The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is the world’s rarest marine mammal, with fewer than 10 surviving in the wild. It faces grave challenges, from illegal fishing nets to black-market demand for totoaba swim bladders. 



Experts worry that this unique creature could disappear before most people even learn it exists.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vaquitas-a-species-in-peril">Vaquitas: A species in peril</h2>



<a href="https://seashepherd.org/2024/06/11/2024-vaquita-survey/#">Populations</a> of this small porpoise have plummeted at an astonishing rate since the late 1990s.



Vaquitas inhabit the northern Gulf of California, and are restricted to an area of roughly 1,500 square miles (3,900 square kilometers). This small region, combined with the pressures of organized poaching activity, has given vaquitas little <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-lemurs-millions-of-years-of-diversity-at-risk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">room for recovery</a>. 



Jamie Knaub from Florida Atlantic University (<a href="https://www.fau.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAU</a>) and her colleagues believe that drastic measures are necessary to preserve any record of these animals for generations to come.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rescuing-a-rare-vaquita-skeleton">Rescuing a rare vaquita skeleton</h2>



A complete <a href="https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/photos-san-diego-researchers-scan-rare-skeleton-of-worlds-smallest-endangered-porpoise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vaquita skeleton</a> in the United States is hard to find. Such a specimen recently appeared at SeaWorld San Diego, with ties to the San Diego Natural History Museum.&nbsp;



“We are delighted to collaborate with likeminded organizations to make our collections as useful and accessible as possible,” said Phil Unitt, curator of birds and mammals at the San Diego Natural History Museum.&nbsp;



“A complete skeleton of a vaquita is an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/public-concern-over-species-extinctions-fades-quickly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">extremely rare specimen</a>, so we’re thrilled to learn its replica will be available to the public.”



<a href="https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/fau-high-school-opens-one-of-a-kind-owls-imaging-lab.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAU’s High School Owls Imaging Lab</a> carried out micro-CT scans on the skeleton. Knaub transported it back to Florida as precious carry-on luggage.&nbsp;



She spent 165 hours conducting high-resolution scans, gathering nearly three terabytes of data. When finished, Knaub carefully returned the vaquita remains to SeaWorld.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-hopes-for-the-tiniest-porpoise">High hopes for the tiniest porpoise</h2>



Researchers are eager to share 3D scans of this delicate skeleton on the <a href="https://www.morphosource.org/docs/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MorphoSource</a> online repository. The goal is to let educators and researchers worldwide access and learn from the files.&nbsp;



With vaquitas vanishing at a high rate, preserving their anatomy through digital replicas could be the only way to keep them on the radar.&nbsp;



“At the rate that vaquita’s are disappearing, it’s extremely important to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/are-we-failing-the-worlds-most-threatened-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preserve</a> as much about this species as we can. They are very elusive and not many physical specimens from this species exist,” said Knaub.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-education-and-replication-efforts">Education and replication efforts</h2>



The experts hope that these skeleton scans, once turned into models, can be placed in museums or classrooms. Brittany Aja Dolan from SeaWorld San Diego, who pushed this plan forward, wants everyone to see the small porpoise up close.&nbsp;



“We hope that by creating replicas, which will be available worldwide, and hopefully on display at SeaWorld San Diego in the near future, everyone will have the opportunity to learn about the world’s most endangered marine mammal and what we can all do to help,” explained Dolan.



Some genetic <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm1742" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> suggests the surviving vaquitas retain enough diversity to bounce back if threats cease. However, rapid action is crucial.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-vaquita-data-for-future-research">Preserving vaquita data for future research</h2>



FAU’s advanced imaging technology captured the skeleton’s intricate details. 



The lab’s <a href="https://www.microphotonics.com/what-is-micro-ct-an-introduction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">micro-CT machine</a> is known for its ability to scan minute structures within skeletal fragments. Knaub, along with her mentors, previously used similar equipment to study thresher shark vertebrae, a study that is published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231473" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.&nbsp;



The same techniques have now preserved the precise shape of each vaquita bone, thus mapping out a piece of history that might soon be gone if illegal nets continue to harm the species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-unique-laboratory-environment">A unique laboratory environment</h2>



FAU’s Owls Imaging Lab attracts student researchers from across various disciplines. This facility contains tools like scanning electron microscopes and microtomes, and offers early exposure to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-is-tracking-endangered-animal-habitats-from-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">high-level projects</a>.&nbsp;



“The primary aim of our open-access research hub is to create a dynamic environment that promotes meaningful collaborations between our students and university mentors," said Tricia Meredith, director of research for FAU’s on-site lab schools.



"By providing opportunities for hands-on teaching, innovative demonstrations, experimentation, and robust data collection, the hub seeks to enhance the educational experience and advance research excellence.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-beyond-the-brink">Looking beyond the brink</h2>



Those involved in the vaquita project see it as a chance to save the species in some form, even if the real animals fade away. There is also motivation to rescue any remaining individuals in the Gulf of California.&nbsp;



Organizations like FAU, SeaWorld San Diego, and the San Diego Natural History Museum keep shining a light on this small porpoise, stressing that the vaquita’s future rests on determined human intervention.&nbsp;



Until effective solutions disrupt the illegal fishing trade, digital scans and educational displays might be the closest many of us will ever come to encountering the vaquita in real life.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://phys.org/journals/royal-society-open-science/">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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Vaquitas may disappear before most people know they exist

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is the world’s rarest marine mammal, with fewer than 10 surviving in the wild. It faces grave challenges, from illegal fishing nets to black-market demand for totoaba swim bladders. Experts worry that this unique creature could disappear before most people even learn it exists. Vaquitas: A species in peril Populations of this small porpoise have plummeted at an astonishing rate since the late 1990s. Vaquitas inhabit the northern Gulf of California, and are restricted to an area of roughly 1,500 square miles (3,900...

Citizen science projects include <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-create-a-landscape-of-fear-for-wildlife/">wildlife</a> recording activities that provide crucial data for assessing environmental change. A new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10432">People and Nature</a> has found that science itself is not the only beneficiary of citizen science projects. According to the experts, engagement in such projects promotes well-being and a stronger connection to nature.&nbsp;



The experts enrolled 500 volunteers from across the United Kingdom and randomly assigned them to carry out a ten-minute nature-based activity at least five times during a period of eight days. The activities included a pollinating insects survey, a butterfly survey, simply spending time in nature and writing down three “good things” they noticed, or a combination of survey and observation activities. Then, the researchers developed a questionnaire to assess the differences in participants’ connection to nature, well-being, and pro-nature behavior.



The analysis revealed that all volunteers showed increased feelings of well-being and connectedness to nature after completing their assigned activities. Some of their comments included: “it gave me permission to slow down,” “it made me more aware of nature in all aspects of the environment,” and “it reminded me that small things can make a big difference to my mood.”



Moreover, those who were asked to write down three good things about their natural surroundings reported they were more likely to engage in pro-nature behaviors after the experiments, such as planting more pollinator-friendly plants in their garden or creating shelters for wildlife.



“Being in and around nature is good for our well-being, and we’ve shown that focused, active engagement with nature is just as important – whether that is ‘mindful moments’ in nature or taking part in citizen science,” said study lead author Michael Pocock, an ecologist and academic lead for public engagement with research at the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/">UK Center for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> (UKCEH).



“This has been a valuable exercise for us in exploring how we can make citizen science even better. We now know that if we design future projects with additional nature-noticing activities, for example, we can enhance people’s own connection to nature, while still collecting valuable data.”



“People connect with nature in different ways, so it’s great to see nature-based citizen science can provide another form of active engagement that can strengthen the human-nature relationship,” added co-author Miles Richardson, an expert in Nature Connectedness at the <a href="https://www.derby.ac.uk/">University of Derby</a>. “When combined with noticing the positive emotions nature can bring, citizen science and help unite both human and nature’s well-being.”



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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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Citizen scientists gain a stronger connection with nature

Citizen science projects include wildlife recording activities that provide crucial...

Since giraffes have no breeding season, don’t go into heat like cats or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-do-some-dogs-howl-but-others-dont/">dogs</a>, and don’t make mating calls or provide visual cues of sexual readiness, understanding their sexual behavior is not an easy task. However, a recent study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> has now provided novel insights into the unique sex life of these fascinating creatures, their reproductive behavior, and how their specific anatomy supports this behavior.



By observing giraffes during multiple research trips to Namibia’s Etosha National Park, the scientists found that males test females for sexual receptivity by first provoking them to urinate by nudging them and sniffing their genitalia. If the female is open to a bull’s invitation, she widens her stance and pees for around five seconds, while the male takes the urine in his mouth. Afterwards, he curls his lip, inhaling with an open mouth – a behavior known as “flehmen” which transports the female’s scent and pheromones from the male’s oral cavity to his vomeronasal organ.



Although flehmen is common among many animal species, including cats or horses, most mammals wait until the urine is on the ground before starting to investigate. The giraffes, however, are not built for such explorations.&nbsp;



“They don’t risk going all the way to the ground because of the extreme development of their head and neck,” said study lead author&nbsp;Lynette Hart, a professor of Population Health and Reproduction at UC Davis. “So they have to nudge the female, effectively saying, ‘Please urinate now.’ And often she will. He has to elicit her cooperation. If not, he’ll know there’s no future for him with her.”



“This is part of their reproductive behavior,” added senior author Benjamin Hart, a professor emeritus of Veterinary Medicine at the same university. “This adds to our understanding of what giraffes are doing as they accumulate around a water hole.&nbsp;People love watching giraffes. I think the more the public understands about them, the more interested they’ll be in their conservation.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13030354">Animals</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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Scientists shed new light on the sex life of giraffes

Since giraffes have no breeding season, don’t go into heat...

Calorie restriction, which has been proven to slow <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/managing-negative-emotions-may-prevent-dementia/">aging</a> in animals, has now produced evidence of slowing the pace of biological aging in humans.&nbsp;



An international team of researchers led by the Butler Columbia Aging Center at the <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/">Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health</a> conducted a randomized controlled trial of healthy adults that is the first of its kind.&nbsp;



“In worms, flies, and mice, calorie restriction can slow biological processes of aging and extend healthy lifespan," explained study senior author Daniel Belsky, “Our study aimed to test if calorie restriction also slows biological aging in humans.”



The CALERIE™ trial measured participants’ blood DNA using the algorithm DunedinPACE (Pace of Aging, Computed from the Epigenome). The calorie intervention resulted in a two top three percent slowing in the pace of aging. In other studies, this translates to a 10 to 15 percent reduction in mortality risk, an effect similar to a smoking cessation intervention.&nbsp;



The trial randomized 220 healthy men and women to a 25 percent calorie-restriction or normal diet for two years.&nbsp; To measure biological aging, blood samples were collected from the participants at pre-intervention baseline and after 12- and 24-month follow-ups.&nbsp;



The team analyzed methylation marks on DNA extracted from white blood cells. DNA methylation marks are chemical tags on the DNA sequence that regulate the expression of genes and are known to change with aging.



In the primary analysis, three measurements of the DNA methylation data were used. These measurements are sometimes known as “epigenetic clocks.”&nbsp;



The first two clocks, the PhenoAge and GrimAge clocks, estimate biological age, or the age at which a person’s biology would appear “normal." These provide a static measure of how much aging a person has experienced. The third measure studied was DunedinPACE, which estimates the pace of aging, or the rate of biological deterioration over time, much like a “speedometer”.



“In contrast to the results for DunedinPace, there were no effects of intervention on other epigenetic clocks,” said study co-lead author Calen Ryan. “The difference in results suggests that dynamic ‘pace of aging’ measures like DunedinPACE may be more sensitive to the effects of intervention than measures of static biological age.”



While calorie restriction may not be possible for everyone, the study provides evidence that slowing human aging may be possible. A follow-up trial is now ongoing to determine if the intervention had long-term effects on healthy aging.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nataging/">Nature Aging</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



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Calorie restriction makes it possible to slow down aging

Calorie restriction, which has been proven to slow aging in...

A study led by <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> is providing new details about how climate change is reducing oxygen availability in many lakes around the world. The researchers analyzed data on hundreds of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-earths-new-lakes-affect-the-carbon-budget/">lakes</a> to investigate how often the concentration of dissolved oxygen has been dropping below critical levels that are needed to support fish and other marine species.



“Lakes with dissolved oxygen losses strongly outnumber those with gains,” said study lead author Stephen Jane, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. “At large scales, aerobic organisms are losing available habitat as warming of lakes continues. This is particularly the case for organisms that rely on well-oxygenated cool waters deep in lakes to survive warm periods.”



The experts examined about 25 years of data for more than 400 lakes, most of which were temperate climate lakes located in the United States.&nbsp;



The study revealed that the amount of low oxygen water is increasing by 0.9 to 1.7 percent per decade. The researchers also found that the volume of lake water lacking oxygen has increased by more than 50 percent over the past three decades.



Rising temperatures are extending the number of summer weeks that lakes experience thermal stratification. This is when bodies of water divide into distinct layers due to different temperatures.&nbsp;



In July or August, it is typical for a lake surface to be about 70 degrees while the lake bottom is about 40 degrees. The result of stratification is that oxygen from the atmosphere is prevented from replenishing dissolved oxygen in deep waters, explained Jane. This can cause a state of oxygen deprivation called hypoxia, or even a complete lack of oxygen called anoxia.



“Water temperature and density are related,” said Jane. “So it becomes a situation where basically you have oil and vinegar, where strong water temperature differences between layers causes resistance to mixing – which is stratification.”



Stratification changes lead to more time for deoxygenation - the interruption of the natural oxygenation process - for deep-water habitats, said June.&nbsp;



“We show here that as warming is continuing, the amount of time that lakes exhibit stratification is increasing and this leads to increases in the amount of low-oxygen water in lakes,” explained study co-author Professor Kevin Rose of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “The bad news is that given projected warming rates, we’ll likely see even greater increases in the amount of oxygen-depleted water in lakes in the future.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16525">Global Change Biology</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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Lakes are struggling to maintain oxygen as temperatures rise

A study led by Cornell University is providing new details...

Studying rare species can be a significant challenge for researchers, particularly when the subject is as elusive as the Antarctic blue <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whale-mothers-pay-a-high-price-for-raising-sons/">whale</a>. Researchers have strived for years to find humane ways to tackle this challenge. In 2013, Dr. Virginia Andrews-Gold and her team managed to successfully deploy satellite tags on two of the rarely-sighted creatures.



The ten-year-old data has now been released by Dr. Andrews-Goff and her colleagues at the Australian Antarctic Divison, publishing the satellite tracks in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e94228">Biodiversity Data Journal</a>. The data demonstrated to the United Nations International Court of Justice that the research can be conducted without killing whales. The research also sheds light on the logistical challenges of locating, tagging, and tracking the Antarctic blue whale.



“This is a unique data set that was incredibly challenging to get, and, unfortunately, for 10 years no-one has been able to generate more data,” said Dr. Andrews-Goff. "We know very little about the movement and distribution of Antarctic blue whales, where they migrate, where they forage and breed, and we don’t understand the threats they might face as they recover from whaling.”



Whilst tagging and tracking the creatures is certainly no easy task, the most significant challenge is finding them in the first place. An estimated 90 percent of the Antarctic blue whale population (approximately 290,000) was killed in commercial whaling throughout the 1960s and 1970s, leaving less than 2,280 individuals remaining by the late 1990s.&nbsp;



To tackle this challenge, cutting-edge acoustic tracking techniques were used to detect whale calls and estimate their location from up to 1,000 kilometers away. Once tagged, the recorded tracks revealed that the whales traveled 1,390 kilometers in just 14 days, and 5,550 kilometers across a 74-day period - moving at an average of 100 kilometers per day.&nbsp;



 “What became obvious is that these animals can travel really quickly,” commented Dr. Andrews-Goff. “If you consider how far and fast these animals moved, protecting the broader population against potential threats will be tricky because they could potentially circumnavigate Antarctica within a single feeding season.”



Thanks to new analytical method innovations in recent years, researchers have managed to gain some additional behavioral context from the data. Through these techniques, two separate movement rates were noted - a regular 4.2km/hr rate and a slower speed of 2.5km/hr, understood to correspond with searching and foraging behaviors.&nbsp;



“It looks like the whales might hang around in one area to feed and then move quickly to another area and hang around there for another feed,” explained Dr. Andrews-Goff.



She said that despite the small sample size, the satellite tracks will assist greatly in researchers’ understanding of the blue whale foraging ecology, movement rates, feeding habits, and habitat preferences. The findings will inform a further assessment of Antarctic blue whales, due to begin in 2024.



Image Credit: Australian Antarctic Division



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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New insights into the behavior of Antarctic blue whales

Studying rare species can be a significant challenge for researchers,...

As humanity emits increasing amounts of greenhouse gases, the Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insect-swarms-charge-the-lower-atmosphere-with-static-electricity/">atmosphere</a> traps more and more of the sun’s energy, leading to a steady rise in our planet’s temperature. For decades, scientists have considered using screens or other objects to block enough of the sun’s radiation (about one to two percent) in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> and the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> has explored another strategy – the potential of using moon dust to shield sunlight.



The researchers investigated different properties of dust particles, quantities of dust, and the orbits which would be best suited for shading the Earth. They discovered that launching dust from Earth to a way station located at the so-called “Lagrange point” - the closest point between Earth and the sun where the gravitational forces are balanced and where objects tend to stay along a path between the two celestial bodies - would be the most effective strategy. This approach, however, would require enormous costs and efforts. To overcome these problems, the experts have proposed using moon dust as an alternative.



“It is amazing to contemplate how moon dust - which took over four billion years to generate - might help slow the rise in the Earth’s temperature, a problem that took us less than 300 years to produce,” said study co-author Scott Kenyon.



According to the researchers, planet formation is a messy process, kicking up astronomical dust that forms rings around host stars. Such rings intercept light from the central star and re-radiate it in ways that can be easily detected. “That was the seed of the idea; if we took a small amount of material and put it on a special orbit between the Earth and the sun and broke it up, we could block out a lot of sunlight with a little amount of mass,” said study lead author Professor Ben Bromley.



The scientists found that a sunshield’s effectiveness would depend on its capacity to sustain an orbit that casts a shadow on the Earth. “Because we know the positions and masses of the major celestial bodies in our solar system, we can simply use the laws of gravity to track the position of a simulated sunshield over time for several different orbits,” said study co-author Sameer Khan.



Since the inherent properties of lunar dust are perfect to effectively work as a sunshield, the scientists proposed to shoot this dust from a platform on the surface of the moon towards the sun – a cost-effective strategy due to the fact that much less energy is needed to launch dust from the moon than from the Earth. “It is astounding that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in just the right configuration to enable this kind of climate mitigation strategy,” Kenyon said.



However, the researchers emphasize that this study only explores the potential impact of such a method, rather than evaluating whether this strategy is logistically feasible.&nbsp;



“We aren’t experts in climate change, or the rocket science needed to move mass from one place to the other. We’re just exploring different kinds of dust on a variety of orbits to see how effective this approach might be. We do not want to miss a game changer for such a critical problem,”&nbsp;concluded Bromley.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/climate/">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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Could moon dust help slow global warming?

As humanity emits increasing amounts of greenhouse gases, the Earth’s...

Individuals who cut their social media use by 30 minutes a day, and use this time for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-physical-activity-protects-the-brain-from-aging/">physical activity</a>, can dramatically improve their mental health. This is the conclusion of a study led by Dr. Julia Brailovskaia of the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center at <a href="http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/">Ruhr-Universität Bochum</a>.



Participants who replaced 30 minutes of social media with exercise every day for two weeks had powerful results. They reported feeling happier, more satisfied, less stressed, and less depressed. The positive effects persisted for at least six months after the study had ended.



“'Digitalization' is a main characteristic of the twenty-first century. It represents a transformation of society to an intensive use of digital technologies in various areas of life," wrote the study authors. "Daily use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp is a central aspect of this transformation."



"The global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 resulted in significant changes in people’s daily routine. Lockdowns, curfews, and restrictions of offline social contacts (“social distancing”) sped up the digital transformation in various sectors. Social media use became one of the main options for social interaction and pastime."



The experts noted that excessive social media use is known to have a negative influence on mental health. "Intensive active exchange with other users can evoke the perception of social support, which fosters the development of an emotional bond to social media. This bond is closely linked to an obsessive need to stay permanently online, even if the use interferes with obligations and causes interpersonal conflicts," wrote the study authors.



The researchers set out to investigate how to improve mental health in this time of rapid digitalization. They wanted to explore cost- and time-efficient strategies that may help protect the public from the adverse effects of social media addiction.&nbsp;



“Given that we don’t know for certain how long the coronavirus crisis will last, we wanted to know how to protect people’s mental health with services that are as free and low-threshold as possible,” explained Dr. Brailovskaia.&nbsp;



For the investigation, the team recruited a total of 642 volunteers, who were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The first group reduced daily social media use by 30 minutes, the second group increased physical activity by 30 minutes per day, and the third group was instructed to do both - reduce social media use and increase physical activity for 30 minutes a day. Members of the fourth (control) group did not change their behavior during the two-week trial.



The participants completed online surveys before, during, and up to six months after the two-week intervention phase. The surveys documented the duration, intensity and emotional significance of their social media use; physical activity; overall life satisfaction; subjective feeling of happiness; depressive symptoms; the psychological burden of the Covid-19 pandemic; and cigarette consumption.



The results clearly showed that both reducing the amount of time spent on social media and increasing physical activity had a positive impact on well-being. The experts found that in all of the experiential groups, addictive social media use and depressive symptoms decreased, while physical activity, life satisfaction, and subjective happiness increased. "All effects were stronger and more stable in the combination group in the longer-term," wrote the researchers.



The team found that six months after the intervention, the combination group dedicated one hour and 39 minutes more to physical activity each week. The positive mental health effects continued throughout the entire follow-up period.



“This shows us how vital it is to reduce our availability online from time to time and to go back to our human roots,” said Dr. Brailovskaia. “These measures can be easily implemented into one’s everyday life and they’re completely free – and, at the same time, they help us to stay happy and healthy in the digital age.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10389-022-01751-x">Journal of Public Health</a>.



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

Exercise over social media: less stress, more life satisfaction

Individuals who cut their social media use by 30 minutes...

While it is not unusual for parents – and especially mothers – to sacrifice their own future success for the sake of their offspring, a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.057">Current Biology</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-new-type-of-killer-whale/">killer whale</a> mothers take this to a surprising extreme. Killer whale moms sacrifice their own reproductive success in order to care for their sons, even after they are full-fledged adults.&nbsp;



“We’ve known for over a decade that adult male killer whales relied on their mothers to keep them alive, but it had never been clear whether mothers pay a cost to do so,” said study lead author Michael N. Weiss, an expert in Behavioral Ecology at the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>.



The scientists studied a group of killer whales known as the “southern resident” population of the coastal waters of the Washington State and British Columbia to find out whether the care adult whales (particularly males) receive from their mothers comes at a significant cost.&nbsp;



“The southern resident killer whale community presents an incredible opportunity to investigate these kinds of questions. Along with their bizarre social system, where both males and females stay with their mom for life, they are also one of the best studied wild populations of mammal anywhere in the world,” Weiss explained.



The investigation revealed a marked negative correlation between females’ number of surviving weaned sons and their annual probability of producing another viable calf. Such costs did not appear to decline even as their sons grew older. These findings – which cannot be explained by lactation or group composition effects – provide the first clear evidence of lifetime maternal investment in any animal.



“The magnitude of the cost that females take on to care for their weaned sons was really surprising,” Weiss said. “While there’s some uncertainty, our best estimate is that each additional surviving son cuts a female’s chances of having a new calf in a given year by more than 50 percent. This is a huge cost to taking care of [adult] sons!”



According to the scientists, there seem to be major benefits to caring for adult sons, such as the latter’s reproductive success, which is enough to outweigh the large direct costs their mothers have to face.



“One big take-away is further evidence for how special (and maybe unique) the mother-son bond in killer whales is. Maybe more importantly, our study adds to the growing body of work showing the importance of animals’ social systems in determining demographic patterns. This is of central importance both for an understanding of our world, and to effectively conserve endangered species,” Weiss added.



Since the southern resident killer whales are critically endangered, these findings have important conservation implications, revealing a major and previously unknown factor in female’s reproductive success, which may help to inform future population viability analyses.



—-



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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Killer whale mothers pay a high price for raising sons

While it is not unusual for parents – and especially...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California Riverside</a> have identified tiny organisms that thrive in burned soil after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-trauma-chronically-affects-survivors-of-wildfires/">wildfires</a> and could help bring land back to life.&nbsp;



To understand how severe wildfires affect bacteria and fungi, mycologist Sydney Glassman led a team of researchers into the burn scar of the Holy Fire, which burned 23,000 acres in 2018.



“When we first came into fire territory, there was ash up to my shins. It was a very severe fire,” said Glassman.&nbsp;



The researchers compared the charred earth with samples from nearby, unburned soil. They found that the overall mass of microbes dropped between 50 and 80 percent after the fire and did not recover during that first year.



Some things, however, lived. “Certain species increased in abundance, and in fact there were really rapid changes in abundance over time in the burned soils,” Glassman said. “There were no changes at all in the unburned soils.”



The surviving bacteria were a parade of microbes that took turns dominating the burned soil. In the first year, distinct shifts in the microbes occurred where one species went down and another came up.



Microbes with high tolerance for fire and high heat were found in the early days of research. Later, fast-growing organisms with a lot of spores seemed to dominate. At the end of the year, organisms that consume charcoal and other post-fire debris dominated.



Study first author Fabiola Pulido-Chavez noticed that genes involved in methane metabolism doubled in post-fire microbes. “This exciting finding suggests post-fire microbes can 'eat' methane to gain carbon and energy, and can potentially help us reduce greenhouses gases,” said Pulido-Chavez.



The researchers continued to test whether fungi and bacteria could thrive at different points in time because of their unique and varied traits. What was found resembles the human body’s response to stress. People suffer an illness and take antibiotics which destroys bacteria and new organisms appear. Eventually, a person’s gut bacteria might return to its pre-infection state, but there is no guarantee.&nbsp;



“We are also trying to understand what gets the land back to where it was before the disturbance, which in this case was an enormous fire,” Glassman said. “A lot of what we’re studying could be transferable to a human microbiome setting.”



Scientists have long known that plants can adapt to wildfires and eventually re-colonize a burn scar, known as regeneration. This research shows fungi and bacteria may have developed similar coping strategies.&nbsp;



Further research is needed to understand whether plants and microbes could adapt again to megafires or recurrent fires. This is especially important as climate change has led to increased wildfire frequency, causing the same soil to burn again in fewer than 10 years.&nbsp;



“Things can recover, but it takes time, and whether or not the land recovers after super-frequent megafires is another story," said Glassman. "Can recovery time keep pace with megafires? We don’t know yet."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16835">Molecular Ecology</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



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.

Burned soil provides a feast for fungi and bacteria

Researchers from the University of California Riverside have identified tiny...

Partially,Submerged,Benches,On,A,Flooded,Riverbank,In,Windsor

As extreme <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-overreact-to-warmer-weather-and-stop-producing-fruit/">weather</a> events become more frequent and intense due to climate change, the number of people and places exposed to flooding is likely to increase. Until recently though, surprisingly little research has been conducted about how floodplain development patterns vary across communities. 



Now, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina</a> (UNC) has found that new housing construction in flood-prone areas has significantly contributed to increasing risk across North Carolina, regardless of community and government efforts to reduce flood damage. According to the experts, more than ten new residences have been built in this state’s 100-year floodplains for each residence removed through government buyouts (through which flood-prone properties are purchased and restored to open space).



“We’ve been putting more and more people in harm’s way, and we see that pattern across the state – in coastal and inland communities, in urban and rural areas,” said&nbsp;study lead author Miyuki Hino, an assistant professor of City and Regional Planning at UNC. “Communities across the state are working to reduce their flood risk through buyouts, elevating homes, and upgrading infrastructure, but it’s harder to see those benefits when we’re adding more houses and people to floodplains at the same time.”



The researchers investigated new construction across five million parcels in North Carolina in order to develop standardized measures of floodplain development and assess the relationship between flood risk management initiatives and development outcomes.



“We find that community effort towards flood risk management doesn’t always correspond to limiting floodplain development,” said study co-author Antonia Sebastian, an assistant professor of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences at UNC. “Rather, communities rewarded by FEMA for high effort were continuing to allow more housing to be developed in the floodplain.”



Since local governments play a major role in flood risk management, knowing the areas where communities are building in floodplains, and clarifying what measures are needed to encourage development in safer areas, is crucial for reducing damages and risk.



“Strategic planning and zoning can encourage growth in safer areas and maximize open space in floodplains. As we see heavier downpours and wetter hurricanes, managing development is critical to reducing flood damages in the long term,” Hino explained.



“We have long assumed that communities across the state have continued building in floodplains, at least to some extent. But, the sheer scale of this construction is really surprising, especially in that it dwarfs the large-scale efforts to move homes out floodplains and out of harm’s way. The enormous public costs of buyouts are also shared by local governments – in many cases, the same local governments encouraging new building in floodplains. Today’s new floodplain construction may be tomorrow’s buyouts,” concluded co-author Todd BenDor, an expert in Sustainable Community Design at UNC.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2022.21418">Journal of the American Planning Association</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



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.

Extreme weather exposes more people and places to flooding

As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense due...

People who drink two or three cups of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-with-milk-has-powerful-anti-inflammatory-properties/">coffee</a> a day have lower blood pressure than those who drink just one cup or none at all, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.unibo.it/en">University of Bologna</a>. The researchers analyzed coffee consumption and peripheral and central blood pressure parameters in a sample of the Italian population.&nbsp;



Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in Italy and around the world. Almost 10 million tons of coffee was consumed globally in 2020 and 2021. 



While coffee may be considered unhealthy by some, recent studies have found various health benefits.&nbsp; Coffee can support a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain neurodegenerative and liver diseases. These benefits, however, do not appear to be directly related to the effects of caffeine.



"Caffeine is only one of the several coffee components and certainly not the only one with an active role. Positive effects on human health have indeed been recorded even among those who consume decaffeinated coffee," noted Professor Claudio Borghi, who led the study.&nbsp;



"We know that caffeine can increase blood pressure, but other bioactive components in coffee seem to counterbalance this effect with a positive end result on blood pressure levels."



The researchers used a sample of 720 men and 783 women to compare blood pressure levels and coffee consumption habits, among other clinical data.



"The results are very clear: peripheral blood pressure was significantly lower in individuals consuming one to three cups of coffee a day than in non-coffee drinkers," explained Professor Cicero. "And for the first time, we were also able to confirm these effects with regard to the central aortic pressure, the one close to the heart, where we observe an almost identical phenomenon with entirely similar values for habitual coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020312">Nutrients</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



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.

Dedicated coffee drinkers have lower blood pressure

People who drink two or three cups of coffee a...

Children can gain a stronger connection with the environment through story writing, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>. The research was focused on the issue of plastic litter in Latin American countries along the Pacific Ocean.&nbsp;



The experts set out to explore how a story-writing activity may influence the perceptions of children about plastic litter, as well as how their behavior may be affected.&nbsp;



“A key element of our project was to examine the children’s responses to questionnaires they completed before and after writing these stories," said study co-author Dr. Kayleigh Wyles. "We found that their knowledge on the topic increased and they became more proactive, as they reported doing more pro-environmental acts afterwards.”



The children were asked to use their imaginations about litter items that are commonly found on the beach, such as straws and plastic bags. They were then instructed to imagine how these items ended up on the beach in the first place.&nbsp;



The writing project showed that children were more likely to think about ways of preventing litter from entering the environment, rather than just cleaning it up. According to the researchers, the most popular solutions proposed in the stories were recycling and adequate disposal of litter.&nbsp;



Overall, nearly 90 children between the ages of 10 and 18 participated in the study from countries along the Pacific coast, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Peru.



“Stories offer a new and different way to explore what people believe and how they perceive and make sense of their environment, including in this study, marine plastic litter," said study lead author Estelle Praet. "The results were truly inspiring and showed the children’s awareness of plastic's impact on marine life and the environment.”



In more than half of the stories, the children showed awareness of the dangers of plastic pollution in the marine environment, including the risk of animal entanglement. Many stories described consequences of animals ingesting plastic, such as injuries or death.&nbsp;



“In a previous activity, the schoolchildren had visited the beaches and made drawings of their beaches before and after the visit - many of these drawings also contained litter items, including some of them showed interactions between litter and marine life, underscoring that they notice the environmental problem caused by litter," said study co-author Diamela de Veer.



“By viewing these plastic items as artefacts, each with its own story, we can bring this back to the human behaviors that related to the objects' use and their disposal," said Professor John Schofield. "This project has helped show how we can get that message across to children and hopefully then make a difference.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/marine-pollution-bulletin">Marine Pollution Bulletin</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



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.

Children connect with the environment through story writing

Children can gain a stronger connection with the environment through...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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