Bats, often overshadowed by birds in discussions of long-distance migration, are now starting to be recognized for their remarkable travel feats.&nbsp;



A new study by scientists at the <a href="https://www.ab.mpg.de/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior</a> (MPI-AB) has provided unprecedented insights into the migration strategies of common noctule <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-can-ramp-up-their-heart-rate-to-900-beats-per-minute/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bats</a>. 



Using advanced tracking technology, the researchers discovered that these small mammals exploit storm fronts to maximize their energy efficiency during migration.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-tech-window-into-bat-behavior">High-tech window into bat behavior</h2>



“The sensor data are amazing!” said Edward Hurme, a postdoctoral researcher at MPI-AB and the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behavior at the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Konstanz</a>.&nbsp;



“We don’t just see the path that bats took, we also see what they experienced in the environment as they migrated. It’s this context that gives us insight into the crucial decisions that bats made during their costly and dangerous journeys.”



The team employed lightweight, intelligent tracking devices developed by MPI-AB engineers. These tags, which weighed just five percent of the bats’ body mass, recorded extensive data, including activity levels and air temperature, throughout the migration.&nbsp;



The data were transmitted via a long-range network that provided coverage across Europe.&nbsp;



“The tags communicate with us from wherever the bats are because they have coverage across Europe much like a cell phone network,” explained Timm Wild, who led the development of the ICARUS-TinyFoxBatt tag at MPI-AB.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unique-and-variable-bat-migration-path">Unique and variable bat migration path</h2>



The study focused on 71 common noctule bats during their spring migration, covering up to four weeks. Unlike the predictable corridors often seen in bird migrations, the noctule bats took varied routes, though all moved in a general northeast direction.&nbsp;



“There is no migration corridor,” said Dina Dechmann, a senior author from MPI-AB. “We had assumed that bats were following a unified path, but we now see they are moving all over the landscape in a general northeast direction.”



The research also revealed that noctules can travel nearly 400 kilometers in a single night, a record for the species. However, their migration differs significantly from that of birds.&nbsp;



“Unlike <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-migratory-birds-navigate-with-such-accuracy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">migratory birds</a>, bats don’t gain weight in preparation for migration,” Dechmann noted. “They need to refuel every night, so their migration has a hopping pattern rather than a straight shot.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-timing-migration-with-weather">Timing migration with weather</h2>



On some nights, the researchers observed a dramatic increase in departures, which Hurme likened to “bat fireworks.” This led the team to investigate the environmental triggers for these events.&nbsp;



They discovered that bats tended to leave when air pressure dropped and temperatures rose - conditions associated with approaching storms.&nbsp;



“They were riding storm fronts, using the support of warm tailwinds,” Hurme explained. The tags also showed that bats expended less energy on these nights, confirming that they harness wind support to power their flights.&nbsp;



“It was known that birds use wind support during migration, and now we see that bats do too,” he added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-conservation">Implications for conservation</h2>



These findings have significant implications for bat conservation, particularly in mitigating the risks posed by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wind-turbines-are-displacing-bats-from-their-forest-habitats/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wind turbines</a>, a leading cause of bat mortality. “Before this study, we didn’t know what triggered bats to start migrating,” said Hurme.&nbsp;



He expressed optimism that further research could lead to systems capable of forecasting bat migration. Such systems could help wind farms adjust operations to reduce collisions. 



“We can be stewards of bats, helping wind farms to turn off their turbines on nights when bats are streaming through. This is just a small glimpse of what we will find if we all keep working to open that black box.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-research-is-needed">Further research is needed</h2>



Despite these breakthroughs, much remains unknown about the full migration cycle of noctule <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/migratory-bats-use-earths-magnetic-field-as-a-compass/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bats</a>, which spans approximately 1,600 kilometers annually. The study’s novel tracking technology marks an important step in uncovering the complexities of their behavior. 



“We are still far from observing the complete yearly cycle of long-distance bat migration,” Hurme acknowledged. “The behavior is still a black box, but at least we have a tool that has shed some light.”



By continuing to explore these mysteries, researchers hope to deepen their understanding of bat migration, paving the way for effective conservation strategies and contributing to a broader understanding of animal migration.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade7441" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Bats 'surf' the winds of storms during migration 

Bats, often overshadowed by birds in discussions of long-distance migration, are now starting to be recognized for their remarkable travel feats.&nbsp; A new study by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) has provided unprecedented insights into the migration strategies of common noctule bats.  Using advanced tracking technology, the researchers discovered that these small mammals exploit storm fronts to maximize their energy efficiency during migration. High-tech window into bat behavior “The sensor data are amazing!” said Edward Hurme, a postdoctoral researcher at MPI-AB and...

Without oxygen, humans and all other mammals wind up dead within minutes – all other mammals… except for naked mole-rats.

This strange, cold-blooded mammal lives decades longer than any other rodent, rarely gets cancer, and is impervious to many forms of pain. It’s like the James Bond of hairless, buck-toothed mammals.

To add to their unique anatomy and physiology, a new study has found that when deprived of oxygen, naked mole-rats can survive for hours by metabolizing fructose – just like a plant.

When humans become oxygen starved, our brain cells run out of energy and begin to die. But the cells in the brain of a naked mole-rat begin to burn fructose. Burning fructose produces energy anaerobically (without oxygen) through a metabolic pathway what was previously thought to be used exclusively by plants.

Thomas Park, a professor of biological sciences at the <a href="http://www.uic.edu/">University of Illinois at Chicago</a>, led an international team of researchers in a new study of these fantastic little beasts. 

The researchers exposed naked mole-rats to low oxygen conditions and discovered that they release large amounts of fructose into their bloodstream. Fructose was found to be transported into brain cells by molecular fructose pumps found only in the intestinal cells in other <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/chewing-early-mammals-survive/">mammals</a>. 

“The naked mole-rat has simply rearranged some basic building-blocks of metabolism to make it super-tolerant to low oxygen conditions,” says Park, who has studied these creatures for the last 18 years.

The study found that naked mole-rats can survive for up to five hours at oxygen levels low enough to kill a human within minutes. They do this by going into a state of suspended animation, dramatically slowing their heartbeat and breathing rate to conserve energy. This discovery makes the naked mole-rate the only known mammal to use suspended animation in order to survive oxygen deprivation.

Further research also found that this species is able to avoid another deadly factor in low oxygen environments: the pulmonary edema – a buildup of fluid in the lungs that is a common cause of death in high altitude mountain climbers. 

Looking back on these findings, the researchers believe that the naked mole-rat’s unique metabolism may be an adaptation for living in their low-oxygen burrows. These little creatures live underground in crowded conditions along with hundreds of members of their colony. Not surprisingly, this leads to a rather quick depletion in oxygen – making the naked mole-rat’s bizarre adaptions understandable yet fascinating. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.uic.edu/">University of Illinois at Chicago</a>

How naked mole-rats can turn into plants when low on food

Without oxygen, humans and all other mammals wind up dead...

The brown marmorated stink bug arrived in the United States around 20 years ago with the first specimen collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This invasive insect attacks fruits, vegetables, and crops. The non-native bugs are pests indoors as well, searching for homes to occupy in the fall and winter. Once they gain access to a home, stink bugs are proving to be a challenge to remove. New research shows the bugs are dodging traps in large numbers during late fall and winter.

Entomologists conducted a study to test the effectiveness of trapping stink bugs using one of the leading techniques. The traps were baited with aggregation pheromones, which are those that attract other members of a species to a particular location.

The lead author on the study is Rob Morrison, PhD., a research entomologist for the <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/">United States Department Of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service</a> (USDA-ARS). Morrison teamed up with fellow entomologists at the <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/">USDA-ARS </a>Appalachian Fruit Research Station, <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech University</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_State_University">North Carolina State University</a>. The team tested stink bug traps in infested homes in 2014 and 2016. Traps were set up in buildings that were both heated and unheated. 

“Just eight to 20% of the stink bugs we saw crawling around hallways were captured,” says Morrison.

The study, set to be published next week in the Journal of Economic Entomology, reveals that the brown marmorated stink bug, or Halyomorpha halys, are not attracted to the aggregation pheromone during late fall and early winter. The bugs are largely unresponsive to the aggregation <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/pheromones-human-exist/">pheromones</a> until the days become significantly longer in late April to early May. In addition to capturing only a small percentage of the stink bugs, the traps failed to give a consistent indication of the amount of stink bugs present in each location. This means the traps are not accurate enough for monitoring purposes.

The findings of the study show the best approach to stink bugs is prevention.

"To prevent brown marmorated stink bugs from gaining access to your house, seal all holes and cracks, including where the roof meets the structure, and where the house meets the foundation," Morrison says.

The results of the study raise concerns about just how serious the spread of stink bugs may become. Morrison and his colleagues will continue to work toward containment of the insects.

"The brown marmorated stink bug may rely on a yet-to-be-identified chemical stimulus or other communication method during the fall when they disperse to overwintering sites and when they emerge during the spring," explains Morrison. "Both are areas of active research."

--

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/">United States Department Of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service</a>

Stink bugs found to cause extra trouble during the winter

The brown marmorated stink bug arrived in the United States...

While we humans may have liquor stores and bars to supply us with seemingly endless amounts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/alcohol-body-drunk/">alcohol</a>, we’re not the only organisms that can get drunk and act out. When under the effects of alcohol, inebriated crayfish will tail-flip until they become over-intoxicated and eventually roll on their backs – as researchers from the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> found out recently.

Professor Jens Herberholz and students Matthew Swierzbinski and Andrew Lazarchik at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> have published a study showing that isolated crayfish are less sensitive to the effects of alcohol than socialized crayfish. Herberholz previously studied the cellular mechanisms that underlie decision-making and aggression in crayfish, so he was interested to see how previous social experience in these crustaceans might change how alcohol affects them.

“How past social experience might shape the neurobehavioral effects of acute alcohol exposure is significantly understudied,” says Herberholz. This may be due to the fact that alcohol is a complicated drug, as it affects a wide range of cellular systems. This means that the factors that contribute to alcohol sensitivity have gone largely undiscovered.

The research team began their experiment by intoxicating individual crayfish that were previously housed together. Rather than allowing them to sip from glasses of full-bodied merlot, the crayfish were placed in tanks of dilute alcohol from a range of concentrations. The individuals were then filmed as they became more and more intoxicated – going from walking aggressively on stiff legs to tail-flipping to finally rolling on their backs.

As was expected, the effects occurred much more quickly in the tanks with the highest alcohol concentrations, which caused the crayfish to begin tail-flipping just 20 minutes into the exposure. The crustaceans that were in the most dilute alcohol took around 2 hours to express this behavior.

When the team performed the same tests on crayfish that had been held in isolation for a week prior to their night out on the town, the animals were significantly less sensitive to the effects of alcohol. In this case, they took about 28 minutes on average to being tail-flipping. 

This tail-flipping behavior in crayfish is controlled by the lateral giant interneuron. By inserting fine silver wires near the sensory nerves that excite this interneuron, Lazarchik discovered that the neural circuit became more sensitive in both isolated and socialized crayfish when they were inebriated. However, the effects of alcohol on the lateral giant interneuron became apparent more quickly in the sociable crayfish – perfectly matching their more expedited tail-flipping behavior.

Herberholz believes that alcohol may have more of an impact on the GABA neurotransmitter – which inhibits behavior – in the socialized crayfish compared to the isolated ones. He also suspects that isolation could cause humans to become less sensitive to the effects of drinking, and may cause individuals to consume more.

“Our study shows that social experience can change the sensitivity to acute alcohol,” says Herberholz, going on to add that similar responses may be observable through socialization studies of humans – although they are a long way from proving this theory. The researchers hope that in the future, this research could lead to better treatments and preventative measures to help humans suffering from alcohol abuse.

More information on this study can be found in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.biologists.com/">The Company of Biologists</a>

What crayfish can teach us about the effects of alcohol

While we humans may have liquor stores and bars to...

The archer fish – famous for its ability to shoot aqua darts at its land-based insect prey, knocking it into the water – also has another impressive hunting tactic: it can launch itself from a near standstill out of the water to a height over two times its body length.

Scientists have done plenty of work documenting the archer fish’s arrow-like spit-shooting, which is usually aimed at insects on overhanging leaves and causes them to fall into the water. But not much work has been done studying the way these fish will often catch their falling <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-hear-preys-heartbeat-important/">prey</a>.

When an insect topples into the water, it’s fair game for any predatory fish in the vicinity. To keep other competitors hungry, archer fish will sometimes leap out of the water, catching their prey in midair and eliminating all competition.

Engineers at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> have researched the hydrodynamics of this fish’s jumping behavior, publishing their results in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>. What piqued their interest was the ability of the archer fish to seemingly go from 0 to 60 almost instantaneously.

“Unlike, say, a shark that comes barreling up from the bottom to catch its prey, an archer fish’s initial momentum is zero,” explains Alexandra Techet, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">MIT</a>. “All that force has to be created close to the surface, at a near standstill. That’s what makes this fish really interesting to study and completely different than your traditional leaping and jumping problem.”

In order to study this behavior, the research team housed 10 archer fish in a 55-gallon tank filled with brackish water – mimicking their typical habitat in the mangrove swamps and brackish river waters of Southeast Asia. Like training fun-sized dolphins, they taught the fish to jump by hanging freeze-dried shrimp above the surface of the water and temporarily removing the food if the fish tried to spit it down. 

After a month of training, five of the ten fish were trained to consistently jump for their food. The remaining five were apparently slow-learners, or just really content with trying to shoot their food out of the air – the gunslingers of the archer fish community.

The team then began using a high-speed camera to record the jumping behavior of these fish. Going frame-by-frame, they were able to analyze the jumping movements of the fish through the direction and velocity of particles they placed within the water that glowed under infrared light. This analysis allowed them to identify three main phases in archer fish jumping behavior: hovering, thrust production, and gliding.

The first phase is the fish hovering just below the water’s surface, with its snout positioned at the surface so it can see any overhanging prey.

In the second phase, the fish begins to produce upward thrust by raising its pectoral and pelvic fins while moving its tail back and forth until it gains enough momentum to launch.

For the final phase, the archer fish glides through the air and up to the bait, no longer producing any thrust and simply navigating the air by changes in its posture.

The team also found that the number of tail movements each fish produced directly related to the height of the bait. So the higher the bait, the more times the fish would beat its tail. Co-author Leah Mendelson, a graduate student at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">MIT</a>, expressed her surprise at the fish’s ability to generate so much power in such a limited space: “How do you accelerate when the most critical thing that’s in scarce supply is the space you have to do it in? There’s no running start. And to me that’s one of the biggest takeaways.”

With this frame-by-frame breakdown, the researchers found that the maximum velocities reached by each fish ranged from 0.6 to 1.7 meters per second squared. They also determined that archer fish are able to launch themselves out of the water at heights as great as 2.5 times their body length.

“The speed they leave the water with is on the order of Olympic swimmer speeds,” says Mendelson. “The record for the 100-meter freestyle is a little under 50 seconds, so, 2 meters per second. So these fish are almost as fast as an Olympic swimmer, but actually going up rather than horizontal.”

The next step for these engineers is to study the archer fish’s jumping behavior from a three-dimensional perspective. This will help determine what other fins play a role in propelling the fish out of water. 

Techet believes that further research could lead to analysis that helps guide the design of surfacing underwater vehicles – after all, nature has had millennia to perfect this species’ design.

“Am I going to make a flapping robot that jumps out of the water?” asks Techet. “Probably not. But the concepts here are ubiquitous between fish, propulsors, and foils in general.” Flying fish robots aside, studies such as this will only help to further our understanding of biology and engineering, and could possibly lead to some interesting mechanical designs in the future.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>

The archer fish may be paving the way for underwater vehicles

The archer fish – famous for its ability to shoot...

It may seem that dolphins (even late bloomer dolphins) and other oceanic diving species go straight from being born to exploring the depths of the ocean with relative ease – after all, how else would they avoid predators and catch those small, elusive fish? But just because they’re born in water doesn’t mean their built-in SCUBA system is fully developed from birth.

The muscles of fully developed diving species – such as dolphins, <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/russias-bay-whales/">whales</a>, birds, and seals – contain more myoglobin than the muscles of land-based animals. Myoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen in the bloodstream, which is obviously an extremely important physiological function for animals that go without surfacing for minutes or hours at a time. Their muscles are also better equipped at neutralizing the lactic acid produced when these diving species switch to anaerobic respiration after they run out of oxygen toward the end of a long dive.

These anatomical and physiological differences make sense between land and marine animals. But researchers at the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a> wanted to know if these differences extended to comparisons between deep-diving species and species that remain in shallow coastal waters. Might a deep-diving species such as the spinner dolphin have larger reserves of myoglobin compared to a more coastal species such as the bottlenose dolphin?

Researcher Shawn Noren and her team set out to measure the oxygen storage capacity and muscle biochemistry of spinner dolphin swim muscles in order to test their theories.

They discovered that the spinner dolphin swim muscles did not mature any quicker than the muscles of coastal species. The data showed that spinner dolphins’ ability to carry oxygen through myoglobin increased as the animals aged. The ability of the muscle to neutralize lactic acid also increased, however, it plateaued at an age of about 1.6-2 years. This is the age at which young dolphins are typically weaned, and matches with the age at which other coastal species’ diving physiology reaches maturity.

Ultimately, Noren and her colleagues determined that ocean-going spinner dolphin calves do not develop the ability to sustain deep dives any faster than the shallow-diving coastal species. However, the youngest spinner dolphins already had higher concentrations of muscle myoglobin than coastal bottlenose dolphins at the same ages.  

The researchers also surmised that this slow development could put young dolphin calves at risk of being separated from their mothers during pursuits by commercial tuna fishing fleets. “The relatively underdeveloped muscle biochemistry of calves likely contributes to documented mother-calf separations for spinner dolphins chased by the tuna purse-seine fishery,” explains Noren.

It’s possible that this could negatively affect dolphin populations if tuna fishing continues at its current rate. Luckily, continued research should be able to shed more light on how these deep-diving species develop and may one day provide a solution for declining populations.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.biologists.com/">The Company of Biologists</a>

Late bloomer dolphins are especially at risk in tuna fisheries

It may seem that dolphins (even late bloomer dolphins) and...

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the oceans were filled with sea scorpions that killed their prey with sidelong strikes of their long serrated tails, according to a study by researchers at the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/">University of Alberta</a>.

The findings followed discovery of a fossil of a new species of the eurypterid, Slimonia acuminata, near Lesmahagow, Scotland, the university said.

"Our study suggests that sea scorpions used their tails, weaponized by their serrated spiny tips, to dispatch their prey," said Scott Persons, paleontologist and lead author of the study, published in <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/an/current#">The American Naturalist</a>  

The scorpions, were related to modern scorpions and horsehoe crabs, and had thin, flexible bodies and pinching claws that could grow up to three meters in length. Although the scorpions were inflexible vertically, they were very adept at moving horizontally.

"This means that these sea scorpions could slash their tails from side to side, meeting little hydraulic resistance and without propelling themselves away from an intended target," Persons said. "Perhaps clutching their prey with their sharp front limbs eurypterids could kill pretty using a horizontal slashing motion."

The research breaks new ground in the study of eurypterids. “Such a high degree of apparent lateral tail flexibility has not been previously recognized in eurypterids,” the new study said. 

Ancient early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-species-similarities-humans/">vertebrates</a> were likely the scorpion’s food source, the researchers said.

The side-winding tail was “an effective means of predatory attack and self-defense,” the study said.

[caption id="attachment_307228" align="aligncenter" width="720"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/138455_web.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-307228" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/138455_web.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="473" /></a> Image Credit: Nathan Rogers[/caption]

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/">University of Alberta</a>

&nbsp;

Were sea scorpions the original sea monster?

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the oceans were filled...

Researchers have discovered fossilized footprints of an ancient reptile species that are over 200 million years old and could include new fossil evidence never before seen.

Eudald Mujal from <a href="http://www.uab.cat/web/universitat-autonoma-de-barcelona-1345467954774.html">Universitat Autónama</a> in Spain and his colleagues examined trace fossil footprints of vertebrates from around 247 to 248 million years ago in the Pyrenees Mountains in Catalonia.

Their study was to investigate which vertebrate species lived during the beginning of the Mesozoic era. The Mesozoic era was a period of time immediately following the Permian mass extinction, which took place over 250 million years ago and resulted in the loss of roughly 90 percent of all species. The environmental and climatic conditions following this extinction hindered the recovery of vertebrate species as a whole across the globe.

The researchers identified tracks made by archosauromorphs – the ancestors of crocodiles and dinosaurs – by creating 3D models and silicone molds of the fossils they found. Most of these fossils were small, around half a meter in length, but a few specimens were longer than three meters.

In their analysis, the team identified a new footprint, belonging to Prorotodactylus mesaxonichnus – which led them to believe that this Pyrenean Prorotodactylus genus is related to archosauromorphs, rather than being a dinosauromorph as previously thought.

The research team postulates that the abundance of archosauromorph fossils in the Pyrenees is evidence of the role that archosauromorphs played in vertebrate recovery following the Permian mass extinction. “Trace fossils are evidence that archosauromorphs dominated the fluvial environments of the Catalan Pyrenees during the Triassic vertebrate recovery, early after the end-Permian mass extinction,” says Mujal.

This gives scientists a new perspective on vertebrate recovery following the largest mass extinction to ever occur on the planet. 

More information on this study can be found in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.plos.org/">PLOS</a>

Image Credit: Eudald Mujal from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Fossil footprints shed light on recovery after mass extinction

Researchers have discovered fossilized footprints of an ancient reptile species...

“Are you left or right-handed?” is a commonly asked question amongst humans, but research shows that certain animals also tend to favor one “hand” over the other. In fact, “handed-ness” or left-right asymmetry is relatively common throughout the animal kingdom. Now, in a review published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>, researchers provide some insight into why people and animals many naturally favor one side of the brain over the other.

This left-right asymmetry is not limited to just our human brains, as several animal models have been found that can give us a look into the genetic and epigenetic backgrounds of the phenomenon of lateralization. “Studying asymmetry can provide the most basic blueprints for how the brain is organized,” says lead author Onur Güntürkün, a researcher at the <a href="http://www.rd.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/neuro/index.html.en">Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience</a> at <a href="http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/index_en.htm">Ruhr-University Bochum</a>, in Germany. “It gives us an unprecedented window into the wiring of the early, developing brain that ultimately determines the fate of the adult brain.”

Güntürkün believes that brain lateralization serves three purposes. One of those purposes is perceptual specialization, where certain areas of the brain are more specialized and focused on performing certain tasks. For example, in most people the right side of the brain focuses on recognizing faces, while the left side focuses on identifying letters and words.

Another purpose is motor specialization. The ability to use our hands competently is key to everyday life and survival, being specialized in that ability helps us move, eat, fight, and hunt. “What you do with your hands is a miracle of biological evolution,” says Güntürkün. “We are the master of our hands, and by funneling this training to one hemisphere of our brains, we can become more proficient at that kind of dexterity.”

Scientists think that natural selection led to some sort of advantage that resulted in about 10% of the population favoring the opposite hand. This connection is made through parallel processing, which allows use to do two different tasks using different parts of the brain concurrently.

Brain asymmetry is “…an invention of nature, which evolved because many animals have the same needs for specialization that we do,” explains Güntürkün. There have been studies that show how birds – such as chickens – use one eye to distinguish grain from pebbles on the ground while simultaneously using the other eye to keep watch for predators overhead.

Other research on pigeons has determined that this specialization can often be a result of environmental influences. It was found that when a pigeon chick is developing in the shell, its right eye turns toward the outside, while its left eye faces its body. When the right eye is exposed to light that comes through the shell, it triggers a series of neuronal changes that cause the two developing eyes to ultimately have different specializations.

On the other hand, the zebrafish model of lateralization has allowed researchers to uncover the genetic aspects of asymmetrical development – specifically the genetic makeup of the Nodal-signaling pathway.

Güntürkün believes that this research can lead to a better understanding of the effects of asymmetry on brain conditions in humans, saying that “there are almost no disorders of the human brain that are not linked to brain asymmetries.” Further research in this area can provide insight on how the developmental process leads to mistakes within the wiring of our brains.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>

Why animals evolve to favor one side of their brain

“Are you left or right-handed?” is a commonly asked question...

The Gentoo Penguins are easily recognizable with their white eye patches and fiery red beaks. These penguins are particularly fascinating to scientists because they are persevering in a region where other penguins species are dwindling. An opportunity to study the Gentoo Penguins in their natural habitat usually means braving the frigid terrain of areas such as the Antarctic peninsula or the sub-Antarctic islands. A team of researchers created an easier way to get a glimpse of these birds by setting up time-lapse cameras.

Experts from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> and The National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina set out to observe the Gentoo Penguins and their behavior during nonbreeding season. The cameras were placed at seven sites in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctica-sets-record-high/">Antarctica</a>, Argentina, and on several islands. The goal was to analyze the patterns and actions of the species across their range to determine when they occupy breeding sites. The study, published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, shows that the Gentoo Penguins arrived at their breeding sites early in the nonbreeding season. They were present in greater numbers when there was open water and the coastline was not shut in by ice.

Caitlin Black is a researcher with the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>. She explains,"Working with cameras allows us to understand half of this species' life without having to spend the harsh winter in Antarctica. It has been exciting to discover more about why Gentoos are present year-round at breeding sites without having to handle a single bird. I believe the applications for this technology are far-reaching for colonial seabirds and mammals, and we are only just beginning to discover the uses of time-lapse cameras as deployed virtual ecologists in field studies." 

Each of the cameras captured between eight and fourteen images per day. Volunteers accessed the website penguinwatch.org and reported the number of penguins visible in each photo. Ultimately, the different observation sites fell into three groups that are distinguishable by breeding site attendance patterns and the number of penguins present.

Mark Hauber is the Editor-In-Chief of The Auk: Ornithological Advances and a professor of Animal Behavior at <a href="http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/">Hunter College</a> and the <a href="https://www.gc.cuny.edu/">Graduate Center of the City University of New York</a>. Hauber says, "What most seabirds do away from their nest is often anybody's guess. For Antarctic birds, this is compounded by the long periods of darkness that penguins and others must face in the winter.” 

Hauber adds, “This new research in The Auk: Ornithological Advances on Gentoo Penguins colonies reveals critical year-to-year differences in where the birds are when they are not nesting: In some years, only the most temperate sites are visited, and in other years both southerly and northerly locations are busy with penguins.”

Animals such as the Gentoo Penguins make modifications in their migration patterns to adjust to their changing habitats. Results of these types of studies can be used to analyze the impact that disturbances - such as the fishing industry and climate change - have on penguin populations.

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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

Source: <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">The University of Oxford</a>

Image Credit: T. Hart

Footage reveals the new migration strategies of penguins

The Gentoo Penguins are easily recognizable with their white eye...

Who knew frog slime could actually be helping in fighting the flu! Turns out, skin secretions from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-toads-see-color/">frogs</a> are a rich source of antimicrobial peptides. Also known as host defense peptides, these compounds are part of a frog’s innate immunity system. While frogs have been known to inherently contain antibacterial properties, a new discovery reveals frog mucus contains antiviral peptides as well. 

Researchers at the <a href="http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/">Emory Vaccine Center</a> and the <a href="http://rgcb.res.in/">Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology</a> collaborated in the study, which reveals that a component of South Indian frog excretions can kill the H1 type of flu viruses. The study, published today in the medical journal Immunity, suggests this revelation will have a positive influence on the future of flu vaccinations and containment strategies. 

Joshy Jacob, PhD., is an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at <a href="http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/">Emory Vaccine Center</a> and <a href="http://www.med.emory.edu/">Emory University School of Medicine</a>, and the senior author of the study. Dr. Jacobs explains, “Anti-flu peptides could become handy when vaccines are unavailable, in the case of a new pandemic strain, or when circulating strains become resistant to current drugs.”

The researchers called one of the antiviral peptides identified in the study “urumin,” named after an ancient Indian sword. Urumin was discovered in the skin secretions of the Indian frog Hydrophylax bahuvistara. This particular peptide stood out to scientists because instead of attempting to destroy its target as an antibacterial peptide would attempt to do, urumin inhibited the development of the flu virus. 

The urumin damaged the stability of the hemagglutinin, a glycoprotein that protrudes from the surface of the influenza virus. It searches for cells within the body upon which to launch a flu attack. Over a dozen types of hemagglutinin are known, and these determine the type of flu and how threatening it is. Hemagglutinin is the attack target of many proposed universal vaccines.

Dr. Jacobs says the fact that urumin advanced upon the hemagglutinin specifically “could be valuable because current anti-influenza drugs target other parts of the virus.”

The research showed that urumin administered intranasally to unvaccinated mice safeguarded them from potentially lethal doses of various flu viruses. Urumin protected against the H1 types of flu, but was not successful in protecting against other strains such as H3N2.

The newly-discovered peptides create an initiative for antiviral drug discovery.

The continuation of this study may lead Dr. Jacob and his colleagues to strategies for stabilizing antiviral peptides for effective use. The team is also hoping to extract peptides from frogs that are capable of killing other viruses. 

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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

Source: <a href="http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/">Emory Vaccine Center</a>

Image: Sanil George, Jessica Shartouny

How frog slime could actually help you fight the flu

Who knew frog slime could actually be helping in fighting...

It's the look that any dog owner immediately recognizes when their pooch chews up a pair of tennis shoes or the couch cushions.

There's actually a name for it, Nathan H. Lents, is a professor of molecular biology at <a href="http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/">John Jay College</a>, of the City University of New York, writes in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beastly-behavior/201704/the-guilty-dog-look-and-other-borrowed-signals">Psychology Today</a>.

The "apology bow" has been studied extensively in wolves, Lents writes. and it is more complex than previously believed. 

In wolves, it is first displayed when a pup bites too hard during rough and tumble wrestling play. 

"A dog that bites too hard is punished by temporary shunning," Lents wrote. "They are removed from the social unit and ignored for a time. In order to be reintroduced, the offending wolf must approach with an apology bow and be re-admitted into the group."

Domesticated <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/chocolate-bad-dogs/">dogs</a> inherited this type of behavior from their wolf ancestors and have expanded the apology bow to include other types of infractions. 

"They will use it after any kind of infraction that results in being punished," Lents writes. “As social animals, they crave harmonious integration in the group and neglect or isolation is painful for them."

Dogs, like humans and other animals, send signals with their body language, according to Lents.

An "apology bow" can signal remorse but also submission, he wrote.

In the same way, a human handshake which can be both a greeting and a signal to bury the hatchet after a fight.

"Facial expressions and body language are rich forms of communication among animals and a complex array of signals can be conveyed with just a few gestures," wrote Lents. "The key is context. Just like humans rarely misinterpret a smile from a snarl, animals surely understand the subtleties of their own body language.”

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beastly-behavior/201704/the-guilty-dog-look-and-other-borrowed-signals">Psychology Today</a>.

Why your dog looks so guilty: the science behind dog shaming

It's the look that any dog owner immediately recognizes when...

In recent years, beachgoers in Cape Cod and nearby areas have been reporting jellyfish stings that have similar symptoms to stings that were occurring off of the Russian coast. People were reporting stings that led to severe pain as well as respiratory and neurological issues. Scientists were perplexed by this news, as the jellyfish known to cause these stings are native to the North Pacific and should be nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean.

Clinging jellyfish (Gonionemus) are tiny members of the jellyfish family that attach themselves to seagrass and seaweed – they are also the culprits in this stinging scandal. These jellies were long assumed to be native to the North Pacific, but have now become widely distributed throughout the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Now, research published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">Peer J</a> describes the first genetic study of clinging jellyfish diversity in populations around the world. The researchers found some surprising links among the distant communities of jellyfish, and also may have discovered that there is more than one species of this stinging organism.

By obtaining tissue samples from a number of different Atlantic and Pacific locations, the researchers uncovered a genetic match between populations of stinging jellyfish in Russia and those found along the East Coast of the United States. Analysis of DNA from the tissue samples led to the identification of seven variants, some of which were specific to just one location while others were spread among communities in distant locations.

They also discovered that jellyfish from the Northeast Pacific and Northeast Atlantic locations were genetically different from Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific populations. This suggests that the two related groups may actually be entirely different species of Gonionemus.

Annette Govindarajan – lead author of the study and a biologist at <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a> (WHOI) – says, “In the past, some people have suggested that the Atlantic and the Pacific jellies were different forms. Others have suggested that jellies in the Atlantic were introduced from the Pacific. But what we found doesn't correspond exactly to either hypothesis.” Instead, the researchers think that the jellyfish found in the Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific are likely a different species.

“The study documents what we suspected, that there are different types of Gonionemus jellies and some of these types co-occur in New England," says coauthor and fellow <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/">WHOI</a> researcher Mary Carman. “Some types seem to have a toxic sting to people and some do not.” The relationship between genetic variants of jellyfish and toxicity is something the researchers would like to pursue in the future. “It could very well be that the toxicity is a function of both genetics and the environment, perhaps something in the environment is triggering the toxicity,” explains Govindarajan. 

In the meantime, Govindarajan believes that beachgoers shouldn’t be too concerned about encountering the stinging jellies – despite the fact that they bloom in the summer months. “Unlike other jellies, it is unlikely that these would be in open water,” she explains. “We only see them in areas with eelgrass or seaweeds since they’re able to cling to these surfaces with the sticky pads found on their tentacles.”

The research team hopes to study further genomic analyses that will give greater insight into what genetic markers can reveal about these species and their toxicity. Further research could lead to a better understanding of how these invasive forms of jellyfish are dispersing, so that their future invasions can be curtailed. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a>

This stinging jellyfish has been invading East Coast beaches

In recent years, beachgoers in Cape Cod and nearby areas...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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