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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Trained dogs can sniff out invasive pests in forests

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

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.tum.de/">Technical University of Munich</a> (TUM) has investigated how climate change is impacting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farming-and-climate-warming-have-cut-insect-populations-in-half/">insect populations</a> across Europe. The experts found that species adapted to cooler temperatures, such as Thor’s fritillary, the green mountain grasshopper, or the white-faced darter, are declining. Meanwhile, warm-adapted species like the scarlet dragonfly, the European tree cricket, or the baton blue butterfly are in fact thriving as global temperatures rise. These findings highlight the complex relationships between climate change and various animal species, suggesting that, for some animals, global warming could actually turn out to be beneficial.



By using data on current population trends of more than 200 species of insects in Bavaria, including 120 butterflies, 50 orthoptera, and 60 dragonflies, the researchers found that across all these insect groups, there was an increase in the populations of warm-adapted species and a decline of species adapted to cooler environments.



“We determined the temperature preferences of each species using data on their distribution within Europe and the mean temperature in that area. In other words, species with a primarily northern distribution are cold-adapted species, and species with a primarily southern European distribution are warm-adapted species,”&nbsp;explained study lead author Eva Engelhardt, an expert in Terrestrial Ecology at TUM.



“Our comparisons of the various groups of insects revealed significant differences. Whilst there was more decline than increase in butterfly and Orthoptera species, the trends for dragonflies were largely positive,” she added.



According to the researchers, a possible reason for this is improvements in water quality during the previous decades, a change that has particularly benefited dragonflies, which thrive in a variety of aquatic habitats. On the other hand, species adapted to very specific ecosystems (the so-called “habitat specialists”), including butterflies such as the large heath or the cranberry blue, experienced a marked decline due to climate change.



“Our study highlights the complex effect of climate change on our insect fauna,” said co-author Diana Bowler, a postdoctoral fellow in Ecosystem Services at the <a href="https://www.idiv.de/en/index.html">German Center for Integrative Biodiversity</a> (iDiv). “Our work is also an example of how modern approaches to data analysis can be used to obtain fascinating results from existing data sets. Volunteer and agency conservation work often does generate the data, but they are rarely evaluated systematically. This should happen much more often through collaborations like ours,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16200">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&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

Warm-adapted insects benefit from climate change

A new study led by the Technical University of Munich...

Elasmosaurus,,Group,Of,Long-necked,Plesiosaurs,From,The,Late,Cretaceous,Period,

A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/13342/">PeerJ</a> has found that plesiosaurs – a group of saurians that lived about 210 million years ago in the late Triassic and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous – adapted to life <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-humans-hear-as-well-as-seals-underwater/">underwater</a> in a unique way: their front and hind limbs evolved to form four uniform, wing-like flippers which they twisted in order to swim efficiently.



Plesiosaurs belonged to group of saurians called Sauropterygia (“paddle lizards”) that, over the course of evolution, re-adapted to living in the oceans. While most of them had extremely long necks and small heads, evidence of some predatory specimens with short necks and huge skulls has also emerged. However, what made plesiosaurs so unusual were their four uniform wing-like flippers.



“Having the front legs transformed into wing-like flippers is relatively common in evolution, for instance in sea turtles. Never again, however, did the hind legs evolve into an almost identical-looking airfoil-like wing,” said study lead author Anna Krahl, a paleontologist at the <a href="https://uni-tuebingen.de/">University of Tübingen</a>.



For over 120 years, experts in vertebrate paleontology have wondered how plesiosaurs might have swum with these four flippers. While some scientists argued that they rowed like freshwater turtles or ducks, and others that they flew underwater like sea turtles or penguins, some researchers believed that they actually combined underwater flight and rowing as modern-day sea lions or pig-nosed turtles do.



By analyzing the body structure of several plesiosaur fossils, Dr. Krahl has found that these creatures had stiffened elbows, knees, hands, and ankle joints, but functioning hip, shoulder, and finger joints. “Analysis comparing them to modern-day sea turtles, and based on what is known about their swimming process, indicated that plesiosaurs were probably not able to rotate their flippers as much as would be necessary for rowing,” she explained.&nbsp;



However, plesiosaurs could ultimately twist their flippers to place them in a hydrodynamically favorable position and produce lift without rotating their upper arms and thighs. “This could work by means of twisting the flippers around their long axis,” Dr. Krahl said. “Other vertebrates, such as the leatherback turtle, have also been shown to use this movement to generate propulsion through lift.”&nbsp;Twisting most probably involved bending their first finger far downward and their last finger far upward, with the remaining fingers bridging these extreme positions, so that the flipper tip was almost vertical without requiring any real rotation in the shoulders or wrists.



By calculating the forces for the individual muscles that generated the upstroke and downstroke, Dr. Krahl and her colleagues discovered that the downstroke of both pairs of flippers was more powerful than the upstroke – similarly with today’s sea turtles, and differently from other aquatic creatures such as penguins or whales.



“Plesiosaurs adapted to life in water in a very different way than whales, for example. This unique path of evolution exemplifies the importance of paleontological research because it’s the only way we can appreciate the full range of what evolution can bring about,” Dr. Krahl concluded.&nbsp;&nbsp;&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

How did the plesiosaurs swim?

A recent study published in the journal PeerJ has found...

Nocturnal tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) use their keen sense of smell to find nectar rich flowers or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-adapt-to-altitude-by-sensing-oxygen-levels/">plants</a> on which to lay their eggs. Now, researchers at the&nbsp; <a href="https://www.ice.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology</a> are looking to answer the question of how the moths distinguish between different smells.&nbsp;



With so many smells in the world, how can moths pick out those that are essential for their lives from those unnecessary whiffs?&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Our question is based on the fact that the plants that are vital for the tobacco hawkmoth, that is nectar sources and suitable host plants for their offspring, are very sparse in their natural habitat. Apparently, however, these plants are nevertheless found by the moths. We wanted to know whether the olfactory system can also filter out weak odor signals if they provide the moths with clues that lead them to food sources or oviposition sites," said Sonja Bisch-Knaden, lead author of the study.



To carry out the research, the scientists collected scents from 17 different plants in Arizona. These plants were reported to be important to the moths and the scents were carefully collected at night, when the hawkmoths are active.&nbsp;



As the moths were exposed to different scents, the researchers observed their antennae and brain activity. The researchers compared virgin female moths and mated female hawkmoths to see if there was a difference in scent sensitivity. Calcium imaging was used to visualize the neuron activity as moths were exposed to smells.&nbsp;



“The most important nectar sources, such as agave and datura flowers, give off a strong odor to which the antennae and brain of a female tobacco hawkmoth also respond more strongly than to any other odor. Here, identification of the floral scent appears to be straightforward. This applies to both virgin and mated females, as the few host plants of the larvae are widely scattered throughout the habitat, and the egg-laying female must therefore travel long distances and refill her energy reserves constantly," said Bisch-Knaden.



"In contrast, host plants as oviposition sites have only a very weak odor, but individual odor components are nevertheless recognized by the antennae. The activity patterns that these odors evoke in the brain are very different from the activity patterns of other plant odors."&nbsp;



"This difference becomes even greater after mating, as the female is then virtually unaware of the odor of the other plants that are not candidates for egg-laying. It is still difficult to explain how the moths find these plants in nature on the basis of their odor alone, since the plant odors cannot be perceived individually, as in our study, but always in a mixture."



The research published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>, is just the beginning. The scientists hope to next compare their results to those with related species of moths.&nbsp;



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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

Tobacco hawkmoths are incredibly sensitive to important smells

Nocturnal tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) use their keen sense of...

Mosquito <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cuttlefish-camouflage-more-than-meets-the-eye/">fish</a> and guppies are sometimes cannibalistic when held in captivity, but a new study shows that this is not common behavior in the wild.&nbsp;According to the study authors, rare instances of cannibalism among fish are likely due to intense competition for food. The research has implications not only for aquarists but also for our understanding of evolution.



To investigate how common cannibalism is, Professor Brian Langerhans at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> analyzed years of data covering almost 12,000 fish from 17 species in the wild.



“These are data accumulated from several different projects over the years,” said Professor Langerhans, the study’s senior author. “To identify the mechanisms responsible for this sort of phenomenon in the wild, we needed really large sample sizes. So, we accumulated the data for this work while also doing other projects.”



The scientists looked at the stomach contents of 11,946 fishes, either by x-ray or dissection. Of all the examinations, they found only 35 cannibalism cases, accounting for less than 0.3 percent. Furthermore, the cases of cannibalism were found in only three species of mosquito fish.   



Study co-author Rüdiger Riesch of the Royal Holloway University of London began the project while a postdoctoral researcher in Langerhans’ lab between 2010 and 2012.



“In captivity, mosquitofish and guppies will practice cannibalism commonly enough that there are protocols in place in research labs and aquaculture to quickly separate offspring from the larger fish,” said Riesch. “But when you look at the diets of fish in the wild, you really don’t find much evidence of it. We wanted to find out whether and why cannibalism occurs in nature.”



The scientists found that the rare cases of cannibalism were not just opportunistic but caused by extreme food competition. Cannibalism only happened in cases where there were few predators on the fish, which caused their populations to grow too high.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Resource competition seems to be the main predictor of cannibalism,” said Professor Langerhans. “We also saw that a lack of predation has an indirect effect on cannibalism: Release from predation allows population density to skyrocket, which decreases resources. This same driving factor may be responsible for many cases of cannibalism across the animal kingdom in natural settings.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20457758">Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.&nbsp;



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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

Cannibalism is rare among wild fish

Mosquito fish and guppies are sometimes cannibalistic when held in...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/links-between-climate-and-heart-disease-must-be-addressed/">Climate change</a> can lead to the introduction and spread of invasive species, a serious ecological concern in many parts of the world. Experts have theorized that climate change will further increase the negative impact of non-native species.



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a>, researchers have found that the ecological impacts of non-native species alone are similar to those associated with the combination of invasives, warming temperatures, drought, and artificial fertilizers.&nbsp;



The study shows that climate change will not amplify the negative effects of non-native species as much as previously estimated. "The good news is that the bad news isn't quite as bad as we thought," said study senior author Bethany Bradley.



The research team reviewed and analyzed 95 previously published studies and found 458 cases that documented the combined effects of non-native species with drought, nitrogen, or global warming. The results were unexpected.&nbsp;



"What we found surprised us. There were a number of cases where the interactions made everything worse at the local scale, which is what we expected to see, but only about 25 percent of the time. The majority of the time, invasions and environmental change together didn't make each other worse. Instead, the combined effects weren't all that much more than the impact of invasive species alone," explained study lead author Bianca Lopez.



The researchers noted that it is essential to be vigilant when considering the impacts of non-native species. "Our work shows that dealing with invasive species now will make our ecosystems more climate resilient," said Bradley.&nbsp;



Study co-author Jenica Allen emphasized that the research can help inform invasive species management. "What is so important about our findings is that they highlight the critical importance of managing invasive species at the local scale."&nbsp;



The researchers mentioned that controlling invasive species can be done relatively cheaply. Also, considering that we now have the necessary technological tools available, we don't have to wait. We can take action now. In fact, some of us already have.&nbsp;



"Organizations like the <a href="https://www.risccnetwork.org/">Northeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Network</a>, which is a consortium of scientists and natural resource managers dedicated to sharing information and best practices about dealing with invasives, are already implementing a whole range of proactive practices to deal with invasive species," said Allen.&nbsp;



“Our work shows that dealing with invasive species now will make our ecosystems more climate resilient,” said Bradley.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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

Managing invasive species can improve climate resilience

Climate change can lead to the introduction and spread of...

Mosquitoes need <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-deprivation-may-become-a-side-effect-of-climate-change/">sleep</a> in order to function well, just like we do. In fact, mosquitoes in the lab sleep between 16 and 19 hours a day, depending on the species and the levels of activity going on around them.&nbsp;



Sleep in humans is important in maintaining the immune system and in restorative functions such as tissue repair and protein synthesis. It has also been demonstrated that sleep is vital for peak memory and brain function. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can blur cognitive function and is associated with the development of numerous ill health conditions.



In a recent study from the <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a>, researchers demonstrated the importance of sleep to mosquitoes. The study revealed that mosquitoes whose slumber was disturbed the night before were more likely to spend the next day catching up on rest rather than seeking out a host on which to feed. The research highlights how vital this biological function is, even in insects.



“It was a bit surprising. Sleep deprived or not, a blood meal should appeal to them,” said UC doctoral student and study lead author Oluwaseun Ajayi.



Sleep is an evolutionarily conserved process that has been observed and described in different animal systems, including insects. But sleep in mosquitoes, which are important vectors of disease-causing pathogens, has not been directly examined. This is surprising as circadian rhythms, which have been well studied in mosquitoes, influence sleep in other systems. In addition, the phenomenon of catching up on missed sleep, called sleep rebound, has been observed in other insects such as honeybees and fruit flies, and is also well known in humans.



The researchers from UC’s College of Arts and Sciences and Virginia Tech’s Department of Biochemistry, found it challenging to study sleep patterns in mosquitoes. They spent more than a year developing protocols to study the phenomenon effectively – mosquitoes are easily disturbed by the presence of an observer, whom they detect as a potential host. This means that any experiments on mosquito sleep are likely to be confounded by the presence of the observer – a phenomenon called the observer effect – according to UC biologist Joshua Benoit.



“It’s really hard to quantify sleep in mosquitoes when, as soon as you walk in the room, you’re considered their Thanksgiving dinner,” Benoit said.



Mosquitoes detect the presence of potential hosts through their body heat, odors, movement, vibrations and the carbon dioxide they exhale from their lungs and emit from their skin. Because of this sensitivity, the researchers had to install the mosquitoes in rooms isolated within other rooms, and make use of cameras and infrared sensors that could record when the mosquitoes were moving around, without disturbing them. Virginia Tech researcher and study co-author Clément Vinauger used these video observations to document mosquito behavior.



In this way, the researchers studied the sleeping and feeding behavior of three species of mosquitoes for about a week, once they were acclimatized to their laboratory homes. Mosquitoes spend a lot of time perching between activities, in order to conserve energy, and it is not easy to detect when they are actually sleeping. However, the scientists identified a subtle postural change that occurs when a mosquito falls asleep.&nbsp;



“When mosquitoes enter a sleep-like state, their hind legs droop and their body comes closer to the surface,” Ajayi said.



Using this knowledge, the researchers were able to establish from the video footage how much time mosquitoes spent asleep.&nbsp;The three species under investigation slept at different times of the 24 hour cycle – Aedes aegypti, a “day biter,” slept mostly at night while Anopheles stephensi, which is most active at night, slept during the daytime. Culex pipiens, which seeks a meal at dusk, could be found sleeping during the daytime and the night.



In a second experiment, researchers subjected the mosquitoes to sleep deprivation during their normal sleep time by vibrating their enclosures at regular intervals during.&nbsp;



The results of the experiments, published in the <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, showed that, while more than 75 percent of mosquitoes fly around actively seeking a blood meal when they are not subjected to sleep deprivation, less than one-quarter of them had any interest in food after a sleepless night. This represented a 54 percent decrease in the propensity to feed among sleep-deprived mosquitoes.



“What’s surprising to me is that as much as mosquitoes need blood to produce eggs, they will give it up to recover the sleep they lost,” Benoit said. “They might not be aroused as much because of the need to catch up on sleep.”



The overtired mosquitoes were also less likely to land on a host in both laboratory and field settings, suggesting that the same behaviors would occur in natural settings like your back yard. Tiredness also impaired blood feeding on a human host at times when mosquitoes would normally be active.&nbsp;



Lucas&nbsp;Gleitz&nbsp;participated in the research project as a&nbsp;UC&nbsp;undergraduate biology student. In his opinion, the study’s findings are&nbsp;relatable&nbsp;to the lives of college students, given the sleepless nights most of them endure.



Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other animal, according to the World Health Organization. Malaria alone kills more than 400,000 people annually. And mosquitoes carry pathogens for other deadly diseases such as dengue and yellow fever. By understanding the mosquitoes’ circadian rhythms, researchers hope to find better ways to prevent infection.



---



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

Sleep-deprived mosquitoes are less interested in feeding

Mosquitoes need sleep in order to function well, just like...

Bumblebee,Insect,On,White,Blooming,Cherry,Blossom.,Bumblebee,Insect.,The

The decline of pollinators is threatening ecosystems and economies around the world. According to a new study, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drones-can-assist-efforts-to-save-bees-and-other-pollinators/">pollinator</a> decline is likely the result of increased pesticide use in agriculture. The world's most widely used herbicide, glyphosate, may contribute more to this development than was previously known.



The study was led by Dr. Anja Weidenmüller, an expert in the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a>. The researchers set out to investigate how bumblebee colonies regulate the temperature of their brood.



Bumblebee colonies use nectar as "fuel" to keep their broods at a temperature of about 32 degrees. "Just as we humans keep our body temperature constant, the animals in a colony collectively show homeostasis in the temperature regulation of their brood," said Dr. Weidenmüller.&nbsp;



This thermoregulation is important for colony development. The study clearly showed that glyphosate impacts the collective thermoregulatory capacity of bumblebee colonies.



Broods require high temperatures to develop from egg to bumblebee, and to develop a colony from a single queen to several hundred individuals. When these colonies are exposed to glyphosate, resources become limited and the collective thermal behavior is affected. Unfortunately, the impacts don’t stop there.&nbsp;



"Bumblebee colonies are under really high pressure to grow as quickly as possible within a short period of time," explained Dr. Weidenmüller. If the colony cannot maintain the necessary brood temperature, the brood will develop slowly or not at all. This limits the growth of the colony. "Only when they reach a certain colony size during the relatively short growth period are they able to produce the sexually reproductive individuals of a colony, i.e. queens and drones."



Bumblebee colonies contaminated by glyphosate are less able to keep their brood warm. In Germany’s agricultural landscape, fewer wild flowers are available to insects, resulting in resource scarcity. "The combination of resource scarcity in cleared agricultural landscapes and pesticides can therefore pose a massive problem for colony reproduction."&nbsp;



According to Dr. Weidenmüller, rethinking the approval process for pesticides is critical to bumblebee survival. Current approvals only test how many animals die after coming into contact with a substance after 24 or 48 hours.&nbsp;



"Sublethal effects, i.e. effects on organisms that are not lethal but can be seen, for example, in the animals' physiology or behaviour, can have a significant negative impact and should be taken into account when pesticides are approved in future," noted Dr. Weidenmüller.&nbsp;



The study revealed that bumblebees exposed to glyphosate also lived an average of 32 days, thus reaching an average bumblebee age. This research approach can be applied to many of the commonly used pesticides, such as other herbicides and fungicides. Currently, information is lacking on the effects of pesticides on wild bees and other pollinators.&nbsp;



Glyphosate is currently approved for use in the EU until 15 December 2022. The Glyphosate Renewal Group (GRG) applied for renewal in 2019.



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

Glyphosate disrupts brood care in bumblebees

The decline of pollinators is threatening ecosystems and economies around...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> has found that, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the world’s oceans, marine biodiversity could plummet within the next few centuries to levels not seen since the extinction of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-of-the-dinosaurs-were-warm-blooded/">dinosaurs</a>. According to the experts, tropical waters would experience the greatest loss of biodiversity, while polar animal species will be at the highest risk of extinction. However, reversing greenhouse gas emissions could reduce these risks by up to 70 percent.



The scientists combined existing physiological data on marine species with models of climate change in order to predict how environmental changes will affect the survival of sea animals over the next few centuries.&nbsp;



The experts compared their models to past mass extinctions captured in the fossil record, such as the end-Permian extinction about 250 million years ago (the Earth’s deadliest extinction event, in which 81 percent of marine species was wiped out). This analysis revealed that, as in the case of previous extinctions, factors such as increased water temperatures and low oxygen availability will make large swaths of the ocean uninhabitable, leading to massive losses of marine life.



Although marine animals have physiological mechanisms flexible enough to allow them to cope with many environmental changes, the massive upheaval caused by unmitigated emissions would probably lead most polar species to extinction. While tropical marine animals may likely fare better because they have traits allowing them to adapt to warmer, low-oxygen conditions – and, in addition, they might have the possibility to migrate to newly suitable habitats – tropical biodiversity would nevertheless be severely affected.&nbsp;



Fortunately, if urgent actions are taken to curb emissions, the risks of extinction and biodiversity loss could be reduced by 70 percent. “Aggressive and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are critical for avoiding a major mass extinction of ocean species,” said study senior author&nbsp;Curtis Deutsch, a professor of Geosciences&nbsp;at Princeton.



“The silver lining is that the future isn’t written in stone,” added study first author&nbsp;Justin Penn, a postdoctoral research associate working together with Professor Deutsch. “The extinction magnitude that we found depends strongly on how much carbon dioxide [CO2] we emit moving forward. There’s still enough time to change the trajectory of CO2&nbsp;emissions and prevent the magnitude of warming that would cause this mass extinction,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abe9039">Science</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

Unchecked emissions may lead to marine mass extinction

A new study led by Princeton University has found that,...

A new species of dinosaur has been described by scientists from Japan and the USA. First found in 2008 in the Osoushinai Formation, a fossil-rich geological feature in Nakagawa, Hokkaido, the fossil remains include a partial vertebra, a partial wrist and a front foot with some large claws.&nbsp;At the time of discovery, the specimen was thought to be from a maniraptoran theropod <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-of-the-dinosaurs-were-warm-blooded/">dinosaur</a>, possibly therizinosaur, but not enough evidence existed to confirm this and so its taxonomic status remained unresolved.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In the current study, led by Professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi at the <a href="https://www.museum.hokudai.ac.jp/english/">Hokkaido University Museum</a> and Anthony R. Fiorillo at Southern Methodist University (SMU), the fossil remains have been revisited and analyzed in the light of more recent evidence and knowledge of the therizinosaurid family of dinosaurs. The findings are published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11063-5">Scientific Reports</a>.



The therizinosauridae (a name meaning ‘scythe lizards’) is a family of theropod dinosaurs characterized by having long necks, thick hind limbs with four-toed feet, large, keratinous beaks and forelimbs with unusually long, curved claws or unguals. It is this last feature that gives the group its name. Their fossils have been found in deposits dated from the Early to the Late Cretaceous Period, distributed widely in Asia and North America. This group of therapods is considered to be herbivorous and closely related to birds.



Asian therizinosaurs have been found mainly from the Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia and China. Japan, which was located at the eastern edge of the Asian continent during the Cretaceous, before the opening of the Japan Sea during the Miocene, has produced two therizinosaur specimens from the Lower and Upper Cretaceous deposits, but neither one has been named because of the difficulty in identifying the fragmentary specimens.&nbsp;The new fossil analyzed in this study is the third, and youngest specimen discovered in Japan.



Asian therizinosaurs had enormous claws on their hands and, based on the morphology of these claws (their length, width at the base, and strength), they are divided into basal therizinosaurs and derived (advanced) therizinosaurs. The basal species have claws that are shorter, stronger and more generalized, implying that they were all-purpose structures not specialized for any particular use. Derived species, in contrast, have some of the longest claws ever recorded in any animals (some measuring 50 cm in length) and these are thought to have specialized functions such as raking taller vegetation towards the mouth as the animal browsed.



The fossil under investigation showed a unique combination of traits in the metacarpal I bone, as well as in the claws, which led the researchers to identify it as a new species of therizinosaur. They named it Paralitherizinosaurus japonicas, which means reaper reptile by the sea from Japan, as its fossilized remains were found in sediments of marine origin. The morphology of its strongly curved claws was compared with that of many other therizinosaur species and the results placed it among the derived therizinosaurs, based on four shared, derived characteristics.&nbsp;



Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus&nbsp;represents the youngest occurrence of therizinosaur remains in Japan. Its discovery indicates that therizinosaurs in Asia existed over a much longer time period, and a much larger geographical area, than previously known. It is also the first therizinosaur record from marine sediments in Asia. Along with a fossil from Utah, USA, this suggests that some of the derived therizinosaurs were adapted to life in coastal environments.&nbsp;



“This study also tells us how much more we still have to learn about the incredible history of life on Earth,” said Fiorillo, a research professor in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smu.edu/Dedman/Academics/Departments/Earth-Sciences">SMU’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences</a>.



Co-authors of the study include Ryuji Takasaki of Okayama University of Science, Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig of North Carolina State University and Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and Yoshinori Hikida of Nakagawa Museum of Natural History.&nbsp;



Image Credit: Masato Hattori



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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

New dinosaur species distinguished by its fearsome claws

A new species of dinosaur has been described by scientists...

Many studies have shown that tiny plastic particles are now spread everywhere on Earth – in the water, food, and air, and even inside the human body, in our blood, lung tissue, and stool. According to a recent cover story published in <a href="https://cen.acs.org/">Chemical &amp; Engineering News</a>, an independent news outlet of the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS), scientists are just beginning to investigate the health and environmental risks of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-confirms-microplastics-have-entered-our-food-chain/">microplastics</a> and nanoplastics, by using lessons learned from nanotoxicology.&nbsp;



Microplastics (plastic particles smaller than five millimeters in diameter) and nanoplastics (particles smaller than one µm) can be made of a variety of materials, and are of different sizes and shapes. Due to their diversity, a proper investigation of their health and environmental effects is a complicated matter.&nbsp;



So far, scientists have mostly used polystyrene beads in their experiments since they are easily accessible. However, these beads are far from being representative of the diversity of microplastics found in the environment: most of these particles are irregular fragments rather than spheres, and environmental factors such as ultraviolet light can change their properties after they are released in the environment. Moreover, polystyrene is not the only polymer found in the environment; fragments of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyamide are also abundant in our surroundings.



Since there is limited data regarding the effects of exposure to microplastics, making regulatory decisions is challenging. This is a problem that the toxicology community has also faced over the past decade when trying to assess the risks of nanoparticles, so scientists hope that lessons from nanotoxicology could be applied to our understanding and assessment of micro- and nanoplastics.&nbsp;



Currently, researchers are beginning to standardize the various microplastics used in studies, in order to be able to reproduce results and better replicate real-world situations. Moreover, laboratory systems simulating bodily functions are increasingly used to investigate how ingested or inhaled plastic particles could affect human gut and lung cells.



“We really need to launch a micro- and nanoplastic safety consortium similar to what we did with nanomaterials and bring a lot of groups and scientists together to address these fundamental questions,” said Philip Demokritou, an expert in Nanoscience and Environmental Bioengineering at <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a>. “Because right now, with a little bit of funding here and a little bit there, we won’t be able to generate the data that risk assessors need.”&nbsp;



The full cover story - written by senior correspondent Britt Erikson - can be accessed <a href="https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/toxicology/Microplastics-health-risk-toxicology-particle-characterization-nanomaterials/100/i19">here</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

Nanotoxicology could help assess the risks of microplastics

Many studies have shown that tiny plastic particles are now...

To discern evolutionary relationships and family trees, biologists focus on physical characteristics (morphology), but this can be tricky. For example, the wings of birds, bats and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/light-pollution-disorients-monarch-butterflies/">butterflies</a> may look superficially similar, yet it is not a sign of close relatedness.  



Now, scientists at the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> have managed to use molecular data to reconstruct family trees and to examine the relatedness of organisms. The study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio/">Communications Biology</a>, compares the older method with the molecular method for building family trees.&nbsp;



Interestingly, the research shows that family trees of organisms built by molecular methods are more closely grouped together geographically than those in evolutionary trees based on morphology.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It turns out that we’ve got lots of our evolutionary trees wrong," said Matthew Wills, professor of Evolutionary Paleobiology at the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/research-centres/milner-centre-for-evolution/">Milner Centre for Evolution</a>. “For over a hundred years, we’ve been classifying organisms according to how they look and are put together anatomically, but molecular data often tells us a rather different story."



“Our study proves statistically that if you build an evolutionary tree of animals based on their molecular data, it often fits much better with their geographical distribution."



“Where things live – their biogeography – is an important source of evolutionary evidence that was familiar to Darwin and his contemporaries. For example, tiny elephant shrews, aardvarks, elephants, golden moles and swimming manatees have all come from the same big branch of mammal evolution - despite the fact that they look completely different from one another (and live in very different ways)."



“Molecular trees have put them all together in a group called Afrotheria, so-called because they all come from the African continent, so the group matches the biogeography.”



It makes sense that biogeography might be more important than morphology as something pointing towards relatedness. Similar body parts might develop independently, something called convergent evolution, and a huge red herring in the search for a tree of life.



“We already have lots of famous examples of convergent evolution, such as flight evolving separately in birds, bats and insects, or complex camera eyes evolving separately in squid and humans," explained Professor Wills.



"But now with molecular data, we can see that convergent evolution happens all the time – things we thought were closely related often turn out to be far apart on the tree of life."



"People who make a living as lookalikes aren’t usually related to the celebrity they’re impersonating, and individuals within a family don’t always look similar - it’s the same with evolutionary trees too."



"It proves that evolution just keeps on re-inventing things, coming up with a similar solution each time the problem is encountered in a different branch of the evolutionary tree. It means that convergent evolution has been fooling us - even the cleverest evolutionary biologists and anatomists - for over 100 years!”



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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

We may have family trees all wrong

To discern evolutionary relationships and family trees, biologists focus on...

According to previous research, cuttlefish transformation is a relatively simple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/traffic-noise-in-school-linked-to-slower-cognitive-development/">cognitive</a> process involving one of three body patterns to help the animals blend in with their background. Still, scientists have yet to explain how these stunning masters of disguise can express approximately 30 different body pattern components.&nbsp;



Like other cephalopods (i.e., octopi), cuttlefish are able to camouflage themselves by using their brains to control chromatophores - special cells all over their body surface. A new study led by <a href="https://www.city.ac.uk/">City University London</a> has shown that European cuttlefish (sepia officinalis) camouflage may be more complex than previously thought.&nbsp;



"To examine how cuttlefish deploy this vast potential, we recorded cuttlefish on seven experimental backgrounds, each designed to resemble a pattern component, and then compared their responses to predictions of two models of sensory control of component expression," wrote the study authors.



The scientists observed and analyzed 15 European cuttlefish and found that the patterns displayed by cuttlefish could only be explained by the involvement of more than one distinct neural system. These systems are activated selectively and process features from the cuttlefish’s immediate environment and the overall background, which allow the cuttlefish to camouflage themselves on the ocean floor.&nbsp;



“The cuttlefish provides a fascinating window into perceptual processing of such an alien species by expressing its perception of the surroundings on the dynamic canvas of its skin surface," said study co-author Professor Christopher Tyler.



The research supports the findings of a previous study, which suggests that cuttlefish have the cognitive ability to process specific and background features. Furthermore, the results support another model suggesting that cuttlefish only employ these cognitive skills when they deem them necessary to improve their camouflage.&nbsp;



“The findings also lay the groundwork for further study to investigate which specific aspects of the patterned features used here are responsible for activating distinct groups of body components in cuttlefish, and indeed, whether these artificial visual cues are reflective of what is encountered in the animal’s natural environment," concluded Professor Tyler.&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:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cuttlefish camouflage: more than meets the eye

According to previous research, cuttlefish transformation is a relatively simple...

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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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

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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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