This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. 



Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space.



In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow.



Since Tuesday, the moon has looked larger than usual, and it’ll keep that appearance through Friday. By Thursday morning, as people head out for their morning commute. Depending on the weather in your area, Thursday night being the best time to see the full Hunter's supermoon..



And let's not forget the dazzling Orionids meteor shower, where you can catch glimpses of shooting stars streaking across the sky, resulting from debris left by Halley's Comet.



There's truly something for everyone in this celestial display. So, grab a warm jacket, perhaps a pair of binoculars for a closer look.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-80-000-year-old-time-traveler">80,000-year-old time traveler</h2>



Meet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-anticipated-comet-of-2024-returns-this-weekend-after-80000-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS</a>, a celestial wanderer that's been on an 80,000-year long odyssey. 



From the outermost regions of our solar system, this comet embarks on an interminable journey around the sun. The last time it paid us a visit, our ancestors were just crafting civilizations.



Although its closest Earth pass was on October 12, it remains visible for the remainder of the month. 



So, how do you spot it? An hour into the sunset, turn your sight to where the sun has sunk and voila. The elusive comet, while difficult to sight with the naked eye, could be seen with a pair of binoculars. 



Don't miss this rare chance to witness a phenomenon that won't return for another 80,000 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunter-s-supermoon">Hunter's Supermoon</h2>



Next up...mark your calendars for October 17, 2024. The night sky is all set to parade the Hunter's Moon, but this year it's not just a full moon -- <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunters-supermoon-prepares-to-illuminate-the-october-skies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it's a supermoon</a>! 



This phenomenon occurs when the moon is at its closest to Earth during its full phase, making it larger and brighter.



The Hunter’s Moon got its name from the historical practice of hunters utilizing the bright moonlight to track game and gather food in preparation for winter. This full moon rises soon after sunset, extending the period of illumination more than usual.



As it ascends, the Hunter’s Moon appears particularly large and orange, a visual effect produced by its lower position on the horizon and the scattering of light in the atmosphere.



This lunar phase holds cultural significance across various traditions, representing a time for preparation and gathering, underscoring the importance of readiness for the impending colder months.



The Hunter’s Moon is generally in October -- although once every four years it makes an appearance in November.



While contemporary life may not depend on this extra light to hunt or complete outdoor tasks, the Hunter’s Moon remains a fascinating reminder of nature’s rhythms and the cyclical changes of the seasons.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-puts-the-super-in-the-supermoon">What puts the 'super' in the supermoon?</h3>



So, you might ask, "What's so super about the supermoon?" As Anna Gammon-Ross, a seasoned astronomer from the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Museums Greenwich</a> explains, a supermoon occurs when a full moon is nearest to Earth in its orbit. 



This cosmic alignment results in a moon that's roughly 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. On seeing the radiant orb hanging low in the sky, you'd agree that the supermoon does indeed earn its name.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shooting-stars-orionids-meteor-shower">Shooting stars: Orionids meteor shower</h2>



The Orionids meteor shower is one of the highlights of the October night sky. These meteors are actually tiny bits of dust left behind by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orionids-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-heres-what-to-expect/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halley's Comet</a> as it travels through the solar system. 



When Earth passes through this trail of debris, the particles slam into our atmosphere at incredible speeds -- up to 148,000 miles per hour! As they burn up, they create those bright streaks of light we love to watch.



What's cool about the Orionids is that they're known for their fast and bright meteors, often leaving glowing trails that last for a few seconds. 



The best time to catch them is in the early morning hours before dawn, when the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/betelgeuse-one-of-our-brightest-stars-will-vanish-from-sight-next-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">constellation Orion</a> (which gives the meteor shower its name) is high in the sky. 



Just find a comfy spot away from city lights, let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and enjoy the show -- no special equipment needed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skywatching-101">Skywatching 101</h2>



All set to behold these cosmic spectacles? Here are some tips to enhance your experience:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Search for a location far from city lights to escape light pollution. </li>



<li>Always check the weather. Clear skies are your best pals for skywatching. </li>



<li>Bring your binoculars. For the supermoon, they are optional, but they'll help with the comet and make meteor watching more fun. </li>



<li>Comfort is key. Dress warmly and consider bringing a blanket or a chair. </li>



<li>Patience is a virtue. Allow around 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.</li>
</ul>



These celestial showstoppers make for some spectacular photography opportunities. 



For the supermoon, a camera with manual settings, plus a tripod for steadiness, can help capture stunning shots. 



For the meteors, a wide-angle lens with a long exposure setting can help you nab a shooting star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-wonders-to-watch">More wonders to watch</h2>



October's skywatching doesn't end with the comet, supermoon, and meteor shower. 



Throughout the month, Venus brightly greets morning risers, while Saturn and Jupiter are earlier night visitors. 



Mars is a bit elusive but worth seeking out. Several constellations, such as Cassiopeia and Perseus, also adorn the night sky. 



If you're a novice stargazer, a smartphone app can help you navigate the starry expanse.



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Hunter's supermoon, a comet, and Orionids meteors are sharing the sky tonight

This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space. In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow. Since Tuesday, the...

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and the environment, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>. The experts report that humans are primarily responsible for the risks associated with free-roaming cats, such as threats to native animal populations and the potential for disease transmission.



"Free-roaming domestic cats (Felis catus) are known to pose threats to ecosystem health via transmission of zoonotic diseases and predation of native wildlife," wrote the study authors. "Likewise, free-roaming cats are also susceptible to predation or disease transmission from native wildlife."



The researchers analyzed data from the D.C. Cat Count, a survey that included 60 wildlife cameras across 1,500 sites. The cameras revealed where the cats frequently overlapped with native wildlife.



“We discovered that the average domestic cat in D.C. has a 61% probability of being found in the same space as racoons - America’s most prolific rabies vector - 61% spatial overlap with red foxes, and 56% overlap with Virginia opossums, both of which can also spread rabies,” explained study lead author Daniel Herrera. “By letting our cats outside we are significantly jeopardizing their health.”



The survey cameras also revealed the native animals that were commonly preyed upon by domestic cats, including grey squirrels, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, groundhogs, and white footed mice. The experts noted that by hunting these animals, cats can reduce biodiversity and degrade ecosystem health.



“Many people falsely think that cats are hunting non-native populations like rats, when in fact they prefer hunting small native species,” explained Herrera. “Cats are keeping rats out of sight&nbsp; due to fear, but there really isn’t any evidence that they are controlling the non-native rodent population. The real concern is that they are decimating native populations that provide benefits to the D.C. ecosystem.”



Overall, the study showed that the presence of cats increased with human population density, yet decreased with tree cover and other natural features that are associated with a greater presence of wildlife. Herrera said that these associations run counter to arguments that free-roaming cats are simply stepping into a natural role in the ecosystem by hunting wildlife.



“These habitat relationships suggest that the distribution of cats is largely driven by humans, rather than natural factors,” noted Professor Travis Gallo. “Since humans largely influence where cats are on the landscape, humans also dictate the degree of risk these cats encounter and the amount of harm they cause to local wildlife.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.1048585">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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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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Humans are responsible for the risks of free-roaming cats

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and...

Computer,And,Beer,On,A,Wooden,Desk,Or,Table.,Modern

A new study published in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/12/5/690/htm">Journal of Personalized Medicine</a> has identified several genes and their variants that trigger a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-use-is-not-an-addictive-behavior/">addictive</a> behaviors. Besides confirming previous discoveries that addiction could be genetically determined, these recent findings also indicate possible overlaps between different types of disorders influenced by the same genes.



While previous research has mainly focused on identifying relationships between genetic variants and one specific type of addiction, this new study examined a broad spectrum of substance and non-substance addictions and their possible associations to 32 gene polymorphisms, or variants.



The researchers collected DNA samples from 3003 young adults from Hungarian high schools, colleges, and universities and surveyed them about their alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption, as well as about their engagement in other seven potentially addictive behaviors: internet use, gaming, social networking sites use, gambling, eating, exercising, and hair pulling.



“It has been previously proven that a strong genetic influence exists in case of different addictions. Heritability, which is the measure of genetic contribution to a trait, is estimated to be between 50 percent and 70 percent for addictions, and the rest is environmental effects,” said study co-author Csaba Barta, an associate professor of Molecular Biology at the <a href="https://semmelweis.hu/english/">Semmelweis University</a> in Budapest, Hungary.&nbsp;



“However, the specific genetic variants and their neurobiological roles in addiction are not so well known. We found 29 nominally significant associations in the current study, and nine of those remained significant after statistical correction for multiple testing.”



The analysis revealed that some genes and their variants can make people susceptible to both the use of certain substances and other potentially addictive behaviors. For instance, one of the genes,&nbsp;FOXN3&nbsp;and its so-called&nbsp;rs759364 A&nbsp;allele (variant), was linked to more frequent alcohol consumption. However, the same allele was also associated with a higher occurrence of internet use and online gaming.&nbsp;



“These findings can contribute to the scientific knowledge on addictions which affects millions of people worldwide,” said study co-author Zsolt Demetrovics, a professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a>.&nbsp;



“A novelty of the PGA [Psychological and Genetic Factors of Addictions] study is that it explores the relationships between substance use and non-substance-related addictive behaviors in detail. It could bring us closer to understanding the overlap between the vulnerability of different types of potentially addictive behaviors. For example, being vulnerable to problematic alcohol use might also pose an increased risk for gambling, video game use, or working addiction. This could be a relevant consideration also when planning treatment interventions,” he concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Alcohol use linked to internet addiction

A new study published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.kennesaw.edu/">Kennesaw State University</a>, overall patient care significantly suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-daily-dose-of-coffee-may-protect-you-from-covid-19/">Covid-19</a> surges swamped hospitals across the United States. According to study author Weiwei Chen, an assistant professor of Economics at Kennesaw, non-Covid patients had poorer outcomes in hospital overwhelmed with large numbers of Covid infections. For instance, the probability of an in-hospital death were 1.2 times higher among non-Covid patients than before the onset of the pandemic.



“Multiple factors contributed to the increase in mortality rates with Covid spikes, but resource constraints seem to be the main reason, which includes, for example, healthcare worker burnout, staff shortages, and reduced bed space,” Chen explained.



Although these findings are largely negative, some patterns observed during the study period may point to ways of alleviating overcrowding and improving patient outcomes in the future, such as discharging hospital patients to home care as an alternative treatment option.



“A major implication is that it is going to be very important to monitor patient outcomes at hospitals during pandemics in real time, even though it may be very difficult. That is the best way to ensure the best possible patient outcomes,” said Professor Chen.



These findings could have important implications for better preparation in the event of future pandemics or other large-scale illnesses.&nbsp;



“The study is among the first to quantify the impact of Covid-19 surges on hospital discharge outcomes, particularly among non–Covid-19 patients. Increased mortality odds among non–Covid-19 patients imply that the quality of care was compromised as hospitals fought against Covid-19," noted Professor Chen.&nbsp;



"Although no sizable changes were found in the odds of discharges to other hospitals, the growth of discharges to home care shows the promise of home health care as an alternative care option during the pandemic. As the pandemic evolves, it is vital to have timely feedback on patient outcomes to help providers maintain and improve quality of care and learn for the future."



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2022.89264">American Journal of Managed Care</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Mortality rates spiked among non-Covid patients during pandemic

A new study led by the Kennesaw State University, overall...

Scientists have long argued that intact <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-are-more-resilient-and-productive/">forests</a> are major climate regulators and harbors of biodiversity. Unfortunately, such forests are currently disappearing at an alarming rate. While agriculture has previously been considered the main culprit behind forest loss, a new study led by <a href="https://www.fudan.edu.cn/en/">Fudan University</a> in China has found that multiple industries are in fact to blame too.&nbsp;



For instance, for forest loss associated with the 2014 world economy, more than 60 percent was related to final consumption of non-agricultural products, including minerals, metals, and wood-related goods. Moreover, according to the experts, international trade markets should also be taken into account when designing conservation strategies.



“Regional land use change is no longer simply driven by local demand; it is also indirectly influenced by international markets and the surging consumption of land-based products,” the study authors explained. “Countries with forest conservation goals can import finished land-based products via global supply chains, displacing land-use pressure and related eco-environmental impacts outside their own territory borders.”



By using multi-source geographic information data and economic modelling, the scientists evaluated both the direct and the indirect causes of forest loss. While previous research has largely focused on deforestation (the complete removal of tree cover), this new study also highlighted the insidious roles played by degradation and fragmentation.



“Even the removal of narrow tracts of forests can affect overall forest structure and composition. Considering the exceptional conservation value of intact forest landscapes in terms of stabilizing terrestrial carbon stocks and harboring biodiversity, intact forest landscapes loss displacement can also reflect potential indirect driving forces behind carbon emissions and biodiversity loss,” the authors wrote.



“It is widely thought that beef production drives deforestation in the Amazon, but it is hard for consumers to realize that the production of highly processed equipment may involve timber and metals produced at the expense of intact forest and that services provided by tertiary sectors may be supported by electricity generated from oil and gas associated with this loss. The more dispersed nature of intact forest loss drivers and their indirect links to individual final consumers call for stronger government engagement and supply-chain interventions,” they concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.12.006">One Earth</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Forests face threats from multiple industries

Scientists have long argued that intact forests are major climate...

In November 2018, the Camp Fire – one of the deadliest and most destructive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-breaking-wildfire-years-are-just-getting-started/">wildfires</a> in California history – wiped out 239 square miles, destroying 18,804 structures and killing 85 people. Three years later, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California, San Diego</a> examined the psychological consequences of this devastating fire, and found that exposure to “climate trauma” resulted in increased mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.



The scientists enrolled 27 individuals directly exposed to the Camp Fire (for instance, their homes were destroyed), 21 indirectly exposed (who witnessed the wildfire, but were not directly affected), and 27 control individuals. All participants were asked to perform a series of cognitive tests, while their brain activity was measured by electroencephalography (EEG).



The analysis revealed that fire-exposed individuals displayed increased activity in brain areas involved in cognitive control and interference processing (the ability to cope with intrusive, disturbing thoughts).



“To function well day-to-day, our brains need to process information and manage memories in ways that help achieve goals while ignoring or dispensing with irrelevant or harmful distractions,” said study senior author Jyoti Mishra, an associate professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. &nbsp;



“Climate change is an emerging challenge. It is already well-documented that extreme climate events result in significant psychological impacts. Warming temperatures, for example, have even been linked to greater suicide rates. As planetary warming amplifies, more forest fires are expected in California and globally, with significant implications for mental health effects.”



“In this study, we wanted to learn whether and how climate trauma affected and altered cognitive and brain functions in a group of people who had experienced it during the Camp Fire. We found that those who were impacted, directly or indirectly, displayed weaker interference processing. Such weakened cognitive performance may then impair daily functioning and reduce wellbeing.”&nbsp;



While none of the participants from the control group reported any trauma, 67 percent of the individuals directly exposed to the wildfire and 14 percent of those indirectly exposed reported struggling with traumatic effects even years after the event.



These findings could help guide efforts to develop resiliency intervention strategies in case of future similar events. “As the planet warms, more and more individuals will face extreme climate exposures, like wildfires, and having therapeutic tools that can address underlying neuro-cognitive issues will be an important complement to other socio-behavioral therapies,” Mishra concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000125">PLOS Climate</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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“Climate trauma” chronically affects survivors of wildfires

In November 2018, the Camp Fire – one of the...

In our daily lives we are exposed to numerous objects that we need to recognize. For example, if something flies past the window at dusk, we would probably like to know whether this was a bird, a bat or a drone. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-engineer-their-petals-to-be-visually-attractive-to-bees/">Visual</a> object recognition is seldom based on what our eyes perceive alone, but is influenced by the context and by our prior experiences. In addition, a new experimental study shows that what we see can also be modified by sounds that we hear at the same time, meaning that sounds can alter the way in which we perceive visual cues.&nbsp;



The research study, published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09567976221121348">Psychological Science</a>,&nbsp;suggests that relevant audio cues can help us to recognize objects more quickly and accurately, but can also alter our visual perception. If we see a bird and hear birdsong, we quickly identify a bird. But if the presence of a bird is associated with the call of a squirrel, we become less sure of what we are looking at. The brain therefore makes use of audio input to help us decide what, exactly, we are seeing.&nbsp;



“Your brain spends a significant amount of energy to process the sensory information in the world and to give you that feeling of a full and seamless perception,” said study lead author Jamal R. Williams from the UC San Diego. “One way that it does this is by making inferences about what sorts of information should be expected.”&nbsp;



In the natural world, sounds are reliable predictors of the objects that cause them – dogs bark and cats meow. In this way, sounds provide independent and informative cues about the visual world. However, when we use these trusted audio cues during the early stages of identifying a visual object, they can lead us to selectively process only certain aspects of the visual features.



Williams explained that “informed guesses” based on audio input can help us to process information more quickly, but they can also lead us astray when what we’re hearing doesn’t match up with what we expect to see.&nbsp;



The researchers conducted three experiments in which participants were shown ambiguous images of objects morphing into other objects. For example, a plane became a bird and the images shown to participants could come from anywhere along the process and have features of both a plane and a bird.



In the first experiment, 40 participants were presented with ambiguous figures and, at the same time as they were trying to discriminate the nature of the object, the researchers played either a sound related to the image (birdsong or the buzz of a plane), or an unrelated sound (such as a hammer hitting a nail). After exposure to the image, participants were asked to recall which stage of the object morph they had been shown.&nbsp;



To identify the stage that they recalled, the participants used a sliding scale that could be moved in either direction, more towards a recognizable bird or more towards a recognizable plane. The results revealed that participants made their object-morph selection more quickly when they heard related (versus unrelated) sounds and that they shifted their object-morph selection to match more closely the related sounds that they had heard.&nbsp;The findings indicate that, when visual input is not clear-cut, the role of relevant sounds may modulate our visual perception.



“When sounds are related to pertinent visual features, those visual features are prioritized and processed more quickly compared to when sounds are unrelated to the visual features. So, if you heard the sound of a birdsong, anything bird-like is given prioritized access to visual perception,” Williams explained. “We found that this prioritization is not purely facilitatory and that your perception of the visual object is actually more bird-like than if you had heard the sound of an airplane flying overhead.”&nbsp;



The researchers wondered at what stage of visual recognition the audio input was having its influence – was this during the stage of visual discrimination or during the time that the participants made their decision about the object’s identity. The second experiment presented 105 participants with similar ambiguous images but coincided the audio stimuli with either the object recognition stage (when the image was on the screen) or the decision-making stage (after the image was removed and the participant had to choose its identity).&nbsp;&nbsp;



Once again, the audio input was found to influence participants’ speed and accuracy when the sounds were played while participants were viewing the object morph, but it had no effect when the sounds were played while they reported which object morph they had seen.&nbsp;The researchers concluded that real-world sounds primarily affect the perceptual process, and not the decisional process.



In the third and final experiment, the researchers played the sound to 40 participants before the object morphs were shown to them on screen. The aim of this was to test whether prior audio input influenced visual perception by affecting people’s expectations and priming them to pay more attention to certain features of the objects. This was also found to have no effect on participants' object-morph selections.&nbsp;



The experts conclude that, when taken together, these findings suggest sounds alter visual perception only when audio and visual input occur at the same time.&nbsp;



“Our results suggest that naturalistic auditory information alters the representations of objects we see. Specifically, we found that visual features of object representations are shifted toward features that are congruent with a concurrent auditory stimulus: the same ambiguous object (e.g., a 50 percent seal and 50 percent hammer morph) was perceived as more hammer-like when paired with a hammer sound and more seal-like when paired with the sound of seal barking," wrote the study authors.



“This process of recognizing objects in the world feels effortless and fast, but in reality it’s a very computationally intensive process,” said Williams. “To alleviate some of this burden, your brain is going to evaluate information from other senses.”&nbsp;



The researchers would like to build on these findings by exploring how sounds may influence our ability to locate objects, how visual input may influence our perception of sounds, and whether audiovisual integration is an innate or learned process.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Sounds can change the way we see things

In our daily lives we are exposed to numerous objects...

For those wishing to see an African <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-sumatran-rhino-may-have-another-chance-at-survival/">rhinoceros</a> species in the wild, a visit to South Africa would be well advised. This country stewards the largest number of rhinos in Africa, supporting 81 percent of the white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) and 33 percent of the black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) remaining on the continent. Until the past decade, the largest concentrations of these iconic mammals were found in South Africa’s state-run Kruger National Park.&nbsp;



However, just as tourists from all over the world visit this park to view the rhinos (among other species), poachers have been drawn there to kill the rhinos for their horns. The Kruger National Park has become a poaching hotspot and has seen devastating decreases in rhino numbers. Figures released in 2021 indicated 76 percent and 68 percent declines in the Park’s white and black rhino populations over the past decade, respectively.&nbsp;



In order to conserve these impressive species, the governments and conservation authorities in African countries where they occur have had to resort to drastic and innovative measures. Many rhinos have been moved out of national parks and protected areas, such as Kruger, to be rehomed in reserves in neighboring countries, or on privately held game farms. Populations of rhinos on private land, or on community land, have grown and have proved easier to protect from the ravages of poaching.&nbsp;



In a new review of the importance of private and communal lands to the future conservation of Africa's rhinoceroses, scientists from the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> in Finland, and the Universities of Stellenbosch and Nelson Mandela in South Africa, discuss the sustainability of such an approach in the longer term. In their report, published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.2593">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>, the experts suggest that new strategies for ensuring the protection of these species are urgently needed.&nbsp;



“Private and communal landowners in several southern and East African countries can generate revenues from wildlife tourism, trophy hunting and trade in live animals, making it financially viable to use their land to conserve wildlife rather than for farming livestock,” said study co-author Dr.&nbsp;Hayley Clements. “The result has been that hundreds of landowners conserve rhinos on their properties.”



Over the past decade, as poaching has increased in national parks, wildlife agencies have become concerned that the species would be extirpated. As rhino numbers in national parks have decreased, the estimated number of rhinos on private land in South Africa has steadily increased. As a result of this shift, the proportion of the country’s white rhinos on private land increased from 25 percent in 2010 to 53 percent in 2021. This means that, collectively, private landholders in South Africa now support the largest number of white rhinos on the continent.&nbsp;



A similar pattern applies to the black rhinos in the country as well; approximately 25 percent are conserved on privately held lands. Rhinos on private farms, as well as on community-held lands, also represent significant proportions of the total rhino populations in other African countries, such as Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, where poaching in national parks has taken a toll.&nbsp;



Although this move to conserving rhinos outside the confines of national parks has undoubtedly reduced the damage wrought by poachers, it comes with significant costs that may make it unsustainable in future, unless new policies are adopted. For example, private game farms make an income from wildlife-based tourism and hunting, as well as from selling the meat and trophies from their wild animals. In South Africa, one-quarter of private owners of white rhinos offer trophy hunting, 45 percent trade in live rhinos, and 62 percent undertake wildlife-based tourism.&nbsp;



If any of these activities was disallowed in future, the private owners would not make enough income to cover the expenses involved in keeping and protecting rhinos. Commonly, private owners need to employ anti-poaching units and other security measures to protect the animals on their properties, and the costs involved have increased in recent years. If economic conditions became tougher, with fuel and salary price hikes, or restrictions on tourists as during the Covid-19 pandemic, rhino conservation on these private or community lands would no longer be financially sustainable.&nbsp;



The cost-benefit ratio of conserving rhinos is changing, explained study co-author Dr.&nbsp;Dave Balfour. “Accelerating poaching has meant private rhino owners now spend on average US$150,000 per year on security measures. This is far more than state parks are able to spend per rhino or per unit area conserved. Combined with the generally smaller size of private rhino populations (in smaller areas averaging 100 km2), which likely makes them easier to protect than in places like Kruger (with an area of 20,000 km2), this spending on security means private rhino populations have suffered lower poaching rates than in some core state-run parks. But these rising security costs mean many landowners are not willing or able to continue conserving rhinos, with some choosing to sell their rhinos, often at a loss.”&nbsp;



The study authors state that it is imperative to find new ways of incentivizing the ownership of rhinos by private land owners and on community lands, if this important component of conservation is to continue.&nbsp;



“The reality is that, at present, rhinos on private and communal lands in range states are the only major complement to state parks," said the researchers. "It is therefore imperative to consider – in the context of high poaching pressure, a diminished live-rhino trade market, and a wildlife-based tourism industry devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic – how incentives can be structured to achieve rhino conservation objectives as opposed to intensive rhino management or disinvestment.”



“It is important that future policy enables new incentives that compensate for rising security costs, encouraging rhino conservation on private and communal land,” noted study senior author Professor Enrico Di Minin.&nbsp;



“For example, could landowners that conserve rhinos in extensive systems qualify for a more favorable tax structure? Could they be eligible for carbon or the emerging biodiversity credits, or rhino bonds, given the role of rhinos in carbon cycling? Could they receive certifications for extensive management that increase the value of their wildlife-based tourism and hunting offerings? These are crucial questions that need to be addressed in order to support more sustainable conservation strategies for rhinos."



Moreover, increased transparency by states about rhino numbers and their management is critical for understanding where and how best to conserve them. Availability of up-to-date information on rhino populations, poaching rates, and security costs can aid in identifying and quantifying long-term trends in rhino populations across land tenure types, inform their conservation, and help raise public awareness and support.



“If additional incentives are not enabled, we risk losing private and communal rhino custodians, and with them, half of the remaining African rhinos,” concluded Dr. Clements.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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More than half of Africa’s rhinos have private owners

For those wishing to see an African rhinoceros species in...

Many people buy lottery tickets regularly in the hope that, at one point, they will win the grand prize. Despite the significant financial cost of playing the lottery numbers frequently, the possible payoff is large enough to make it worthwhile. 



According to a recent study led by the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> (U-M), animals that live in highly variable environments often play a similar lottery when it comes to their Darwinian fitness, or how well they are able to pass their genes to future generations. For instance, the experts found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/red-squirrels-with-familiar-neighbors-have-a-greater-chance-of-survival/">red squirrels</a> which gambled at the reproductive game outperformed those that didn’t, even if it cost them in the short run.



In years when food is abundant, natural selection favors female squirrels that have large litters. However, these so-called “mast years” – characterized by a significant boom in their main food source (seeds from the cones of white spruce trees) – occur only every four to seven years. Nonetheless, many squirrels have large litters each year, hoping that it will turn out to be a mast year.



“We were surprised to find that some females have large litters in years when there won’t be enough food for their babies to survive the winter,” said study lead author Lauren Petrullo, a postdoctoral fellow in Biopsychology at U-M. “Because it’s biologically expensive to produce offspring, we wanted to know why these females make what appears to be an error in their reproductive strategy. There is a constant tug-of-war between the trees and the squirrels at our study site, with each player trying to deceive the other for its own fitness gain.”



By quantifying the reproduction of female squirrels during both food booms and busts, the researchers discovered differences in their fitness according to whether they gambled with their reproductive strategy or not.&nbsp;



While some squirrels “played it safe” by keeping their litter sizes small each year, those that had large litters even when food was scarce enjoyed greater lifetime fitness if they managed to experience a mast year. However, squirrels are not guaranteed to always win by using this strategy.&nbsp;



“In some ways, this strategy of gambling with litter sizes is like playing with fire,” Petrullo explained. “Because the average squirrel lifespan is 3.5 years and masts only happen every four to seven, a female could potentially be sabotaging her fitness by having too many babies in low-food years, hoping for a mast when she may die before she ever gets to experience a mast at all. This could be pretty costly.” Yet, the cost of not gambling at all in the game of reproduction could be insurmountable for squirrels that miss their shot at the jackpot.



Scientists are still unsure exactly how the squirrels are often able to forecast food production. A possible explanation could be that the animals may be eating parts of the spruce trees which affect their physiology and alter the number of offspring they produce.&nbsp;



“This is exciting because it suggests that squirrels are eavesdropping on the trees, but we still have much more to do to solve this puzzle,” concluded senior author Ben Dantzer, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at U-M.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn0665">Science</a>.&nbsp;



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Squirrels gamble to increase evolutionary fitness

Many people buy lottery tickets regularly in the hope that,...

Not only is the starry night sky a thing of great beauty and cultural significance worldwide, but also life on Earth evolved under conditions that saw sunlit days and dark nights, illuminated only by gentle light from the stars and moon. Today, the night skies are seldom dark, but instead are lit with the glow of scattered anthropogenic light that pollutes the atmosphere. And, according to the results of a new study, the stars are rapidly becoming invisible to the human eye due to the presence of this artificial light.



The brightening of the night sky in this way is known as skyglow, and it has increased exponentially over much of the past century. However, it is difficult to measure the extent of this anthropogenic light accurately because the satellites that record the radiance globally are insensitive to wavelengths of light given off by modern LED lighting fixtures. This led Christopher Kyba from the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, and colleagues from the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, to take a different approach to quantifying the changes in night sky brightness over the past decade.&nbsp;



The researchers used the online platform of “<a href="http://www.globeatnight.org/">Globe at Night</a>”&nbsp;to ask citizen scientists from around the world to assess the appearance of the night sky in their location. The participants were provided with a set of star maps at different levels of light pollution, and asked to select the one that best matched the night sky they could see. This method relied on the naked-eye observations of stars between 2011 and 2022, and quantified stellar visibility to observers on 51,351 different occasions.&nbsp;



This approach used the human visual system as a direct sensor, and produced an estimate of the naked eye limiting magnitude (NELM), the visual apparent size of the faintest star that can be seen. This measure is related to skyglow because, as background light levels increase, faint stars become invisible to the naked eye.&nbsp;



The findings of the research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abq7781">Science</a>, indicate that the night skies are rapidly getting brighter due to artificial light. According to the researchers, the change in the number of visible stars reported by Globe at Night participants is equivalent to a 9.6 percent per year annual increase in sky brightness, averaged over the locations of participants.



This means that the sky’s brightness would double in less than eight years in these locations, and that a child born in an area with 250 visible stars, would be able to see only 100 of those stars when he or she turned 18 years. This increase is much higher than estimates of the evolution of artificial light emissions (around 2 percent yearly) based on radiance measurements taken by satellites.



Unfortunately, the only satellite instruments that currently monitor sky brightness over the whole Earth have limited resolution and sensitivity, and cannot detect light with wavelengths below 500 nm – modern LED lights usually have an emission peak between 400 and 500 nm. The satellites also do not detect light emissions that are horizontal, such as those emanating from windows or signage, which also contributes to skyglow.



There are effective methods for reducing light pollution, and many of them also reduce the consumption of electricity. Although they have been implemented to some extent in some cities and local areas, they have not seen widespread acceptance or use to date. However, people are becoming increasingly aware of the potential negative effects of light pollution and may influence policy makers to implement control measures in future.&nbsp;



Increased artificial lighting has been shown to affect several biological and physiological processes in animals and plants. For example, a 2021&nbsp;study in Science Advances&nbsp;demonstrated the detrimental impacts of street lighting on local insect populations, and another in 2022 highlighted the harmful effects of nighttime lighting on ecosystems across Europe. In addition to its environmental consequences, skyglow limits human observation of starry skies and the Milky Way, and has changed the appearance of the night skies in inhabited regions all over the world.&nbsp;



The researchers acknowledge that their dataset derived from citizen scientists is biased towards observers in Europe and North America, and most of the data comes from inhabited urban areas. They fear that the problem of increasing skyglow will be even greater in developing countries, where the observers are few and far between.



In a related Perspective commentary on the study by Kyba and colleagues,&nbsp;Fabio Falchi and Salvador Bará say, “Perhaps the most important message that the scientific community should glean from the Kyba&nbsp;et al.&nbsp;study is that light pollution is increasing, notwithstanding the countermeasures purportedly put into operation to limit it. Awareness must greatly increase for artificial light at night to be perceived not as an always-positive thing, but as the pollutant it really is.”



"The visibility of stars is deteriorating rapidly, despite (or perhaps because of) the introduction of LEDs in outdoor lighting applications," wrote the researchers. "Existing lighting policies are not preventing increases in skyglow, at least on continental and global scales. The loss of the starry night is an unprecedented loss for all cultures.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Star visibility is deteriorating due to light pollution

Not only is the starry night sky a thing of...

According to a recent study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35091-x">Nature Communications</a>, nearly two thirds of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-important-deserve-protections/">sharks</a> and rays that live among the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened with extinction. This is due to the fact that coral reefs – which harbor over a quarter of all marine animals and plants – are seriously menaced by a variety of human-related threats, including overfishing, pollution, and climate change.



Many shark and ray species, ranging from apex predators to filter feeders, play a major role in these delicate ecosystems that cannot be filled by other species. By examining 134 species of sharks and rays, the experts found that 59 percent of coral reef shark and ray species worldwide are threatened with extinction. Among these, five shark and nine ray species are listed as “critically endangered.”



“It was a bit surprising just how high the threat level is for these species,” said study lead author Samantha Sherman, a postdoctoral researcher in Marine Biology at <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/">Simon Frasier University</a> in Canada. “Many species that we thought of as common are declining at alarming rates and becoming more difficult to find in some places,” mainly due to overfishing.



According to the researchers, sharks are under most threat in the Western Atlantic and certain regions of the Indian Ocean, while the Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean represent the highest risks for rays. All of these regions are heavily fished and do not currently have any management infrastructure in place to reduce the impact of overfishing on these species.



Although in 2022 several countries have approved a plan to protect dozens of shark and ray species – including an extra 21 coral reef species in addition to the 18 species already covered by the regulations – more efforts on a global scale are necessary to improve implementation. Moreover, the regulations themselves cannot stop these species from being killed as “bycatch.”



“The solutions are similar for both sharks and rays—limits on fishing, well placed and properly implemented Marine Protected Areas, and alternative livelihood solutions to reduce the number of fishers on coral reefs,” Sherman said.



Since coral reefs are declining worldwide due to climate change, protecting reef sharks and rays could help keep reefs healthier for longer and thus safeguard a variety of other crucial ecosystems.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Nearly two-thirds of coral reef sharks and rays face extinction

According to a recent study published in the journal Nature...

A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a> has recently investigated the daily behavioral patterns of animal populations in the tropics. The experts found that communities of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-and-birds-became-warm-blooded-after-surviving-a-mass-extinction/">mammals</a> across the wet tropics divide their days in similar ways, all mostly geared toward finding their next meal, or avoiding becoming the next meal for other animals.



By using millions of images from camera trap networks in 16 protected tropical forests around the world, the scientists examined the relationship of mammal activities to their body sizes and feeding routines in order to identify common patterns among different populations. The analysis revealed that, despite their diversity, common behavioral characteristics dominate the days of rainforest animals in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.



For instance, the activity of herbivores and insectivores was strongly influenced by the temperatures of their habitats, with large African herbivores being seven times more likely to be nocturnal than smaller herbivores.&nbsp;



On the other hand, interactions between predators and prey were mainly dominated by the time of day. The researchers discovered that, since the “top-down” activities that dominate the daily life of prey focus on not getting eaten, they avoid exposure when predators are most likely to be on the hunt. Moreover, size also seemed to matter, with small carnivores altering their activities to reduce their encounters with large carnivores. Conversely, “bottom-up” strategies influence how predators adjust their activities to maximize potential encounters with prey.



“As you think about a food chain, top-down refers to how higher trophic levels - that is, predators - affect their prey, whereas bottom-up refers to how lower trophic levels - food sources including plants and insects - affect the animals that eat them,”&nbsp;said study co-author Lydia Beaudrot, an assistant professor of Biosciences at Rice.



“This paper is a prime example of how important it is to have standardized data collection replicated over large spatial extents. By analyzing data collected in the same way in national parks throughout the tropics, we have been able to identify similarities in behavioral activity that were previously unable to be quantified.”



Thus, although species in different regions have evolved in isolation from one another, similar environmental conditions in tropical rainforests around the world result in consistent activity patterns among wildlife.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34825-1">Nature Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Animals in rainforests follow the same daily routines

A team of researchers led by Rice University has recently...

The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest body of ice in the world. It covers around 80 percent of Greenland, extending 2,900 km (1,800&nbsp;mi) in a north–south direction, and has a maximum width of 1,100 km (680&nbsp;mi). Scientists have been monitoring the thinning of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/half-of-the-worlds-glaciers-will-melt-by-2100/">glaciers</a> and ice sheet around the coast of Greenland for decades, as global warming has advanced, but the influence of warming on the elevated, central areas of the ice sheet has remained unknown, due to a lack of long-term observations.&nbsp;



In a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05517-z">Nature</a>, a team led by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (<a href="https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/maritimeforum/en/node/4867">AWI</a>) has used a set of ice cores of unprecedented length and quality, to reconstruct temperatures in central-north Greenland over the past 1,000 years. Their new dataset has come from areas in the central-north that are elevated up to 3,000 m, which represents the highest and thickest parts of the ice sheet.



Previous ice cores obtained at co-located sites, starting in the 1990s, did not indicate clear warming patterns in central-north Greenland, despite rising global mean temperatures. Part of the reason is that there is substantial natural climate variability in the region and it is challenging to identify consistent patterns of warming against the background of natural variability.



However, in their new study, the AWI researchers have extended the previous datasets up to winter 2011/2012 by a dedicated redrilling effort. They used the concentrations of stable oxygen isotopes present in the water that formed the ice, to deduce the temperatures prevailing at the times of ice formation. This method was used consistently for the entire ice core record. Previous studies have used a range of different climate archives and datasets to reconstruct past temperatures, which has introduced much greater levels of uncertainty into the results.&nbsp;



“The time series we recovered from ice cores now continuously covers more than 1,000 years, from year 1000 to 2011. This data shows that the warming in 2001 to 2011 clearly differs from natural variations during the past 1,000 years. Although grimly expected in the light of global warming, we were surprised by how evident this difference really was,” said AWI glaciologist Dr.&nbsp;Maria Hörhold, lead author of the study. Together with colleagues from AWI and the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, she analyzed the isotope composition in shallow ice cores gathered in central-north Greenland during dedicated AWI expeditions.



The researchers found that the most recent decade surveyed in the study, the years 2001 to 2011, was the warmest decade in the past 1,000 years. Their data also showed that the region is now 1.5 °C warmer than during the 20th&nbsp;century, indicating that global warming has most certainly begun to impact even the areas of the Greenland Ice Sheet that are at the highest altitudes.&nbsp;



In addition to assessing the temperatures, the team also reconstructed the drainage of melt water from the Ice Sheet and investigated the relationship between temperature changes at elevated points inland, and melting along the edges of the Ice Sheet. The Greenland Ice Sheet is crucial in the global climate system. With enormous amounts of water stored in the ice (about 3 million cubic kilometers), melt and resulting sea-level rise is considered a potential tipping point. If global emissions remain unchecked and its ‘business as usual’, the Greenland Ice Sheet is projected to contribute as much as 50 cm to global mean sea-level rise by 2100.&nbsp;



In order to assess the rate of melt, the researchers used data from a regional climate model for the years 1871 to 2011, along with satellite observations of ice-mass changes for the years 2002 to 2021 from the GRACE/GRACE-FO gravimetry missions. This allowed them to convert the temperature variations identified in the ice cores into melting rates, and provide estimates for the past 1,000 years.&nbsp;



The experts found that melting has increased substantially in Greenland since the 2000s and now significantly contributes to global sea-level rise. “We were amazed to see how closely temperatures inland are connected to Greenland-wide meltwater drainage - which, after all, occurs in low-elevation areas along the rim of the Ice Sheet, near the coast,” said Dr. Hörhold.



This represents an important dataset for climate research: better understanding of the past dynamics of the Ice Sheet melt improves projections of related future sea-level rise; reduced uncertainties in projections is one step to help optimize adaptation measures.



Another exciting finding from the study was that the climate of the Greenland Ice Sheet is largely decoupled from the rest of the Arctic. The Arctic-wide study of proxy temperatures during the past 2,000 years, known as ‘Arctic 2k’ and published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201426">Nature</a> in 2014, does not reflect the conditions obtained by Hörhold in the current study of the Greenland Ice Sheet.



“Our reconstruction now offers a robust representation of temperature evolution in central Greenland, which has proven to have a dynamic of its own,” explained study co-author Professor Thomas Laepple. “Actually, we had expected the time series to strongly covary with the warming of the Arctic region."



The researchers have an explanation for these differences: Greenland is more affected by patterns of atmospheric circulation than other parts of the Arctic, due to the height of the ice cap above sea level. Temperature time series on the Arctic with regional resolution are needed, said Laepple, in order to describe climate change in the Arctic more reliably.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Highest points of Greenland are now affected by global warming

The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest body of...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[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



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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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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...