Invasive species pose a significant challenge to ecosystems and agriculture, often spreading unnoticed until they have caused considerable damage. Conservationists and growers now have an unusual new ally in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly - trained dogs.



A recent study published in the journal Ecosphere highlights how these detection dogs outperform humans in identifying lanternfly egg masses in challenging environments, offering a novel strategy to curb the pest’s spread.



"Preventing the introduction of invasive species is championed as the most cost-effective and efficient strategy for avoiding negative impacts on systems," noted the researchers.



"However, once a species has been introduced, the next best option is to detect the population and eliminate it before it becomes established and spreads more widely across the landscape."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spotted-lanternfly-infestations">Spotted lanternfly infestations </h2>



First detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, the spotted lanternfly has now infested 19 states, including New York. This invasive insect feeds on woody plants like grapes, apples, hops, and various trees, causing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/growing-threat-of-invasive-species-requires-immediate-action/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">widespread destruction</a>.



“A spotted lanternfly infestation in a vineyard can cause 80% to 100% mortality of the vines in one growing season,” said study co-author Angela Fuller, a professor in Cornell’s Department of <a href="https://cals.cornell.edu/natural-resources-environment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural Resources and the Environment</a>.



Fuller also noted the financial burden of infestations. “Infestations also increase the amount of insecticide that growers need to use, which can increase costs by up to 170% in a growing season.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-training-dogs-for-invasive-species-detection">Training dogs for invasive species detection</h2>



In collaboration with the <a href="https://www.nynjtc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York-New Jersey Trail Conference</a> and <a href="https://wd4c.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Working Dogs for Conservation</a>, researchers trained a Labrador retriever and a Belgian malinois to sniff out the lanternfly’s egg masses.



These organizations have previously trained dogs to detect invasive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-have-become-one-of-the-worlds-most-invasive-predators/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">species</a> and pathogens, making them well-equipped for this task.



The study compared the efficiency of human and canine detection in 20 vineyards across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 



The researchers mapped transects in vineyard rows and adjacent forests, where egg masses are likely to overwinter. Humans and dogs surveyed the areas on separate days to prevent cross-contamination of scents.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-outperform-humans-in-forests">Dogs outperform humans in forests</h2>



While humans excelled in detecting invasive egg masses in vineyards, dogs proved superior in forested areas. In vineyards, humans detected 1.8 times more egg masses than dogs, finding 31 egg masses per hour compared to the dogs’ 24. 



Fuller attributed this to humans’ ability to systematically search vines and poles, whereas dogs relied on scent and conducted more random searches. In forests, however, dogs excelled, finding 3.4 times more egg masses than humans. 



“The dogs find egg masses by smell,” Fuller explained. “In a very <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unseen-crisis-37000-alien-species-have-been-introduced-by-human-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complex environment</a>, it’s easier for a dog to smell something than it is for a human to see something that is small and cryptic.” 



Dogs located 7.6 egg masses per hour in forests compared to humans’ 6.7 per hour.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-invasive-species-detection">Importance of invasive species detection</h2>



The study emphasizes the importance of early detection in managing the lanternfly’s spread. Dogs performed exceptionally well in areas with low egg mass densities, making them invaluable for rapid response efforts. 



Fuller noted that while dogs take more time to search than humans, the added time is worth it. 



“The extra time that dogs take to find them is not as important as it is to find them in the first place, because you need to detect the egg masses in order to eradicate them,” she said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insights-into-lanternfly-behavior">Insights into lanternfly behavior</h2>



Using computer modeling, the researchers identified patterns in lanternfly egg mass distribution. They found higher occupancy rates in vineyards than forests, particularly on metal poles. 



Vineyards near forests had higher lanternfly populations, likely because the insects don’t disperse far and often migrate from nearby trees.



“If you’re searching in a vineyard close to the forest, that’s more likely where they’re going to be,” Fuller said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-combating-invasive-species-with-dogs">Combating invasive species with dogs </h2>



This innovative approach offers hope for combating invasive species like the spotted lanternfly. 



By combining human surveys with trained detection dogs, growers and conservationists can strengthen their defense against this destructive pest.



The integration of canine detection into pest management strategies represents a significant step forward in protecting vital ecosystems and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/non-native-species-are-spreading-at-an-exponential-rate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agricultural resources</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecosphere</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

Trained dogs can sniff out invasive pests in forests

Invasive species pose a significant challenge to ecosystems and agriculture, often spreading unnoticed until they have caused considerable damage. Conservationists and growers now have an unusual new ally in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly - trained dogs. A recent study published in the journal Ecosphere highlights how these detection dogs outperform humans in identifying lanternfly egg masses in challenging environments, offering a novel strategy to curb the pest’s spread. "Preventing the introduction of invasive species is championed as the most cost-effective and efficient strategy for avoiding...

Researchers have confirmed that not <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hitting-snooze-is-common-among-sleep-deprived-people/">sleep</a> can negatively impact long-term health. During a 25-year study led by <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> (UCL), experts gathered self-reported data from 7,000 men and women aged 50, 60, and 70. The data included how much sleep the participants got, their death rate, and whether they had been diagnosed with more than one disease (multimorbidity).&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that people who slept for five hours or less at age 50 were 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic disease, and 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic conditions over the course of 25 years, when compared with those who received up to seven hours of sleep.&nbsp;



Among the sleep deprived group, the rate of mortality also increased by 25 percent. When all ages were combined, those who received less than five hours of sleep were 30 to 40 percent more likely to experience multimorbidity.



"Multimorbidity is on the rise in high income countries and more than half of older adults now have at least two chronic diseases. This is proving to be a major challenge for public health, as multimorbidity is associated with high healthcare service use, hospitalisations and disability," said study lead author Dr. Severine Sabia.



"As people get older, their sleep habits and sleep structure change. However, it is recommended to sleep for 7 to 8 hours a night - as sleep durations above or below this have previously been associated with individual chronic diseases."



The researchers did not find any significant benefit to getting nine or more hours of sleep per night.&nbsp;



"Our findings show that short sleep duration is also associated with multimorbidity," said Dr. Sabia. "To ensure a better night's sleep, it is important to promote good sleep hygiene, such as making sure the bedroom is quiet, dark and a comfortable temperature before sleeping. It's also advised to remove electronic devices and avoid large meals before bedtime. Physical activity and exposure to light during the day might also promote good sleep."



"Getting enough sleep allows your body to rest. There are a host of other ways that poor sleep could increase the risk of heart disease or stroke, including by increasing inflammation and increasing blood pressure," said Jo Whitmore, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation.



"This research adds to a growing body of research that highlights the importance of getting a good night's sleep."



This research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004109">PLOS Medicine</a>.



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.



---



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

Lack of sleep linked to greater risk of comorbid disease

Researchers have confirmed that not sleep can negatively impact long-term...

Protected areas are vitally important for conserving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-biodiversity-could-shift-rapidly-due-to-climate-change/">biodiversity</a> worldwide, hence the drive to increase the 16.8 percent of Earth’s surface area that is currently protected, to 30 percent by 2030. This is the aim of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity, as described in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. However, not all species are likely to respond in the same way to protected areas (PAs) and, while they are crucial for the maintenance of global diversity and ecosystem services, they may not be sufficient to halt the declines of some species, especially if they typically have large home ranges.



Elephants are a case in point here, and it is important to understand their use of PAs before declaring large new wildlife conservation areas in order to meet the 2030 global goals. In the Sundaic region (Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Malaysian Peninsula), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) occur in the wild and range widely to forage and interact. This species of elephants is now endangered in Southeast Asia and the remnant populations tends to live in highly fragmented landscapes. In the Sundaic region it is estimated that only about 50 percent of the original forest remains, and less of 10 percent of it is formally protected.&nbsp;



New research, giving the most comprehensive analysis of Asian elephant movement and habitat preference to date, has now been published in the British Ecological Society’s <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14286">Journal of Applied Ecology</a> in order to evaluate the role of PAs in the protection of Asian elephants and their habitats in the Sundaic region. The study was conducted by three different research teams between 2010 and 2020. More than 600,000 GPs locations were collected for a total of 102 elephants from two different populations. One of the populations was in Peninsular Malaysia, and the other in Sabah, Borneo; both of these areas are home to numerous managed and protected wildlife areas, with the levels of protection varying considerably.



The researchers found that, while PAs were important places of sanctuary, elephants from both populations spent more than half their time outside the boundaries of these PAs. They showed their biggest preference for areas within three kilometers of PA boundaries, according to the authors, which ties in with habitats such as secondary forest, forest edges, forest gaps and more open canopies. The elephants like to eat grasses, bamboo, palms and fast-growing trees, which are common in disturbed or more open environments, but relatively scarce under the canopy of old-growth forests.&nbsp;



Most of the tracked elephants had more than half of their home ranges, as well as their core areas outside PAs and they generally favored habitats outside, rather than inside them. This situation is of concern because it inevitably brings the elephants into conflict with humans who farm outside the PAs. While protected forests remain important places of refuge, they will not fulfil the elephants’ need to forage on faster-growing species at forest edges.



Dr. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and the University of Nottingham in Malaysia, and one of the lead authors of the study said: “Our results show that protected areas are very important, but not enough as an overall strategy for Asian elephant conservation.”



“Given their preference for habitats outside the protected areas, elephants will inevitably come into conflict with people. This highlights the importance of promoting human-elephant coexistence around protected areas."



The authors emphasize that their findings do not diminish the importance of protected areas, a cornerstone of global conservation strategies. Dr. Benoit Goossens from Danau Girang Field Centre and Cardiff University, the other lead author added: “We believe protected areas are the most effective tool for biodiversity conservation in general. In the case of Asian elephants, protected areas provide long-term safety and represent the core areas for elephant conservation.”



“Our results show that elephant conservation strategies need to be realistic and acknowledge the nuances of elephant habitat needs and preferences, integrating holistic human-elephant coexistence approaches outside protected areas.”



Based on their findings, the authors make three key recommendations for Asian elephant conservation:



<ol><li>include large protected areas with core areas where elephants can find safety;</li><li>incorporate ecological corridors to connect networks of protected areas;</li><li>mitigate against human-elephant conflict, especially around protected areas, with emphasis on protecting people’s safety and livelihoods, as well as promoting tolerance towards elephant presence.</li></ol>



Speaking on the next steps for research in this area and Asian elephant conservation, Dr. Antonio de la Torre, first author of the study, said: “Human-elephant conflict is now the main threat for Asian elephants, yet we know surprisingly little about the effectiveness of different mitigation strategies and how to promote long-term and sustainable human-elephant coexistence.”



“Understanding how we can reduce the costs of this conflict for both people and elephants, and how to increase people’s tolerance towards elephant presence, should be the top research priority in the area."



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.



---



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

Are protected forest areas valuable to Asian elephants?

Protected areas are vitally important for conserving biodiversity worldwide, hence...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.nd.edu/">University of Notre Dame</a> has shed more light on people’s tendency to hit the snooze button on their alarm devices. The experts found that 57 percent of the participants were habitual snoozers, most likely due to the fact that they are not getting sufficient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-age-could-predict-health-and-lifespan/">sleep</a>. Although scientists and medical professionals have long advised against such behavior, the act of snoozing has remained until now virtually unstudied.



“Most of what we know about snoozing is taken from data on sleep, stress, or related behaviors,” said study lead author Stephen Mattingly, who conducted the research during a postdoctoral fellowship at Notre Dame. “Alarm clocks, smartphones, they all have snooze buttons. The medical establishment is generally against the use of snoozing, but when we went to look at what hard data existed, there was none. We now have the data to prove just how common it is — and there is still so much that we do not know.”



Since, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC), only one in three Americans get enough sleep, Dr. Mattingly and his colleagues suggest that snoozing may be how some of them battle their chronic exhaustion. “So many people are snoozing because so many people are chronically tired,” Mattingly explained. “If only one in three people are sleeping adequately, that means a lot of us are turning to other means to manage fatigue.”



By surveying 450 adults with full-time, salaried employment, the scientists found that females were 50 percent more likely to snooze than males, and that all snoozers tended to experience more disturbances during sleeping hours. Moreover, night owls – people who go to sleep later in the night – were found to snooze more and be more tired in general. “In the 9 to 5 world, night owls are losing,” Mattingly warned. Finally, respondents who woke naturally, without the help of an alarm, slept longer and consumed less caffeine.



“Part of the focus of this study was to demystify what is happening with snoozing,” said study senior author Aaron Striegel, a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Notre Dame. “Is it really worse than waking up to an alarm on the first ring — is it that much different?"



"The recommendation against an alarm is well-founded, but as far as we can tell from the physiology and our data, waking to one alarm or hitting the snooze button and waking to two or three alarms doesn’t make much of a difference. If you need an alarm because you’re sleep-deprived — that’s the issue.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac184">SLEEP</a>.



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.



---



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

Hitting snooze is common among sleep-deprived people

A new study led by the University of Notre Dame...

Tropical cyclones are among the most costly and harmful of natural disasters. Annual global damages due to these meteorological events stand at more than $26bn and this only looks set to increase in future. In the US, tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cyclones-and-fires-interact-worsening-the-effects-of-each-other/">cyclones</a> have caused more than half of all damages attributed to extreme weather since 1980. In a new study, published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac90d8">Environmental Research Letters</a>, scientists from Potsdam University in the Netherlands revisit Hurricane Harvey, one of the most destructive tropical cyclones to hit the U.S., and assess the possible economic repercussions under different scenarios of increased global warming.&nbsp;



“Tropical cyclones draw their energy from ocean surface heat. Also, warmer air can hold more water which eventually can get released in heavy rains and flooding that often occur when a hurricane makes landfall,” said study lead author Robin Middelanis. “It’s thus clear since long that hurricane damages will become bigger if we continue to heat up our Earth system.”&nbsp;



Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas coast in August 2017 as a category four tropical cyclone. It hung around for four days releasing torrential rainfall and flooding large areas in the state of Texas, but also in Louisiana. Harvey resulted in 89 deaths and caused an estimated total damage of $125bn (in 2017 dollars). Adjusting for price inflation, this makes Harvey the second-costliest hurricane on record after Katrina (2005).



The scientists used information from Hurricane Harvey to model what the likely damages and costs would be today, under different global warming scenarios. At the time of Harvey, it was estimated that a significant share of Harvey's economic costs could be attributed to the ∼1 ∘C of global warming that had taken place by 2017, and the researchers wanted to highlight the potential impact of a repeat Harvey, but under future warming scenarios.&nbsp;



The experts state that, even though the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that tropical cyclone frequency will remain stable or even decrease in future, it projects an increase in intensity and precipitation during the most severe events.&nbsp;



When computing the national and global economic repercussions of Hurricane Harvey under more severe scenarios, the researchers considered not only the direct damages done, but also the economic consequences of local production losses from business interruption. These can propagate through the global supply chain network and lead to higher-order effects and associated economic repercussions elsewhere in the world. In their simulations of over 7000 regional economic sectors with more than 1.8 million supply chain connections, the scientists found that the US national economy’s supply chains cannot compensate future local production losses from hurricanes if climate change continues.



“We investigated global warming levels of up to 5°C – which unfortunately might be reached by the end of our century if climate policy fails us,” said study co-author Anders Levermann. “We do not want to quantify temperature thresholds for the limit of adaptation of the US economy’s national supply chains, since we feel there’s too much uncertainty involved. Yet we are certain that eventually the US economy’s supply chain capacities as they are now will not be enough if global warming continues. There is a limit of how much the US economy can take, we just don’t know exactly where it is.”



The projections were based on the expectation that precipitation will increase with global warming and that hurricanes may grow larger and have longer decay time on land, therefore affecting larger areas. They also considered three different scenarios in which wind speeds increase and assumed that damages would increase linearly with precipitation and that recovery time from business interruption would be proportional to damages. They state that the interruption of business while repairs are effected can lead to the redistribution of services, both locally and globally, which can affect quality and efficiency.



Ironically, in the case of hurricane Harvey it was particularly the oil and gas industry in Texas that suffered from the impacts. Global warming is driven by the emissions from burning oil and gas (and coal), and Texas is responsible for over 42 percent of U.S. crude oil production and 25 percent of natural gas production. The computer simulations showed that production losses in the U.S. fuel sector would be most strongly compensated by countries such as Canada, Norway, Venezuela and Indonesia, at the expense of the U.S. economy.



“When things break and production fails locally, there’s always someone in the world who is happy to make money by selling the replacement goods,” said Levermann. “So why worry? Well, reduced production means increasing prices, and even if that means it’s good for some economies, it is generally bad for the consumers – the people. Also from a global economic perspective, shifts due to disrupted supply chains can mean that less efficient producers step in. It’s a pragmatic, straightforward conclusion that we need to avoid increasing greenhouse gas emissions which amplify this kind of disruptions.”



The researchers conclude that, as the direct and indirect costs of tropical cyclone damage increase under future global warming, the U.S. will reach a point where it can no longer absorb or compensate for the losses. This will leave the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage as other, less affected countries step in to take over the services that have been disabled due to cyclone damage.



When considering the potentially larger impacts of future tropical cyclones, Middelanis said one of the important questions is whether can we deal with that, economically. "The answer is: not like this, we can’t. Our calculations show, for the first time, that the U.S. economy as one of the strongest on our planet, will eventually not be able to offset the losses in their supply chains on their own. Increasing hurricane damages will exceed the coping capacities of this economic super-power.”



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.



---



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

Hurricanes are becoming too costly for the United States

Tropical cyclones are among the most costly and harmful of...

Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-spiders-transfer-more-sperm-when-mating-with-cannibals/">spiders</a> are anti-social, spinning their solitary webs to catch prey that wanders into some lonely corner. However, a few spiders have evolved social behaviors and hunt together.&nbsp;



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a>, experts have investigated the various hunting behaviors of social spiders. The scientists looked at the time it took for the first spider to attack a prey species, the number of spiders attacking a prey species, and the size of prey preferred. The study used grasshoppers, crickets and locusts as prey species.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers observed that each of the three social spider species in the genus Stegodyphus hunted their prey differently.&nbsp;



“When spiders become social, they all end up becoming extremely inbred, they start caring for each other’s babies, and they hunt and feed together. What’s new in this study is that, despite these general similarities, we found there is not just one way of being a social spider. Environmental conditions and competition will have shaped different hunting strategies in different species," explained study lead author Dr. Lena Grinsted.



The Indian cooperative spider (Stegodyphus sarasinorum) attacked prey in large numbers, irrespective of the prey’s size, while most of the spiders attacked smaller prey. Interestingly, the African social spider (Stegodyphus dumicola) seemed to prefer medium-sized prey, with more spiders attacking smaller prey and fewer attacking larger prey.​​&nbsp;



The African velvet social spider (Stegodyphus mimosarum), which lives in the same area as the African social spider, hunted differently. African velvet social spiders were found to be shy, rejecting many potential prey species. They were slow to attack, regardless of size.&nbsp;



“This indicates that where two different social species share the same habitat, they have evolved their own niches in response to competition between them," said Dr. Grinsted.



The research is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-20-097">Journal of Arachnology</a>.



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.



---



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

Social spiders have very different hunting strategies

Most spiders are anti-social, spinning their solitary webs to catch...

A new project will identify unique species and assess their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-whale-species-is-already-threatened-with-extinction/">extinction</a> risk. This work aims to help benchmark biodiversity change in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts.



Arctic ecosystems are among the most impacted by global warming. The Arctic Ocean is an indicator of climate change consequences, yet it remains one of the most poorly understood environments.&nbsp;



An international team of scientists developed an EcoOmics dataset that reveals a year in the biological life of the central Arctic Ocean with emphasis on microbiomes, communities of micro-organisms living together in a habitat. This dataset aims to support the shortage of antibiotics and antiviral medication, and reveal novel biology that could influence our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The team includes researchers from the German Helmholtz Association, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Joint Genome Institute (JGI, USA) and Earlham Institute (UK), as well as several other institutions.



Data samples will be used from the largest polar expedition in history, the study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) program. Hundreds of scientists coordinated marine, atmospheric, and sea-ice research to improve our understanding of the Arctic Ocean’s role in climate processes. This will help understand how sea ice and other organisms will sustain Arctic marine ecosystem services under climate change.



Marine microbes play pivotal roles in climate feedback and in sustaining food webs. They are central for conservation and ecosystem services. Microbes also serve as biological indicators due to their fast response to environmental change.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This is the first and largest effort to sequence the central Arctic Ocean through space and time,” said Professor Thomas Mock of the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>. “MOSAiC gives us an important glimpse into the future of Arctic ecosystems beyond 2050, when the Arctic Ocean is predicted to be ice-free during summer. This integrative scientific approach is unprecedented for polar oceans, but it is needed to improve our projections of interacting species’ responses to climate change in the Arctic.”



The initial results provide the first evidence in the Arctic Ocean of habitat filtering - the process by which habitat characteristics select for species adapted to them. The team has also found that the central Arctic Ocean is a biological “treasure trove” which has evolved in order to thrive in the harsh environment.



“EcoOmics will contribute to conservation efforts and extend fundamental questions in biology including the evolution of life on planet Earth, which remains incomplete unless polar organisms are considered.” said Professor Mock.



“Those organisms are likely a treasure trove for discovering novel biology because of their unique adaptation. How our understanding of global biodiversity will be influenced by novel polar biology remains to be seen, but our preliminary insights hold great promise.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



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.



---



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

Arctic Ocean found to be a biological "treasure trove"

A new project will identify unique species and assess their...

New research highlights the potential for sexual transmission of monkeypox in humans. The 2022 monkeypox outbreak has been linked to sexual contact in patients through direct contact with bodily fluids and skin lesions. Understanding the biology of monkeypox <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smartphone-app-can-detect-covid-19-infection-in-your-voice/">infection</a> of the testes has substantial public health implications.



Investigators at the <a href="https://mrdc.health.mil/">U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases</a> (USAMRIID) analyzed tissue samples from crab-eating macaques, which serve as a primate model for studying the disease and the efficacy of vaccines and treatments against monkeypox.



“We examined tissue samples obtained during both the acute phase of the disease, when infection is at its peak, and the convalescent phase, when infection is gradually subsiding,” explained study senior author Dr. Xiankun (Kevin) Zeng. “We detected monkeypox virus in interstitial cells and seminiferous tubules of the testes, as well as the epididymal lumina, which are the sites of sperm production and maturation.”



The team also found evidence of persistent monkeypox infection in two macaques that survived the virus. While the virus cleared from most organs, it could be detected for up to 37 days post-exposure in the testes.



The USAMRIID team had previously demonstrated that other viruses, including Ebola, can persist in the organs of primates where the immune system is suppressed. Similar to humans, these immune privileged sites include the eyes, brain, and testes.



“Our data provide evidence that monkeypox virus may be shed into semen during both acute and convalescent stages of the disease in crab-eating macaques,” said Dr. Zeng. “It seems plausible, therefore, that human transmission in convalescent male patients might occur via semen.”&nbsp;



Further studies are needed to understand the origins and implications of viral DNA shed in semen, as well as to confirm whether semen from monkeypox patients contains infectious virus.&nbsp;



The researchers noted that the macaque model may not fully reflect monkeypox in humans. This is because the animals demonstrate a more severe disease than in humans.&nbsp; The incubation period in animals is also shorter.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/">Nature Microbiology</a>.



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.



---



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

Monkeypox may be sexually transmitted in humans

New research highlights the potential for sexual transmission of monkeypox...

Mortality rates increased in most countries due to the global Coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020. This led to changes in life expectancy that were more severe in some countries than in others. Previous global epidemics have seen life expectancies recover fairly rapidly afterwards, but this has not been the case in all countries as the current pandemic has progressed. New research published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01450-3">Nature Human Behavior</a>.has found that, in some countries, deficits in life expectancy continue to persist more than two years after the start of the pandemic.



Scientists from Oxford’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.demographicscience.ox.ac.uk/">Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research</a> used data from 29 countries, including those in Europe, as well as Chile and the U.S., to assess whether life expectancy had ‘bounced back’ to pre-pandemic levels. They found that life expectancy in 2021 remained lower than would be predicted across all 29 countries, had pre-pandemic trends continued. They say that COVID-19 has caused a protracted shock to life expectancy levels, leading to global mortality changes that are unprecedented in the last 70 years.



This finding about the magnitude and distribution of mortality due to COVID-19 confounds claims that the disease has had no more impact than a flu-like illness. Life expectancy losses during recurring flu epidemics over the second-half of the 20th&nbsp;century have been much smaller and less widespread than those seen in the current pandemic.



The researchers identified a clear geographical divide between Western and Eastern European countries that appeared in 2021. Those in Western Europe experienced life expectancy bounce backs from the sharp losses in 2020. Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and France saw complete bounce backs, and returned to pre-pandemic (2019) life expectancy levels. England and Wales, on the other hand, saw partial bounce backs from 2020 levels in 2021. Life expectancy in Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, still remained at the same depressed level as seen in 2020.&nbsp;



But Eastern Europe and the U.S. witnessed worsening or compounded losses in life expectancy over the same period. The scale of life expectancy losses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern Europe were akin to those last seen at the break-up of the Soviet Union, according to the research.&nbsp;



The authors state that this East-West difference in life expectancy during COVID-19 generally reflects bigger losses in countries that had lower pre-pandemic life expectancy levels to start with. Bulgaria was the worst-hit of the countries studied, with a decline in life expectancy of nearly 43 months, over two years of the pandemic. Furthermore, the study’s results show that “Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia suffered substantially higher life expectancy deficits in 2021 compared to 2020, indicating a worsening mortality burden over the course of the pandemic.”



There was also an apparent vaccination effect that followed the same East-West divide in Europe. Countries with higher proportions of fully vaccinated people experienced smaller life expectancy deficits. Older people, especially those over 80 who had seen the bulk of deaths in 2020, benefitted from vaccine protection and suffered less excess mortality in 2021.



“A notable shift between 2020 and 2021 was that the age patterns of excess mortality shifted in 2021 towards younger age groups, as vaccines began to protect the old," said study co-author <a href="https://www.demographicscience.ox.ac.uk/ridhi-kashyap">Dr. Ridhi Kashyap</a>. But there were ‘outliers’ that had surprisingly high life expectancy deficits, in spite of high vaccination rates.&nbsp;



“Finer-grained details of the age prioritization of vaccine roll-out and the types of vaccines used may account for some of these differences, as well as correlations between vaccine uptake and compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions or the overall health care system capacity," explained study co-author Dr. Jonas Schöley.&nbsp;



“Countries, such as Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and France, managed a recovery to pre-pandemic levels of life expectancy because they managed to protect both the old and the young.”



The research team expresses concern about the possible wider international impact of the pandemic. “In 2020, losses in life expectancy suffered in Brazil and Mexico exceeded those experienced in the U.S., so it is likely these countries may have continued suffering mortality impacts in 2021 – even potentially exceeding the 43 months we estimated for Bulgaria," said study co-author&nbsp;<a href="https://www.demographicscience.ox.ac.uk/jose-manuel-aburto">Dr. José Manuel Aburto</a>.



‘It is plausible that countries with ineffective public health responses will see a protracted health crisis induced by the pandemic with medium-term stalls in life expectancy improvements, while other regions manage a smoother recovery to return to pre-pandemic trends," wrote the researchers.



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.



---



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

COVID-19's impact on life expectancy is worse than anticipated

Mortality rates increased in most countries due to the global...

By examining data on the past four decades of hurricane activity and the conditions that shaped them, a team of researchers from Department of Energy’s <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/">Pacific Northwest National Laboratory</a> (PNNL) has found that the U.S. Atlantic Coast is becoming a breeding ground for rapidly intensifying massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricanes-stronger-climate-change/">hurricanes</a>, due to climate change and other environmental conditions that beget increasingly severe storms.



“Our findings have profound implications for coastal residents, decision- and policy-makers,” said study lead author Khartik Balaguru, a climate scientist at PNNL. “And this isn’t specific only to the Atlantic. It’s happening in several prominent coastal regions across the world.”



According to Dr. Balaguru and his colleagues, climate change is the key factor influencing the severity of hurricanes. As temperatures rise, the Earth’s surface warms, with land becoming significantly warmer than the sea. As greenhouse gases continue to build, the temperature difference between warmer land and cooler sea increases substantially.&nbsp;



“Unlike the ocean with unlimited water supply, there’s much less water in soil. That means the land can’t evaporate as much water, so it can’t get rid of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases as quickly as the ocean,” explained study co-author Roby Leung, an atmospheric scientist at PNNL.



The higher-pressure air over the cooler sea blows inward, toward lower-pressure land areas, while the Earth’s rotation guides these winds in a cyclonic, twisting direction, thus strengthening what scientists call “vorticity” – a spinning motion of air that sucks up warm, moist air and convert its energy into damaging winds. As moist air rises inside the hurricane’s core and cools towards the top, water vapor condenses and emits heat which, in its turn, warms nearby air, causing it to ascend further, invigorating the storm.&nbsp;



Although vertical wind shear can throw a wrench into this “heat engine”&nbsp;– as hurricanes are often described – by injecting dry air into the storm’s core, this negating force has unfortunately weakened on the Atlantic Coast over the past decades.&nbsp;



“The nearshore environment has absolutely become more favorable for hurricanes near the Atlantic Coast, and that’s very consistent with the rising hurricane intensification we’ve observed in the region,” said Dr. Balaguru.



By using models depicting the consequences of climate change on these factors, the scientists found that wind shear will continue to weaken on the Atlantic Coast, while the atmospheric humidity and nearshore vorticity will increase, bringing even greater chances of wetter, faster-developing hurricanes by the end of the century. Although this research has only focused on the northern hemisphere, one could expect similar phenomena in the southern hemisphere too, Dr. Balaguru concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



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.



---



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

Hurricanes will continue to become more intense

By examining data on the past four decades of hurricane...

Snailfish are found in all of the world’s oceans, at depths varying from shallow intertidal to the deepest oceanic trenches. Of the approximately 400 identified species, 20 are known from the eastern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-pool-of-water-in-the-pacific-linked-to-human-activities/">Pacific</a>, off the west coast of South America. Although the shallow-living species are relatively well studied, those that inhabit the deepest oceanic habitat, known as the hadal zone, are not well known.



In 2018, an international team of scientists studied the fauna of the Atacama Trench, an expansive underwater subduction zone that runs along the west coast of South America and is as deep as the parallel-running Andes Mountains are high. The deepest regions of this trench, lying between 6,000 and 8,000 meters below sea level, fall in the hadal zone, where conditions are characterized by immense pressures, freezing cold temperatures and pitch darkness. It is no surprise that the fauna inhabiting this trench have not been studied very much.



The team of researchers, including Newcastle University scientists, used specially engineered underwater cameras and lights that were lowered to these depths on custom-made, free-falling landers. Bait, in the form of mackerel, was attached to the landers to attract organisms to the area, and traps enabled the collection of some of these. The two landers were lowered to the depths on 18 different occasions and recorded the presence of numerous small, deep-sea creatures that inhabit this inhospitable zone, including three different types of snailfish.



Previous investigations of deep-sea trenches in many locations have confirmed the importance of snailfish in the hadal zone. They are suction-feeding predators that prey on the many small amphipods (crustaceans) also inhabiting the depths. However, the true diversity and distribution of snailfish species, particularly in the deepest regions of the ocean, remain uncertain due to the scarcity of samples. From the camera footage the researchers identified one type of snailfish that was unfamiliar to them and appeared different from what they expected.&nbsp;



The small blue fish, seen between about 6,000 to 7,600 m in depth, didn’t look like other hadal snailfish. Instead of being pale in color with diminutive eyes, it was blue and had large eyes – unexpected for a creature that lives in total darkness. With these features, it resembled other species of snailfish that are found living in much shallower waters.&nbsp;



The team managed to trap one of these unfamiliar individuals and brought it to the surface. Although it died due to the extreme change in pressure, the researchers were able to use microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and DNA analysis to compare the new species with other members of the snailfish family. In their description, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12526-022-01294-0">Marine Biodiversity</a>, they name the new species Paraliparis selti, with the specific name meaning ‘blue’ in the Kunza language of the indigenous peoples of the Atacama Desert.



To the team's surprise, the new species appears to be a separate colonizer of the Atacama Trench and marks a new lineage of deep sea snailfish. It is not directly related to the other species known from the area. Species in the genus Paraliparis are particularly abundant in the Southern Ocean of the Antarctic and are rarely found living at depths greater than 2,000 m. This is the first time that a species from this genus has been found inhabiting the hadal zone.&nbsp;



Study lead author, Dr Thom Linley, a visiting researcher at <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> said: “I find this family of fishes absolutely fascinating. They are not at all what we expect from a deep-sea fish and I love to show people that the world’s deepest fishes are actually pretty cute.”



“For me to get a camera down to where these animals live, it’s made of inches thick stainless steel and sapphire glass. It then films these delicate and beautiful animals perfectly adapted to this extreme environment. With engineering-built force we can only clumsily visit these animals for a short time.”



“We have been wondering for some time just what makes this type of fish so good at living deep. Maybe it was a series of lucky accidents, a chance fluke, that happened in one lineage. Finding this new species tells us that it’s bigger than that. Lightning struck twice and there is something special about this Family.”



“Paraliparis selti provides a fantastic opportunity to explore what allows fish to live so deep. If we only had a single lineage to study, we could never be sure which traits were just part of that lineage and which are the deep-sea secret sauce.”



The researchers conclude that the new species may have evolved from the cold-adapted species of the Southern Ocean, and its discovery and genetic data will help unravel how this group of remarkable fish have evolved, adapted, and diversified into the greater depths of the deep sea. This little blue fish opens new questions about the relationship between cold temperature and high-pressure adaptation and gives a new understanding of how and when life took to the deep.



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.



---



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

Blue snailfish discovered in the darkest ocean depths

Snailfish are found in all of the world’s oceans, at...

A team of astrophysicists from the <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/">Liverpool John Moores University</a> (LJMU) in the UK and the <a href="https://www.umontpellier.fr/en/">University of Montpellier</a> in France has devised an “early warning” system to sound the alert when a massive star – typically between eight and 20 solar masses - is about to end its “life” in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/supernova-explosion-lit-up-the-sky-1700-years-ago/">supernova explosion</a>.



According to the experts, in the last phase of their lives – the so-called “red supergiant” phase, occurring a few months before their explosion – massive stars will suddenly become about a hundred times fainter in visible light. This significant dimming is caused by a sudden accumulation of materials around the stars, obscuring their light.



Until recently, scientists were not sure how long it took for the stars to accrete these materials. Now, for the first time, the researchers managed to simulate how red supergiants might look like when they are embedded in such pre-explosion “cocoons.”&nbsp;



Since old telescope archives show images of stars that exploded about a year after the images were taken, and the stars appeared normal – meaning that they cannot yet have built up the circumstellar cocoon – the cocoon must be assembled in less than a year, which is considered to be extremely fast.



“The dense material almost completely obscures the star, making it 100 times fainter in the visible part of the spectrum. This means that, the day before the star explodes, you likely wouldn’t be able to see it was there,” said study lead author Benjamin Davis, an associate professor of Astrophysics at LJMU.&nbsp;



“Until now, we’ve only been able to get detailed observations of supernovae hours after they’ve already happened. With this early-warning system we can get ready to observe them real-time, to point the world’s best telescopes at the precursor stars, and watch them getting literally ripped apart in front of our eyes,” he concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2427">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



Image Credit: European Southern Observatory/L. Calçada



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.



---



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

Scientists can now observe supernova explosions

A team of astrophysicists from the Liverpool John Moores University...

Glass,Globe,In,The,In,Nature,Concept,For,Environment,And

New research from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/low-oxygen-zone-is-expanding-in-the-arabian-gulf/">oxygen</a> levels in the Earth’s atmosphere “fluctuated wildly” one billion years ago, which could have accelerated the development of early animal life.



Atmospheric oxygen is believed to be developed in three stages, starting with the Great Oxidation Event around two billion years ago, when oxygen first appeared in the atmosphere. During the third stage, around 400 million years ago, atmospheric oxygen rose to levels that exist today. &nbsp;



The second stage remains uncertain. This stage occurred during the Neoproterozoic Era, which started about one billion years ago and lasted for around 500 million years. This was when early forms of animal life emerged.  &nbsp;



Scientists have been trying to identify what led to the development of oxygen levels during this time that played a pivotal role in early evolution.  Did oxygen levels suddenly rise or was there a gradual increase? &nbsp;



Early animals known as Ediacaran biota were multi-celled organisms that required oxygen. These organisms&nbsp; have been found fossilized in sedimentary rocks that are 541 to 635 million years old. &nbsp;



To investigate, the research team used measurements of carbon, or carbon isotopes, found in limestone rocks taken from shallow seas. Based on the different types of carbon found, the researchers calculated photosynthesis levels that existed millions of years ago to infer atmospheric oxygen levels. &nbsp;



The experts used the data to produce a record of oxygen levels in the atmosphere over the last 1.5 billion years. This historical detail tells us how much oxygen would have been diffusing into the ocean to support early marine life.&nbsp;



Dr. Alex Krause, lead scientist on the project, said the findings give a new perspective on how oxygen levels were changing on Earth. “The early Earth, for the first two billion years of its existence, was anoxic, devoid of atmospheric oxygen. Then oxygen levels started to rise, which is known as the Great Oxidation Event." &nbsp;



“Up until now, scientists had thought that after the Great Oxidation Event, oxygen levels were either low and then shot up just before we see the first animals evolve, or that oxygen levels were high for many millions of years before the animals came along," said Dr. Krause.



“But our study shows oxygen levels were far more dynamic. There was an oscillation between high and low levels of oxygen for a long time before early forms of animal life emerged. We are seeing periods where the ocean environment, where early animals lived, would have had abundant oxygen - and then periods where it does not." &nbsp;



This periodic change in environmental conditions would have produced evolutionary pressures where some life forms may have become extinct and new ones could emerge, explained Dr. Benjamin Mills, who supervised the project. He noted that the oxygenated periods expanded “habitable spaces” – parts of the ocean where oxygen levels would have been high enough to support early animal life forms. &nbsp;



“When oxygen levels decline, there is severe environmental pressure on some organisms which could drive extinctions. And when the oxygen-rich waters expand, the new space allows the survivors to rise to ecological dominance.”



These habitable spaces lasted for millions of years, which provided enough time for early ecosystems to develop.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



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.



---



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

Animal evolution was accelerated by fluctuating oxygen levels

New research from the University of Leeds has revealed that...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...