Many people imagine Earth’s interior mantle as separate layers stacked on top of each other, like a layered cake, with each layer representing a plate. In reality, those internal zones are complex and often full of surprises.



Seismologists have relied on specific types of earthquake waves to learn about Earth's subsurface, but now a different technique is painting a far more detailed picture.



This fresh perspective has led scientists to wonder if there is hidden material in places once believed to be empty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-earth-s-mantle-the-basics">Understanding Earth's mantle - the basics</h2>



Earth’s mantle is the thick layer of rock that lies between the planet's crust and its core. It stretches about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) deep, making up around 84% of Earth's total volume. 



The mantle is primarily composed of silicate minerals rich in iron and magnesium, and it's mostly solid, but it behaves like a thick, slow-flowing fluid over long periods of time. 



This flow is what drives the movement of tectonic plates on Earth's surface, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-detect-major-earthquakes-months-in-advance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">causing earthquakes</a>, volcanic eruptions, and the shifting of continents. 



Heat from the Earth’s core causes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-inner-core-rotation-is-slowing-down-making/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">convection currents</a> in the mantle, where hot material rises, cools near the crust, and then sinks back down, creating a continuous cycle. This process plays a key role in shaping the planet's surface.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tectonic-plates-in-earth-s-mantle">Tectonic plates in Earth's mantle</h2>



The discovery stems from the use of a high-resolution method called <a href="https://library.seg.org/doi/10.1190/1.9781560803027.entry6">full-waveform inversion</a>. Scientists use this approach to interpret every type of <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/ocean-floor/layers-earth/compare-contrast-connect-seismic-waves-and-determining-earth-s-structure#">seismic wave</a> produced by earthquakes, rather than focusing on only one kind.



Because of that, they can build a more precise model of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-crust-is-dripping-under-turkey/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth’s internal structures</a>.&nbsp;



After applying this method to the lower mantle, researchers saw pockets that appear to be leftover plate fragments in areas with no known history of subduction. 



Following their analysis, they were startled by just how common these hidden anomalies seemed to be.



This work was led by a team that includes doctoral student <a href="https://www.geology.ethz.ch/people/person-detail.Mjc3OTM4.TGlzdC82NjksNTE5NzQ3MzU0.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Thomas Schouten</a> from the <a href="https://www.geology.ethz.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geological Institute of ETH Zurich</a>, who collaborated with experts from the <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California Institute of Technology</a>.



Their combined efforts brought fresh insights that challenge assumptions about where old tectonic plate remnants might reside in Earth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interpreting-seismic-signals">Interpreting seismic signals</h2>



To understand how researchers got here, it helps to remember how seismic waves work. When an earthquake strikes, it sends waves radiating outward in all directions.



These waves bounce, bend, and shift as they travel through the planet. In much the same way that doctors use medical imaging techniques, geophysicists measure the time these waves take to reach various seismic stations around the globe.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/earth_lower-mantle_rock-zones_mysterious-sunken-worlds_credit-ETHZ_1s.webp" alt="Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue). The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown. Credit: Sebastian Noe / ETH Zurich" class="wp-image-1956322"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue). The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown. Credit: Sebastian Noe / ETH Zurich</figcaption></figure>



The velocity of those signals reveals details about rock density and stiffness. In previous years, scientists relied heavily on <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/108/5A/2894/546740/Generalized-Seismic-Phase-Detection-with-Deep?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particular seismic phases</a>. 



But by examining all available wave data instead, new shapes and densities were identified from Earth's lower <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mantle-heat-shaped-earths-crust-3-billion-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mantle</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-earth-s-mantle-important">Why is Earth's mantle important?</h2>



Over hundreds of millions of years, plates have formed, shifted, and sunk back into Earth’s interior. This <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB073i006p01959">cycling</a> plays a role in controlling phenomena like volcano formation, earthquakes, and the slow drift of continents.&nbsp;



Researchers have long known that slabs of subducted plates cluster under regions where one tectonic plate slides under another. 



So it came as a surprise when the new images revealed large slabs below oceans and continental interiors that lack a clear history of plate collisions.



That signals a possible complication in our understanding of how plates evolve and where they end up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mysterious-plate-under-the-pacific-ocean">Mysterious plate under the Pacific Ocean</h2>



One of the biggest surprises was in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-sunken-oceans-discovered-between-earth-core-and-mantle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">zone</a> under the western Pacific. According to current plate tectonic timelines, there is no reason for old plate fragments to be there.&nbsp;



“Apparently, such zones in the Earth's mantle are much more widespread than previously thought,” said <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77399-2">Schouten</a>.



No geologic data points to historical subduction nearby. This indicates that the anomalies might not be chunks of plates at all, or at least not in the way scientists originally imagined.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-could-it-be-something-else">Could it be something else?</h2>



Scientists now face questions about the origin and nature of these structures.



Some say they may be ancient, silica-rich pockets left over from the early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-earths-mantle-shapes-surface-topography/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mantle</a>. Others suggest they might be iron-rich accumulations that have drifted over billions of years.&nbsp;



Schouten explained that the new model reveals anomalies throughout the Earth's interior, but the exact materials or plate fragments responsible for these patterns remain unclear. 



This uncertainty suggests a more diverse range of compositions in the Earth's mantle than previously understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-deeper-understanding">Next steps for deeper understanding</h2>



Full-waveform inversion is a promising tool for these investigations, but it offers only a view of how fast or slowly waves move through the material. 



Researchers say they need further refinement to tease out chemical and thermal differences. 



Some are turning to additional datasets, including electromagnetic signals and data from mineral physics experiments. 



Combining those methods might highlight whether these mantle “blobs” are from primordial origins, from recycled ocean crust, or from something else entirely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-plate-tectonics">Implications for plate tectonics</h2>



If scientists confirm that more zones like these exist in Earth’s depths, they may have to adjust many theories about how heat moves through the planet. 



Such hidden zones might alter patterns of convection and the formation of mantle plumes.&nbsp;



The story of plate tectonics could also see updates, with new chapters on how plate fragments wander and transform in ways not previously documented. These discoveries remind us that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-volcanic-hotspots-are-all-connected-to-earths-interior-mantle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">geoscience</a>, like any science, is never settled.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-search-continues">The search continues</h2>



In the future, improved supercomputers may crunch even larger datasets to produce clearer images of Earth's lower mantle and its plate structures. That could resolve debates about the true nature of these mysterious anomalies.&nbsp;



By integrating various approaches - seismic, chemical, and computational - Earth scientists will keep uncovering pieces of our planet’s hidden complexity.



As Schouten’s team demonstrated, sometimes seeing the entire picture means looking beyond what we think we already know.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77399-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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'Sunken worlds' discovered under the Pacific ocean in Earth's mantle

Many people imagine Earth’s interior mantle as separate layers stacked on top of each other, like a layered cake, with each layer representing a plate. In reality, those internal zones are complex and often full of surprises. Seismologists have relied on specific types of earthquake waves to learn about Earth's subsurface, but now a different technique is painting a far more detailed picture. This fresh perspective has led scientists to wonder if there is hidden material in places once believed to be empty. Understanding Earth's mantle -...

Sitting for long periods of time has been linked to an alarming number of adverse health conditions such as poor heart health, diabetes, weight gain, dementia, and multiple cancers. Even if you exercise regularly, prolonged sitting and other sedentary behaviors can wreak havoc on your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/feeling-loved-as-a-teen-linked-to-healthier-adulthood/">health</a>.



Despite an urgent need for answers, particularly for those who have sedentary jobs, it has remained unclear how much more moving and how much less sitting is needed to prevent serious health hazards.&nbsp;



Now, exercise physiologists at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University Irving Medical Center</a> have identified one potential solution. The experts report that just five minutes of walking during every half hour of sitting can offset some of the most harmful effects.



The study, led by Dr. Keith Diaz, is the first to look at more than just two or three potential activities to mitigate prolonged sitting. The researchers tested five different scenarios, including one minute of walking after every 30 minutes of sitting, one minute after 60 minutes, five minutes after 30, five minutes after 60, and no walking.&nbsp;



“If we hadn’t compared multiple options and varied the frequency and duration of the exercise, we would have only been able to provide people with our best guesses of the optimal routine,” said Dr. Diaz.



Ultimately, the study revealed that the most effective solution was five minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting. This was the only amount of movement that significantly lowered both blood sugar and blood pressure, noted the researchers.&nbsp;



For example, five minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting was found to help regulate how the participants responded to large meals - reducing blood sugar spikes by 58 percent compared with prolonged sitting.&nbsp;



Any amount of walking was associated with lower blood pressure compared to sitting all day without movement. “This is a sizeable decrease, comparable to the reduction you would expect from exercising daily for six months,” said Dr. Diaz.&nbsp;



Furthermore, walking for any length of time (except one minute every hour) was associated with significant improvements in mood and less fatigue.&nbsp;



“The effects on mood and fatigue are important,” explained Dr. Diaz. “People tend to repeat behaviors that make them feel good and that are enjoyable.”&nbsp;



The research continues, as the team is now testing 25 different doses of walking among a wider variety of participants.



“What we know now is that for optimal health, you need to move regularly at work, in addition to a daily exercise routine,” said Dr. Diaz. “While that may sound impractical, our findings show that even small amounts of walking spread through the work day can significantly lower your risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.acsm.org/education-resources/journals/medicine-science-in-sports-exercise">Medicine &amp; Science in Sports &amp; Exercise</a>.



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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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Experts find a healthy solution for prolonged sitting

Sitting for long periods of time has been linked to...

Mirror neurons are clusters of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-human-brain-adapts-to-weightlessness-in-space/">brain</a> cells that activate both when we perform an action and when we observe a similar action performed by others. Since their discovery in primates in the 1990s, mirror neurons have generated much interest both in science and popular culture, rising (often unfounded) speculation that they might underlie humans’ ability to mimic, empathize, and even develop culture or appreciate art.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has found that, in male mice, mirror neurons located in the hypothalamus – an evolutionary ancient part of the brain – play a fundamental role in structuring aggressive behaviors. The experts discovered that the same neurons become activated when mice are fighting and when they are watching a fight. These findings hint at a more primal origin for these types of neurons than previously thought.



“<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-struggle-to-predict-aggression-in-dogs-and-other-humans/">Aggression</a> in the wild is rarely a private affair,”&nbsp;said study senior author Nirao Shah, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. “Aggression is usually not only to defeat the other animal, but also to tell others in the vicinity, ‘Hey, I’m the boss.’ It’s a public display.”



In previous research, Professor Shah and his colleagues traced aggression in male mice to a cluster of brain cells located in the ventromedial hypothalamus subsequently dubbed “the rage center.” Now, by using precise imaging techniques to record activity in the rage center in both mice engaged in a fight and those only witnessing a fight, the scientists found that these neurons are also sensitive to aggression between other mice.



Most research on mirror neurons has focused on those located in the cortex – the most evolutionary advanced part of the brain - so their discovery in the hypothalamus was quite shocking. Another surprising aspect was that these aggression-mirroring neurons seemed to be triggered by sight in observers, whereas in fighting mice, they were triggered by the smell of pheromones.&nbsp;



Finally, the scientists found that these neurons appeared innately tuned to aggression, even in mice that never engaged in or witnessed aggressive behavior, and not only contributed to sensing aggression, but also to enable it.



According to the experts, the fact that aggression-mirroring neurons exist in such a primitive area of the brain suggests that may have been conserved across evolution, from mice to humans. “It suggests that we might have the same neurons, and maybe they encode some qualities of aggression in ourselves,” Shah concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.022">Cell</a>.&nbsp;



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



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Do animals have "mirror neurons" that spark aggression?

Mirror neurons are clusters of brain cells that activate both...

Scientists have long known that older adults living with food insecurity are more likely to face malnutrition, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/acts-of-kindness-can-help-relieve-depression/">depression</a>, and physical limitations which significantly affect their life quality. Although research has shown that the <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a> (SNAP) – U.S.’s largest federally funded nutrition-assistance program – has managed to reduce hunger and food insecurity in the general population, not much is known about how SNAP impacts brain aging in older adults.



Now, a team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> has examined the relationship between food insecurity, SNAP, and cognitive decline and discovered that food sufficiency and participation in SNAP can mitigate accelerated cognitive decline in the elderly.



The researchers analyzed a representative sample of 4,578 older U.S. adults who had to report their food insecurity and were classified as either food sufficient or insufficient. According to their SNAP status, they were also classified as SNAP participants, SNAP-eligible nonparticipants, and SNAP-ineligible nonparticipants.



The analysis revealed that rates of cognitive decline were similar in SNAP participants and SNAP-ineligible nonparticipants, both of which were lower that those of SNAP-eligible nonparticipants. Moreover, the greatest rate of cognitive decline found in the food insecure group was equivalent to being 3.8 years older, while the greatest rate observed in the SNAP-eligible nonparticipants was equivalent to being 4.5 years older.



“For an aging population, roughly four years of brain aging can be very significant,” said study lead author Muzi Na, an assistant professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State. “These results really point to the importance of food security for people as they age and the value that SNAP can have in improving people’s cognitive health as they age. We need to make sure that people have access to — and encourage them to use — the SNAP program as they age.”



However, further research is needed to comprehensively assess the impact of addressing food insecurity and promoting SNAP participation on the cognitive health of older adults.



The study is published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2022.12.012">The Journal of Nutrition.</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



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Food insecurity increases cognitive decline in older adults

Scientists have long known that older adults living with food...

According to a recent study led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>, World War II-style rationing could be an effective way of reducing carbon emissions rapidly and fairly and thus of mitigating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grasslands-play-a-major-role-in-mitigating-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 



The experts argue that, although policymakers have taken into consideration other schemes to reduce emissions – such as carbon taxes or personal carbon trading schemes – these tend to favor the wealthy, who would be capable of buying their right to pollute if trading were allowed. By contrast, carbon rationing would allow individuals to receive an equitable portion of resources based on their needs and thus share out their effort to protect our planet.



“The concept of rationing could help, not only in the mitigation of climate change, but also in reference to a variety of other social and political issues – such as the current energy crisis,” said study co-lead author Nathan Wood, a postdoctoral fellow in Fair Energy Transition at <a href="https://www.uu.nl/en">Utrecht University</a>.



During World War II, compulsory food rationing was more acceptable to the UK population than voluntary changes to diet when resources became scarce. Such policies aimed to share goods and burdens in a more equitable manner, regardless of wealth. Moreover, historic rationing policies also introduced price controls on goods to keep essential resources affordable for most people.



Yet, according to the researchers, a major difference between World War II rationing and the current climate crisis regards public perception. The apparent availability&nbsp;of a wide variety of goods is now giving the illusion that resources are available in abundance, although the reality is highly different.



“There is a limit to how much we can emit if we are to reduce the catastrophic impacts of climate change. In this sense, the scarcity is very real,” explained study co-lead author&nbsp;Rob Lawler, an expert in Applied Ethics at Leeds. 



“The cost of living crisis has shown what happens when scarcity drives up prices, with energy prices rising steeply and leaving vulnerable groups unable to pay their bills. Currently, those living in energy poverty cannot use anywhere near their fair share of energy supply, whereas the richest in society are free to use as much energy as they can afford,” added Wood.&nbsp;



The scientists argued that policy changes should start with stricter regulations and information campaigns to inform the public about the benefits of rationing. Governments should first regulate the largest polluters (oil, gas, and petrol companies, intensive farming, long-haul flights) and then gradually such regulations to the larger population.



According to the researchers, two options for rationing policy could possibly be efficient. Policymakers could either introduce an all-encompassing carbon allowance, offering “carbon cards” to track and limit usage, or they could ration specifically selected goods, such as flights, petrol, household energy, or even clothing or food.



“Many have proposed carbon allowances and carbon cards before. What is new (or old, taking inspiration from World War II) is the idea that the allowances should not be tradable. Another feature of World War II-style rationing is that price controls on rationed goods would prevent prices from rising with increased demand, benefitting those with the least money,” Lawlor explained.



Such types of rationing would accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy and more sustainable lifestyles. “For example, rationing petrol could encourage greater use of, and investment in, low carbon public transport, such as railways and local trams,” Wood concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2023.2166342">Ethics, Policy &amp; Environment</a>.&nbsp;&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



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Rationing could be an effective way to fight climate change

According to a recent study led by the University of...

A new study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1130/B36384.1">Geological Society of America Bulletin</a> has found that the evolution of tree roots likely triggered a series of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-sixth-mass-extinction-is-currently-in-progress/">mass extinction</a> events in our planet’s oceans during the Devonian Period (419 to 358 million years ago), before the emergence of life on land.



“Our analysis shows that the evolution of tree roots likely flooded past oceans with excess nutrients, causing massive algae growth,” said study co-author Gabriel Filippelli, a professor of Earth Sciences at <a href="https://www.indiana.edu/">Indiana University</a>. “These rapid and destructive algae blooms would have depleted most of the oceans’ oxygen, triggering catastrophic mass extinction events.”



By performing a chemical analysis of stone deposits from ancient lake beds in Greenland and off the northeast coast of Scotland, the researchers managed to confirm previously identified fluctuations in levels of phosphorous, an important chemical element found in all life on Earth.&nbsp;



The analysis also revealed wet and dry cycles based upon signs of “weathering” (soil formation caused by root growth), with greater weathering indicating wet cycles with more roots, and less weathering dry cycles with less roots. According to the experts, these dry cycles coincided with higher levels of phosphorous, suggesting that dying tree roots released their nutrients into the oceans during that period.&nbsp;



Considering that these phosphorous cycles occurred at the same time as the evolution of the first tree roots (an important feature of Archaeopteris, the first plants to grow leaves and reach heights of up to 30 feet), the scientists argued that the decay of tree roots is the main cause of the Devonian mass extinctions. In a process known as “eutrophication,” decaying roots pulled nutrients from the land during times of growth, then suddenly dumped them into the waters during periods of decay, leading to the extinction of over 70 percent of marine life.



This process is remarkably similar to contemporary - yet smaller-scale - phenomena fueling the so-called “dead zones” in the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, where excess nutrients from fertilizers and other agricultural runoff trigger massive algal blooms that consume most of the water’s oxygen.



“These new insights into the catastrophic results of natural events in the ancient world may serve as a warning about the consequences of similar conditions arising from human activity today,” Fillipelli concluded.



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



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Decaying tree roots may have caused mass extinctions

A new study published in the Geological Society of America...

An,Illustration,Of,A,Male,And,Female,Dodo,Birds,In

Recently, <a href="https://colossal.com/">Colossal Biosciences</a> – a biotech company based in Dallas – has announced a bold effort to bring back from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lynx-population-in-france-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction/">extinction</a> the famous dodo bird, a flightless bird that vanished from the Island of Mauritius in the late 17th century and became emblematic of humanity’s devastating impact on the natural world. Although the company received $225 million in investments to “resurrect” the dodo, its plans depend on major advances in genome editing, stem-cell biology, and animal husbandry, thus making the success of their endeavor far from certain.



“It’s incredibly exciting that there’s that kind of money available,” said Thomas Jensen, a cell and molecular reproductive physiologist at the <a href="https://www.wells.edu/">Wells College</a>. “I’m not sure that the end goal they’re going for is something that’s super feasible in the near future.”



Colossal’s plan is to begin with the dodo’s closest living relative - the iridescent-feathered Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) – and to isolate and culture specialized primordial germ cells (PGCs), which make sperm and egg-producing cells, from developing Nicobars. Afterwards, they aim to edit DNA sequences in the PGCs to match those of dodos by using state-of-the-art gene-editing tools such as CRISPR. These edited cells would then be inserted into embryos from a surrogate species to generate “chimeric animals” with DNA from both species, which could ultimately produce something resembling a dodo.



However, according to various experts, this plan faces several challenges. First, in order to edit Nicobar pigeon PGCs, the scientists will initially need to identify the conditions which allow these cells to flourish in the laboratory. Although this has already been done with chickens, it may take some time to repeat this process in the case of other bird species. Moreover, according to Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist at the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a>, who recently sequenced the dodo genome, an even greater challenge will be to determine the genetic changes which could transform Nicobar pigeons into dodos. In addition, it could be problematic to find a bird large enough that can act as the surrogate, since dodo bird eggs are much larger than Nicobar pigeon eggs.



Finally, even if the dodo will ultimately be resurrected, the predators that threatened it in the 17th century have not gone away, whereas most of dodo’s habitat has. “You do have to ask, if we could have such money, wouldn’t it be better spent on restoring habitat on Mauritius and preventing species from going extinct?” said Vikash Tatayah, the conservation director at the <a href="https://www.mauritian-wildlife.org/">Mauritian Wildlife Foundation</a> in Vacoas-Phoenix.&nbsp;



Nevertheless, Tatayah – as well as other scientists – are enthusiastic about the attention dodo de-extinction could bring to conservation. “It’s something we would like to embrace,” he concluded.&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



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Could the dodo bird be brought back from extinction?

Recently, Colossal Biosciences – a biotech company based in Dallas...

Non-human primates, including apes, monkeys, and galagos, are increasingly threatened by human activities in sub-Saharan Africa. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restoring-wildlife-habitats-may-prevent-the-next-pandemic/">Habitat</a> loss, the wild animal trade, hunting, and human infrastructure, including roads, electric power lines and fences, are some of the factors that endanger these animals. In South Africa, the expanding urban areas, extensive road networks, use of electrification and guard dogs to protect properties, and traditional hunting practices are taking a large toll on the remaining populations of these primates.&nbsp;



Two recent collaborative studies between the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a> and three South Africa-based institutions (the University of Venda, Lajuma Research Center and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) conservation organization) have taken an in-depth look at the effects of roads, power lines and dogs on non-human primates in a study area in the northeastern part of the country.&nbsp;



South Africa has five species of endemic non-human primates, including greater (Otolemur crassicaudatus) and southern lesser (Galago moholis) bushbabies. These nocturnal primates spend most of their lives in trees, and some are so small they can fit in the palm of your hand. In addition, samango monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis), vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) and chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) are present.&nbsp;



All of these species are listed in the IUCN red list as being of least concern in terms of conservation status, except for the samango monkey which has a status of vulnerable or threatened, depending on the subspecies. However, the findings arising from these two studies indicate that the threats facing these species are not always easy to see, especially if the species have not been intensely researched or monitored&nbsp;



In one study, scientists led by Birthe Linden at Lajuma analyzed hundreds of cases in which non-human primates were killed on roads or around power lines across the country. In a companion paper, the researchers explored the growing risks that domestic dogs pose to the animals.



Primatologist Linden first became interested in the many dangers facing primates on her almost daily drives to the University of Venda in South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains. She kept seeing samango monkeys that had been run over and killed by motorists, and wondered how often this was happening to primate species across the country. These monkeys are listed in the “Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho” as vulnerable, and the roadkill represented another threat to their already fragile populations.&nbsp;



“It’s one stretch where the road is quite close to indigenous forest, which is where samango monkeys typically live,” Linden said..She wondered whether road fatalities represented more of a threat to non-human primates than researchers suspected. South Africa is home to more than 675,000 miles (1,090,000 kilometers) of roads and power lines – and the number keeps climbing.



To explore the extent of this pervasive threat, Linden and her colleagues drew from a wide range of data sources. They include Road Watch, a citizen science app released by the EWT that allows anyone in South Africa to upload reports of roadkill. In all, the team gathered 483 examples of primates killed on roads or around power lines, some dating back to the late 1990s. All five species of primates were represented in the database.&nbsp;



In the second study, Frank Cuozzo of the Lajuma Research Centre and a research fellow at the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute, led researchers in exploring the impact of domestic dog kills on greater bushbabies. In fact, the team gathered data opportunistically during the course of their research on bushbabies in the mountains of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. They recorded the deaths of greater bushbabies, regardless of the cause – whether by domestic dogs, road kills, electrocutions, or natural predation.&nbsp;



“Bushbabies, especially, are an example of species that may be having problems, but we don’t know what they are until we go looking,” said Michelle Sauther, co-author of the two studies and professor of anthropology at CU Boulder.



Their information was also derived using the broad network of citizen scientists, along with newspaper articles and reports on social media, and their own experiences in the study area. In particular, they recorded 13 known incidents since 2014 where greater bushbabies were killed by dogs. In one instance, people intentionally sent their hunting dogs out to kill a bushbaby that had ventured too close to town and that was considered the embodiment of an evil spirit.&nbsp;



In another instance, a greater bushbaby that was personally known at the Lajuma Research Center was killed by a dog. This bushbaby had been captured and measured four times between 2015 and 2018. It was not in a good shape, having lost one eye and also showing signs of significant dental decay and tooth abscesses. The researchers nicknamed it “Bruiser” because it reminded them of a prize fighter. In 2019, Bruiser was caught and killed by a domestic dog. It seems that the bushbaby came down from the trees and was walking on the ground when the pet dog found and killed him.&nbsp;



“These are small stories,” said Sauther, who has studied bushbabies for a decade. “They’re not the big stories of conservation, but they really do matter, especially as we have no good data on bushbaby mortality and thus cannot easily judge their conservation status.”



They may be small stories, but they probably represent the situation for almost all non-human primate species across the continent, not just in South Africa. And the data that has been collected by the researchers in these two studies is likely to underrepresent the situation considerably because to most people the deaths of these animals are considered insignificant and not worthy of recording.



“These reports are clearly a sliver of what’s actually happening,” said Cuozzo who earned his doctorate in biological anthropology from CU Boulder in 2000. “It’s happening in the towns and suburban areas, in the rural areas, the reserve areas, and it’s happening far more than anyone would think.”



The researchers do not know whether fatalities from roads, power lines and domestic dogs are significant in terms of non-human primate numbers in South Africa, mostly because the population status of each species is not known. However, they argue that it is important to monitor these deaths, especially since all of the species are already suffering the consequences of climate change and habitat loss.&nbsp;



Wendy Collinson-Jonker, co-author of the infrastructure study and a researcher at the EWT, noted that these problems are widespread, but may be surprisingly simple to rectify. Studies have shown, for example, that monkeys and other forest climbers can hop across roads safely on a “canopy bridge,” such as a rope suspended between trees.



Humans can also keep dogs away from primates by being careful not to leave food out, especially at night. Leftover dog or cat food, or even fruit left out on bird feeders, can attract bushbabies and monkeys into areas where they are then vulnerable to attack by dogs.



“We know the solutions,” Collinson-Jonker said. “It’s a case of now getting them implemented.”



As for Bruiser the bushbaby, Sauther noted that his story ended with a small bit of consolation. The team was able to recover his body and collected X-rays that helped reveal a deeper picture of his more than a decade of life, right down to the arthritis building up between his joints that likely led him to climb down to the ground rather than leap through the trees in search of food.



“We were able to document his whole life story,” Sauther said. “We knew him right to the end.”



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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



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South African primates face multiple threats

Non-human primates, including apes, monkeys, and galagos, are increasingly threatened...

During its recent update of at-risk plants and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-are-increasingly-threatened-by-heatwaves-worldwide/">animals</a> to be included on the “Red List,” the IUCN decided to recognize two species of African elephants. Apart from the better-known savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), they have also included the more reclusive forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) as a species, after new genetic evidence of their status emerged. Forest elephants occur in the tropical forests of Central Africa and West Africa, and their numbers have declined drastically in the past 30 years – to the extent that they are now deemed critically endangered by the IUCN.&nbsp;



Humans do not have a good record when it comes to the way in which we have treated elephants. We have killed them for their ivory, made them work for us and perform for us, consigned them to captivity and reduced their habitat to fragmented patches. For forest elephants, poaching and habitat loss have taken the worst toll and resulted in the loss of around 65 percent of individuals in the past 12 years.&nbsp;



This decline in forest elephant numbers may have serious consequences for carbon storage in tropical rainforests, report <a href="https://www.slu.edu/">Saint Louis University</a> researchers and colleagues.&nbsp;The scientists state that, if the already critically endangered elephants become extinct, the rainforests of Central and West Africa would lose between six and nine percent of their ability to capture atmospheric carbon, thereby contributing to planetary warming.



Stephen Blake, who is assistant professor of biology at Saint Louis University and senior author on the research paper, has spent much of his career dedicated to studying elephants. In the report, published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, he and lead author Fabio Berzaghi from the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE) in France, along with colleagues, document exactly how the ecology of these mega-herbivores ends up having such a strong influence on carbon retention in African rainforests.



“Elephants have been hunted by humans for millennia,” Blake said. “As a result, African forest elephants are critically endangered. The argument that everybody loves elephants hasn’t raised sufficient support to stop the killing. Shifting the argument for elephant conservation toward the role forest elephants play in maintaining the biodiversity of the forest, that losing elephants would mean losing forest biodiversity, hasn’t worked either, as numbers continue to fall,” explains Blake.&nbsp;



“We can now add the robust conclusion that if we lose forest elephants, we will be doing a global disservice to climate change mitigation. The importance of forest elephants for climate mitigation must be taken seriously by policy makers to generate the support needed for elephant conservation. The role of forest elephants in our global environment is too important to ignore."



Blake and his colleagues explain that forest elephants are critical in maintaining tropical forests in several ways.&nbsp;Firstly, their foraging thins out the density of trees in a way that favors the growth of high carbon density trees. Within the forest, some trees have light wood (low carbon density trees) while others make heavy wood (high carbon density trees). Low carbon density trees grow quickly, rising above other plants and trees to get to the sunlight, whereas high carbon density trees grow more slowly and take longer to reach the sunlight.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Elephants tend to forage more intensively on low carbon density trees, which are more palatable and nutritious. This reduces the density of trees and introduces more light within the canopy, resulting in less competition between trees for light, space and soil nutrients. In this way, the high carbon density trees are able to flourish.&nbsp;



“Elephants eat lots of leaves from lots of trees, and they do a lot of damage when they eat,” Blake said. “They’ll strip leaves from trees, rip off a whole branch or uproot a sapling when eating, and our data shows most of this damage occurs to low carbon density trees. If there are a lot of high carbon density trees around, that’s one less competitor, eliminated by the elephants.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Elephants can change the structure of the forest by their foraging activity, and they can also help regenerate areas by dispersing seeds. The fruits of high carbon density trees, in particular, contain nutritious flesh and seeds. The animals favor the fruits of these trees and the seeds they consume pass unaffected through their&nbsp; guts. In fact, some seeds will not germinate without first travelling through an elephant’s digestive system and being deposited on the forest floor in a pile of nutritious dung. These saplings will, in turn, become some of the largest trees in the forest.



“Elephants are the gardeners of the forest,” Blake said. “They plant the forest with high carbon density trees and they get rid of the ‘weeds,’ which are the low carbon density trees. They do a tremendous amount of work maintaining the diversity of the forest.”



The actions of these elephants can therefore influence the carbon levels in the atmosphere. High carbon density trees store more carbon from the atmosphere in their wood than low carbon density trees, which helps limit the extent of global warming. Given this important role in mitigating climate change, it becomes even more urgent to conserve the forest elephants of the Congo Basin and West Africa.



“The illegal killing of elephants and the illegal trade remains active,” Blake said. “Ten million elephants once roamed across Africa, and now there are fewer than 500,000, with most populations living in isolated pockets. These elephants range from endangered to critically endangered, with their numbers plummeting by more than 80 percent in the last 30-plus years.”



“Elephants are protected under national and international law, and yet poaching continues,” he explains. “These illegal killings must stop to prevent forest elephant extinction. Now we have a choice. As a global society, we can continue to hunt these highly social and intelligent animals and watch them become extinct, or we can find ways to stop this illegal activity. Save the elephants and help save the planet, it really is that simple.”



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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



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.

Elephants are forest gardeners that help reduce global warming

During its recent update of at-risk plants and animals to...

If you were to take a trip into space, you’d be tumbling around the rocket cabin due to the lack of gravity. However, a new study from the University of Antwerp and the <a href="https://www.uliege.be/">University of Liège</a> has revealed that this is not the only physiological effect of zero gravity. In fact, the human brain actually adapts to the feeling of weightlessness, with some effects persisting for more than eight months after returning to Earth.&nbsp;



The "BRAIN-DTI scientific project" has received support and acknowledgment from Raphaël Liégeois, a Belgian astronaut who will soon be the third Belgian in space. The purpose of this study on the effects of weightlessness on the human brain is to prepare the new generation of astronauts for longer missions, explained Liégeois.



To better understand weightlessness of the brain, the researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the brains of 14 astronauts both before and after their mission to space. Data was collected in resting conditions to ensure that there was no activity that may influence the MRI scans of each astronaut, helping the researchers to understand whether any changes were apparent after long-duration spaceflight.&nbsp;



Through this study of default brain states before and after space missions, the researchers were able to conclude that “functional connectivity” changed after prolonged space flight. Functional connectivity is a marker used to assess how the activity within specific brain areas correlates with activity in other regions. In the case of this study, before and after functional connectivity states were compared.&nbsp;



“We found that connectivity was altered after spaceflight in regions that support the integration of different types of information," explained Steven Jillings and Floris Wuyts, researchers at the University of Antwerp. “Moreover, we found that some of these altered communication patterns were retained throughout 8 months of being back on Earth. However, other brain changes returned to the level of how the areas were functioning before the space mission.”



Long-term functional connectivity changes were interpreted to represent a lasting learning effect on the brain. On the other hand, brain changes that returned to normal levels upon return were interpreted as transient effects of spaceflight that indicate a more acute and short-term adaptation to changed gravity levels.&nbsp;



Whilst the scientists are excited about the study findings, research into understanding brain communication changes after space travel is still in a very early stage. It will still be necessary to analyze the behavioral consequences that correlate with these functional connectivity changes, and further studies must be conducted to understand whether longer time in space correlates with more significant brain changes. This research could help organizations select and monitor future astronauts based on the way their brains react to prolonged flight.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04382-w">Communications Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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 human brain adapts to weightlessness in space

If you were to take a trip into space, you’d...

Team,Of,Doctors,Or,Surgeons,With,Electrocardiogram,Monitor,In,Hospital

Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness that affects the lungs, it can also affect other organs in the body, including the heart. Temporary or lasting damage to the heart may arise from a lack of sufficient oxygen as the lung’s air sacs fill up with fluid, from inflammation due to the effects of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sars-cov-2-can-survive-on-frozen-meat-for-up-to-a-month/">SARS-CoV-2</a> virus, or from inflammation due to a person’s own immune system’s response to infection by the virus. Although these symptoms may resolve themselves with treatment, they can also lead to life-threatening heart issues such as arrhythmias, heart attacks and strokes.



A research study, due to be presented at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biophysics.org/2023meeting#/">67th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting</a>&nbsp;in San Diego, California, has found that the heart tissue of people who have had COVID-19 can show significant changes that could be related to these heart issues.&nbsp; Professor Andrew Marks of Columbia University and colleagues have studied changes in the heart and heart muscle of COVID-19 sufferers, and in laboratory mice that have been infected with the virus.



In heart tissue from patients who had COVID-19, the team observed increases in oxidative stress (harmful production of unstable molecules) and signals of inflammation, as well as changes in calcium. They also detected adverse changes to a protein called RyR2, which is responsible for regulating the heart’s calcium ion levels.&nbsp;



The heart muscle, like all muscle cells, needs calcium ions in order to contract. The heart’s system for managing calcium ions is essential for the coordinated contractions of the atria and ventricles that pump blood throughout the body. When calcium in the heart becomes dysregulated, it can cause arrhythmias or heart failure.



To test whether these changes were caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, the researchers used a mouse model that was also susceptible to infection by the virus. The mice that suffered COVID-19 disease also showed changes to the heart tissue, including immune cell infiltration, collagen deposition (indicative of injury), death of heart cells, and blood clots.&nbsp;



The researchers also measured changes to the proteins that are expressed by the heart cells and found patterns consistent with changes observed in the hearts of humans that suffered COVID-19 disease. Microscopic examination of mouse hearts showed an increased percentage of fibrosis and dilation of the muscle fibers, which is a common indicator of early cardiomyopathy in mice, and can make it harder for the heart to pump blood to the body, leading potentially to heart failure.



“The more awareness you build around particular aspects of a disease, the more likely you are to improve the care of patients. And doctors should be aware of heart changes related to COVID-19 infections and should be looking for them,” said Professor Marks. Ultimately, “we want to really figure out what's causing the heart disease and how to fix it."



If future research is able to uncover the biochemical mechanisms that underlie these changes, then specific medications can be used to target these molecular pathways and could help healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat the cardiac issues more effectively. Additionally, understanding the cardiac complications of COVID-19 can also help public health officials make more informed decisions about how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in advising those at higher risk for heart problems.



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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



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.

COVID-19 patients experience changes in heart tissue

Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness that affects the...

Bright,Flowers,And,Leaves,Of,Red,Peony,Against,Blue,Sky

Since they are only capable of converting up to 20 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity, current <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-solar-panels-appealing/">solar panels</a> are not very efficient. In order to generate a sufficient amount of electricity, such panels require a lot of space, often leading forests to be cut down or farms to be replaced by panels.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> is aiming to make solar panels more efficient by harnessing plants’ energy to convert sunlight into chemical energy. Such panels would be smaller and produce the same amount of energy as those we are currently using without claiming so much space.&nbsp;



The scientists aim to use biological molecules to make electricity which can then be harvested to power solar devices or stored in batteries for future use. This process mainly involves leveraging molecules’ fluorescence.&nbsp;



“Any sort of molecule that fluoresces, gives off light. If we excite the fluorophore, it can transfer its energy to metal nanoparticles, and if the particles are close enough to each other, they will knock off electrons and generate current,” explained lead author Lahari Saha, a doctoral student in Chemistry at Maryland.



However, as the scientists stress, these processes are not only limited to molecules that fluoresce, and would in fact just require molecules that have high absorption of light, such as chlorophyll, beta carotene, or lutein, which are relatively inexpensive and easy to extract from plants.



Another benefit of such solar panels is that they would be much easier and safer to recycle than the ones we currently use, which relay on expensive materials such as silicon and contain toxic elements like lead and cadmium. By contrast, the new solar panels will consist mainly of plant-based molecules and other materials such as copper, which would make them much easier to recycle while not polluting the environment. Moreover, by selecting materials with greater longevity, these panels will also last longer and need to be replaced less frequently.



By constructing such efficient solar panels that don’t have a large environmental footprint, the experts hope to help farms maximize food production over generating energy, and, at the same time, protect the world’s forests.



The study will be presented on Wednesday, February 22 at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biophysics.org/2023meeting#/">67th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting</a>&nbsp;in San Diego, California.



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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



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.

Scientists harness plant energy to improve solar panels

Since they are only capable of converting up to 20...

Seismograph,For,Earthquake,Detection,Or,Lie,Detector,Is,Drawing,Chart.

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a> has recently discovered that an everyday quirk of physics may be a crucial tool in predicting the world’s most powerful <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-tides-earthquakes/">earthquakes</a>. According to the experts, a frictional phenomenon may be a critical key in understanding when and how violently faults move. While this alone cannot allow scientists predict when and where the next major earthquake will strike – since the forces behind large earthquakes are very complex – it will nevertheless offer scientists a new way to investigate the causes and potential for damaging earthquakes to occur.



The researchers squeezed rocks collected from a well-studied fault off the coast of New Zealand in a hydraulic press and discovered that they were very slow to heal and slipped easily. Introducing this finding in a computer model used to estimate the earthquake activity in that area, the results pointed towards a small, slow-motion tremor every two years, an almost exact match with observations from the New Zealand fault. Thus, a fault that is slow to heal is more likely to move harmlessly, while one that heals quickly is more probable to stick until it breaks into a large, damaging earthquake – a phenomenon that also explains, for instance, why it takes more effort to shove a heavy box from a standstill than it does to keep it in motion.



“The same physics and logic should apply to all different kinds of faults around the world,” said study co-lead author Demian Saffer, an expert in Geophysics at UT Austin. “With the right samples and field observations we can now start to make testable predictions about how big and how often large seismic slip events might occur on other major faults, like Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest.”



The experts believe that the clay-rich rocks that are common at many large faults may be regulating earthquakes by allowing plates to slip quietly past each other, limiting the buildup of stress.&nbsp;



“This doesn’t get us any closer to actually predicting earthquakes, but it does tell us whether a fault is likely to slip silently with no earthquakes, or have large ground-shaking earthquakes,” explained co-lead author Srisharan Shreedharan, an assistant professor of Geosciences at the <a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a>.



Since at Cascadia, for instance, there is little evidence of shallow, slow-motion tremors, the <a href="https://pnsn.org/">Pacific Northwest Seismic Network</a> (PNSN) aims to place sensors across key areas of the fault, in order to monitor the possibility of major earthquakes.&nbsp;



“We want to zero in on the processes in the shallow part of the fault because that’s what governs the size of the tsunami,” said Harold Tobin, the director of PNSN. “Fault healing doesn’t explain everything, but it does give us a window into the working of subduction zone faults that we didn’t have before.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adf4930">Science</a>.



—-



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

New tool designed to predict earthquake severity

A team of researchers led by the University of Texas...

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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.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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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



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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



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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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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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



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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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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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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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

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

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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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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How the immune system responds to injury

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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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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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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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



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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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