Portrait,Of,A,Wild,Octopus,Under,Water.

The octopus is a creature that continues to surprise scientists and inspire engineers. With eight arms that move in ways no human limb can, it demonstrates flexibility and control that seem almost otherworldly. 



Each arm bends, twists, elongates, and shortens with unmatched precision, enabling these animals to hunt, hide, and explore with ease. 



Researchers hope that unlocking the secrets of these movements may guide the design of flexible robotic arms capable of lifesaving missions.



Imagine a robotic arm slipping through rubble after a building collapse, delivering food or medicine to someone trapped below. 



This vision has motivated scientists to study octopus arms in detail - both in the laboratory and in their natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dumbo-octopus-species-carnarvon-flapjack-discovered-in-very-deep-ocean-waters/">environment</a>.



Until recently, most studies were limited to tanks, where behaviors may not reflect the complexity of life in the wild. That gap is now being addressed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-octopus-intelligence">Understanding octopus intelligence</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-could-dominate-earth-if-humans-vanish/">Octopuses</a> are some of the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth. Unlike most animals without backbones, they can solve puzzles, open jars, and even escape from aquariums by remembering routes back to the ocean. 



Their brains are incredibly complex, with about 500 million neurons - similar to a dog. What makes them even more fascinating is that two-thirds of those neurons are in their arms. 



This means each arm can sense, move, and even make decisions on its own while still communicating with the central brain. It’s like having eight mini-brains working together with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-are-tricked-by-the-rubber-hand-illusion-like-humans-suggesting-self-awareness/">one big brain</a>.



Their intelligence also shows up in how they hunt and survive. Octopuses use tools, like carrying coconut shells to hide inside when threatened, and they can change color and texture in an instant to camouflage perfectly against rocks or coral. 



They’ve been observed watching other animals and learning from them, which is rare in the animal kingdom.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-octopus-arms-inspire-robotics">Flexible octopus arms inspire robotics</h2>



A new study from the <a href="https://www.mbl.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marine Biological Laboratory</a> in Woods Hole and Florida Atlantic University has provided the most comprehensive analysis of octopus arm movements in natural habitats. 



Researchers recorded 25 wild octopuses in six locations, ranging from the Caribbean to Spain. The footage captured thousands of arm movements across a variety of behaviors, including foraging, locomotion, and even defense.



“I’ve been trying for a long time to work out the natural behavior of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sea-octopus-footage-could-revolutionize-flexible-robot-design-eyeris/">cephalopods</a> in their natural habitat,” said MBL Senior Scientist Roger Hanlon, who led the project. 



“Studying and recording octopus behavior from wild octopuses in the field gave us the opportunity to analyze a larger behavioral repertoire and further understand how they use their arms to achieve such complex behaviors,” added Chelsea Bennice, research fellow at <a href="https://www.fau.eu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAU</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-guided-by-touch-not-sight">Guided by touch, not sight</h2>



Octopuses rely heavily on touch, guided by sensory organs in their arm suckers. “The octopus is a very tactile animal - it’s more tactile than visual,” said Hanlon. 



Each of their nearly 100 suckers per arm contains chemosensory-tactile receptors, combining functions similar to the human nose, lips, and tongue.



Finding octopuses to observe was not simple. Their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-squid-power-their-amazing-camouflage-abilities/">camouflage</a> skills make them almost invisible in coral reefs or sandy seabeds. Divers often relied on clues like discarded shells and food debris near their dens.



Once located, octopuses emerged briefly from hiding, offering precious opportunities to record their natural actions.



These moments revealed unique hunting strategies, arm movements, and subtle interactions with their environment otherwise impossible to witness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-arm-mechanics-of-octopuses">Complex arm mechanics of octopuses</h2>



The researchers identified 12 distinct arm actions across 15 behaviors, built from four fundamental deformations: shortening, elongating, bending, and torsion. They discovered a pattern of specialization within each arm. 



For instance, elongation and shortening were most common near the base, while bending occurred more at the tips. 



This functional partitioning allows octopuses to combine motions across arms for tasks like crawling, probing reef crevices, or launching sudden prey attacks.



“These are the actions that make up the whole complex of octopus <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-and-squids-defy-the-slow-pace-of-evolution/">behaviors</a>,” said study co-author Kendra Buresch. 



In the wild, researchers observed octopuses using different combinations of arm actions - sometimes relying on a single arm for tasks like grabbing food, and other times coordinating multiple arms for behaviors such as crawling or launching a parachute attack.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-behavior-that-guides-technology">Behavior that guides technology</h2>



The findings go beyond understanding animal behavior. With nearly 7,000 observed arm deformations, the study highlights an extraordinary degree of control and flexibility. 



This knowledge may inform robotics research, where engineers seek to design soft, adaptable arms capable of both precise and exploratory tasks.



“Understanding these natural behaviors not only deepens our knowledge of octopus biology but also opens exciting new avenues in fields like neuroscience, animal behavior, and even soft robotics inspired by these remarkable creatures,” Bennice said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-in-flexibility-and-change">Lessons in flexibility and change</h2>



From the ocean floor to robotics labs, octopuses continue to inspire, offering lessons in both biology and technology. 



Their flexible arms not only influence the design of machines that could navigate disaster zones or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-deep-sea-crustacean-species-discovered-in-the-bahamas/">deep-sea environments</a>, but also remind us how problem-solving in nature often leads to solutions with real-world applications.



Beyond robotics, their adaptability symbolizes the broader principle that survival depends on innovation and change, a message equally relevant to ecosystems, human health, and future technologies.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-10674-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Octopus arms are probably the most complex and flexible structures in nature

The octopus is a creature that continues to surprise scientists and inspire engineers. With eight arms that move in ways no human limb can, it demonstrates flexibility and control that seem almost otherworldly. Each arm bends, twists, elongates, and shortens with unmatched precision, enabling these animals to hunt, hide, and explore with ease. Researchers hope that unlocking the secrets of these movements may guide the design of flexible robotic arms capable of lifesaving missions. Imagine a robotic arm slipping through rubble after a building collapse, delivering food...

Researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have found that insects suffer from chronic pain like humans. While previous studies demonstrated that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/edible-insects-grasshoppers-antioxidants/">insects</a> experience pain, this is the first study to provide evidence that the pain can last long after a wound has healed. 

The research pinpoints the genetic cause of chronic pain in fruit flies and suggests that similar mechanisms drive chronic pain in humans. The findings may ultimately lead to the development of treatments that target the root of chronic pain instead of just the symptoms.

"If we can develop drugs or new stem cell therapies that can target and repair the underlying cause, instead of the symptoms, this might help a lot of people," said study lead author Professor Gteg Neely. His team is studying pain in an effort to identify non-opioid solutions for pain management.

"People don't really think of insects as feeling any kind of pain," said Professor Neely. "But it's already been shown in lots of different invertebrate animals that they can sense and avoid dangerous stimuli that we perceive as painful. In non-humans, we call this sense 'nociception', the sense that detects potentially harmful stimuli like heat, cold, or physical injury, but for simplicity we can refer to what insects experience as 'pain.'"

"So we knew that insects could sense pain, but what we didn't know is that an injury could lead to long lasting hypersensitivity to normally non-painful stimuli in a similar way to human patients' experiences."

The investigation was focused on neuropathic pain that occurs in fruit flies after damage to the nervous system. In humans, this is usually described as a burning or shooting pain that results from a pinched nerve, spinal cord injury, diabetic neuropathy, cancer bone pain, or an accidental injury.

To test for chronic pain in fruit flies, the researchers damaged a nerve in one leg of the fly and then allowed the injury to fully heal. At this point, the experts found the fly's other legs had become hypersensitive. 

"After the animal is hurt once badly, they are hypersensitive and try to protect themselves for the rest of their lives," said Professor Neely. "That's kind of cool and intuitive."

Next, the team investigated how this happens genetically. 

"The fly is receiving pain messages from its body that then go through sensory neurons to the ventral nerve cord, the fly's version of our spinal cord. In this nerve cord are inhibitory neurons that act like a 'gate' to allow or block pain perception based on the context," said Professor Neely. 

"After the injury, the injured nerve dumps all its cargo in the nerve cord and kills all the brakes, forever. Then the rest of the animal doesn't have brakes on its pain. The pain threshold changes and now they are hypervigilant."

"Animals need to lose the pain brakes to survive in dangerous situations but when humans lose those brakes it makes our lives miserable. We need to get the brakes back to live a comfortable and non-painful existence."

Professor Neely explained that chronic pain in humans is presumed to develop through either peripheral sensitisation or central disinhibition.

"From our unbiased genomic dissection of neuropathic pain in the fly, all our data points to central disinhibition as the critical and underlying cause for chronic neuropathic pain."

"Importantly now we know the critical step causing neuropathic pain in flies, mice and probably humans, is the loss of the pain brakes in the central nervous system, we are focused on making new stem cell therapies or drugs that target the underlying cause and stop pain for good."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/nechaevkon

Insects experience chronic pain like humans do

Researchers at the University of Sydney have found that insects...

According to new research from a team at the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>, rising temperatures caused by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/conifer-extinction-climate-change/">climate change</a> could thwart male Cape Verde loggerhead turtles from hatching at a key breeding ground by the end of the century. 

In fact, the researchers posit that by 2100, more than 90% of loggerhead nests on the Cape Verde islands could incubate at exponentially higher temperatures, thus killing the turtles before they hatch.

"Cape Verde hosts one of the largest nesting population of loggerhead turtles in the world — up to 15% of the global nesting total," said Dr. Lucy Hawkes, of the University of Exeter. "We estimate that 84% of current hatchlings are female, and warmer temperatures will increase this proportion.”

The sex of the loggerhead turtle hatchlings is decided by the incubation temperature. Using information provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the research team realized that by 2100, only 0.14% of hatchlings would be male.

“Under all three climate change scenarios in our study,” Dr. Hawkes continued, “by 2100 more than 99% of hatchlings would be female — and under mid and high-emissions scenarios there could be no males at all."

[caption id="attachment_1875207" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/loggerhead-turtle.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875207" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/loggerhead-turtle.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="488" /></a> Loggerhead turtle in Cape Verde, Image Credit: Lucy Hawkes[/caption]

"What surprised us was how even the low emissions scenario has detrimental effects for this population,” said lead author Claire Tanner, who earned her masters with this study. "What this shows is that now is the time to act on climate change — before it is too late to prevent the estimations seen in this paper."

This study is published in <a href="https://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/meps-home/">Marine Ecology Progress Series</a>.

The researchers used current nesting behavior of the loggerheads to come to their conclusion, meaning that the turtles could adapt to climate change by nesting earlier in the year when it’s cooler. Furthermore, Dr. Hawkes said that natural selection should favor the turtles that attempt to do this, however, the longevity of the loggerheads matched with the speed of climate change could mean that the turtles would not have enough time to properly evolve.

And about 85% of loggerhead nests in Cape Verde are currently built on Boa Vista, where incubation temperatures are coolest. Therefore, most of the loggerhead population would be unable to switch to cooler locations — unless they find “refugia” areas covered in shade.

As of right now, it’s difficult for researchers to predict when the population would decline if males cease hatching, due to the fact that the reproductive lifespan on loggerhead males is not known. Older males could continue breeding for years after the last male loggerheads hatch.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: Lucy Hawkes

Rising temperatures threaten Cape Verde turtle population

According to new research from a team at the University...

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.museums.or.ke/">National Museums of Kenya</a>, <a href="https://www.uark.edu/">University of Arkansas</a>, <a href="https://missouri.edu/">University of Missouri</a>, and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> have discovered the fossil of a tiny monkey that inhabited Kenya about 4.2 million years ago. They believe it is an ancient ancestor of the modern talapoin monkey, the smallest species of Old World monkey that only weighs about two to three pounds. 

Talapoins are members of the larger <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wild-monkeys-adopted-injured-juvenile/">monkey</a> group called guenons, which are common across modern-day Africa.

The new ancient species, dubbed Nanopithecus browni, is believed to have been the same size as the talapoin. It was discovered on the eastern side of Kenya at a dry grassland area known as Kanapoi.

[caption id="attachment_1875195" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/comparison.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875195" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/comparison.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="208" /></a> A typical guenon (left) compared to Nanopithecus browni (middle) and a cat (right). Image Credit: Carol Ward[/caption]

This area of discovery goes against what has been previously understood about the evolution of guenons, thought to be driven by changes in their forest environment. Talapoins, for example, reside in tropical forests of West Central Africa, and were thought to be smaller versions of a larger ancestor. 

Nanopithecus browni, the second-oldest guenon ever to be discovered, raises interest based on the location it was found. Researchers now believe the evolution of the guenon is much more complex than previously thought. Dwarfing must have occurred earlier than suspected and may have happened in different stages within different habitats.

[caption id="attachment_1875194" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/location.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875194" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/location.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="488" /></a> Location of where Nanopithecus browni was found, Image Credit: Research team/Google Earth[/caption]

"The discovery of Nanopithecus browni reaffirms Kenya's contribution to understanding the evolution and diversity of Pliocene fauna and the environmental contexts in which they lived," said study leader Fredrick Kyalo Manthi of the National Museums of Kenya said via the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-human-evolution">Journal of Human Evolution</a>. "Environmental changes during the Plio-Pleistocene may have influenced the present-day distribution of guenons."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Carol Ward

Fossil of a tiny monkey species found in Kenya

A team of researchers from the National Museums of Kenya,...

In Pixar's “Finding Nemo,” two of the main characters – clownfish Marlin and royal blue tang Dory – run into a trio of sharks and fear they’re done for. But the group of apex predators reassure the pair by explaining that they are victims of sharks’ bad reputations. 

"I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food,” their pledge goes.

Real life sharks may not have a pledge, but one man has set out to prove that they really aren’t mindless eating machines. 

Marine biologist Jeremiah Sullivan is probably best known for allowing sharks to bite him hundreds of times – all to test his underwater <a href="http://www.jeremiahsullivan.com/">SharkArmor</a>. But he’s also made it his mission to show that sharks’ bad reputation isn’t all true, and they’re not as they’re portrayed in films like “Jaws.”

In the upcoming “Man vs. Shark” special on <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic</a>, he hitches a ride on a calm great white shark without becoming dinner.

“It became apparent to me that the shark was so chill that I was drawn out,” Sullivan told the <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/">Daily Beast</a>. “So I slipped my hand under its caudal fin as it swam by, and the shark was so big it didn’t even flinch. You know, it was important to me to make very clear to the powers that be out there that kept putting out all this hostile conversation about these animals that that wasn’t the whole story.”

Which isn’t to say sharks aren’t dangerous, or that just anyone should go and try to befriend one.

In the special, Sullivan also convinces a tiger shark to bite him, to test his newest sharksuit. That bore some risks. Tiger sharks are known for their extremely damaging bites.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen,” he said. “I had a lot of people with me that were quite sure that when one bit me, the other tiger sharks were gonna come swarm on me.”

Sullivan was inspired to study sharks after seeing the movie “Born Free” as a child. The movie portrays a positive encounter between lions and humans, and Sullivan wondered if such friendly interactions were possible between humans and other predators.

He first began developing his sharksuits in the 1970s. 

Throughout the “Man vs. Shark” episode, Sullivan has nerve-wracking encounters with the ocean’s most feared predators. But time and time again, he proves sharks’ bad reputation to be wrong.

That said, he believes anyone who wants to interact with sharks should have a very healthy respect for them – and the damage they can do. When he’s witnessed people being bit, it’s often because they forget that respect or show off.

“But you know, I’m always looking to confirm my belief that there can be much more to the interactions between humans and sharks in the sea, and I’m delighted to say that that’s proven out to be true,” he said. 

“Man vs. Shark” will air on July 17 on National Geographic TV.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Devon Massyn, National Geographic

Documentary bites back at sharks' bad reputation

In Pixar's “Finding Nemo,” two of the main characters –...

A new study from <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University</a> is describing how southern right whale mothers and calves communicate in the cloudy waters where they hide from predators. The loss of visual contact creates a need for the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/right-whales-recorded-singing/">whales</a> to call out to each other, but this may attract unwanted attention. 

A research team led by Mia Nielsen set out to listen in on the conversations between southern right whale mothers and calves. The researchers discovered that the whales hide out in the noisy surf and whisper to each other to reduce the risk of being noticed by predators. 

The study was conducted in Flinders Bay, off the southern tip of Western Australia, where the whales breed. 

"One of the initial challenges was getting to know the whales in our study area," said Nielsen. "The number of whales that frequent the bay is low."

Nielson said she was surprised when they eventually located some females with their calves in the surf zone close to the shore. The researchers were puzzled by their decision to seek refuge in the most turbulent water.

As the whales rested at the surface, the team tagged them with sound recorders. The tags stayed on the mothers for about 7 hours, but did not even last an hour on the calves.

"Southern right whales are very physical with each other, the calves spend a lot of time rubbing against the mother and rolling over her back, tail and rostrum," explained Nielsen. The researchers still managed to obtain nearly 63 hours of conversation between the mothers and calves as they sheltered in the surf.

An analysis of the recordings revealed that the animals were producing two types of calls: a grunt and a mooing sound. Instead of continuous communication, the mother and calf pairs called less than once per dive. The moos and grunts were found to be very quiet, and were drowned out by the noise of the pounding waves within a few hundred meters. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/wildestanimal

Southern right whales take shelter in noisy surf and whisper to avoid predators

A new study from Aarhus University is describing how southern...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farming-trends-threatening-pollinators-crops/">Pollinators</a> like bees and butterflies often get the spotlight in terms of research and media attention, and this could be because many buzzing and flitting pollinating pros go about their business during the day. After all, a colorful monarch flying around a flower garden on a sunny day is hard to miss. 

However, a new study has found that wildfires have a negative impact on key night-time pollinators: moths. 

The study was conducted by an international team of experts who investigated the impacts of a wildfire in Portugal on the relationship between moths and flowers. 

Past research has shown that bees and butterflies can benefit from the surge of wildflowers that burst from the ground after a fire. But it turns out that night-time pollinators are not as lucky in the aftermath of a fire. 

“Day-time pollinators, such as bees, have previously been shown to respond positively to the post-fire increase in resources of pollen and nectar, but it was not known whether night-flying pollinators, such as moths, benefit in the same way,” said Dr. Callum Macgregor, the lead author of the study. 

70 percent of moths caught by the researchers in Portugal were carrying pollen, and in the spring that number jumped to over 95 percent. In the area studied, moths were carrying the pollen of over 80 percent of the flowering plant species. 

After the fire, pollen carrying declined. The amount of pollen carried by moths at the burned sites was five times lower. 

There were also fewer species of moths at these sites and lower moth numbers in burned areas compared to areas that were not impacted by the fire. 

“By comparing sites within the burned area to unburned sites nearby, we found that after the fire, flowers were more abundant and represented more species, which was mainly due to increases of flowers in winter and spring,” said Macgregor. “By contrast, we found that moths were much less abundant and less species rich after the fire, across all seasons. 

Moths could be a much more important pollinator than previously realized, and without both day-time and night-time pollinators, an area may not be able to recover as efficiently after a major event like a fire.

This study, published in the journal Functional Ecology, puts a spotlight on moths and emphasizes their important role in the ecosystem. 

“Given the increasing frequency of devastating wildfires we are witnessing in places such as Portugal, the United States and even British moorlands, this is a cause for concern as ecosystems may be becoming less resilient and unable to return to a functioning state,” said Dr. Darren Evans, a co-supervisor of the study. 

--

By <a href="http://mailto:kayvandett@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Paula Banza

Wildfires negatively impact nighttime moth pollination

Pollinators like bees and butterflies often get the spotlight in...

A new study from <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyoto University</a> has revealed that the red faces of female Japanese <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/japanese-snow-monkeys-baths/">macaques</a> signal information about their social rank, rather than about their reproductive status.

Both male and female Japanese macaques display changing red skin coloration on their faces. While males of many animal species use bright colors to attract mates, little is known about the role that coloration among females may play in mating.

Previous studies in other primates have suggested that there is a link between red skin color variation and ovulation or fertility. In addition, female Japanese macaques are known to acquire lighter or darker faces based on sex hormone levels, which indicates that redder faces are a sign of mating availability.

"Our research is about better understating human sexuality by studying the evolutionary and biological roots of primate sexual communication," explained study first author Lucie Rigaill.

To investigate whether changes in skin color actually signal ovulation timing, the researchers collected coloration data from the face and hindquarters of selected female macaques during the winter mating season. The team compared this information with the hormone levels of the individuals. 

"We were astonished to find that, contrary to what we originally thought, changes in female skin color did not actually indicate the ovulation period! Skin color was not correlated to fertility either," said Rigaill. "It gets even more surprising! Females of higher-social status had darker/redder hindquarters, something only reported in male primate populations until now."

The research suggests that female red skin color may play a more complex role in Japanese macaques than what was previously realized.

"We suggest that female red skin coloration acts as a 'badge' of social rank, where higher ranked females have darker/redder hindquarters," said Rigaill. "Intriguingly, females don't show precise behavioral or coloration changes until the beginning of pregnancy, outlining a larger picture of the sexual signaling in this species: females seem to conceal ovulation but signal pregnancy."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Bernhard Richter

Female Japanese macaques use red coloration to signal their social rank

A new study from Kyoto University has revealed that the...

A team of paleontologists led by Professor Jingmai O'Connor of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> has discovered a nearly complete lizard preserved in the stomach of a microraptor. The specimen is unlike any other lizard observed from the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-millipede-species-cretaceous-period/">Cretaceous Period</a> and represents a previously unknown species that is now called Indrasaurus wangi.

The name Indrasaurus was inspired by a Vedic legend in which the god Indra was swallowed by a dragon during a great battle. The lizard was also named after Professor Yuan Wang, who is the director of the Paleozoological Museum of China.

The study was based on the most extensive phylogenetic analysis of Cretaceous lizards ever conducted. The results showed that all known species from this time were more closely related to each other than to any modern lineage. 

I. wangi was found to have teeth that were different from other lizards of the Cretaceous, which indicates that it had a unique diet.

[caption id="attachment_1875061" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lizard.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875061" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lizard.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="516" /></a> New lizard species, Image Credit: Jingmai O'Connor[/caption]

This is the fourth time a Microraptor has been uncovered with its stomach contents preserved. Collectively, these contents confirm the idea that the dinosaur was an opportunistic predator, feeding on mammals, birds, fish, and lizards. 

The research also provides evidence that Microraptors fed on their prey like carnivorous birds and lizards do today, as seen in the nearly complete lizard that was swallowed whole and head first.

The Jurassic troodontid Anchiornis has been recently demonstrated to have secreted pellets similar to modern birds like owls. The fact that Microrapter did not have this ability supports the theory that the evolutionary transition from dinosaur to bird was characterized by homoplasy, which is when numerous traits independently evolve multiple times within closely related groups.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Doyle Trankina

Lizard found almost fully preserved in the stomach of a microraptor

A team of paleontologists led by Professor Jingmai O'Connor of...

When we die, the vast majority of us would appreciate it if we were remembered for some of our finer qualities, rather than those that may have made us seem “weird” compared to everyone around us. Unfortunately for an ancient <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scavenging-birds-rise-climate-change/">bird</a> whose foot was found preserved in amber, this is not the case.

A new study in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a> details the discovery of a bird foot from 99 million years ago, preserved in amber. The ancient bird it belonged to appears to have a physical trait no other known bird has: toes longer than its legs. 

“I was very surprised when I saw the amber,” says first author Lida Xing of the <a href="about:blank">China University of Geosciences</a>. “It shows that ancient birds were way more diverse than we thought. They had evolved many different features to adapt to their environments.”

The researchers believe the bird may have used its extra-long toes to grab food out of tree trunks. They estimate the bird was smaller than a sparrow, and believe it spent most of its time in the trees. “Elongated toes are something you commonly see in arboreal animals because they need to be able to grip these branches and wrap their toes around them,” says co-author Jingmai O'Connor of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>. “But this extreme difference in toe lengths, as far as we know, has never been seen before.”

Now named Elektorornis chenguangi, the specimen is believed to belong to a group of extinct birds called Enantiornithes. The bird’s foot was found in a piece of amber that measured over three centimeters in length. This amber was found in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar, which during the Mesozoic era was full of trees that produced the resin that turns into amber when it becomes fossilized. Often, plants and small animals will get caught in the resin, leading to them being preserved in amber.

The only known animal that has such disproportionally long digits is the aye-aye, a lemur that uses its long middle fingers to hook insects and larvae out of tree trunks for food. Researchers believe the Elektorornis may have used its long toes for the same purpose. 

“This is the best guess we have," says O’Connor. “There is no bird with a similar morphology that could be considered a modern analog for this fossil bird. A lot of ancient birds were probably doing completely different things than living birds. This fossil exposes a different ecological niche that these early birds were experimenting as they evolved.”

There is still more to be learned from this amber foot fossil, as the research team plans to extract the proteins and pigments from some feathers exposed on the surface of the amber. If possible, the resulting data could help them better determine the bird’s adaptation to its environment.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Zhongda Zhang / Current Biology

Fossilized bird had toes longer than its legs

When we die, the vast majority of us would appreciate...

Lawmakers consider legislation to reaffirm long standing bird protections. As I’ve <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/environmental-policy-changed-2018/">previously reported</a>, there have been a number of changes in environmental policy under the Trump administration, including the re-interpretation of the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html">Migratory Bird Treaty Act</a> (MBTA). The act was originally signed as a treaty with Britain (acting on behalf of Canada) in 1916 and then signed into law in the US in 1918. The law was designed to protect migratory bird species in North America, or at least in the United States and Canada. 

The law protected birds, their eggs and nests from harm, whether intentional or unintentional, levying fines against those who violate it. Since the treaty with Canada and resulting resulting law were signed, the treaty has been signed between the US and Mexico, Japan and the former Soviet Union. Because many birds migrate over incredibly long distances as regular parts of their natural history, the international nature of MBTA is important. Lawmakers consider legislation to reaffirm long standing bird protections 

A good example of how the MBTA works is the infamous case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Deepwater Horizon was the largest marine oil spill to date. The disaster started with an oil rig explosion, and resulted in 11 workers killed and 17 injured. It’s hard to say exactly how much oil spilled during Deepwater Horizon, but US government officials estimated it to peak at greater than 60,000 barrels of oil per day. The leak that started in April was slowed by July, but government commissioned scientists estimated that 4,900,000 barrels of oil had already leaked by that point and only 800,000 barrels had been recaptured. 

Tar washed up on beaches throughout the gulf. Fishermen lost valuable money, fish lost their lives. <a href="https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/audubon_mbta_industry_2018.pdf">Audubon</a> reports that more than 1 million birds were killed as a result of the Deepwater Horizon spill. Though it’s cold consolation for birds and those who care about them, BP was forced to pay for those bird deaths.

The <a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ID=FC61EB52-BF8A-45AA-C04D802711C4EF55">US Fish &amp; Wildlife Service</a> reported in 2015 that BP pled guilty to 14 criminal counts connected with the historic oil spill. One of those criminal counts was a misdemeanor violation of the Migratory Birds Treaty Act. As part of the settlement, BP paid $100 million to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund. 

Not only was the money intended to benefit some of the birds harmed by the oil spill, it also acted as a deterrent. BP clearly didn’t intend to spill so much oil and it was unprofitable for them to do so, but laws such as MBTA are intended to make negligent of uncaring behavior from companies or individuals even less attractive when birds are harmed. These sorts of laws regulate everything from oil to wind farms when birds are killed or negatively impacted. Recently, the law has been reinterpreted under the Trump administration.

The new interpretation holds that the law only applies when birds are intentionally killed. Under the new interpretation of the law, BP would have paid nothing for the deaths of birds from Deepwater Horizon. <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/killing-migratory-birds-even-unintentionally-has-been-a-crime-for-decades-not-anymore/">Reveal News</a> reports that Canada still interprets the law as applying to incidental takes of birds, that is their unintended death or harm. In fact, the new Trump administration interpretation of the law is far out of step with the long standing interpretation under both Democratic and Republican presidents. In effect, the interpretation simply stops enforcement of the law, a law that historically helped many birds recover from devastation caused by industry such as the hat feather trade. 

According to <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/killing-migratory-birds-even-unintentionally-has-been-a-crime-for-decades-not-anymore/">Reveal News</a>, internal emails show that many federal <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">US Fish &amp; Wildlife</a> law enforcement officers have stopped enforcing the law because of the new interpretation, leading to un-prosecuted bird deaths. This was before the Department of the Interior even officially made a new rule based on the Trump interpretation of the law. 

Because of the importance of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the odd interpretation of it by the Trump administration, the US House of Representatives has taken a step towards taking matters into their own hands. 

<a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/congress-takes-first-step-toward-restoring-bird-protections-eliminated-trump">Audubon</a> reports that last month, the US Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife began the discussion of drafting a bill that would reaffirm the long standing protections for birds from incidental take. During the hearing, Audubon’s Vice President for Bird Conservation, Stanley Senner, <a href="https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/mbta_senner_testimony_2019_06_13.pdf">testified</a> on the importance of MBTA. Senner has worked on restoration work from both Alaska’s Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Deepwater Horizon blowout.

Senner gave the subcommittee a summary of the history of bird conservation in America, starting early on in the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and how Audubon was connected with that history. He noted that state and even national laws aren’t always enough to protect bird species that travel thousands of miles in a year. Senner pointed out that the MBTA is credited with saving species from extinction, including the Wood Duck, Snowy Egret and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/agriculture-bird-migrations/">Sandhill Cranes</a>. 

Through the history of MBTA, the law helped force regulation on open oil pits in California that were killing 150,000 birds each year. Waste water pits in Wyoming were also regulated by the potential to levy fines under MBTA. Senner noted that power lines, although still a major cause of death, are built to minimize bird death because of the incentive provided by the MBTA. Senner’s testimony and that of others may help reinstate protections for birds.

The draft bill would reaffirm bird protections from industry, including unintended, ‘incidental take’, <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/audubon-testifies-us-house-hearing-migratory-bird-treaty-act">Audubon</a> reports. The law would also require an adoption of best practices intended to allow industry to comply with the law. 

This step in the House is important but it raises the question of what will happen if the bill passes both the House and the Senate, which seems unlikely, and reaches the president to be signed into law? Unfortunately, for the time being, such actions by well intentioned lawmakers may be nothing more than tilting at windmills and oil derricks. Instead, it’s up to us, the people to make changes in the world we live in.                   

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sergey Uryadnikov

Lawmakers consider legislation to reaffirm long standing bird protections

Lawmakers consider legislation to reaffirm long standing bird protections. As...

Off the coast of Tanzania, scientists have discovered a new species of fairy wrasse that is deep purple in color. The species has been named Cirrhilabrus wakanda in honor of the mythical nation of Wakanda from Marvel Entertainment comics and the movie Black Panther.

In the last decade, advanced technology is helping scientists explore mesophotic coral ecosystems located hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/">California Academy of Sciences</a> discovered C. wakanda around 200 feet down in the dimly lit mesophotic coral reefs of eastern Zanzibar.

"When we thought about the secretive and isolated nature of these unexplored African reefs, we knew we had to name this new species after Wakanda," said study lead author Yi-Kai Tea from the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a>. "We've known about other related fairy wrasses from the Indian Ocean, but always thought there was a missing species along the continent's eastern edge. When I saw this amazing purple fish, I knew instantly we were dealing with the missing piece of the puzzle."

According to the researchers, the location of C. wakanda's remote home just below recreational diving limits likely kept them hidden from humans. Accessing little-known mesophotic reefs located 200 to 500 feet beneath the ocean's surface requires technical equipment and physical training that is extremely intense compared to shallow-water diving. 

[caption id="attachment_1875034" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/male.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875034" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/male.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> Male Cirrhilabrus wakanda, Image Credit: Luiz Rocha © 2018 California Academy of Sciences[/caption]

"Preparation for these deep dives is very intense and our dive gear often weighs more than us," said Dr. Luiz Rocha, co-leader of the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/major-initiatives/hope-for-reefs">Hope for Reefs</a> initiative. "When we reach these reefs and find unknown species as spectacular as this fairy wrasse, it feels like our hard work is paying off."

In a recent paper, the Academy team reported that mesophotic reefs are unique ecosystems bursting with life that are just as vulnerable to human activities as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/some-coral-reefs-may-benefit-from-rising-sea-levels/">shallow reefs</a>. 

"It's a time of global crisis for coral reefs, and exploring little-known habitats and the life they support is now more important than ever," said Dr. Rocha. "Because they are out of sight, these deeper reefs are often left out of marine reserves, so we hope our discoveries inspire their protection."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">ZooKeys</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Luiz Rocha © 2018 California Academy of Sciences

New species of purple reef-dwelling fish named after Wakanda

Off the coast of Tanzania, scientists have discovered a new...

A new study from an international team of researchers is the first global assessment of how current trends in farming practices may be affecting pollinators and the crops that depend on them. The research suggests that a lack of crop diversity is sabotaging <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-existed-long-before-flowers/">pollinators</a> and subsequently impacting agricultural productivity.

An international team of researchers has identified countries, particularly in regions of Asia and South America, where an increasing dependence on pollination and a lack of crop diversity could ultimately threaten food security and economic stability. 

Based on data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization recorded between 1961 and 2016, the researchers found that the total area of crops which requires pollination expanded by 137 percent. In the same time frame, crop diversity increased by only 20.5 percent. 

According to the researchers, this imbalance is an issue because agriculture dominated by just one or two types of crops only provides nutrition for pollinators during a limited time when the crops are blooming. When there is a variety of crops that bloom at different times, however, pollinators have a more stable source of food and habitat.

"This work should sound an alarm for policymakers who need to think about how they are going to protect and foster pollinator populations that can support the growing need for the services they provide to crops that require pollination," said study co-author Professor David Inouye from the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>.

During the study period, the large-scale farming of soybean, canola, and palm oil crops made the largest contribution to the agricultural expansion and also to the increase in pollinator dependence. The researchers explained that the spread of these crops is concerning because they represent a rapid expansion of industrial farming, which is known for pesticide use and other practices that threaten both pollinators and the environment.

"Farmers are growing more crops that require pollination, such as fruits, nuts and oil seeds, because there's an increasing demand for them and they have a higher market value," said Professor Inouye. "This study points out that these current trends are not great for pollinators, and countries that diversify their agricultural crops are going to benefit more than those that expand with only a limited subset of crops."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780124202184/climate-change-biology">Climate Change Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Martin Husemann

Farming trends threatening pollinators and the crops that depend on them

A new study from an international team of researchers is...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



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



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

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</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> 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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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