things, but there’s nothing you can do about them.”

This time, however, it was a man-made occurrence disturbing the natural flow of nature.

After hatching from their eggs, natural instinct guides baby turtles to make their way into the ocean. In this instance, however, bright city lights along the beachfront caused the baby turtles to migrate in the opposite direction and became stranded far from the water. 

According to the show, 4 out of every 5 baby hawksbill turtles failed to make it through the night. Without water, the baby turtles became disoriented and fell down drains or were run over by cars. The scenes generated a loud emotional response from viewers on Twitter. 

In response, the BBC Earth tweeted on Sunday: “Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the Planet Earth 2 crew was collected and put back into the sea.”

The network also released a short film about the <a href="http://www.barbadosseaturtles.org/">Barbados Sea Turtle Project</a>, an initiative focused on gathering lost baby turtles and bringing them back into the water.

Planet Earth II premiered on The BBC on November 6th and has been met with record-breaking ratings.

Planet Earth II intervenes to save baby turtles

Hit BBC series Planet Earth II has broken its own...

It’s a story reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park movie. A piece of amber purchased at a market in Myanmar has been found to contain an actual dinosaur tail. The amber was in the city of Myitkyina by Lida Xing of the <a href="http://en.cug.edu.cn/">China University of Geosciences in Beijing</a>. 

The vendor assumed the tail was some type of plant, but Xing believed it could be something far more significant. The amber was then sent to the<a href="https://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/"> Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada</a> for further analysis. Scientists used CT scans to determine that the fossilized object in question was actually the feathered tail of a theropod dinosaur. The team believes the dinosaur tail most likely belonged to a coelurosaur from about 99 million years ago. 

Their findings were published in <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>. According to Dr. Ryan McKellar, "The new material preserves a tail consisting of eight vertebrae from a juvenile. These are surrounded by feathers that are preserved in 3D and with microscopic detail. We can be sure of the source because the vertebrae are not fused into a rod or pygostyle as in modern birds and their closest relatives. Instead, the tail is long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side."

The vertebrae alignment indicate that the tail belonged to a dinosaur, as opposed to an early relative of modern birds. The team also discovered traces of ferrous iron in the soft tissue layer surrounding the bones, a common mineral found in dinosaur blood.

"Amber pieces preserve tiny snapshots of ancient ecosystems, but they record microscopic details, three-dimensional arrangements, and labile tissues that are difficult to study in other settings," said Dr. McKellar. “This is a new source of information that is worth researching with intensity and protecting as a fossil resource."

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dinosaur tail found in chunk of amber

It’s a story reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park movie....

During the Age of Dinosaurs, ancient mammals hid in the shadows and ate the terrible lizards’ leftovers, right? Well, not always. The fossil remains of marsupial relative Didelphodon vorax are crushing that misconception.

The little mammal was about the size of a modern badger, based on the size of four fossils found in 66 to 69 million-year-old Hell Creek Formation deposits, in North Dakota and Montana, according to <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13734">a new study</a>.

Each of the four fossils included at least a partial set of chompers: nearly a full skull, a partial snout, and two upper jaw bones. Like most metatherians – Cretaceous Period ancestors and relatives of modern marsupials – many of the main remains of D. vorax are dental.

In D. vorax’s case, though, those strong, strong teeth didn’t just survive more than 60 million years. They provided the Cretaceous critter with one heck of a powerful bite.

To determine just how powerful, researchers scanned the fossils and compared them to skulls and jaws from modern mammals with known bite forces. Even the researchers were surprised by the results: pound for pound, D. vorax has the most powerful bite of any mammal that has ever lived.

The power of the marsupial relative's bite and the shape of its teeth would have allowed it to bite through bone and shell with ease, the study found. That would have let it fit equally well into roles as a predator or a scavenger. D. vorax might even have been able to hunt prey roughly equal to its own size, including small dinosaurs.

The carnivorous mammal didn’t just compete for meat with its reptile rivals, however. By studying the microwear patterns on the teeth, the research team discovered that D. vorax was an omnivore that ate vertebrates, bugs, shellfish, and plants. 

Beyond just learning about D. vorax, the researchers also gained new clues to the evolution of modern marsupials. They found five lines of marsupial ancestors, and that marsupial relatives in North America began getting larger along with other mammals more than 80 million years ago.

The researchers believe the modern pouched mammals primarily evolved in South America after the mass extinction approximately 66 million years ago.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Marsupial relative in Age of Dinosaurs packed powerful bite

During the Age of Dinosaurs, ancient mammals hid in the...

Mexico’s endangered vaquita porpoises are now on the edge of extinction, according to a pair of new papers. The researchers blame the marine mammals’ declining population on an increase in illegal fishing in the vaquitas’ range.

One study, published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12789/abstract">Conservation Biology</a>, used a sophisticated network of acoustic detectors to record the decline of Mexico’s vaquitas. The acoustic array shows a 34 percent decline each year in the population of endangered porpoises.

That decline means only about 60 of the rare vaquita porpoises remain in the world, according to a paper by the same team of researchers, published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12331/full">Conservation Letters</a>.

The illegal fishing that is cutting down their numbers isn’t even targeting the marine mammals, according to the researchers. Instead, their deaths are collateral damage from totoaba fishing, called “bycatch.” 

Totoaba fishing took off in the 1940s and continues today, even though the large fish was declared endangered in 1986 and critically endangered ten years later.

The fish are prized for their bladders, which can net as much as $100,000 on the Chinese black market, according to the <a href="https://eia-international.org/time-short-to-save-vaquita-by-tackling-illegal-fish-trade">Environmental Investigations Agency</a>.

Although the Mexican government banned gill net fishing in waters inhabited by the vaquita for two years, the acoustic study found that gill net fishing is still happening. 

It wasn’t the first sign that people had been violating the ban, which was instituted in April 2015. Surveillance activities and collection of discarded gill nets in the vaquitas’ waters have also washed up evidence of illegal fishing of the totoaba fish and, by extension, the vaquitas, despite patrols by the Mexican Navy, law enforcement, and environmental groups. 

Unless more action is taken to stop illegal fishing in the vaquitas’ home waters, their extinction is imminent, said Armando Jaramillo-Legorreta of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources in Mexico, who led the research.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vaquita porpoises fall victim to illegal fishing in Mexico

Mexico’s endangered vaquita porpoises are now on the edge of...

Giraffes wander the wild in a few parts of the African savannah – but that may not be the case for much longer. Scientists have put the stately creature on the extinction watchlist.

Over the past three decades, the number of giraffes in the wild has shrunk by almost 40 percent, according to the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>, which maintains the extinction watchlist. They reported the giraffe population, which is made up of nine subspecies, at 151,000 to 163,000 members in 1985. By 2015, that number had dropped to just over 97,000. 

There are now fewer giraffes in the world than there are elephants, the IUCN said. In fact, elephant numbers are almost four times higher.

The population drop has led biologists with the IUCN to designate giraffes as “vulnerable,” two steps closer to extinction than their previous designation of “species of least concern,” and add it to the group’s Red List of species in danger of disappearing.

Habitat loss is the likely cause for giraffes’ dwindling numbers, the organization said.

The giraffe population is shrinking in central and eastern Africa, where more people are moving into areas that were previously wild savannah. Giraffes have disappeared from several countries, including Nigeria, Malawi, Eritrea, and Senegal, according to the IUCN.

At a biodiversity meeting in Mexico this week, the IUCN added 35 species total to the Red List, including giraffes. The group also received bad news about two other species. The Lacepede’s ground snake of Martinique and the trondo mainty fish of Madagascar are both believed to be extinct. The agency is awaiting confirmation from biologists.

About 860 species of plants and animals have gone extinct in the past 500 years, and another 68 are extinct in the wild, according to the IUCN. About 13,000 species have landed on the endangered or critically endangered lists. Giraffes and other vulnerable species are in the next tier.

There was some good news from the meeting, too, however. First, the threat level for seven species was lowered. Second, two species that were believed to be extinct have been rediscovered: the Acmadenia candida plant, and the freshwater fish Ptychochromoides itasy.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Giraffes step onto extinction watchlist as numbers dwindle

Giraffes wander the wild in a few parts of the...

One of the first things birdwatchers tend to do is to install a bird feeder in their yard. It seems like a wonderful, mutually beneficial arrangement. The birds get access to food and the bird fans get to observe the beautiful creatures from the comfort of their home. But according to a new study published in <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/loi/cond?code=coop-site">The Condor: Ornithological Applications</a>, bird feeders may actually introduce a new threat of danger for birds by inviting predators that eat bird eggs and baby birds. 

The study was performed by researchers from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>, led by Jennifer Malpass. The team set out to this complex dynamic where bird feeders attract predators, but perhaps the food in the feeder and tide the predator over without harm to the nest. Specifically, they analyzed Northern Cardinal and American Robin nests and the presence of predators such as cats, squirrels, and other birds, along with whether or not a bird feeder existed nearby. The team found that areas with more bird feeders saw more cowbirds and crows, which typically prey on songbird nests.

Said Malpass, “One key message of our work is that there may be species-specific responses to anthropogenic foods.” The American Robin nests did undergo increased predation in areas with both a large amount of bird feeders and a large number of crows.

Malpass and her team tracked songbird nests in seven different neighborhoods of suburban Columbus, Ohio for four years. 

“One of the challenges of conducting research in the suburban matrix is gaining access to private property,” said Malpass. “In our experience, most of the residents in our focal neighborhoods were willing to allow access to their yards and had a positive experience being part of the project.”

Bird expert David Horn from Millikin University weighed in, adding, “Even with over 50 million Americans feeding wild birds and other wildlife around their homes, our scientific understanding of the practice continues to lag. The study by Malpass, Rodewald, and Matthews increases our understanding of how the provision of supplemental food may influence predator abundance and nest survival of two common songbird species.”

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bird feeders may actually be dangerous for birds

One of the first things birdwatchers tend to do is...

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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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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