Some of the most dramatic climate events in history are the Snowball Earth episodes, which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. Nearly the entire planet was covered in ice up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) thick during these periods.&nbsp;



The rare Snowball Earth events did not follow regular cycles but lasted for millions to tens of millions of years before being followed by intense <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-global-warming-event-sheds-light-on-earths-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warming</a>. Despite their significance, the details surrounding how these frozen periods ended are still not fully understood.



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Washington</a> (UW) offers a more complete picture of how the last Snowball Earth episode ended and sheds light on why it was followed by a major expansion of life, including the emergence of Earth's first animals.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-in-key-earth-properties">Changes in key Earth properties</h2>



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51412-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>, focuses on ancient rocks known as “cap carbonates,” which are believed to have formed as the planet’s ice sheets thawed.&nbsp;



These rocks provide clues about the state of Earth's atmosphere and oceans roughly 640 million years ago - long before ice cores or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-largest-ever-solar-storm-discovered-through-tree-rings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tree rings</a> could record such history.



Study lead author Trent Thomas is a doctoral student in earth and space sciences at UW.



“Cap carbonates contain information about key properties of Earth's atmosphere and ocean, such as changing levels of carbon dioxide in the air or the acidity of the ocean,” said Thomas. "Our theory now shows how these properties changed during and after Snowball Earth.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-formation-of-cap-carbonates-nbsp">Formation of cap carbonates&nbsp;</h2>



Cap carbonates are layered limestone or dolomite rocks with distinct chemical properties. Today, they can be found in more than 50 locations worldwide, including places like Death Valley, Namibia, Siberia, Ireland, and Australia.&nbsp;



These formations are believed to have resulted from the melting of the ice sheets that once covered Earth, triggering significant shifts in atmospheric and oceanic chemistry. The unique sediments were then deposited on the ocean floor.



The rocks are called “caps” because they lie atop the glacial deposits left behind after the Snowball Earth <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-complete-record-of-snowball-earth-found-in-rock-formation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">events</a>, and they’re classified as “carbonates” because they consist of carbon-containing limestone or dolomite.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animals-appeared-after-the-last-snowball-earth-nbsp">Animals appeared after the last Snowball Earth&nbsp;</h2>



Understanding how these rocks formed helps clarify the carbon cycle during periods of dramatic climate shifts. 



This latest study, which models these environmental changes, also provides clues about the evolution of life on Earth and explains why more complex life-forms emerged following the last Snowball Earth.



“Life on Earth was simple - in the form of microbes, algae, or other tiny aquatic organisms - for over two billion years leading up to Snowball Earth,” said senior author David Catling, a professor of earth and space sciences at UW.&nbsp;



“In fact, the billion years leading up to Snowball Earth are called the ‘boring billion’ because so little happened. Then two Snowball Earth events occurred, and soon after, animals appear in the fossil record.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chemistry-of-a-snow-covered-earth-nbsp">Chemistry of a snow-covered Earth&nbsp;</h2>



The new research offers a framework to explain how these two events may be connected. The study models the chemistry and geology during three distinct phases of Snowball Earth.&nbsp;



During the peak of the icy period, the thick ice sheets covering the planet reflected sunlight, though some open water allowed limited exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. Meanwhile, the cold seawater continued reacting with the ocean floor.



Over time, carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere until it trapped enough heat to warm the planet and melt the ice.&nbsp;



Once this occurred, rainfall began again, and freshwater from glacial melt poured into the oceans, creating a layer of meltwater that floated on top of the denser, salty ocean water.&nbsp;



This layering slowed down ocean circulation. Eventually, ocean mixing resumed, allowing the upper ocean, deep ocean, and atmosphere to interact again.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-recovery-from-the-snowball-period-nbsp">Earth's recovery from the Snowball period&nbsp;</h2>



“We predict important changes in the environment as Earth recovered from the Snowball period, some of which affected the temperature, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preparing-for-ocean-acidification-a-silent-killer-of-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acidity</a>, and circulation of the ocean. Now that we know these changes, we can more confidently figure out how they affected Earth’s life,” noted Thomas.



The research team plans to continue exploring how pockets of life that may have survived during Snowball Earth’s tumultuous aftermath could have evolved into the more complex <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-life-and-environment-co-evolved-over-500-million-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a> forms that appeared shortly after.



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‘Snowball Earth’ event set the stage for complex life

Some of the most dramatic climate events in history are the Snowball Earth episodes, which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. Nearly the entire planet was covered in ice up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) thick during these periods.&nbsp; The rare Snowball Earth events did not follow regular cycles but lasted for millions to tens of millions of years before being followed by intense warming. Despite their significance, the details surrounding how these frozen periods ended are still not fully understood. A new study led by...

It should come as no surprise that a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-arctic-warming-sets-the-stage-for-dangerous-algae-blooms/">warming</a> world begets more melting sea ice. Now, a new paper published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a> takes stock of just how much ice is melting in Greenland - and how much is at risk. 



The study, conducted by researchers at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>, used data from the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite to estimate just how much ice-sheet runoff has occurred over the past decade of climatic change.



“As we’ve seen with other parts of the world, Greenland is also vulnerable to an increase in extreme weather events," said study lead author Dr. Thomas Slater.



"As our climate warms, it’s reasonable to expect that the instances of extreme melting in Greenland will happen more often – observations such as these are an important step in helping us to improve climate models and better predict what will happen this century.”



The study found that the amount of ice-sheet runoff has increased by 21 percent since 2011 - that means an estimated 357 billion tons of ice are melting every year.&nbsp;



Dr. Slater remains hopeful that &nbsp;“meaningful targets to cut emissions could reduce ice losses from Greenland by a factor of three, and there is still time to achieve this.”&nbsp;



“Model estimates suggest that the Greenland ice sheet will contribute between about 3 and 23 cm to global sea level rise by 2100. This prediction has a wide range, in part because of uncertainties associated with simulating complex ice melt processes, including those associated with extreme weather," said study co-author Dr. Amber Leeson.



"These new spaceborne estimates of runoff will help us to understand these complex ice melt processes better, improve our ability to model them, and thus enable us to refine our estimates of future sea level rise.”



By combining the real-time satellite observations with complex climate models, researchers like Dr. Leeson and Dr. Slater hope that our predictions can be refined and will help us to anticipate and prevent environmental disasters.



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By <a href="http://mailto:rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Greenland is now losing 357 billion tons of ice each year

It should come as no surprise that a warming world...

Every dog owner is familiar with the cute, inquisitive head tilt commonly used by our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-secrets-revealed-about-the-evolution-of-mammal-tusks/">canine</a> friends. Generally, this form of body language is associated with interest or confusion, but a new study has associated the behavior with a meaningful stimulus such as learning the name of a toy.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a> in Budapest have been collecting data during the Genius Dog Challenge, a series of experiments that were broadcasted live across social media, in addition to a previous study investigating the talent of dogs.



The researchers found that when dogs learn the names of their favorite toys, they often tilt their heads when their owner requests it from them. The data also shows consistency on which side a dog will tilt its head toward.



Humans and other animals often present asymmetry in the way that they perceive and move through an environment with their senses. For example, humans are generally right-handed, or prefer one eye or ear to another. In dogs, this is often found in tail wagging, paw preference, or sniffing through a favorable nostril. The asymmetrical head tilt is a further example of this phenomenon.



“Tilting the head is yet another asymmetrical movement in dogs, but it had never been studied. We investigated the frequency and direction of this behavior in response to a specific human verbal vocalization: when the owner asks the dog to bring a toy by saying its name. We did so after realizing that it often happened when the dogs were listening to their owners,” explained Dr. Andrea Sommese, lead researcher for the study.



Data from a previous study showed that not every dog was able to learn the names of its toys over three months of intensive training. However, some were able to learn multiple names without much effort, receiving the label of "Gifted Word Learner" dogs. Out of the 40 dogs studied, 33 were deemed as "typical" and the remaining seven as Gifted Word Learners.



The gifted dogs regularly tilted their heads upon hearing the name of a toy, and the side of the tilt was consistent across experiments taking place over two years. As a result, the researchers have hypothesized that there is an association between head-tilting and the processing of meaningful stimuli.



“It is important to notice that this study only investigated head tilts during a very specific dog-owner communicative interaction: when the owner asks the dog to fetch a named toy. Hence, it is important to refrain from thinking that only Gifted Word Learner dogs tilt their heads in other situations not tested in this study,” said study co-author Andrea Temesi.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10071">Animal Cognition</a>.



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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

Dogs tilt their heads while processing meaningful stimuli

Every dog owner is familiar with the cute, inquisitive head...

A new study published in the journal <a href="http://thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(21)00448-4/fulltext">The Lancet Global Health</a> has found that fluvoxamine - a cheap, generically available <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-may-prevent-severe-covid-19-infection/">antidepressant</a> - might significantly reduce the risk of severe <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-one-third-of-americans-had-covid-19-by-the-end-of-2020/">COVID-19</a> disease. A trial of 1,500 patients in Brazil showed that those who took this drug were less likely to progress to severe disease and require hospitalization. 



Fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) which is more often used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorders rather than depression. However, it seems to also affect inflammation and reduce blood platelets, which may mitigate the severe clotting effects often caused by coronavirus infections.



"Fluvoxamine may reduce the production of inflammatory molecules called cytokines, that can be triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection," said study co-author Dr. Angela Reiersen, an associate professor of Psychiatry at the <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis</a>.



Dr. Reierson and her colleagues gave 741 participants who were infected with the coronavirus 100 mg of fluvoxamine twice a day for ten days (a treatment which costs approximately $4), and a placebo to the remaining 756 volunteers. Among the patients who received fluvoxamine, only 11 percent needed hospital treatment, compared to nearly 16 percent of those given placebos.



"Given fluvoxamine's safety, tolerability, ease of use, low cost, and widespread availability, these findings might influence national and international guidelines on the clinical management of COVID-19," the study authors reported.



Further research is needed to see whether other antidepressants might have similar, or even better effects. For instance, Prozac, or fluoxetine, is also cheap and even more widely available all over the world. According to the researchers, this drug should be the next to be tested for the potential to mitigate severe COVID-19 disease too.



"It is now crucial to establish whether a class effect exists and whether these drugs can be used interchangeably for COVID-19," the researchers concluded.



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

A cheap antidepressant may reduce severe COVID-19 disease

A new study published in the journal The Lancet Global...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2418">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a> has found that individual organisms have different personalities which shape their ecological roles and thus their contributions to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-fish-can-cause-ecosystem-collapse/">ecosystem</a> services.&nbsp;



Understanding how animals' personalities affect processes like pollination, seed dispersal, the regulation of pest species, or ecotourism can provide ecologists management advice to maximize desired ecosystem services.



“Conservationists rarely consider the roles individuals, with their own unique behavior, physiology, and genome, play in shaping ecosystem processes and consequently ecosystem services, but this is changing,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"An ongoing surge in research on animal personalities (that is, behavioral differences among individuals that are consistent over time and across contexts) is exposing the ecological roles of individuals to scientific scrutiny."



By measuring a large variety of traits, including boldness, aggressiveness, docility, curiosity, or playfulness, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://umaine.edu/">University of Maine</a> shed more light on how animal personalities help them perform a diversity of ecosystem services.&nbsp;



In pollination systems, for example, “fast and inaccurate” or “slow and precise” foragers may succeed in different foraging situations. Thus, fast and impulsive bees likely forage on flowers of simple design, while slower, more reflective bees are generally attracted to complex flowers. In processes such as seed dispersal, bolder, more active animals tend to disperse the seeds they consume farther afield than the more timid ones.



According to the researchers, personality traits also impact the effect of control methods on pest species, by influencing an individual’s trappability, and its relation to predators or humans.&nbsp;



For instance, the severity of plague pandemics appeared to diminish once the highly friendly rat species Rattus rattus, which transmitted the plague bacillus to humans through its fleas, was superseded by the more distant and fearful Rattus norvegicus, which preferred to stay further away from human settlements.



Finally, much ecotourism, such as the whale-watching industry, is dependent on friendly, curious, or playful individual creatures. “Some cetaceans are recognizably individual and repeatedly approach boats for close encounters that are far more exciting than viewing from a legally mandated distance,” the authors reported.



“These examples demonstrate that there is a vast potential to explore ways in which the personality composition of a population may affect the ecosystem services that the population provides,” the researchers concluded.



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

Animal personalities can shape ecosystems

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology...

When human infants learn a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/computer-models-can-mimic-human-language-processing/">language</a>, they look for regularities in the patterns of syllable use within a continuous stream of speech. This technique enables them to identify probable word boundaries; syllables that usually occur together are probably words, and those that do not probably aren’t.&nbsp;Keeping track of patterns in this manner, and learning from the regularities, is known as statistical learning, and it involves the use of complex computations.



A new study by Hungarian researchers has found the first instance of statistical learning of linguistic stimuli in dogs. After only a short exposure (8.5 mins) to continuous speech sounds (made up of meaningless words), the dogs in this study had already succeeded in segmenting the sounds into probable words, using neural and computational mechanisms similar to those used by human infants.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In order to identify and learn probable words from continuous speech, dogs have to keep track of the probability that two different syllables will occur together. This requires complex computation and is the same mechanism by which infants learn to recognize individual words, even before they know the meanings of these words.&nbsp;



“This is exactly how humans, even 8-month-old infants, solve the seemingly difficult task of word segmentation: they calculate complex statistics about the probability of one syllable following the other,” explained&nbsp;Marianna Boros, one of the lead authors of the study, and a postdoctoral researcher at the Neuroethology of Communication Lab, Department of Ethology, <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a>.



“Until now we did not know if any other mammal can also use such complex computations to extract words from speech. We decided to test family dogs’ brain capacities for statistical learning from speech. Dogs are the earliest domesticated animal species and probably the one we speak most often to. Still, we know very little about the neural processes underlying their word learning capacities.”



Study co-lead author Lilla Magyari is a postdoctoral researcher in the same research group, who had laid the methodological foundations for performing non-invasive electrophysiology on awake, untrained, cooperating dogs.&nbsp;



"To find out what kind of statistics dogs calculate when they listen to speech, first we measured their electric brain activity using EEG," said&nbsp;Magyari.



"Interestingly, we saw differences in dogs' brain waves for frequent compared to rare words. But even more surprisingly, we also saw brain wave differences for syllables that always occurred together compared to syllables that only occasionally did, even if total frequencies were the same."



"So, it turns out that dogs keep track not only of simple statistics (the number of times a word occurs) but also of complex statistics (the probability that a word's syllables occur together). This has never been seen in other non-human mammals before. It is exactly the kind of complex statistics human infants use to extract words from continuous speech."



To explore whether dogs use the same brain regions as human infants when computing the statistical patterns in continuous speech, the researchers tested the dogs using functional MRI. This technique measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow to different regions of the brain.&nbsp;



The dogs were trained to lie motionless for the time the measurements were taken. All of the dogs were awake, cooperative and unrestrained during the testing.&nbsp;



"We know that in humans both general learning-related and language-related brain regions participate in this process. And we found the same duality in dogs," explained&nbsp;Boros. "Both a generalist and a specialist brain region seemed to be involved in statistical learning from speech, but the activation patterns were different in the two.”



“The generalist brain region, the so-called basal ganglia, responded stronger to a random speech stream (where no words could be spotted using syllable statistics) than to a structured speech stream (where words were easy to spot just by computing syllable statistics). The specialist brain region, the so-called auditory cortex, that in humans plays a key role in statistical learning from speech, showed a different pattern: here we saw brain activity increase over time for the structured but not for the random speech stream. We believe that this activity increase is the trace word learning leaves on the auditory cortex," said Boros.



“We now begin to understand that some computational and neural processes that are known to be instrumental for human language acquisition may not be unique to humans after all,” said&nbsp;Attila Andics, principal investigator of the Neuroethology of Communication Lab.&nbsp;



“But we still don't know how these human-analogue brain mechanisms for word learning emerged in dogs. Do they reflect skills that developed by living in a language-rich environment, or during the thousands of years of domestication, or do they represent an ancient mammalian capacity?”



The researchers conclude that by studying speech processing in different breeds of dogs, or even other species that live in close contact with humans, it may be possible to trace the origins of human specializations for speech perception.&nbsp;



The results of the study are published today in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



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

Dogs and infants recognize words using similar brain regions

When human infants learn a language, they look for regularities...

New research published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a> shows that honey bees increase their distance from each other when under threat from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/if-primates-go-extinct-so-will-their-parasites/">parasites</a>. 



“Here we have provided the first evidence that honey bees modify their social interactions and how they move around their hive in response to a common parasite," said study co-author Dr. Alessandro Cini.



"Honey bees are a social animal, as they benefit from dividing up responsibilities and interactions such as mutual grooming, but when those social activities can increase the risk of infection, the bees appear to have evolved to balance the risks and benefits by adopting social distancing.”



The international team of scientists looked at how honey bee hives react to the presence of one of an ectoparasitic threat - the Varro mite (Varroa destructor). The mite is dangerous to individual bees as well as entire colonies.&nbsp;



The scientists compared healthy colonies with those infected with the mite and found a number of differences. Foraging dances that can cause mite transmission were less frequent within the central part of the hive in infected colonies. Grooming behaviors were also less common. Overall, the foraging bees moved to the outsides of the colony while nurse and groomer bees spent more time concentrated in the center of the colony.&nbsp;



Bee colonies are already compartmentalized to keep a distance between these two areas of the colony. This seems to keep the different groups of bees separate and slow the spread of parasites.&nbsp;



“The observed increase in social distancing between the two groups of bees within the same parasite-infested colony represents a new and, in some ways, surprising aspect of how honey bees have evolved to combat pathogens and parasites," explained study lead author Dr. Michelina Pusceddu.



"Their ability to adapt their social structure and reduce contact between individuals in response to a disease threat allows them to maximize the benefits of social interactions where possible, and to minimise the risk of infectious disease when needed.”



The researchers believe that honey bees could be model organisms for understanding social distancing behavior in other animals as well.&nbsp;



“Honey bee colonies provide an ideal model for studying social distancing and for fully understanding the value and effectiveness of this behavior," said Dr. Pusceddu.



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

Honey bees are experts at social distancing

New research published in the journal Science Advances shows that...

Shark,And,Small,Fishes,In,Ocean,-,Nature,Background

Although great white sharks are often portrayed as ruthless human killers, a new study suggests that shark attack victims might simply be the subject of mistaken identity. Because they are color blind or at best have only very limited color perception, sharks can confuse humans for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/northern-elephant-seals-are-surprisingly-resilient/">seals</a>, their natural prey, because they look the same when viewed from below. 



Fatal shark attacks are very rare (with approximately ten such events per year), but can still result in severe shark mitigation measures that significantly reduce population numbers and endanger many shark species.



“Shark bites on humans are rare but are sufficiently frequent to generate substantial public concern, which typically leads to measures to reduce their frequency,” wrote the study authors. “Bites also have negative consequences for sharks as they often result in the implementation or continued use of lethal shark mitigation measures, including the deployment of gill nets and drum lines to reduce shark populations.”



Until recently, the reasons why sharks attacked humans were poorly understood. By analyzing the visual perspectives of young white sharks, a research team led by <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/">Macquarie University</a> in Sidney, Australia, has found that, due to poor vision, sharks might confuse humans with seals, an animal that they frequently prey upon.



“We looked specifically at juvenile sharks and that's because they are responsible for the majority of fatal bites on humans,” explained study lead author Laura Ryan, a postdoctoral researcher in Biology at&nbsp;Macquarie University.



“Until now, the potential similarity between humans and seals has been assessed based on human vision.&nbsp;However, white sharks have much lower visual acuity than us, meaning they cannot see fine details, and lack color vision.”



In order to test this hypothesis, the researchers used footage of two sea lions and one fur seal swimming in a pool at the Taronga Zoo in Sidney, as well as of humans paddling on surfboards. By filtering this footage through a virtual visual system mimicking shark vision, they discovered that motion cues of humans swimming or paddling on surfboards and of swimming seals did not differ significantly. Thus, when viewed from below, humans and seals may appear indistinguishable to a shark that is preparing to attack.



“Our results indicate that the poor spatial resolving power of the shark retina may result in bites on humans as a result of mistaken identity or ambiguous visual cues,” the study authors concluded.&nbsp;



The research is published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2021.0533">Journal of the Royal Society Interface</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

Shark attacks may be a simple case of mistaken identity

Although great white sharks are often portrayed as ruthless human...

To the layman it may sometimes seem that every time paleontologists unearth a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eagle-fossil-represents-a-unique-branch-of-the-family-tree/">fossil</a> hominin, it is described as a new species and given a brand-new name. This is particularly true of the Middle Pleistocene (now renamed Chibanian), a time period that lasted from 774,000 to 129,000 years ago and that saw the advent of our own species (Homo sapiens) in Africa, as well as our closest extinct relatives, and the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) in Europe.



The details of human evolution during this time period are not well understood and the number of different putative species has led paleoanthropologists refer to this confusion as “the muddle in the middle.” This situation is further confounded by the fact that fossil hominin finds often consist of a single tooth, or a piece of jaw bone, fragments that are not easy to classify as one species or another.&nbsp;



A team of international researchers, led by <a href="https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/">University ofWinnipeg</a> palaeoanthropologist Dr. Mirjana Roksandic, has now&nbsp;reassessed the existing Middle Pleistocene fossils from Africa and Eurasia. The experts suggest that some of the fossils should be reclassified as a different species of human ancestor with the name Homo bodoensis, to help clarify the situation.&nbsp;



In the past, these fossils have been classified as H. heidelbergensis&nbsp;or&nbsp;as its African counterpart, H. rhodesiensis, both of which carried multiple, often contradictory definitions. The first specimen of H. heidelbergensis consists of a single lower jawbone, found in 1907 near Heidelberg in Germany. Since no cranium was present, and since most other Middle Pleistocene specimens have their jawbones missing, it has always been challenging to identify new specimens as heidelbergensis.&nbsp;



“Talking about human evolution during this time period became impossible due to the lack of proper terminology that acknowledges human geographic variation,” explained Dr. Roksandic, lead author on the study that proposes renaming some of the species in order to reduce the confusion.



Recently, DNA evidence has shown that some European fossils which were classified as H. heidelbergensis,&nbsp;were actually early Neanderthals, making the name redundant. For the same reason, the name needs to be abandoned when describing human ancestor fossils from east Asia according to co-author, Xiu-Jie Wu, from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China.



The name “bodoensis” derives from a skull found in Bodo D’ar in Ethiopia, and the new species is understood to be a direct human ancestor. The authors of the study propose that, under the new system of classification,&nbsp;H. bodoensis&nbsp;will describe most Middle Pleistocene humans from Africa and some from Southeast Europe, while many from the latter continent will be reclassified as Neanderthals.&nbsp;



“Terms need to be clear in science, to facilitate communication. They should not be treated as absolute when they contradict the fossil record," said study first author Predrag Radović of the University of Belgrade.



According to study co-author Christopher Bae of UH Manoa, the introduction of&nbsp;H. bodoensis&nbsp;is aimed at “cutting the Gordian knot and allowing us to communicate clearly about this important period in human evolution."



Dr. Roksandic agrees: “Naming a new species is a big deal, as the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature allows name changes only under very strictly defined rules. We are confident that this one will stick around for a long time; a new taxon name will live only if other researchers use it.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15206505">Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews</a>.



Image Credit: Artist rendering of Homo bodoensis by Ettore Mazza



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

Scientists have named a new human ancestor

To the layman it may sometimes seem that every time...

Truffles are normally thought of as a rare and expensive delicacy for humans, while also providing part of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brazilian-jaguars-have-an-unexpected-diet-and-social-life/">diet</a> of some mammals. New research from the <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a> has revealed the some birds are also partial to seeking out and dispersing these forms of fungi.



“Previously, it was assumed that only mammals consumed and dispersed truffle spores, so our study is the first to document birds doing this as well,” said study first author Marcos Caiafa.



The researchers have discovered that two ground-dwelling bird species found in Patagonia, chucao tapaculos and black-throated huet-huets, seek out and regularly consume truffles, spreading the spores through their feces. It was previously assumed that the birds exclusively fed on invertebrates, seeds and fruit.



“Truffles are essentially mushrooms that grow underground. Unlike aboveground mushrooms, which release their spores into the air, truffles depend on animals consuming them to spread their spores,” explained study senior author Matthew E. Smith.



Contrary to the belief that all truffles are desirable for high-end cuisine, only a few of the hundreds of species of underground fungi appeal to humans, with the majority evolving to attract different types of animals to promote dispersal. The spread of the fungi encourages a healthy forest ecosystem, helping to colonize the roots of trees and contribute to a symbiotic relationship.



“These fungi form mycorrhizas, a relationship whereby the fungus helps the plant take up nutrients in exchange for sugars from the plant,” explained Caiafa.



To confirm the researchers’ hypothesis that the birds actively seek out truffles, the team collected the bird droppings to analyze them for truffle DNA. The results showed truffle DNA in 42 percent of chucao tupaculo and 38 percent of huet-huet feces. By using a microscopic analysis technique called fluorescent microscopy, the team was also able to confirm that the spores were viable, suggesting that the truffles were not only being eaten but also spread.



“DNA-based diet analysis is exciting because it provides new insights into interactions between organisms that would otherwise be difficult to directly observe,” said study co-author Michelle Jusino. “And, because sampling feces does not negatively impact the target species, I think these methods are invaluable for studying and protecting both common and rare species in the future."



The study authors believe that some of the Patagonian truffles may have evolved specifically to attract birds. “Some of truffles that the birds eat are brightly colored and resemble local berries. Our future research may look to see if there is an evolutionary adaptation there - that the truffles have evolved to look more like the berries that the birds also eat,” explained Smith.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



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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

Study reveals that birds hunt for truffles

Truffles are normally thought of as a rare and expensive...

In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ufpe.br/">Federal University of Pernambuco</a> in Recife, Brazil&nbsp;has found that wildfires sparked by volcanic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/volcanic-eruptions-will-lose-their-cooling-effects-on-a-warmer-planet/">eruptions</a> ravaged Antarctica’s James Ross Island 75 million years ago. This discovery adds evidence that spontaneous fires were common in Antarctica during the Campanian age between 84 and 72 million years ago.



During the late Cretaceous period (100 to 66 million years ago), the James Ross Island below South America was home to a temperate forest of ferns, conifers, and flowers, as well as a significant population of dinosaurs.&nbsp;



By analyzing fossilized charcoal fragments of burned gymnosperm (from a botanical family of coniferous trees called Araucariaceae) that were collected during a 2015-2016 expedition to the northeastern part of the island, an international team of scientists found the first evidence of ancient wildfires caused by volcanic activity in Antarctica.&nbsp;



“Antarctica had intense volcanic activity caused by tectonics during the Cretaceous, as suggested by the presence of fossil remains in strata related to ash falls,” explained the study authors. “It is plausible that volcanic activity ignited the palaeo-wildfire that created the charcoal reported here.”



According to the scientists, intense wildfires were frequent and widespread during the late Cretaceous period. However, most of the evidence of such events was found in the Northern Hemisphere, with just a few documented cases in the Southern Hemisphere in places such as Tasmania, New Zealand, or Argentina. The new research shows that such fires occurred in locations below South America too.



"This discovery expands the knowledge about the occurrence of vegetation fires during the Cretaceous, showing that such episodes were more common than previously imagined," said study lead author Flaviana Jorge de Lima, a paleobiologist at the Federal University of Pernambuco.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/5487/13972#figures">Polar Research</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

Wildfires were common in ancient Antarctica

In a new study led by the Federal University of...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.fchampalimaud.org/champalimaud-foundation/champalimaud-centre">Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown</a> from Lisbon, Portugal has found that flies’ hearts respond to danger in the same way human hearts do: they accelerate if the flies decide to escape an imminent danger, and slow down if the flies freeze into place.



Although it has been long known that the hearts of non-human vertebrates, such as cats, frogs, or antelopes, follow the same rules as human hearts when the animals are in danger, much less was understood about insects’ hearts. This new study, published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.013">Current Biology</a>, is one of the first to explore these issues.



“We were quite surprised by this result," recalled study lead author Marta Moita, a neuroscientist and leader of the <a href="https://moitalab.org/lab-members/">Moita Lab</a>. “We know that when vertebrates face a threat, their autonomic nervous system kicks into action, generating the changes in cardiac activity that we are all familiar with. However, this system doesn’t exist in insects, and so it was unclear whether they would exhibit similar cardiac alterations.”



By lighting up each fly’s heart cells with fluorescent molecules, the scientists observed the heart’s activity through the fly’s transparent exoskeleton, and found that, just like in humans, the heart pumps faster when the fly decides to flee and slower when the insect freezes into place.



“This finding is very intriguing," said Professor Moita. “Since flies don’t have an autonomic nervous system, it means there’s another mechanism at play here. The question is whether there’s an autonomic-nervous-system-like structure that we are not aware of, or is there an entirely different mechanism yet to be discovered.”



The researchers also discovered that whether the fly was attempting to escape or freezing, the heart was pumping more actively towards the insect’s front section.&nbsp;



"Pumping more nutrients into the front section while escaping makes sense,” explained study co-author Natalia Barrios, a researcher at the Champalimaud Centre. “This is where the brain, legs and wings are located, so that's where the action is. But we didn't expect to see this while the fly was freezing."



According to the scientists, this surprising finding was caused by the fact that even while freezing, the fly was preparing for action.&nbsp;



More research needs to be done to unravel the surprising similarities between flies and humans. “Eventually, we hope that insight gained in the fly will lead to an understanding of how the brain controls behavior in other animals, including humans," Moita concluded.



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

Flies respond to danger like humans

A new study led by the Champalimaud Centre for the...

According to the Emission Gap <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2021">report</a> provided by the <a href="https://www.unep.org/">United Nations Environment Programme</a> (UNEP), national plans to curb carbon emissions fall short of the level needed to avert dangerous <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammoths-were-wiped-out-by-climate-change-not-humans/">climate</a> change. Instead of limiting global warming to 1.5C above the pre-industrial levels, as planned through the Paris Agreement, the global temperatures may rise by 2.7C by the end of this century, leading to catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate.



The Emission Gap report looked at the nationally-determined contributions (NDCs) or carbon-cutting plans that countries have submitted to UN in preparation for the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26</a> conference. When added together, these plans will cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 7.5 percent compared to the pledges made five years ago. This is far from sufficient to meet the 1.5C temperature threshold. In fact, 55 percent cuts would be needed to achieve this goal.



"To stand a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C, we have eight years to almost halve greenhouse gas emissions: eight years to make the plans, put in place the policies, implement them and ultimately deliver the cuts," said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP. "The clock is ticking loudly."



"The emissions gap is the result of a leadership gap," added Antonio Gutteres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. "But leaders can still make this a turning point to a greener future instead of a tipping point to climate catastrophe."



Around 50 countries, together with the EU, have pledged a net zero target of greenhouse emissions by mid-21st century. If these plans are fully implemented, the global temperature rise could be limited to 2.2C by the end of the century.



In 2020, the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic offered a glimmer of hope that emissions could be significantly curbed. However, according to the report’s authors, the opportunity to develop a greener world in the wake of the pandemic is in danger of being lost.



"The huge sums spent to recover economies from Covid-19 are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost low-carbon technologies and industries. In most cases, this opportunity is not being taken," said co-author Brian O'Callaghan, project manager of the <a href="https://recovery.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University Economic Recovery Project</a>.



"This is a particular slap in the face for vulnerable nations who are suffering the worst consequences of climate change. We remain without a commitment from the highest emitters to cover the loss and damage that they have brought on the world."



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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

Emissions gap report: greener world or climate catastrophe

According to the Emission Gap report provided by the United...

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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"

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

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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

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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