This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. 



Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space.



In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow.



And let's not forget the dazzling Orionids meteor shower, where you can catch glimpses of shooting stars streaking across the sky, resulting from debris left by Halley's Comet.



There's truly something for everyone in this celestial display. So, grab a warm jacket, perhaps a pair of binoculars for a closer look.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-80-000-year-old-time-traveler">80,000-year-old time traveler</h2>



Meet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-anticipated-comet-of-2024-returns-this-weekend-after-80000-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS</a>, a celestial wanderer that's been on an 80,000-year long odyssey. 



From the outermost regions of our solar system, this comet embarks on an interminable journey around the sun. The last time it paid us a visit, our ancestors were just crafting civilizations.



Although its closest Earth pass was on October 12, it remains visible for the remainder of the month. 



So, how do you spot it? An hour into the sunset, turn your sight to where the sun has sunk and voila. The elusive comet, while difficult to sight with the naked eye, could be seen with a pair of binoculars. 



Don't miss this rare chance to witness a phenomenon that won't return for another 80,000 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunter-s-supermoon">Hunter's Supermoon</h2>



Next up...mark your calendars for October 17, 2024. The night sky is all set to parade the Hunter's Moon, but this year it's not just a full moon -- <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunters-supermoon-prepares-to-illuminate-the-october-skies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it's a supermoon</a>! 



This phenomenon occurs when the moon is at its closest to Earth during its full phase, making it larger and brighter.



The Hunter’s Moon got its name from the historical practice of hunters utilizing the bright moonlight to track game and gather food in preparation for winter. This full moon rises soon after sunset, extending the period of illumination more than usual.



As it ascends, the Hunter’s Moon appears particularly large and orange, a visual effect produced by its lower position on the horizon and the scattering of light in the atmosphere.



This lunar phase holds cultural significance across various traditions, representing a time for preparation and gathering, underscoring the importance of readiness for the impending colder months.



While contemporary life may not depend on this extra light to hunt or complete outdoor tasks, the Hunter’s Moon remains a fascinating reminder of nature’s rhythms and the cyclical changes of the seasons.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-puts-the-super-in-the-supermoon">What puts the 'super' in the supermoon?</h3>



So, you might ask, "What's so super about the supermoon?" As Anna Gammon-Ross, a seasoned astronomer from the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Museums Greenwich</a> explains, a supermoon occurs when a full moon is nearest to Earth in its orbit. 



This cosmic alignment results in a moon that's roughly 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. On seeing the radiant orb hanging low in the sky, you'd agree that the supermoon does indeed earn its name.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shooting-stars-orionids-meteor-shower">Shooting stars: Orionids meteor shower</h2>



The Orionids meteor shower is one of the highlights of the October night sky. These meteors are actually tiny bits of dust left behind by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orionids-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-heres-what-to-expect/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halley's Comet</a> as it travels through the solar system. 



When Earth passes through this trail of debris, the particles slam into our atmosphere at incredible speeds -- up to 148,000 miles per hour! As they burn up, they create those bright streaks of light we love to watch.



What's cool about the Orionids is that they're known for their fast and bright meteors, often leaving glowing trails that last for a few seconds. 



The best time to catch them is in the early morning hours before dawn, when the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/betelgeuse-one-of-our-brightest-stars-will-vanish-from-sight-next-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">constellation Orion</a> (which gives the meteor shower its name) is high in the sky. 



Just find a comfy spot away from city lights, let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and enjoy the show -- no special equipment needed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skywatching-101">Skywatching 101</h2>



All set to behold these cosmic spectacles? Here are some tips to enhance your experience:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Search for a location far from city lights to escape light pollution. </li>



<li>Always check the weather. Clear skies are your best pals for skywatching. </li>



<li>Bring your binoculars. For the supermoon, they are optional, but they'll help with the comet and make meteor watching more fun. </li>



<li>Comfort is key. Dress warmly and consider bringing a blanket or a chair. </li>



<li>Patience is a virtue. Allow around 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.</li>
</ul>



These celestial showstoppers make for some spectacular photography opportunities. 



For the supermoon, a camera with manual settings, plus a tripod for steadiness, can help capture stunning shots. 



For the meteors, a wide-angle lens with a long exposure setting can help you nab a shooting star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-wonders-to-watch">More wonders to watch</h2>



October's skywatching doesn't end with the comet, supermoon, and meteor shower. 



Throughout the month, Venus brightly greets morning risers, while Saturn and Jupiter are earlier night visitors. 



Mars is a bit elusive but worth seeking out. Several constellations, such as Cassiopeia and Perseus, also adorn the night sky. 



If you're a novice stargazer, a smartphone app can help you navigate the starry expanse.



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Hunter's supermoon, a comet, and Orionids meteors are sharing the sky this week

This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space. In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow. And let's not...

Get out your umbrellas. And your rain boots. And your kayaks? Southern California is bracing for a strong storm slated to hit the area starting Friday and continuing through Saturday. Officials say that it will bring heavy, nonstop rain and strong winds. As with most bad weather in California, it will also potentially cause flash flooding and dangerous mudslides. 

Los Angeles and Ventura Counties are expecting as much as 6 inches of nonstop rain. South-facing foothills and coastal mountain areas could receive as much as 5 to 10 inches. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-water-deficit-california/">storm</a> will create record-breaking rainfall totals for some areas of the state. 

Some areas, such as neighborhoods in the Fish Fire burn area of the city of Duarte, have issued evacuation notices for their residents, who are increasingly nervous. 

"I'm a little anxious knowing that we have pack up the house again, twice in one year to get out of our home. We got booted out when the Fish Fire hit, the fire department did a great job and kept us super safe, all of our homes were saved," Jill Brainard said to <a href="http://ktla.com/">KTLA</a>. "But this is a little different, you can't control mudflow and rain.”

Despite the overwhelming amount of rain that’s fallen in California over the past few months, experts say that the state’s five-years-long drought isn’t quite over. This is because the rainfall has been focused on the northern half of the state. In those areas, once-low reservoirs are brimming with water once again. 

The middle and southern parts of the state, however, are still suffering from moderate to severe levels of drought. Experts say that it will take more than one rainy winter to correct the problem. 

“Luckily, they got one record setting winter this year, which is great,” <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">NOAA</a> meteorologist David Miskus said to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">The Washington Post</a>. “But what will happen next year? You don’t know what next winter will bring.” 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Think the nonstop rain is killing CA’s drought? Think again

Get out your umbrellas. And your rain boots. And your...

Scientists find a way to reuse our water waste AND make thermal <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/waste-to-energy-plants/">energy</a>. We waste gallons of water each day, every time we run the sink, do laundry, wash dishes, or take a bath or shower. That water, known as greywater, could potentially be reused, but most homes and buildings don’t have the capability of recycling it.

This is even more of a concern in places where water is a precious commodity. Recycling greywater would mean that fresh, clean water could be used for drinking and cooking, rather than lost after being used for washing.

Architect Maria Paz Gutierrez (a mentor at the<a href="http://www.berkeley.edu"> University of California, Berkeley</a>) hopes to change all of that. Working with Slav Hermanowicz, an environmental engineer, and bioengineer Luke Lee, she’s found a way to put greywater to work. It’s job? Making thermal energy.

While greywater can’t be recycled as drinking water – it’s not clean enough for that – it can be reused for things like flushing toilets and washing laundry. The system created by Gutierrez would send that greywater cycling back through the system to be used a second time, but it would also be used to make thermal energy that would lower electricity bills.

"This is the future of sustainable building systems--synergistic optimization processes that are win-win from the local to the global scales," said Gutierrez. "The end user benefits because they're using less water and paying less for electricity or gas; the community benefits because it has less water to treat; the environment benefits because we're not going to be contaminating aquifers. That's the fundamental difference between this design and other building systems.”

The team’s research was supported by the<a href="https://www.nsf.gov"> National Science Foundation</a>. While the technology is currently in its infancy, Gutierrez says it could be available for commercial purposes within 10 years. Her goal is to bring the price point down to one that would be realistic in areas where water is scarce. We are looking forward to a future where our water waste is converted into something useful.

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

&nbsp;

Amazing scientists turn our water waste into energy

Scientists find a way to reuse our water waste AND make...

U.S. demonstrates measured response to North Korea missile test. As <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/north-korea-pyongyang/">North Korea</a> fired a missile into the Sea of Japan early Sunday morning, President Donald Trump seemed to be making moves to de-escalate the situation. 

The missile was an intermediate-range Musudan-class missile. This style of missile has a range of between 1,550 to 2,500 miles. If fired from North Korea, a Musudan could reach South Korea and Japan at the lower end of its range. At the upper end, it could reach U.S. military bases located on Guam. 

Government officials are concerned that North Korea may be working to perfect an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). If they were to successfully develop ICBM technology, the missile would be capable of reaching the continental U.S. – a full 3,400 miles away from North Korea. Some ICBMs can travel as far as 6,200 miles. 

In a statement, the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Our assessment is that [the missile test] is part of a show of force in response to the new U.S. administration's hardline position against the North.”

When North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un announced in January that his country was nearly ready to test an ICBM, Trump responded by tweeting “It won’t happen!” His administration has not released details on what their exact policy will be on North Korea. 

Early indications are that the Trump administration will look to China to take a stand against North Korea. 

In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, White House adviser Stephen Miller said, "We are going to reinforce and strengthen our vital alliances in the Pacific region as part of our strategy to deter and prevent the increasing hostility that we've seen in recent years from the North Korean regime.”

President Trump indicated that the U.S. would be standing by Japan after holding a meeting with Shinzo Abe, that country’s prime minister. 

"I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, 100 percent," Trump said to reporters. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

&nbsp;

U.S. demonstrates measured response to North Korea missile test

U.S. demonstrates measured response to North Korea missile test. As...

APTOPIX Damaged Dam

Evacuations ordered as officials fear Oroville Dam collapse. Twelve years ago, officials were warned that the Oroville Dam wasn’t in good shape. They rejected those concerns. Now, nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated from Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties amid growing fears that the dam could collapse, putting neighborhoods under 100 feet of water. 

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/relentless-rain-california-nevada-west/">California National Guard</a> is on standby, waiting to be deployed as residents lined up to leave the area on Sunday. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, and people were frightened and furious.

Gas station manager Raj Gill was told by his manager to evacuate, but chose to stay put and help evacuating residents gas up. 

“You can't even move,” he told the<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html"> Daily Mail</a>. “I'm trying to get out of here too. I'm worried about the flooding. I've seen the pictures - that's a lot of water.”

It would indeed be a lot of water. Although officials have activated an emergency spillway not put into use for almost 50 years, that may not be enough. A 170 x 250-foot hole on the concrete lip of the dam’s secondary spillway has been exacerbated by flooding from recent storms. Engineers dropped rocks into the hole in order to temporarily plug the water flow.

However, with more bad weather on the way, officials worry that the weakened area of the dam could fail entirely.

Although water is no longer pouring over the damaged area, the evacuation orders are still in place while law enforcement and engineers work to figure out the best course of action. 

At a news conference, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea updated residents on the situation. 

“There is [sic] still a lot of unknowns,” he said. “We need to continue to lower the lake levels and we need to give the Department of Water Resources time to fully evaluate the situation so we can make the decision to whether or not it is safe to repopulate the area.”

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image credit: <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>

&nbsp;

Oroville Dam about to cause Californian catastrophe

Evacuations ordered as officials fear Oroville Dam collapse. Twelve years ago,...

A horrible scene is unfolding on a remote <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/new-zealand-earthquake-exposes-land-kaikoura/">New Zealand</a> beach: 400 pilot whales have stranded themselves for reasons unknown to experts. 

As rescuers are frantically working to save them, the whale rescue organization Project Jonah reports that over 300 of the creatures have died. In a Facebook post on Friday, the organization said that rescue efforts will focus on “refloating” the 100 surviving whales as soon as the tide comes in. 

When the mass beaching was discovered, conservationists sounded the alarm, asking volunteers to help save the distressed marine mammals. People from around the country – including a team of approximately 30 trained whale medics – traveled to Farewell Spit, a beach on New Zealand’s South Island. 

Volunteers formed a human chain and worked to keep the whales hydrated and alive while waiting for high tide. Once the water moves back in, stranded whales can be “floated” back into the water so that they may swim away. Dragging a beached whale back into the water can seriously injure it, so rescuers have had to be diligent and very patient. 

The stranding on the beach in Golden Bay is the largest incident of its type in recent years. The largest whale stranding on record happened in 1918. Then, 1,000 whales beached themselves on the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. 

The last mass whale stranding in New Zealand happened in 2015. Then, nearly 200 whales came ashore – and in the exact same area. Farewell Spit has earned a reputation as the country’s most dangerous “whale trap.” In the 2015 stranding, rescuers were able to save nearly 60 of the creatures.

Pilot whales are black or dark grey in color and are the second-largest in the dolphin species after the orca, or killer whale. They are the most frequently stranded whale because they travel in large pods.

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Photo: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4209902/Hundreds-whales-stranded-New-Zealand-beach.html">AP</a>

Mass whale stranding sends rescuers scrambling in New Zealand

A horrible scene is unfolding on a remote New Zealand...

Eco-conscious car owners are buzzing about this bit of news: <a href="https://www.tesla.com">Tesla</a> is set to begin test builds on its $35,000 Model 3 sedan on February 20th. 

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk announced that Tesla will shut down the production line at its California assembly plant for one week this month. That will give the team time to prepare for production of the Model 3. During the shutdown, the plant will add capacity to its existing paint shop and do maintenance necessary to get ready to crank out the much-awaited new vehicles. 

Tesla hopes to start production of the new sedan in July. Over 370,000 customers have put down deposits for the Model 3.

“This will allow Tesla to begin Model 3 production later this year as planned and enable us to start the ramp towards 500,000 vehicles annually in 2018,” a Tesla spokesperson said of the plant shutdown. 

Musk said that the final design of the Model 3 production facility will resemble an “alien dreadnought.” It will be stunning, he said – “the machine that makes the machine.” 

“You can't have people in the production line itself, otherwise you drop to people speed,” he said. “So there will be no people in production process itself.”

People will still work in the factory, Musk said, in order to maintain, upgrade, and repair the machines. 

While <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/renewable-fuel-cars-hawaii/">electric cars</a> have traditionally cost more than their gas-guzzling counterparts, the move will help turn the dream of truly affordable electric vehicles into a reality. Tesla’s 2016 Model S retailed at $68,000. The Model 3 will cut that price nearly in half. 

Tesla is betting that the Model 3 will take the company out of the niche luxury electric car market and turn it into a brand for the masses. It hasn’t been profitable since 2010, when it first went public. 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tesla announces pre-production tests on $35,000 Model 3

Eco-conscious car owners are buzzing about this bit of news:...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/french-bulldogs-craze/">Doggy </a>emotions may mirror their owners. It’s common pet owner folklore that after many years together, people begin to resemble their dogs – or is it vice versa?

While the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/end-era-ringling-bros-circus-will-shut/">pet</a>/owner resemblance myth may not be scientific fact, researchers have uncovered an amazing connection between owners and their dogs. It turns out that over time, your furry friend may begin to take on your personality.

If your dog is anxious and behaves in a negative manner, look in the mirror. Could it be that he’s taking after you? The same goes if your pup is easygoing and friendly. She’s simply mimicking your emotions. 

To find this out, researchers tested over 100 dogs and their owners. They analyzed them inside and out, measuring their heart rates, how they respond to threats, and even taking saliva samples to check cortisol levels. Cortisol is a chemical that the body releases in response to stress. 

The doggie-owner pairs also underwent personality testing that covered five major areas: conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Because the canine participants weren’t able to vocally respond to researchers’ questions, their owners provided personality info on their pets via a questionnaire. 

The result? Dogs definitely reflect their owners’ personalities and emotional states. Since they’ve lived with us for more than 30,000 years, dogs have had to adapt in order to tune into our emotions and modify their behavior to suit. 

Iris Schoberl of the<a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/"> University of Vienna</a> said that the personality influence goes both ways and dogs can influence humans, as well. However, the human in the pair is the more influential of the two.

In an interview with BBC News, she said, ”Our results nicely fit to experience from practice: owners and dogs are social dyads [a group of two], and they influence each other's stress coping.”

Dog owners and their pets can read more about this doggy emotions research in the journal<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/"> PLOS ONE</a>.

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Iris Schoberl,<a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/"> University of Vienna</a>

&nbsp;

Dogs' emotions may mirror our own

Doggy emotions may mirror their owners. It’s common pet owner...

Scientists have recently discovered four hidden lakes beneath the Thwaites glacier in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/warming-antarctic-bottom-waters/">Antarctica</a>. Hooray, right? 

No hooray. What sounds like an exciting scientific discovery could be somewhat speeding up the demise of the glacier, sending it slip-sliding into the ocean. 

Once the Thwaites glacier is lost, it is expected to destabilize the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and cause the seas to rise approximately two feet across the globe. 

The team of researchers from the<a href="https://www.washington.edu"> University of Washington</a> and the<a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk"> University of Edinburgh</a> found four lakes – all interconnected – lurking beneath the glacier. The glaciers emptied themselves between June 2013 and January 2014. 

Scientists were able to use data from CryoSat-2, a European Space Agency satellite, to monitor the drainage of the lakes.

Benjamin Smith, a professor at University of Washington and a glaciologist at their Applied Physics Laboratory, explained, “This was a big event, and it confirms that the long-term speed-up that we’re observing for this glacier is probably driven by other factors, most likely in the ocean. The water flow at the bed is probably not controlling the speed.”

The team’s findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.the-cryosphere.net"> The Cryosphere</a>. 

The researchers used a new method to discover that there are drops in the glacier’s surface where each lake is located. The lakes are large, with the biggest one measuring 8,500 cubic feet – roughly the size of Lake Washington. As for their drainage rate, the water flowing out moved at around half the flow rate of the Hudson River. 

During the years in which the lake drainage data was measured, the glacier’s slipping speed increased by 10%. However, scientists aren’t sure that the drainage of the lakes was the cause for the increase in glacier movement. They feel that another possible cause is warm seawater moving around underneath the glacier.

“This lake drainage is the biggest water movement that you would expect to see in this area, and it didn’t change the glacier’s speed by that much,” Smith said.

<a href="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-10.48.30-AM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-130915" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-10.48.30-AM-300x223.png" alt="" width="300" height="223" /></a>

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Images: Jim Yungel, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>

Source: Benjamin Smith,<a href="https://www.washington.edu"> University of Washington </a>

Four underground lakes discovered beneath Thwaites glacier

Scientists have recently discovered four hidden lakes beneath the Thwaites...

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the object emits electrons. Cool, huh? This phenomenon, known as photoemission, occurs with solids, gases, and liquids. When <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/led-lighting-wildlife/">Albert Einstein</a> discovered it back in 1905, it won him the Nobel Prize.

Photoemission isn’t the end of the story, though. Scientists have been working to study the timescales of photoemission. Do electrons become excited at the exact moment – and we’re talking moments in terms of attoseconds, here – that the light hits the surface of the material, or is there a time delay? 

To find out, scientists didn’t use a clock. Instead, they studied the spin polarization of emitted electrons. The spin of an electron is what makes a particle seems as though it’s rotating around its axis. Meanwhile, spin polarization refers to the degree to which this acid is aligned towards a given direction. 

In a new study, Mauro Fanciulli and a team at<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a> showed a connection between spin polarization of emitted electrons and attosecond time delays during photoemission. The researchers used photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) to get spin measurements on electrons emitted from a crystal of copper. 

Fanciulli, first author of the study, explains why the findings are so significant. 

"With <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/space-lasers-phytoplankton-blooms/">lasers</a> you can directly measure the time delay between different processes, but it is difficult to determine when a process starts - time zero,” he said. ”But in our experiment we measure time indirectly, so we don't have that problem - we could access one of the shortest timescales ever measured. The two techniques [spin and lasers], are complementary, and together they can yield a whole new realm of information."

Another member of the team, Hugo Dil, elaborates: ”It deals with the fundamental nature of time itself and will help understand the details of the photoemission process, but it can also be used in photoemission spectroscopy on materials of interest.”

What materials does he have in mind? His team plans to study grapheme – an atom-thin layer of pure carbon – as well as high-temperature superconductors. 

The current study was published in the journal<a href="https://journals.aps.org/archive/"> Physical Review</a>. 

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Mauro Fanciulli and Hugo Dil,<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a>

Researchers use electron spin to measure time without a clock

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the...

The Dakota Access pipeline is moving forward. In a statement on Tuesday, the United States <a href="http://www.usace.army.mil/">Army Corps of Engineers</a> said that it will grant the easement needed for the project to be completed. 

The Corps has also terminated plans to issue an Environmental Impact Statement on the project – a process that President Donald Trump had asked to be expedited. 

The announcement comes as a blow to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/womens-march-speak-trump/">protesters</a> who have been camped out near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, for months. Those opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline say that it poses a danger because it will run underneath a lake that’s a source of drinking water for Native American tribes in the area. 

Protesters briefly celebrated when the project was halted for some time in December – a decision made by the Obama administration. Even then, Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for building the pipeline, said that it was determined to complete construction without rerouting the pipeline. 

This new development will set off a wave of litigation, with the Sioux tribe of Standing Rock promising to sue if the Corps doesn’t follow through with the promised environmental review. 

"We stand ready to fight this battle against corporate interest superseding government procedure and the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans,” they said in a statement. 

“This action will serve facilitate completion of the last mile and a half of the 1,172 mile pipeline, connecting the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to an existing crude oil terminal near Pakota, Illinois," Robert Speer, the acting secretary of the Army, said in a statement. 

Speer indicated that there was enough available data to support granting the necessary easement; or in other words, there is no longer any need for an Environmental Impact Statement. 

Protesters are gearing up for the latest chapter in the battle as veterans groups make plans to return to Standing Rock and support them. 

--
By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Army Corp of Engineers gives thumbs up to Dakota Access easement

The Dakota Access pipeline is moving forward. In a statement...

A storm system that included as many as six tornadoes churned through southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, injuring about 40 people. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gulf-waters-eating-away-at-small-towns-outside-of-new-orleans-levees-2/">New Orleans</a> East was hit particularly hard by the storms – quite a blow to an area that was previously devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. About 20 people were hurt there when an EF2-strength tornado touched down, tearing roofs off of houses and sending the New Orleans Police Department scrambling to assist with emergency response efforts.

The storm damaged <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>’s Michoud Assembly Facility and the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">USDA</a>’s National Finance Center’s Primary Business Center. There were only minor injuries among the people in those buildings. 

Brittany Ross lived in a trailer park in eastern New Orleans. When the storm hit, her trailer “started shaking, kind of twisting,” she told the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>. The wind lifted her home up before slamming it back down again. She and two others were able to crawl from the remains of the trailer and escape to safety. 

The six tornadoes prompted Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards to take an aerial tour of the damage. He also declared a state of disaster in order to provide relief to those affected. 

The storms also swept through Baton Rouge, damaging structures and causing minor injuries. Several homes were destroyed in Killian, a town just east of Baton Rouge. There, an elderly couple were injured, with one suffering a broken arm and the other one a broken leg. The town’s mayor, Craig McGehee, was amazed the couple survived.

“How you manage to get blown completely across the street with cinderblocks flying and no worse than a couple broken limbs — apparently the good Lord was looking after them,” he said. 

Quarter-sized hail fell in Little Rock Arkansas and high winds and waterspouts plagued the coast of northwest Florida as the storm moved eastward. Wind gusts up to 62 miles per hour were reported in Henning, Tennessee.

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By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image: Max Becherer/<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/01abe9849ed7468797cedd17ae1b3a7f">AP</a>

Six tornadoes tear through southeast Louisiana

A storm system that included as many as six tornadoes...

The bald eagle has been the U.S. national emblem for over 200 years, chosen because of its immense strength, majesty, and longevity. It’s understandable, then, that Americans become distressed at seeing one of these beautiful creatures harmed in any way. 

This was the case on Sunday when a photographer noticed a bald eagle with a leg hold trap attached to its foot.

Photographer Susan Boardman observed the bald eagle moving around on the ground in the woods in Bonneauville, Pennsylvania. She noticed that the bird seemed to be struggling before she saw the leg trap, which was attached to a long chain. Although it had trouble getting off the ground, the eagle managed to fly away, trap in tow. 

Leg hold traps are used to catch fur-bearing animals such as foxes, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bear-wolves-dinner/">wolves</a>, raccoons, and bobcats. They are supposed to be placed in such a manner that the bait isn’t visible from the air. 

Wildlife rehabilitators and bird-welfare volunteers have sounded the alarm and are on the lookout for the unfortunate bird. Large birds of prey can be dangerous to people who aren’t trained in handling them, so experts urge caution to anyone who may spot the eagle. 

“There’s really not much the average person can do,” wildlife rehabilitator Wendy Ebersole told the<a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com"> York Dispatch</a>. “Obviously, no one should try to handle the bird.”

She worries that if the bird can’t be located and the trap removed in a timely manner, the bird won’t survive. Eagles need the use of their talons in order to catch food, eat, and defend themselves from predators, she said.  

Boardman agrees. In an e-mail to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>, she said, "Without intervention, this eagle will probably die. He can't hunt or fly high enough to get out of harm's way. It was heartbreaking to see him like this.”

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By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image: Susan Boardman, <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4631baf1ce3d4b21937637c05af0d381/concern-grows-bald-eagle-leg-trap-attached-foot">AP</a>

Wildlife experts concerned about bald eagle caught in leg trap

The bald eagle has been the U.S. national emblem for...

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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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?

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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

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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

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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