The Universe contains many types of massive formations that shape our understanding of how stars and galaxies group together. Astronomers have long studied these sprawling patterns, which give valuable clues about where matter gathers and where it remains thinly spread. 



These features define how cosmic evolution unfolds and guide current theories of how the universe expands.



Recently, a team of experts announced a giant find. This collection of galaxy clusters surpasses previous giants by orders of magnitude.



This study adds fresh insights by demonstrating that our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/interstellar-tunnel-found-that-connects-our-solar-system-to-other-stars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmic neighborhood</a> can still surprise us with unexpected details about how matter arranges itself across unimaginable distances.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-galaxy-clusters-distribution">Galaxy clusters distribution</h2>



Hans Böhringer from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (<a href="https://www.mpe.mpg.de/main" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPE</a>) coordinated the effort in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Physics (<a href="https://www.mpp.mpg.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPP</a>) and teams in Spain and South Africa. 



Their work relied on the ROSAT X-ray satellite’s survey, which singled out clusters of galaxies by detecting the energetic radiation these huge clusters emit. 



These data allowed the researchers to build a three-dimensional map of our cosmic vicinity.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_3D-model_credit-MPE_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_3D-model_credit-MPE_1s.webp" alt="Three-dimensional representation of the Quipu superstructure. Credit: MPE" class="wp-image-1960534"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Three-dimensional representation of the Quipu superstructure. Credit: MPE</figcaption></figure>



“If you look at the distribution of the galaxy clusters in the sky in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light-years, you immediately notice a huge structure that stretches from high northern latitudes to almost the southern end of the sky,” explains Böhringer.



By tracing each cluster’s position in space, his team pinpointed how matter spreads out in swirling patterns of galaxies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-quipu-superstructure">The Quipu superstructure</h2>



The researchers named this discovery “Quipu,” taking inspiration from the knotted string recording system once used by the Incas. 



Observed as a long strand with smaller threads branching off, the Quipu superstructure contains 68 galaxy clusters with a combined mass of about 2.4 × 10^17 solar masses. 



Its size of roughly 1.4 billion light-years makes Quipu the largest superstructure ever accurately measured, surpassing the Sloan Great Wall’s 1.1 billion light-years.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_illustration_credit-MPE_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_illustration_credit-MPE_1s.webp" alt="Distribution of galaxies (color coding) and galaxy clusters (black dots) in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light years surrounding us. The five superstructures are marked: 1 Quipu, 2 Shapley, 3 Serpens-Corona Borealis and Hercules (overlapping in the sky), 4 Sculptor-Pegasus. The area enclosed by white lines is shadowed by the disk of the Milky Way. Credit: MPE" class="wp-image-1960536"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Distribution of galaxies (color coding) and galaxy clusters (black dots) in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light years surrounding us. The five superstructures are marked: 1 Quipu, 2 Shapley, 3 Serpens-Corona Borealis and Hercules (overlapping in the sky), 4 Sculptor-Pegasus. The area enclosed by white lines is shadowed by the disk of the Milky Way. Credit: MPE</figcaption></figure>



“This breaks the size record of all reliably measured cosmic structures,” note the researchers who compared the finding with other known formations. 



“The Quipu superstructure, end to end, is slightly longer than the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/SDSS-3D-Universe-Map-Credit-Sloan-Digital-Sky-Survey-Team-NASA-NSF-DOE_fig2_357328983" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sloan Great Wall</a>,” says J. Richard Gott III at Princeton University, who helped discover the Sloan Great Wall. “Congratulations to them for finding it.” 



The name also reflects a connection to Chile, where many distance measurements took place, and where ancient quipus are showcased in Santiago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quipu-and-cosmological-principle">Quipu and cosmological principle</h2>



Across extremely large distances, matter is believed to spread out nearly evenly. At smaller scales of about a billion light-years, it collects in superclusters and leaves behind voids. 



This balance underpins the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-order-or-chaos-universe-expansion-may-follow-a-hidden-pattern/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmological principle</a>, which suggests that if we look far enough, the universe should appear uniform in every direction. 



Some experts argue these huge arrangements question that principle’s validity, with past findings triggering debates. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/great-sloan-wall_superstructure_SDSS_credit-MIT_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/great-sloan-wall_superstructure_SDSS_credit-MIT_1s.webp" alt="Sloan Great Wall of galaxies. SDSS 3D Universe Map Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team, NASA, NSF, DOE." class="wp-image-1960531"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sloan Great Wall of galaxies is 1.1 billion light years long. SDSS 3D Universe Map Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team, NASA, NSF, DOE.</figcaption></figure>



“Making observations in too small a part of the universe, which has been done earlier on, can be misleading,” says Böhringer. 



Another point comes from an ambiguous definition of the principle. “There is not yet one definition of the cosmological principle that every cosmologist agrees on,” says Alexia Lopez at the <a href="https://www.uclan.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Central Lancashire</a> in the UK. 



Meanwhile, Seshadri Nadathur at the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Portsmouth</a> notes that “some of those galaxies may drift apart from each other instead of collapsing in on themselves, in which case, according to some interpretations, it’s not really a bound structure.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cosmic-measurements-and-consequences">Cosmic measurements and consequences</h2>



Quipu’s existence highlights how vast formations can shape calculations of cosmic expansion rates and the properties of primordial radiation left over from the early universe. 



Astronomers pay close attention to features like superclusters because they alter light paths and influence how we determine important parameters such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unknown-factors-are-accelerating-the-expansion-of-the-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hubble constant</a>. 



Small discrepancies can add up when researchers aim for precise numbers in modern cosmological studies.



“Even if these are only corrections of a few percent, they become increasingly important as the accuracy of cosmological observations increases,” emphasizes Gayoung Chon from the Max Planck Institute for Physics. 



This structure offers a reminder that the cosmos presents patterns on many scales. Those patterns appear to affect how we interpret data on the universe’s origin and shape the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-galactic-explosion-provides-clues-about-galaxy-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution of galaxies</a> in our vicinity and beyond.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quipu-and-the-incas">Quipu and the Incas</h2>



The Incas once managed vast territories using quipus, a system of knotted strings that helped track resources and information. 



Each knot arrangement acted like a code, revealing essential data in a form that required no written script.



Quipu’s naming borrowed that image of intertwined threads. 



Researchers see it as a nod to humanity’s long history of gathering knowledge, whether through knotted strings or advanced telescopes that trace the distribution of galaxies across cosmic depths.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-next">What happens next?</h2>



The discovery underscores how ongoing surveys might uncover more structures. 



Scientists are keen to see if similar patterns exist in parts of the sky that remain less charted, which could either confirm current theories or reveal new gaps in our understanding.



Future maps will rely on technology to gather clearer data from remote regions. 



These efforts reflect a human wish to capture our place in the universe, searching for the patterns that connect everything from particles to vast congregations of galaxies.



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Featured image: The open cluster Westerlund 1 is located roughly 12,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar) where it resides behind a huge interstellar cloud of gas and dust. Credit: <a href="https://www.esa.int" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a>



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.19236" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Astronomy and Astrophysics</a>.



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Largest structure ever found in the universe is 1.4 billion light years long

The Universe contains many types of massive formations that shape our understanding of how stars and galaxies group together. Astronomers have long studied these sprawling patterns, which give valuable clues about where matter gathers and where it remains thinly spread. These features define how cosmic evolution unfolds and guide current theories of how the universe expands. Recently, a team of experts announced a giant find. This collection of galaxy clusters surpasses previous giants by orders of magnitude. This study adds fresh insights by demonstrating that our cosmic...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Massive global failures to control the Covid pandemic

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Dogs are more aware of actions than objects

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Wildfire pollutants negatively impact water quality

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

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



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



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



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



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



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

Excessive screen time may lead to early puberty

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

A team of researchers led by the <a href="http://english.kiz.cas.cn/">Kunming Institute of Zoology</a> (KIZ) in China has recently discovered and described the earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gibbon-new-species-found/">gibbon</a> fossil in the Yuanmou area of the Yunnan Province in southwestern China. This finding could help scientists fill a long-elusive evolutionary gap in the history of apes.



The study focused on hylobatids – a family of apes also including 20 species of living gibbons found throughout tropical Asia, from the northeastern part of India to Indonesia. “Hylobatids fossil remains are very rare, and most specimens are isolated teeth and fragmentary jaw bones found in cave sites in southern China and southeast Asia dating back no more than two million years ago,” said study co-author Terry Harrison, a professor of Anthropology at the <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a>.



“This new find extends the fossil record of hylobatids back to seven to eight million years ago and, more specifically, enhances our understanding of the evolution of this family of apes.”



This specific fossil belongs to a species of small ape called&nbsp;Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan. By analyzing the teeth and cranial specimens discovered in Youanmou, the researchers estimated that&nbsp;Yuanmoupithecus&nbsp;was similar in size to today’s gibbons, with a body weight of approximately six kilograms.



“The teeth and the lower face of&nbsp;Yuanmoupithecus&nbsp;are very similar to those of modern-day gibbons, but in a few features the fossil species was more primitive and points to it being the ancestor of all the living species,” Professor Harrison reported.



The scientists also found that Kapi ramnagarensis – an ape claimed to be an earlier species of hylobatid, based on a single isolated fossil molar discovered in India, is in fact not a hylobatid, but a member of a more primitive group of primates which are not closely related to modern apes.



“Genetic studies indicate that the hylobatids diverged from the lineage leading to the great apes and humans about 17 to 22 million years ago, so there is still a 10-million-year gap in the fossil record that needs to be filled. With continued exploration of promising fossil sites in China and elsewhere in Asia, it is hoped that additional discoveries will help fill these critical gaps in the evolutionary history of hylobatids,” Professor Harrison concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103251">Journal of Human Evolution</a>.&nbsp;



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

Earliest gibbon fossil discovered in China

A team of researchers led by the Kunming Institute of...

Wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) are known to some as the most romantic birds on Earth. A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1098%2Frsbl.2022.0301&amp;data=05%7C01%7Ckylee.denesha%40whoi.edu%7C4c702b0d08f8404ead1008da95b5423d%7Cd44c5cc6d18c46cc8abd4fdf5b6e5944%7C0%7C0%7C637986903012872775%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=9ogBmLDL9wNNAow7%2BnntUbCVd80onHomCyzxnFDdjm8%3D&amp;reserved=0">Royal Society Biology Letters</a> has revealed that bolder males of this species are likely to get and keep <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cowbird-chicks-need-nest-mates-but-two-is-better-than-four/">mates</a>. This paper is notable because it's the first to show a link between personality and divorce in the species.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Researchers with the <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> (WHOI) utilized data from long-term studies conducted on Possession Island in the Southern Indian Ocean. They found that bolder males were more able to keep their mates when other males attempted to usurp them.&nbsp;



These love birds are known to mate for life, but sometimes "forced divorces" occur because of Possession Island's high female death rate, partially due to conflict with commercial fishing. Consequently, many male widowers are looking for a new mate; some of these males simply try to steal a female from another male.&nbsp;



"In instances of forced divorce, bolder individuals are more likely to guard their partner. Shyer individuals tend to avoid risks and engaging in antagonistic interactions with intruders," explained lead author Ruijiao Sun, a Ph.D. candidate with the MIT-WHOI joint program. "Breeding is very costly to wandering albatross. So individuals have to make a trade-off between reproduction and their own survival."



The researchers analyzed data from a 54-year monitoring program to carry out their study. They also conducted their own experiments, which included approaching albatrosses and observing their reaction to human or novel object presence. If the male birds were marked as bold if they called or stood up, they were deemed shy if they had little to no response.



Although fascinating, this phenomenon may not occur with albatross populations that have more breeding females since there would be less competition for partners.



"Divorce can sometimes be adaptive, to gain a better partner or offspring. But in the case of forced divorce, there is no benefit to future reproduction," explained Stéphanie Jenouvrier, a WHOI biologist, Sun's advisor, and senior author of the paper. "We were able to study the impact of personality on divorce only because we had access to incredible long-term data sets combining demography and personality for this population."



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

Albatrosses with bolder personalities have lower divorce rates

Wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) are known to some as the...

Throughout Earth’s geologic history, the sea level has risen and fallen numerous times, under the influence of cooling and warming conditions, as well as tectonic plate movements. At times in the past there was no ice at the poles, and the sea surface was several hundred meters higher than it is now. In contrast, when ice covered the planet the sea level was more than a hundred meters lower. These changes are part of Earth’s natural glacial cycles but they are of special interest to climate scientists today as we consider the potential consequences of the current <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-soils-may-be-deeply-changed-by-global-warming/">global warming</a>.



A team of researchers, led by scientists from <a href="https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/">Victoria University of Wellington</a> (NZ) and Birmingham (UK) have recently published the first record of Antarctic Ocean temperatures over the past 45 million years, which offers important insights into future sea level changes. They used a combination of evidence from molecular fossils and machine learning in order to track changes in sea temperature.



The molecular fossils came from core samples obtained during ocean drilling projects. Within these cores are the fossilized remains of lipid molecules that were produced by archaea – single-celled organisms that are similar to bacteria. The lipid molecules were part of the organism’s outer membrane and the composition of these molecules changed in response to differences in sea temperature. By studying these changes, scientists can draw conclusions about the ancient sea temperature which would have surrounded the archaea when they were alive.



While the use of molecular fossils is familiar to paleoclimatologists, the current researchers went a step further and used machine learning to refine the technique. This gave them the first record to date of changing Antarctic sea temperatures throughout the past 45 million years, which represents much of the Cenozoic Period.



The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, enable scientists to pinpoint much more accurately the historic temperatures which caused ice sheets to grow and shrink during that period. This is critical to our understanding of the possible consequences of the current global warming, as the loss of ice sheets and the retreat of glaciers in the Antarctic could mean a sea level rise of up to 50 m.



“The record we’ve produced offers a much more robust overview of fluctuating Antarctic temperatures and how these relate to changes in the amount of ice, and the topography of Antarctica, over this period and paves the way for improved estimates of future events,” explained study lead author Dr. James Bendle.



The link between CO2, sea-surface temperatures and the amount of ice on Antarctica is clearly evidenced in the study’s data from the last 45 million years. But one surprising finding was that ocean cooling did not always correspond to increases in Antarctic ice. This applies specifically to a period of 1 million years of ocean cooling that occurred between 25 and 24 million years ago. “We show that this is likely related to tectonic subsidence and the influx of relatively warm ocean water in the Ross Sea region,” said Dr. Bendle.



“We can see that ice in Antarctica is currently changing, not least with the loss of some ice-shelves and cracks appearing recently in the Thwaites Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the region. This new study of Earth’s past is one of the clearest indications yet that humans continue to produce CO2&nbsp;levels for which we can expect major ice loss at the Antarctic margins, and global sea-level rise over the coming decades and centuries.”



In fact, the researchers say their results suggest we are nearing a ‘tipping point’ where ocean warming, caused by atmospheric CO2,&nbsp;will lead to catastrophic rises in sea levels because of melting ice sheets. They plan to continue to apply biomarker and machine learning approaches to reconstruct the climatic evolution of Antarctica and understand the implications for future warming and sea-level rise.



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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

Earth is heading for a tipping point as Antarctic ice sheets melt

Throughout Earth’s geologic history, the sea level has risen and...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-mimic-males-to-avoid-violence/">Birds</a> with bright and unique colors are often considered the most beautiful, and this makes them attractive and aesthetically valuable to people. Not only do some of these species end up as icons and logos for famous brands and conservation programs, but they also become targets of the global pet trade because people want to own them. Ironically, this means that the most uniquely and brightly colored birds are often those most threatened with extinction.&nbsp;



In a new study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers have used data on the international trade in songbirds to explore the link between commercially desirable birds and their coloration. They used novel metrics of color to evaluate the aesthetics of taxonomic groups of birds across the world and found that the exploitation of songbirds for trade is closely linked to their coloration.&nbsp;



“Aesthetic value is an important part of how people value nature,” said study senior author Rebecca Senior of Durham University. “However, there is potential for conflict when what motivates some people to protect certain species is the same thing that makes other people want to own them. Songbirds are highly sought after in the pet trade, particularly for their beautiful songs. However, songbirds can also be remarkably colorful – a highly desirable trait in other commonly traded species, such as parrots.”



Using the recently published Songbirds in Trade Database, Senior and colleagues found that the total pet trade impacts 1,408 passerine species (perching birds, including songbirds), which amounts to approximately 30 percent of them. Globally, close to 3,000 bird species are traded as pets or products (e.g., as feathers, bills, or eggs). This trade is, in large part, driven by humanity’s passion for beauty and aesthetics, based on attributes like color, pattern, shape, and texture, state the authors of the study.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers also found that trade status was non-random with respect to bird phylogeny, meaning that certain groups of related bird species, such as birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae) and weavers (Ploceidae), were more likely to be traded than others. Further analysis showed that these groups generally contain more colorful species.&nbsp;



The researchers measured color using two novel approaches. They determined the diversity of a bird’s coloration by recording the plumage colors present in six different anatomical locations on the bird’s body, and they also assessed the uniqueness of a bird’s colors.&nbsp;



The analysis shows that the tropics are the epicenter of bird color, with 91 percent and 65 percent of the world’s most diversely and uniquely colored assemblages of songbirds, respectively. They report that the pet trade particularly targets clusters of related birds that have unique color signatures; species with more unique coloration were both more likely to be traded as pets, and more likely to be classed as threatened. More colorful bird species were also likely to fetch higher prices than duller species when traded.



“We were surprised to see the strength of the latitudinal gradient in color; even when you account for the greater number of species in the tropics, the diversity of color in the tropics dwarfs all other regions,” Senior said.



While it seems obvious that birds with plumages of brilliant blues, oranges, and yellows would be more at risk, the researchers also discovered that pure white is a unique color found in many sought-after species, such as the endangered Bali myna. The findings highlight that the same color features that make some people willing to travel around the world for a mere glimpse of a bird through binoculars also potentially puts these birds at risk for pet trading. The findings have important implications for conservation.



“Understanding what motivates trade is essential to identify at-risk species potentially requiring more proactive protection from trapping,” Senior said. “Trade has the capacity to be regulated and managed sustainably with a better understanding of what is traded as well as where and why trade occurs. Loss of colorful species also directly erodes aesthetic value, which is problematic because, for better or worse, it is this value that often fundamentally motivates and funds conservation efforts.”



As the more colorful species succumb to global trade pressures, their numbers are likely to decrease and their populations will edge closer to extinction. In this scenario, the authors note that, as the abundance of prized species declines, trade will probably shift to congenerics (others in the same family group) with similarly desirable features. According to their analysis, this puts approximately 500 additional passerine species that are not currently traded, at risk being traded as pets in future.&nbsp;



Furthermore, as the most uniquely and diversely colored songbird species are gradually removed from wild bird communities, the authors predict that bird fauna left behind will manifest more drabness. This may have the consequence of making them less valuable to humans aesthetically, which may mean they will not be adequately conserved.&nbsp;



The researchers recommend programs to conserve nature’s aesthetic value through protecting the most colorful hotspots on Earth, which are to be found in tropical forests of South America, Africa and Indonesia. They say that because these areas are also hotspots of biological diversity in general, protecting them would also be beneficial for other exploited and threatened species.&nbsp;



In future studies, they hope to disentangle even more factors that play into regional variation in patterns of trade among birds. They’d also like to explore the role of color in the trade of other groups of animals and plants.



---



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

For songbirds, bright colors are a blessing and a curse

Birds with bright and unique colors are often considered the...

Astronomers have long known that planets are born in protoplanetary disks – rings of dust and gas surrounding young, newborn stars. However, although hundreds of such disks have been spotted throughout the universe, observations of actual planetary birth and formation are quite difficult due to technological limitations. Now, a team of astronomers from the&nbsp;<a href="http://cfa.harvard.edu/">Center for Astrophysics | Harvard &amp; Smithsonian</a> has developed a novel method to detect such elusive newborn planets through which they spotted a young <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-have-found-a-planet-that-could-support-life/">planet</a> located 518 light years away.



“Directly detecting young planets is very challenging and has so far only been successful in one or two cases,” said study lead author&nbsp;Feng Long, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Astrophysics. “The planets are always too faint for us to see because they’re embedded in thick layers of gas and dust.”



“In the past few years,&nbsp;we’ve seen many structures pop up on disks that we think are caused by a planet’s presence, but it could be caused by something else, too. We need new techniques to look at and support that a planet is there.”



Together with her colleagues, Dr. Long re-examined a protoplanetary disk called LkCa 15, located 518 light years away from the Earth, in the Taurus constellation. By using high-resolution data collected from the <a href="http://almaobservatory.org/en/home/">ALMA Observatory</a>, the scientists discovered a dusty ring with two separate, bright bunches of material orbiting within it approximately 42 astronomical units from the star (about 42 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun). This material consisted of a small clump and a larger arc separated by 120 degrees. According to Dr. Long, the size, location, and structure of these materials suggested the presence of a newborn planet.



“This arc and clump are separated by about 120 degrees. That degree of separation doesn’t just happen — it’s important mathematically,” she explained. “We’re seeing that this material is not just floating around freely, it’s stable and has a preference where it wants to be located based on physics and the objects involved.”&nbsp;



To detect this planet, the scientists investigated positions in space known as Lagrange points, where two bodies in motion, such as a star and its orbiting planet, produce enhanced areas of attraction around them where matter can accumulate.&nbsp;In this case, the arc and clump of material detected were located at the L4&nbsp;and L5&nbsp;Lagrange points. Hidden 60 degrees between them was a small, young planet causing the accumulation of dust at these points. The analysis revealed that the planet is roughly the size of Saturn or Neptune, and was formed between one and three million years ago – a young age when it comes to planets.&nbsp;



Although imaging this small, newborn planet may not be possible in the near future due to technological limitations, the researchers hope that further ALMA observations of LkCa 15 can provide additional evidence supporting this planetary discovery, and that this new approach of detecting planets – with material accumulating at Lagrange points – could be used by other astronomers.



“I do hope this method can be widely adopted in the future. The only caveat is that this requires very deep data as the signal is weak,” Dr. Long concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac8b10">Astrophysical Journal Letters</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Newborn planet detected hundreds of light years away

Astronomers have long known that planets are born in protoplanetary...

Green,Leaf,Of,A,Soybean,Plant,Close-up,On,The,Background

While most viral infections negatively affect an organism’s health, one specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-plant-virus-could-help-cure-cancer/">plant virus</a> – the soybean vein necrosis orthotospovirus (SVNV) – may actually benefit a species of insects which commonly feeds on soybean plants and can transmit them the virus. According to a laboratory study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://agsci.psu.edu/">Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences</a>, when soybean thrips – small insects ranging from 0.03 to 0.20 inches in length – are infected with SVNV, they tend to survive longer and reproduce better than uninfected thrips.



Soybean vein necrosis orthotospovirus causes vein necrosis in soybean plants. Once the plant is infected, the pathogen first attacks the veins of the leaves, causing them to turn yellow, and later on spreads to other parts of the leaves, which eventually develop brown lesions. If the infection progresses, the leaves can turn necrotic and fall off. In addition, this virus can also reduce the amount of oil and proteins in the plants’ seeds and can lower seed germination rate and seed weight. The virus is usually spread by either infected seeds or infected soybean thrips.



“Since there are no cures for plants infected with viruses, control of the virus vectors [in this case, thrips] is one of the best options for virus disease management,” said study co-author Cristina Rosa, an associated professor of Plant Biology at Penn State. 



“Knowing the identity, biology, transmission propensity, and changes in behavior and physiology of the thrips that transmit soybean vein necrosis virus is fundamental to designing soybean vein disease prevention programs and to calculating the economic threshold of any intervention.”



The scientists collected soybean thrips and released them onto soybean plants in a laboratory setting. Both plants and thrips were monitored regularly for SVNV using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing, and the thrips’ lifespan, mortality, fertility, and reproduction were observed through two generations.



Surprisingly, the analyses revealed that infected thrips tended to survive longer. “We also found that infected thrips tended to produce more offspring,” said lead author Asifa Hameed, who conducted the study during her doctoral degree at Penn State. “On average, uninfected females produced 84 eggs on average while those infected with SVNV produced 89.”



“In addition to prolonging the life of the insects, SVNV infection also shortened the doubling time of soybean thrip populations [the amount of time it takes a population to double in size]. This means infected thrips populations grew much more quickly, which could enhance the spread of the virus to additional soybean plants.” While among uninfected thrips, the doubling time was around four days, in the SVNV-infected populations, it was just half a day.



Although more research is needed to clarify the interaction between soybean thrips and SVNV, a possible explanation for why infected thrips survive longer may be an increase in amino-acids in the virus-infected plants, which can benefit the insects.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13070632">Insects</a>.



---



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

Plant virus can benefit soybean-eating insects

While most viral infections negatively affect an organism’s health, one...

Insect,Fly,On,On,Green,Leaf.,Fly,House.

As increasingly frequent and more intense heat waves expose a wide range of animals to temperatures outside of their normal limits, an international team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has investigated more than 100 species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-insects-are-more-sensitive-to-climate-change-than-expected/">insects</a> to clarify how these climatic changes will affect them. The analysis revealed that insects have weak ability to adjust their thermal capacities to withstand high temperatures, and are thus more susceptible to global warming than previously thought.



One way in which insects deal with extreme temperatures is through a process called acclimation, where previous thermal exposure extends their critical thermal limits. Acclimation usually triggers a series of physiological changes, such as the upregulation of heat shock proteins, and results in modifications of the phospholipid composition in their cell membranes.&nbsp;



However, the scientists found that most insects have significant problems to do this effectively: for each 1°C shift in exposure, their limits were adjusted by only 0.092°C and 0.147°C respectively (a 10 and 15 percent compensation). However, juvenile insects appeared to be better able to acclimate, suggesting that there can be critical periods in development when experiencing heat waves may improve later resilience.



“As temperature extremes become more intense and frequent in our warming world, many insects will have to rely on shifting to new ranges or changing their behavior to cope, rather than being able to physiologically tolerate wider temperatures,” said study lead author Hester Weaving, an expert in Biology at the University of Bristol.



“Our comparative study identified some major gaps in understanding insect responses to climate change and we urge for more studies on species in underrepresented groups and locations.”



The scientists are currently investigating how the reproduction of insects is affected by exposure to extreme temperatures. Clarifying this aspect could turn out to be more important in predicting future distributions than measures of performance or survival.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32953-2">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

Insects struggle to adjust to high temperatures

As increasingly frequent and more intense heat waves expose a...

Tuataras are strange reptiles found living only in New Zealand. A few key traits like teeth fused to jaws and an odd chewing motion point to their divergence from lizards some 230 million years ago. Instead of lizards, tuataras are rhynchocephalians. Now, scientists from the <a href="https://www.si.edu/">Smithsonian</a> have found the fossil remains of another member of rhynchocephalia.&nbsp;



The newly discovered animal was described in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2022.2093139">Journal of Systematic Palaeontology</a>. The reptile, named Opisthiamimus gregori, lived in Jurassic North America alongside such superstars as Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. The animal in question was much smaller, only about 6 inches long, but representative of a massive evolutionary epic.



“What’s important about the tuatara is that it represents this enormous evolutionary story that we are lucky enough to catch in what is likely its closing act,” said Matthew Carrano, the National Museum of Natural History curator of Dinosauria. “Even though it looks like a relatively simple lizard, it embodies an entire evolutionary epic going back more than 200 million years.”



The discovery comes from several specimens, including a complete one, discovered in a Morrison formation quarry in Wyoming focusing on an Allosaurus nest. During the late Jurassic, rhynocephalians were common.&nbsp;



At the peak of their existence, rhynocephalians were found all over the world and made a diverse group from herbivores to dedicated fishers. As lizards and snakes grew in diversity, for unclear reasons, rhynocephalians dwindled. Today, the tuatara is the only living representative.&nbsp;



“These animals may have disappeared partly because of competition from lizards but perhaps also due to global shifts in climate and changing habitats,” said Carrano. “It’s fascinating when you have the dominance of one group giving way to another group over evolutionary time, and we still need more evidence to explain exactly what happened, but fossils like this one are how we will put it together.”



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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

New Mesozoic reptile was an ancient relative of the tuatara

Tuataras are strange reptiles found living only in New Zealand....

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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