On September 29, 2024, something unusual happened in our cosmic neighborhood. Earth captured a tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5, turning it into a temporary mini-moon. 



That's right... as of today, November 2, 2024, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/its-official-earth-now-has-two-moons-captured-asteroid-2024-pt5/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth has two moons</a>.



Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (<a href="https://www.mit.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIT</a>), shed some light on these fleeting celestial companions.



"These happen more often than we think, but they're small and tough to spot," Binzel explained. "Only lately have our telescopes become powerful enough to catch them regularly."



Back in August, a team of astronomers from the <a href="https://www.ucm.es/english" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Complutense University</a> of Madrid detected the small space rock using a powerful telescope in Sutherland, South Africa.



They weren't the only ones keeping an eye on it. The asteroid was first noticed on August 7, 2024 by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (<a href="https://atlas.fallingstar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ATLAS</a>) at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.



This discovery sparked excitement among astronomers, offering a chance to learn more about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-test-simulation-shows-earth-not-prepared-prevent-large-asteroid-strike/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">near-Earth objects</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-exactly-is-2024-pt5">What exactly is 2024 PT5?</h2>



Earth occasionally captures small asteroids like 2024 PT5, placing them into temporary orbits around our planet. 



While most asteroids circle the sun on their regular paths, some venture close enough for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-global-electric-field-discovered-equally-important-gravity-magnetic-fields/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's gravity</a> to snatch them up for a brief visit.



These cosmic visitors only stay in Earth's orbit for a short time -- typically a few weeks or months -- before breaking free and resuming their solar journey.



Each mini-moon gives scientists a rare opportunity to examine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/27500-hidden-near-earth-asteroids-discovered-using-google-cloud/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">near-Earth asteroids</a> up close, revealing valuable insights about our solar system's mechanics.



So, what makes this asteroid special, aside from the fact that new technology and the internet made it famous? 



William Blackmore, Planetarium Director and Astronomy Instructor at <a href="https://www.mhcc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mt. Hood Community College</a>, offered his thoughts.



"All mini-moons are unique in their own way," Blackmore explained. "This one isn't different from others except that it's the most recent.”



2024 PT5 will be around for about two more weeks, probably until mid-November.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-2024-pt5-to-our-moon">Comparing 2024 PT5 to our moon</h2>



Let's compare our moon to this new mini-moon: 2024 PT5 is only about 37 feet across, while our familiar moon stretches a massive 2,159 miles in diameter. That makes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-did-earth-get-its-moon-a-new-theory-has-emerged/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our moon</a> over 300,000 times wider than this tiny asteroid.



Knowing it’s up there is pretty exciting, even though we can't see it for ourselves without an invitation to a huge Earth telescope installation.



“These temporary captures are natural cosmic laboratories,” Binzel mentioned. “They help us understand the small bodies that come close to Earth and could be important for future space missions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-asteroid-2024-pt5-became-famous">How Asteroid 2024 PT5 became famous</h2>



Understanding how 2024 PT5 became Earth's temporary moon involves a bit of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/finding-order-in-the-chaos-of-the-three-body-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">orbital mechanics</a>. 



Blackmore explained, "It's moving along with us in our orbit around the sun. It's part of a group of asteroids called the Arjuna asteroids, which move at about the same pace as Earth."



He added an interesting analogy: "Imagine a skateboarder dropping into a skate park. They ride the curves, adding energy as they go. That's like the asteroid getting caught in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dart-mission-debris-will-create-a-human-made-meteor-shower/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's gravitational field</a>, riding the curve before moving on."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-spotting-mini-moons">Significance of spotting mini-moons</h2>



Spotting mini-moons is tough because they're incredibly small and faint. These tiny asteroids are often just a few dozen feet across, which means they don't reflect much sunlight. That makes them nearly invisible against the dark backdrop of space.



Plus, they're zipping around at high speeds and don't hang around for long, so by the time we point our telescopes their way, they might already be gone. 



It's like trying to catch a glimpse of a firefly from miles away -- you need the right conditions and equipment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-high-tech-telescopes">Modern high-tech telescopes</h2>



Astronomers find them by using powerful telescopes equipped with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gaia-reveals-moons-around-hundreds-of-asteroids/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sensitive detectors and smart software</a>.



Projects like the ATLAS system scan the skies every night, searching for any objects that weren't there before. 



When they spot something moving in a way that suggests it's close to Earth, they alert other astronomers to help confirm the find. 



It's a collaborative effort, combining technology and teamwork to spot these elusive cosmic visitors.



Knowing more about these temporary moons helps us prepare for any potential asteroid threats and opens up possibilities for mining resources from near-Earth objects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-in-observing-2024-pt5">Challenges in observing 2024 PT5</h2>



For those eager to see this mini-moon, both experts warned that it would be extremely difficult. "You'd need a telescope with a diameter of at least 30 inches," Blackmore mentioned. "That's beyond what most amateur astronomers have."



Todd agreed, adding, "It won't be visible to the naked eye. Being 33 feet wide and so far away, you'd need a very large telescope."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



While 2024 PT5 doesn't pose any threat to Earth, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-there-a-fifth-force-of-nature-asteroids-provide-new-clues/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studying it is crucial</a>. 



"It's important to analyze how it moves and interacts with Earth's gravitational pull," Blackmore said. "This helps us refine our techniques for tracking objects that could cross our path again."



Todd highlighted the practical applications of this knowledge. 



"We need to understand how to intercept an asteroid at a distance and change its direction," he said. "This could be vital in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-dart-mission-proves-humanity-can-be-saved-from-asteroid-collision/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preventing potential impacts</a> in the future."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inspiration-for-future-space-missions">Inspiration for future space missions</h2>



Blackmore envisioned future missions that could take advantage of these temporary visitors. 



"It would be fascinating if we had missions ready to send small satellites or probes to these objects when they come close," he mused. "Imagine building a network of sensors or cameras traveling along with us, like space webcams."



Todd also saw <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-named-psyche-is-worth-10000-quadrillion-for-whoever-can-extract-minerals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potential in asteroid mining</a> and scientific discovery. 



"There might be materials on these asteroids that we can't find on Earth," he said. "They could solve problems in medicine or technology. But we need to weigh the benefits carefully."



To sum it all up, the brief visit of asteroid 2024 PT5 serves as a reminder of the dynamic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/building-blocks-of-life-found-in-asteroids-were-formed-in-cold-regions-of-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nature of our solar system</a>. 



While it won't be with us for long -- just a couple more weeks -- its presence offers valuable opportunities for learning and exploration.



As technology advances, we'll likely spot more of these mini-moons. Each one gives us a chance to understand our cosmic environment better and prepare for the future. 



So even though you'll never see it, you might want to spare a moment of your time and stop to appreciate 2024 PT5 while you still can.



The full study was published in the&nbsp;<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad781f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">journal IOPscience</a>.



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Earth's second moon, a mini-moon, will drift away in a few days and never return

On September 29, 2024, something unusual happened in our cosmic neighborhood. Earth captured a tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5, turning it into a temporary mini-moon. That's right... as of today, November 2, 2024, Earth has two moons. Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), shed some light on these fleeting celestial companions. "These happen more often than we think, but they're small and tough to spot," Binzel explained. "Only lately have our telescopes become powerful enough to catch them regularly." Back in August,...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/red-tides-and-dead-zones-threaten-floridas-west-coast/">Hypoxia</a>, low levels of oxygen in bodies of water, can be a major stressor on the health of marine life. To understand how hypoxia affects the Arabian Gulf, a team of researchers studied how dissolved oxygen has evolved over three decades.&nbsp;



Experts in the Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences (ACCESS) at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) used an ocean model to simulate hypoxia near the seafloor. The results indicated an expansion and intensification of hypoxia in the central Arabian Gulf, followed by a lengthening of the hypoxic season.



“Oxygen is an essential molecule, vital for the survival of the marine organisms and fish populations in the area.” said lead author Zouhair Lachkar.&nbsp;



“Our team found that the seasonal hypoxic zone in the Arabian Gulf has grown by over 50 percent since the 1980s, and it is now persisting for several more months each year compared with several decades ago,”&nbsp;



Changes in the local climate are changing the Gulf’s environment, and this could implicate the region's ecosystems and fisheries.&nbsp;



The expansion of hypoxia could lead to fish mortality and a loss of biodiversity, as well as the movement of fish to avoid hypoxic stress. This can alter the community structure of reef ecosystems and increase the vulnerability of coral reefs to ongoing warming.



“The expansion and intensification of these low-oxygen waters in the central Gulf represents a growing threat to regional fisheries, with this hypoxic zone growing steadily towards the UAE’s offshore fishing grounds," said study co-author John Burt.&nbsp;



"We will continue to study the evolution of this phenomenon and will work with the relevant government agencies to assess this risk going forward as climate change continues to put pressure on our marine systems.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Low-oxygen zone is expanding in the Arabian gulf

Hypoxia, low levels of oxygen in bodies of water, can...

Sea anemones start off life as slightly ovoid, free-swimming larvae and metamorphose into elongated, tubular adults that are stuck to the rock and have tentacles around their mouths. This involves drastic changes in behavior and life form, along with extensive changes to tissues. Although embryonic development has received research attention in the past, and behavior of early embryos has been studied, it is not clear to what extent the physical activity of an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neon-gobies-decide-when-to-hatch-their-embryos/">embryo</a> influences its own change in body shape.



In the past, scientists wishing to map the connections between dynamic behavior and the body changes that take place during metamorphosis have been hampered by the lack of live imaging strategies that capture the dynamics of this life-history transition. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have now overcome this obstacle using their expertise in live imaging, computational methodology, biophysics, and genetics. They have managed to turn&nbsp;2D and 3D live imaging into quantitative features to track the changes in the bodies of developing starlet sea anemones (Nematostella). The.results have been published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



The experts established a method of high-throughput live imaging using a specially adapted microscope and observed the changes that occur during the transition from larva to polyp in 707 anemones. This took place over about seven days and the researchers recorded the changes at 5-minute intervals. They found that larval circularity decreased dramatically during the transition, due mostly to a 3–4-fold increase in the length of the polyp body as it became more tubular and developed oral tentacles.&nbsp;



During this time, the sea anemones behaved like hydraulic pumps, taking in water and regulating body pressure through muscle activity. The researchers performed specific patterns of gymnastic movements that put pressure on certain tissues, thereby sculpting the shape of the body as it grew more elongated. Too much or too little muscle activity or a drastic change in the organization of their muscles could deviate the sea anemone from its normal shape.



“Humans use a skeleton made of muscles and bones to exercise. In contrast, sea anemones use a hydroskeleton made of muscles and a cavity filled with water,” said Aissam Ikmi, EMBL group leader. The same hydraulic muscles that help the developing sea anemones move also seem to impact how they develop. Using an image analysis pipeline to measure body column length, diameter, estimated volume, and motility in large data sets, the scientists found that&nbsp;Nematostella&nbsp;larvae naturally divide themselves into two groups: slow- and fast-developing larvae. To the team’s surprise, the more active the larvae, the longer they take to develop.&nbsp;



“Our work shows how developing sea anemones essentially ‘exercise’ to build their morphology, but it seems that they cannot use their hydroskeleton to move and develop simultaneously,” Ikmi said.



The developing anemones use this hydraulic system to remodel their tissues during this time. Through the use of peristaltic waves, squeezing and longitudinal contractions, they stimulate tissue proliferation in some places and cell death in others, thereby changing the layout of their body tissues.&nbsp;



“There were many challenges to doing this research,” explained first author and former EMBL predoc Anniek Stokkermans, now a postdoc at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands. “This animal is very active. Most microscopes cannot record fast enough to keep up with the animal’s movements, resulting in blurry images, especially when you want to look at it in 3D. Additionally, the animal is quite dense, so most microscopes cannot even see halfway through the animal.”



To look both deeper and faster, Ling Wang, an application engineer in the Prevedel group at EMBL, built a microscope to capture living, developing sea anemone larvae in 3D during their natural behavior.



“For this project, Ling has specifically adapted one of our core technologies, Optical Coherence Microscopy or OCM. The key advantage of OCM is that it allows the animals to move freely under the microscope while still providing a clear, detailed look inside, and in 3D.” said Robert Prevedel, EMBL group leader. “It has been an exciting project that shows the many different interfaces between EMBL groups and disciplines.”



With this specialized tool, the researchers were able to quantify volumetric changes in tissue and body cavity. “To increase their size, sea anemones inflate like a balloon by taking up water from the environment,” Stokkermans explained. “Then, by contracting different types of muscles, they can regulate their short-term shape, much like squeezing an inflated balloon on one side, and watching it expand on the other side. We think this pressure-driven local expansion helps stretch tissue, so the animal slowly becomes more elongated. In this way, contractions can have both short-term and a long-term effects.”



To better understand the hydraulics and their function, researchers collaborated with experts across disciplines. Prachiti Moghe, an EMBL predoc in the Hiiragi group, measured pressure changes driving body deformations. Additionally, mathematician L. Mahadevan and engineer Aditi Chakrabarti from Harvard University introduced a mathematical model to quantify the role of hydraulic pressures in driving system-level changes in shape. They also engineered reinforced balloons with bands and tapes that mimic the range of shapes and sizes seen in both normal and muscle-defective animals.



“Given the ubiquity of hydrostatic skeletons in the animal kingdom, especially in marine invertebrates, our study suggests that active muscular hydraulics play a broad role in the design principle of soft-bodied animals,” Ikmi said. “In many engineered systems, hydraulics is defined by the ability to harness pressure and flow into mechanical work, with long-range effects in space-time. As animal multicellularity evolved in an aquatic environment, we propose that early animals likely exploited the same physics, with hydraulics driving both developmental and behavioral decisions.”



“We still have many questions from these new findings," said Stokkermans. "Why are there different activity levels? How do cells exactly sense and translate pressure into a developmental outcome? Furthermore, since tube-like structures form the basis of many of our organs, studying the mechanisms that apply to&nbsp;Nematostella&nbsp;will also help gain further understanding in how hydraulics play a role in organ development and function.”



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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

Sea anemones "exercise" to build their bodies

Sea anemones start off life as slightly ovoid, free-swimming larvae...

Leaving home to explore the world can be a difficult decision. Tiny coral reef fish called neon gobies help their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/older-parents-may-be-beneficial-to-offspring/">offspring</a> by pushing them out the door when the time is right, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">UT Austin</a>. This research provides the first documented case of a coral reef fish regulating when its offspring hatch.&nbsp;



Coral reef fish are incredibly vulnerable when hatching, which means that choosing the right time to hatch is a crucial decision. Male neon gobies hatch their embryos by removing eggs from the nest with their mouth. They transport the eggs to the opening of the sponge where the fish live - and then spit them out of the sponge entrance.



“We often think that eggs are like tiny kitchen timers: they develop for a set period of time, then - ding! - they hatch. But, in many species, embryos have to actively decide when to hatch," explained study co-author John Majoris.



The researchers found that when neon goby embryos develop without parents, they hatch up to 50 percent earlier than embryos cared for by their parents.



All of the male parents in the study hatched their offspring at sunrise on the seventh day of development, suggesting that all of the goby parents know the best time for their embryos to hatch.



“Goby embryos are ready and waiting,” said Majoris. “When parents are around, they wait patiently for their dads to make the call that it’s time to hatch.”



Offspring hatched by their parents are more developed and likely benefit from their larger size when catching food, escaping predators and navigating the ocean. This is the first time scientists have discovered a coral reef fish that tells its offspring when to hatch, which could be more common than we think.&nbsp;



Cryptobenthic coral reef fishes - a group of tiny bottom dwellers - often lay their eggs deep in reef crevices, where it is difficult for embryos to judge hatching conditions. In this case, parents can help out by hatching their eggs at just the right time.&nbsp;



“This is a remarkably complex parenting behavior for a tiny fish,” Majoris said. “It goes to show that we still have so much to learn about life in our oceans.”



The surprising complexities of fish parenting behavior provides evidence that&nbsp; fish parents can make decisions based on the local conditions that influence the survival, resilience and success of their offspring.



The paper is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1466">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, and a Dana Wright Summer Research Fellowship.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Neon gobies decide when to hatch their embryos

Leaving home to explore the world can be a difficult...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a> has discovered a process far more dynamic than volcanologists had assumed to be possible in the two centuries they have been studying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/major-volcanic-events-linked-to-the-slowing-of-tectonic-plates/">volcanic events</a>. The experts made this discovery while sampling magma from the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland, which erupted in March 2021.



By trying to clarify how deep in the mantle the magma originated, how far beneath the surface it was stored prior to the eruption, and what was happening in the reservoir before and during the eruption, the researchers got “a big surprise” – as study co-author Matthew Jackson put it.



“The assumption was that a magma chamber fills up slowly over time, and the magma becomes well mixed. And then it drains over the course of the eruption.”&nbsp;



According to Jackson (and most other volcanologists), as a result of this well-defined two step process, there are usually no significant changes in the chemical composition of the magma as it flows out of the earth.&nbsp;



“This is what we see at Mount Kīlauea, in Hawaii,” said Jackson. “You’ll have eruptions that go on for years, and there will be minor changes over time.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“But in Iceland, there was more than a factor of 1,000 higher rates of change for key chemical indicators. In a month, the Fagradalsfjall eruption showed more compositional variability than the Kīlauea eruptions showed in decades. The total range of chemical compositions that were sampled at this eruption over the course of the first month span the entire range that has ever erupted in southwest Iceland in the last 10,000 years.”



The experts said this extreme variability is most likely a result of subsequent batches of magma flowing into the chamber from the deeper layers of the mantle. “Picture a lava lamp in your mind. You have a hot lightbulb at the bottom, it heats up a blob and the blob rises, cools and then sinks. We can think of the Earth’s mantle - from the top of the core to under the tectonic plates - operating much like a lava lamp,” explained Jackson.



As the heat causes some regions of the mantle to rise and plumes form and move upwards towards the surface, molten rock accumulates in chambers and crystallizes, gases escape through the crust, and pressure builds allowing the magma to eventually erupt. In the case of the Fagradalsfjall volcano, although what first erupted was the expected “depleted” magma type accumulating in the reservoir, in about a month, the chamber was recharged by deeper, “enriched” type melts with a different composition (higher magnesium and carbon dioxide levels). In yet another month, the magma which dominated the flow was the deeper, enriched type.&nbsp;



Although such rapid, extreme changes&nbsp;in magma composition have never been observed before – most likely due to the fact that opportunities to sample eruptions at such an early stage are not common - they may not be so rare. Further research is needed to assess the frequency of such phenomena in other volcanic eruptions, and clarify the mysterious ways in which volcanoes work.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04981-x">Nature</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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Mysterious aspect of volcanic eruptions observed for the first time

A team of researchers led by the University of California,...

By using both field observations and a machine-learning algorithm applied to the audio clips recorded in the field, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> (UNL) has investigated the “whoops” of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spotted-hyenas-change-their-foraging-behavior-to-adapt/">spotted hyenas</a> in the Maasai Mara grasslands of southwestern Kenya. The analysis revealed that hyena whoops feature signatures unique to individuals – a form of “caller ID” distinct enough that hyenas can distinguish one from another – and that repetition of such whoops often improves identification.&nbsp;



Since spotted hyena clans are built on hierarchies depending upon social rank, but consist of multiple families that regularly come together and disperse across the savannah, a capacity for identifying specific individuals is particularly important.&nbsp;



“Hyenas don’t treat every individual in the clan the same, so if they’re deciding whether to show up and help someone, they want to know who they’re showing up to help,” said study lead author Kenna Lehmann, a postdoctoral fellow in Biology at UNL.



By recording the sounds of hundreds of hyenas in the African savannah and employing a machine-learning algorithm trained to pair specific hyenas with the whoops they emitted, Dr. Lehmann and her colleagues identified three major traits of the whoops that helped hyenas recognize the individual that emitted them: the duration of the call, the highest frequency of the call, and the average frequency during the portion of the call which was most consistent in pitch. According to their analysis, the greater the disparity in these traits, the more likely the hyenas would be to distinguish among the sources of the whoops.



However, since many acoustic nuances can get lost during transmission – when the calls come from far away, or are masked by environmental noises from wind, precipitation, or other animal calls – repetition of the whoops becomes essential. “There’s an understanding that one of the ways to get your message across is to repeat it, especially if you’re in a noisy environment or if you’re communicating over long distances,” Dr. Lehmann explained. “It’s like getting a little bit more information (each time). The first time you hear it, you might notice: Oh, that was definitely a male or a female voice. Then, the next whoop, you might be able to narrow it down further.”



Although the calls of some animal species also contain signatures that differentiate the groups to which they belong from other same-species groups – somewhat similar to human accents or dialects – the researchers were surprised to find that this was not the case for hyenas. Apparently, the amazing ability to memorize so many individual signatures may have rendered a clan signature either useless or not useful enough to bother developing.



“If you know who the individual is, you know what group they’re in,” Dr. Lehmann said. “Animals are pretty good at associating that information. So if they need individual signatures for other reasons, then there just may have never been a need to also develop a group signature, which is what this finding suggests. They should be able to keep track of all the individual voices and be able to distinguish: If this is Individual X, they’re in my group. I can choose to help them based on them being a group member, but maybe there are more decisions to be made about whether they’re a group mate that I actually want to help,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0548">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spotted hyenas recognize each other from their distinctive whoops

By using both field observations and a machine-learning algorithm applied...

Burmese pythons are not only huge <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snakes-depend-on-their-sex-chromosomes-for-survival/">snakes</a> – reaching over 18 feet in length and 200 pounds in weight – but also voracious eaters, often feeding on prey as large as a deer. Now, a team of biologists from the <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a> (UC) has found that it’s not only the size of the head and the body that make pythons able to consume such large animals; they also evolved highly stretchy skin between their lower jaws which allows them to feed on prey up to six times larger than similar-sized snakes.



Since most snakes swallow they prey whole, they must have extremely wide mouths to accommodate such meals. Unlike humans’ lower jawbones, those of snakes are not connected, allowing them to open wide.&nbsp;



“The stretchy skin between left and right lower jaws is radically different in pythons. Just over 40 percent of their total gape area on average is from stretchy skin,” said study lead author Bruce Jayne, a professor of Biology at UC. “Even after you correct for their large heads, their gape is enormous.”



Pythons are constrictors, meaning that they bite their prey and wrap their powerful coils around it, cutting off its vital blood flow before consuming it whole – and the larger the prey, the more energy snakes derive from a single meal. Due to this, pythons do not need to hunt that often, which can carry high risks in a world replete with other dangerous predators and busy roads.



Since small snakes derive greater benefits in relative mass prey from just a modest increase in gape size, python babies have an early advantage from being able to consume a broader range of prey compared to other snakes of similar size.&nbsp;



Moreover, being big also helps snakes avoid being eaten themselves by predators ranging from wading birds, minks, and raccoons to alligators and other snakes. “Once those pythons get to a reasonable size, it’s pretty much just alligators that can eat them,” Professor Jayne said. “And pythons eat alligators.”&nbsp;



Currently, Burmese pythons are wreaking havoc on the ecology of Everglades National Park where they were introduced due to the release of captive animals from the exotic pet trade in the 1980s.&nbsp;



“The Everglades ecosystem is changing in real time based on one species, the Burmese python,” said study co-author Ian Bartoszek, an environmental science project manager for the <a href="https://conservancy.org/">Conservancy of Southwest Florida</a>.&nbsp;



Fortunately, they rarely attack people. According to Bartoszek, the only defensive encounters he has had with wild pythons were with females guarding their nests. “It’s way more dangerous to drive there than to work with the snakes,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac033">Integrative Organismal Biology</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

How can pythons eat prey as large as a deer?

Burmese pythons are not only huge snakes – reaching over...

In a new study from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a>, scientists have looked at the impact of sublethal exposures of oil on mahi-mahi, a commonly sought sport <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earliest-land-animals-had-fewer-skull-bones-than-fish/">fish</a>. Mahi-mahi are found in subtropical regions, including the Gulf of Mexico. Due to this, the scientists are using their research as an analogue for damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.&nbsp;



For the investigation, mahi-mahi were captured and placed either in a tank with sublethal amounts of oil or a control tank with clean water. The fish were fitted with satellite tags which collected and transmitted data on depth, acceleration, temperature and location to the scientists. Clips from fins were also taken to assess gene expression.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our findings showed that sublethal observations in the laboratory are also observed in wild fish and that they translate to reduced survival and reduced reproduction,” said lead author Lela Schlenker, a graduate of the <a href="https://www.earth.miami.edu/">Rosenstiel School</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Understanding the direct impacts of oil exposure on wild fish is critically important as deeper and riskier offshore oil drilling operations increase.” said study co-author Professor Martin Grosell.



While still in the lab, the fish showed impacts to their vision, smell, and swimming abilities. There was also evidence that their entire sensory and central nervous systems were incapacitated to some degree.



After release, the mahi-mahi that had been exposed to oil were preyed upon more heavily for the first eight days. Exposed fish also saw a decrease in spawning for a full 37 days compared to control fish.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The scientists conclude that exposure of fish to oil, as happened during the Deepwater Horizon leak, can negatively impact fish and is one more step towards a full reckoning with the damage such oil spills cause.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.2c01783">Environmental Science and Technology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mahi-mahi exposed to crude oil have impaired functioning

In a new study from the University of Miami, scientists...

We've all heard about the benefits of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-over-social-media-less-stress-more-life-satisfaction/">exercise</a> for our minds and bodies. However, researchers at <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a> have discovered that the relationship between mental health and physical activity is more complicated than previously thought.&nbsp;



"Mental health and memory are central to nearly everything we do in our everyday lives," said lead author Jeremy Manning, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth. "Our study is trying to build a foundation for understanding how different intensities of physical exercise affect different aspects of mental and cognitive health."



The researchers gathered a year of activity data from 113 Fitbit users and surveyed them on their mental health. They predicted that more active individuals would have better memory and report better mental health. This was true compared to low-activity individuals, but they noticed something else.&nbsp;



The researchers found that the type of exercise played a significant role in the types of mental health benefits the participants reported. Those who participated in medium-intensity workouts did better on episodic memory (recalling autobiographical events) tasks, and those who did high-intensity workouts did better on spatial memory tasks (remembering locations). They also found that participants who exercised at lower intensities reported less depression and anxiety.



"When it comes to physical activity, memory, and mental health, there's a really complicated dynamic at play that cannot be summarized in single sentences like 'walking improves your memory' or 'stress hurts your memory,'" said Manning. "Instead, specific forms of physical activity and specific aspects of mental health seem to affect each aspect of memory differently."



The researchers also found that individuals who reported anxiety and depression did better at spatial and associative (recognizing connections between concepts or other memories) memory tasks. By contrast, those with self-reported bipolar disorder did better on episodic memory tasks.&nbsp;



The authors believe the knowledge gained in this study could help develop programs to support various communities coping with mental illness. "For example, to help students prepare for an exam or reduce their depression symptoms, specific exercise regimens could be designed to help improve their cognitive performance and mental health," said Manning.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-17781-0">Scientific Reports</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Exercise intensity linked to different mental health benefits

We've all heard about the benefits of exercise for our...

A new report has been released by the <a href="https://covid19commission.org/">Lancet Covid-19 Commission</a> – a group of 28 international experts in epidemiology, vaccinology, public policy, and international cooperation established in 2020. According to the report, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-related-deaths-are-much-higher-than-the-official-count/">death toll from Covid-19</a> is “both a profound tragedy and a massive global failure at multiple levels.”



“Too many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency, too many people – often influenced by misinformation – have disrespected and protested against basic public health precautions, and the world’s major powers have failed to collaborate to control the pandemic,” the report authors explained.



The commission identified some major failures in handling the pandemic, including: a lack of timely notification of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, delays in acknowledging the fact that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, lack of coordination among countries regarding suppression strategies, and the failure of many governments to properly examine available evidence and adopt the best policies for pandemic management. The experts also acknowledged a lack of funding for low- and middle-income countries, poor enforcement of biosafety regulations prior to the pandemic, and failure to combat misinformation in the wider population.



The commissioners criticized the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) for acting too cautiously and too slowly on several crucial matters, such as warning about the virus’ transmissibility or declaring a state of emergency of international concern earlier. Moreover, many national governments were also considered too slow in acknowledging the severity of the outbreak, while the public opposition to social distancing measures or vaccination campaigns “seriously hindered” epidemic control. However, the experts have also identified “some important bright spots” in response to the pandemic, such as the fast development of vaccines.



Regarding the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the experts argued that “all three research-associated hypotheses are still plausible: infection in the field, infection with a natural virus in the laboratory, and infection with a manipulated virus in the laboratory. No independent, transparent, and science-based investigation has been carried out regarding the bioengineering of SARS-like viruses that was underway before the outbreak of Covid-19.”



To avoid future failures in the management of the Covid pandemic and other possible public health threats, the scientists made several recommendations, including better global coordination of efforts to end the pandemic through vaccination campaign and other non-medical strategies, an intensification of the search for the origins of the virus, a strengthening of the WHO and national healthcare systems, and increased efforts to prevent future pandemics by quickly identifying and controlling both natural and research-related spillovers.



The report is published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/covid19">The Lancet</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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Massive global failures to control the Covid pandemic

A new report has been released by the Lancet Covid-19...

A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> has decoded visual images from a dog’s brain and used a machine-learning algorithm to analyze the patterns in the neural data in order to better understand how the canine mind reconstructs what it sees. The findings suggest that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-brain-structure-dogs/">dogs</a> are more attuned to actions in their environments rather than to who or what is performing the actions.



The scientists recorded fMRI neural data for two awake, unrestrained dogs while they watched several videos in 30-minute sessions, for a total of 90 minutes. The videos were shot from a dog’s perspective (at about waist high to a human) and contained scenes related to dogs’ experiences, including dogs sniffing, playing, eating, or walking on a leash, cars, bikes, or motorcycles going on a road, a cat entering a house, a deer crossing a path, as well as people sitting, hugging, kissing, eating, or offering a rubber bone or ball to the camera. Then, the researchers segmented the video data by time stamps into different classifiers, such as objects (for instance, dog, car, human, cat) or actions (sniffing, playing, eating).



Only two of the dogs that were trained for experiments in the fMRI had the focus and temperament to lie still and watch the three half-hour videos. Two humans also underwent the same experiment while lying in an fMRI. Then, the researchers applied a machine-learning algorithm to the data, which was trained to map the brain-data into object- and action-based classifiers.



The analysis revealed major differences between the functioning of humans’ and dogs’ brains. “We humans are very object oriented,” said study senior author Gregory Berns, a professor of Psychology at Emory. “There are ten times as many nouns as there are verbs in the English language because we have a particular obsession with naming objects. Dogs appear to be less concerned with who or what they are seeing and more concerned with the action itself.”



According to Professor Berns, dogs and humans have major differences in their visual systems too. Although dogs see only in shades of blue and yellow, they have a slightly higher density of vision receptors designed to detect movement. “It makes perfect sense that dogs’ brains are going to be highly attuned to actions first and foremost,” he explained. “Animals have to be very concerned with things happening in their environment to avoid being eaten or to monitor animals they might want to hunt. Action and movement are paramount.”



“While our work is based on just two dogs it offers proof of concept that these methods work on canines,” added study lead author Erin Phillips, who conducted the research in Berns’ Canine Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. “I hope this paper helps pave the way for other researchers to apply these methods on dogs, as well as on other species, so we can get more data and bigger insights into how the minds of different animals work.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/64442">Journal of Visualized Experiments</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dogs are more aware of actions than objects

A team of researchers led by Emory University has decoded...

As the frequency of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/measuring-the-effect-of-wildfires-on-air-quality/">wildfires</a> increases, more research is needed on the release of toxic pollutants into watersheds, according to a new review study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030699">Water Resources Research</a>. Better understanding how urban wildfires affect water quality will help water quality managers to anticipate, respond to, and potentially mitigate wildfire impacts.



“Much less studied are the effects of fire burning not only forests and grasslands but also houses, vehicles, and other human-made material,” said study co-author Stephen LeDuc, a biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s <a href="https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-center-public-health-and-environmental-assessment-cphea">Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment</a>. “There have only been a few studies of pollutants mobilized from these types of fires.”



Together with his colleagues, LeDuc examined trends in water after wildfires as documented in 184 scientific articles published since 1980. The analysis revealed that stream flow often increases for several years after a wildfire, as do sediments, water temperature, nutrients, as well as toxic metals and organic chemicals - which sometimes reach between ten to 100 times higher concentrations than before the fire.



Some of these dangerous post-wildfire chemicals found in water, including arsenic or benzene, frequently exceed regulatory limits, even in processed drinking water. In addition, many researchers have identified higher concentrations of metals in the ash from the wildfires, which could potentially affect runoff.



Since little research has been done on identifying the variety of pollutants emerging from urban wildfires, water managers and planners are often at a disadvantage when recovering from wildfires. “In my view, the main reason for the knowledge gap is the challenge of setting up an urban water quality monitoring program on short notice, like after a fire,” said Dennis Hallema, a hydrologist at the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a> in Nevada, who was not involved in the study. “There’s plenty of interest, but at the end of the day, successful water quality monitoring efforts come out of projects that were approved in time.”



This new study will hopefully help water quality managers and communities plan for, and recover from, the negative impacts of wildfires on their water.



“Fire frequency is increasing in places like in the western U.S. due in part to climate change, and there is potential for areas burned by fire to become longer-term stressors to water quality if the previous vegetation is slow to recover or fails altogether. [But] burned areas could be targeted for restoration efforts, such as erosion control or plantings,” LeDuc 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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wildfire pollutants negatively impact water quality

As the frequency of wildfires increases, more research is needed...

According to a new study presented at the <a href="http://www.eurospe.org/meetings/2022/espe-2022/programme/">60th Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting</a>, exposure to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blue-light-exposure-may-cause-premature-aging/">blue light</a> through regular use of smartphones and tablets may alter hormone levels and increase the risk of early-onset puberty. Although this study has only focused on the effects of blue light exposure on rats, its findings could potentially be applied to humans too, due to the similarities between the time-point of puberty and the hormonal changes occurring during pre-puberty and puberty in both rats and humans.&nbsp;



Scientists have long noticed that the escalating use of blue light emitting devices can reduce sleep quality in both children and adults, by disrupting the functioning of melatonin, a hormone which plays a fundamental role in regulating our circadian rhythms. Since melatonin levels are generally higher during pre-puberty than in puberty, researchers have argued that this hormone could also play a role in delaying the onset of puberty.



To test this potential correlation in the case of rats, the scientists used a cohort of female rats divided into three groups and exposed to either a normal light cycle, or to six hours or 12 hours of blue light. In both groups exposed to blue light, the first signs of puberty occurred significantly earlier, and the longer the duration of exposure, the earlier the onset of puberty. Rats exposed to blue light also had lower melatonin levels and higher levels of specific reproductive hormones – such as oestradiol and luteinising hormone - as well as physical changes in their ovarian tissues, which are all known to be trademarks of puberty onset. Moreover, at the 12 hours exposure, rats showed some signs of inflammation and even cell damage in their ovaries.



“We have found that blue light exposure, sufficient to alter melatonin levels, is also able to alter reproductive hormone levels and cause earlier puberty onset in our rat model. In addition, the longer the exposure, the earlier the onset,” said study lead author Aylin Kilinç Uğurlu, an expert in Pediatric Endocrinology at the <a href="https://gazi.edu.tr/">Gazi University</a> in Turkey. “As this a rat study, we can’t be sure that these findings would be replicated in children but these data suggest that blue light exposure could be considered as a risk factor for earlier puberty onset.”



“Although not conclusive, we would advise that the use of blue light emitting devices should be minimized in pre-pubertal children, especially in the evening when exposure may have the most hormone-altering effects,” she 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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Excessive screen time may lead to early puberty

According to a new study presented at the 60th Annual...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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