Sharks have survived for hundreds of millions of years. They outlived the dinosaurs, Ice Ages, and major climate shifts. Yet today, they are disappearing rapidly - not because of nature, but because of us.



Since the 1970s, their global numbers have fallen by more than 70 percent. The causes are not mysterious: overfishing, finning, bycatch, and growing demand for shark meat. 



The International Union for Conservation of Nature (<a href="https://iucn.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a>) now lists nearly 40 percent of shark species as threatened. Laws and trade bans set rules, but sellers still put sharks on the market.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shark-meat-trade-uncovered">Shark meat trade uncovered</h2>



A team at the <a href="https://www.unc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> decided to check what is actually on sale in the United States. 



They bought shark products from grocery stores, seafood markets, and online shops. Using DNA barcoding, they tested the species. The results were shocking.



“We found critically endangered sharks, including great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead, being sold in grocery stores, seafood markets, and online," said study co-author Dr. Savannah Ryburn.



"Of the 29 samples, 93 percent were ambiguously labeled as ‘shark,’ and one of the two products labeled at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-white-sharks-survived-the-ice-age-but-it-changed-them-forever/">species</a> level was mislabeled,” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-misleading-labels-everywhere">Misleading labels everywhere</h2>



Most of the products carried only the word “shark.” Sellers even mislabeled some as safer species. Out of 30 samples, just one had a correct and clear label.



The rest included a mix of 11 species, three of which were critically endangered. Nearly a third came from species already at serious risk of extinction.



This problem isn’t limited to the United States. Around the world, shark meat appears under names like “cazón” in Brazil, “flake” in Australia, and “rock salmon” in the UK. In Peru, most people eating “tollo” did not even know it was shark.



These vague labels hide what consumers are really buying and make it almost impossible to track trade in threatened species. 



Sellers put <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-sharks-study-reveals-hidden-crisis-of-overfishing/">endangered sharks</a> in plain sight, deny scientists the ability to track catches, and prevent buyers from making safe, informed choices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meat-sold-at-low-prices">Meat sold at low prices</h2>



Researchers also pointed to the price. Endangered sharks were selling for less than $5 a pound in U.S. grocery stores.



By comparison, red snapper sold for $27 a pound. The numbers show how little the market values these predators, even though they play a critical role in ocean ecosystems.



“The legality of selling shark meat in the United States depends largely on where the shark was harvested and which species are involved, under regulations from CITES and the Endangered Species Act,” Ryburn explained.



“However, by the time large shark species reach grocery stores and markets, they are often sold as fillets with all distinguishing features removed, making it unlikely that sellers know what species they are offering.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/endangered-shark-meat_false-labels_Frontiers_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/endangered-shark-meat_false-labels_Frontiers_1s.webp" alt="Photos exemplifying how some of the samples were labeled and displayed when purchased. (A) Dusky smooth-hound sold whole, missing the head, labeled as “shark” in English and Chinese at an Asian grocery store in Orlando, FL. (B) Shortfin mako shark sold as jerky and purchased online from the Newport Jerky Company in Rhode Island labeled as “mako shark jerky”. (C) Common thresher shark sold as “fresh shark [steak]” at an Asian grocery store in Duluth, GA. The label also included “wild caught/USA”. (D) Blacktip shark labeled as “wild blacktip shark, fresh never frozen” from a Publix grocery store in Cary, NC. The label also included that it was a “product of Florida” and that it was “responsibly sourced”. Credit: Frontiers in Marine Science" class="wp-image-1985976"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photos exemplifying how some of the samples were labeled and displayed when purchased. (A) Dusky smooth-hound sold whole, missing the head, labeled as “shark” in English and Chinese at an Asian grocery store in Orlando, FL. (B) Shortfin mako shark sold as jerky and purchased online from the Newport Jerky Company in Rhode Island labeled as “mako shark jerky”. (C) Common thresher shark sold as “fresh shark [steak]” at an Asian grocery store in Duluth, GA. The label also included “wild caught/USA”. (D) Blacktip shark labeled as “wild blacktip shark, fresh never frozen” from a Publix grocery store in Cary, NC. The label also included that it was a “product of Florida” and that it was “responsibly sourced”. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Frontiers in Marine Science</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eating-shark-meat-is-dangerous">Eating shark meat is dangerous</h2>



This issue isn’t only about conservation. Sharks such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-some-great-hammerhead-sharks-rarely-leave-home/">hammerheads</a> and makos carry high levels of mercury and arsenic in their tissues. These metals damage the nervous system, harm unborn children, and increase cancer risks.



Mislabeled products strip consumers of their ability to make safe choices and put families at risk without their knowledge.



The danger grows because heavy metals accumulate over time, meaning even small, repeated servings of shark meat can cause long-term health effects that no label warns about.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clear-labels-protect-sharks">Clear labels protect sharks</h2>



The United States still allows “shark” as a generic market name. In contrast, the European Union requires far more detail, including the scientific name and catch area. 



Without clear <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dont-say-vegan-food-labeling-should-focus-on-health-and-sustainability/">labeling</a>, the public cannot know whether their dinner is harmless dogfish or a critically endangered hammerhead.



“Sellers in the United States should be required to provide species-specific names," Ryburn said. "And when shark meat is not a food security necessity, consumers should avoid purchasing products that lack species-level labeling or traceable sourcing."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shark-extinction-risks-ocean-collapse">Shark extinction risks ocean collapse</h2>



Sharks have been around for half a billion years. If we continue to treat them as cheap, nameless meat, we may be the generation that sees them vanish. Their loss would not be just another statistic on the list of endangered species.



It would mean oceans without their top predators, seas where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oceans-are-quickly-losing-ability-to-support-fish-due-to-plankton-loss/">fish populations</a> explode or collapse without balance, and ecosystems that unravel in ways we cannot easily repair. Communities that depend on healthy oceans for food and livelihoods would also suffer.



Sharks have shaped marine life for millions of years, and their future now depends on the choices we make today.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1604454/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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How endangered shark meat ends up on grocery shelves despite global bans

Sharks have survived for hundreds of millions of years. They outlived the dinosaurs, Ice Ages, and major climate shifts. Yet today, they are disappearing rapidly - not because of nature, but because of us. Since the 1970s, their global numbers have fallen by more than 70 percent. The causes are not mysterious: overfishing, finning, bycatch, and growing demand for shark meat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now lists nearly 40 percent of shark species as threatened. Laws and trade bans set rules, but sellers...

The microorganisms that help keep coral reef ecosystems healthy and thriving have different levels of activity at night and during the day, according to a new study. 

Corals are just one part of a reef ecosystem, and each piece<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diversity-abundance-coral-reef-health/"> plays a key role in the health and adaptability</a> of coral reefs. 

Reefs are home to a diverse array of marine wildlife from algae to large predators like sharks, and the very bottom of the food chain sits bacteria and other microorganisms. These microorganisms recycle organic matter into useful nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/">San Diego State University,</a> the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii at Mānoa</a>, and <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/">Scripps Institution of Oceanography</a> conducted a study comparing the day and night rhythms of bacteria from reef ecosystems. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and is one of the first studies of its kind to examine the day and night rhythms of reef microorganisms.

“Investigations of day-night rhythms of reef processes are required to holistically understand the functional roles of microbial players in these ecosystems,” said Linda Wegley Kelly, the co-lead author of the study.

The research team surveyed reefs along the Southern Line Islands south of Hawaii and sampled the water above the reef at night and during the day. They analyzed the samples and were able to measure differences in water chemistry and microbe abundance and diversity.

[caption id="attachment_1871154" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-reef.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871154" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-reef.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="511" /></a> Measuring reef processes on Millennium Atoll, Image Credit: Jennifer Smith[/caption]

Not only did the researchers find that microorganisms had different patterns of activity during the day compared to at night, but also these changes were consistent across different reefs separated by hundreds of miles. 

Microbe activity across the reefs decreased at night but increased the next day. 

One group of microbes, Psychrobacter, make up 40 to 70 percent of the microbial marine reef community, but at night, Psychrobacter levels are 100 times less abundant compared to the day. 

“Those who study reefs know that these ecosystems change significantly from day to night, but this study reveals one previously invisible aspect of that change: a dramatic and predictable shift--not only in what microbes are doing--but which groups are most abundant,” said Craig Nelson, a co-leader of the study. 

The researchers will continue to study these important processes and work to understand what drives microbial day-night rhythms.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Brian Zgliczynski

Coral reef microbes have distinct day and night rhythms

The microorganisms that help keep coral reef ecosystems healthy and...

A fossil belonging to an extinct species of ancient marine life is being compared to Cthulu, the tentacled monster from H.P Lovecraft’s famous short story, “The Call of Cthulhu.” 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale,</a> <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford</a>, the <a href="https://le.ac.uk/">University of Leicester</a>, <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a>, and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> examined the 430 million-year-old fossil and discovered that it belonged to an entirely new species of echinoderm. Starfish, sea urchins and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-cucumbers-speed-ocean/">sea cucumbers</a> are all echinoderms. 

The researchers named the new species Sallasina cthulu due to its 45 tentacle-like tube feet.

Tomography was used to study and reconstruct the fossil, which is a 3D reconstruction process where the fossil is cut away and cross-sectioned layer by layer. Each layer is photographed, and the photographs are then combined to create a virtual reconstruction of the fossil. 

The researchers detailed their findings in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

“This new species belongs to an extinct group called the ophiocistioids,” said Derek Briggs, a co-author of the study. “With the aid of high-resolution physical-optical tomography, we describe the species in 3D, revealing internal elements of the water vascular system that were previously unknown in this group and, indeed, in nearly all fossil echinoderms.”

After the researchers created the virtual reconstruction, the images revealed that Sallasina cthulu had an internal water vascular system that is similar to what sea cucumbers have today. 

Not much bigger than a large spider, Sallasina would have crawled along the seafloor with the help of its tentacles in search of food. 

“The water vascular system operates the tentacle-like structures that they used for locomotion and food capture,” said Briggs. “The tube feet of living echinoderms are naked, but in the ophiocistioids they were plated. Our analysis strongly suggests that ophiocistioids diverged from the line leading to modern sea cucumbers.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Elissa Martin/Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

430 million-year-old sea species had 45 tentacle tube feet

A fossil belonging to an extinct species of ancient marine...

Paleontologists have found an extremely rare set of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-nasal-passages-cool/">dinosaur</a> footprints from tens of millions of years ago that still contain well-preserved skin. The tiny footprints, which measure about an inch in length, were discovered at a site near Jinju City in South Korea and date all the way back to the Cretaceous Period.

The tracks were left behind by a Minisauripus, which is a small theropod about the size of a blackbird. According to the researchers, this is the 10th discovery of Minisauripus footprints and the first-ever tracks found to contain traces of skin.

[caption id="attachment_1871095" align="aligncenter" width="303"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/12055872-6903423-image-m-6_1554824957024.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1871095" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/12055872-6903423-image-m-6_1554824957024.jpg" alt="" width="303" height="416" /></a> Image Credit: Nature[/caption]

Even though less than one percent of the imprints still have skin present, impressions of the skin were reportedly found across all of the tracks. The findings indicate that a rain shower had just occurred before the impressions were made.

“The tracks were made on a very thin layer of fine mud, rather like a coat of fresh paint only a millimeter thick,” said study co-author Martin Lockley. “These are the first tracks ever found where perfect skin impressions cover the entire surface of every track.”

The prints were first spotted by Dr. Kyung-Soo Kim, a professor in the Department of Science Education at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinju_National_University_of_Education">Chinju National University of Education</a>, and were nearly missed altogether. During large-scale excavations, Dr. Kim noticed five of the tiny tracks in a broken slab.

[caption id="attachment_1871096" align="aligncenter" width="304"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/12055874-6903423-image-m-8_1554824972346.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1871096" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/12055874-6903423-image-m-8_1554824972346.jpg" alt="" width="304" height="416" /></a> Image Credit: Nature[/caption]

The skin texture of the dinosaur’s foot was perfectly preserved. The study authors compared the skin texture to a medium grade of medium sandpaper, but with half-millimeter-wide scales arranged like a woven fabric.

The research expands the known range of the Minisauripus, and the discovery is considered to be the earliest documentation of the small dinosaurs in Korea. The unique set of 95 footprints may help to settle the debate of whether tiny tracks such as these represent small species or the juveniles of large species.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Perfectly preserved tracks contain traces of dinosaur skin

Paleontologists have found an extremely rare set of dinosaur footprints...

The so-called sixth mass extinction may have first caught flame at the end of the last ice age, but it's turned into an inferno in today's warming world. The blame, unlike with previous mass extinctions, lies largely at the feet of one species: us. But how have we done it? From ice-age humans' overhunting of megafauna to today's warming climate, humans have remade the biosphere in an alarming — but fascinatingly — evolving way. 

Number 6?

Five times in prehistory, a mass extinction event decimated Earth's life, with <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/big-five-extinctions">at least 75%</a> of the planet's species disappearing. Many scientists say we've entered the sixth one: the "Holocene mass extinction," named for the current geological epoch (to 11,7000 years ago), which coincides with humanity's rise from hunter-gathering to world dominance.

Evidence comes from <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/269/5222/347">extinction rates</a>, which are now 100 to 1,000 times the normal (or "background') rate of extinction, studies show. 

"The rapidity and global nature of species loss in such a short amount of time does seem to increasingly warrant characterization of a mass extinction," said Jennifer Crees, a biodiversity researcher at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a>. "It is indubitably human-caused."

Not all scientists agree, however. Duke University biologist Stuart Pimm said, "It's a worry, it's beginning to happen, but it hasn't happened yet." 

First spears fired

That debate aside, humans may have been wiping out species for a long time — since the last ice age (Pleistocene) gave way to the Holocene. The disappearance of megafauna repeatedly follows the arrival of humans to bodies of land, particularly islands. Natural climate change likely played a role in those extinctions. But many scientists argue that human hunting killed off the mammoth in North America, the moa in New Zealand and others.

Early humans could cause such extensive losses because people aren't like other predators, said <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> biologist Kate Lyons. First, we don't follow the typical predator-prey cycles, with predator populations falling in response to overhunting.

The human intellect also supercharged our hunting prowess, giving us tools like the spear-hurling atlatl. In Australia, some 20,000 years passed between human's arrival and the megafaunal wipeout. In the Americas, it took just 3,000 years. 

"But humans hadn't developed the atlatl in Australia," Lyons said. "In North and South America, they had."

Transforming the land

Early humans may also have contributed to extinctions by using fire to clear areas for more-accessible plants. The big leap in extinctions, however, came with the transformations of the agricultural revolution, said <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a> biologist Paul Erhlich. 

Agriculture converts enormous areas of biodiverse habitat in, for example, the Amazon to grazing areas. Forest and wetlands converted to fields offer <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691371/">poorer resources</a> for wildlife. 

"We're getting more and more areas turned to agriculture, which clobbers biodiversity," Ehrlich said.

Humans have also destroyed species' habitats via urban development, bleaching coral due to CO2 emissions and other means. Overall, our land use could rob 1,700 species of 50% of their habitat over the next half-century, a recent <a href="http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study/">Yale study</a> found. 

Climate change

Like many other human activities, today's agriculture also pumps out a lot of climate-changing gases. And an altered climate puts even more extinction pressure on Earth's biota.

Species may not be able to tolerate hotter temperatures, Crees said. For example, "rises in temperatures cause bleaching and disease outbreaks in coral reefs," she said. 

Climate change can also shift habitats, turning species' homes into desert or raising sea level around land-based critters. "Species may not be able to move or adapt in time," Crees said.

[caption id="attachment_1871049" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-bleaching.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871049" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-bleaching.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="366" /></a> Coral bleaching[/caption]

Overexploitation

Even as broader human activity transforms climate and habitat, hunting still plays a role in extinction — as just part of modern humanity's overexploitation of nature. 

"Hunting and harvesting of animals and plants for e.g. food, traditional medicine and the pet trade are causing major crashes in populations," Crees said.

Today's trophy hunters may hasten the extinction of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting">giraffes</a>, while poachers threaten <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1">elephants</a>. Modern fishing methods, like trawling, devastate marine populations. 

The pangolin, a mammal prized for both its meat and unusual scales, faces widespread poaching, with <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/pangolins-world-day-most-trafficked-mammal-scales-meat-china-africa-wwf-a8214726.html">300 killed</a> every day.

"I saw a report of intercepting shipments … of tons not of pangolins, but of pangolin scales," Ehrlich said. "We are wiping out what we can."

Spreading fungi, cats and plastic

Beyond the those massive effects, humans have imposed extinction pressures by introducing disease, invasive species and pollution globally. Spread via travel and wildlife trade, for instance, the fungi-caused disease chytridiomycosis has killed off some <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6434/1459">90 amphibian species</a>.

Human-introduced non-native species can outcompete locals, Crees said, and domesticated carnivores, including Fluffy and Fido, severely endanger creatures who evolved without such threats. 

Pollution affects species like the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/27/orca-apocalypse-half-of-killer-whales-doomed-to-die-from-pollution">orca</a>, which faces population collapses due to PCBs. Meanwhile, vast quantities of <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2951256/Study-World-dumps-8-8-million-tons-plastics-oceans.html">plastic</a> endanger <a href="https://archive.fo/20130415201331/http:/www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1751">turtles</a> that may ingest our trash.

A tangled web

These varied extinction pressures rarely act in isolation, however, Crees stressed. 

"Species are often driven to extinction by a combination and often-complex interaction between these factors," she said.

In a case Ehrlich studied, pollution and climate came together to put extreme pressures on butterflies.

Nitrogen from automobile traffic changed the food plants available for the butterflies. Meanwhile, climate change altered when remaining food plants were available, so they didn't appear when the butterflies flew. "We had three populations of the butterfly … and all three of them were wiped out."

Globally, insects, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-extinct-century/">as Earth.com reported</a> in February, are vanishing due to similar combinations of agricultural effects and climate change.

The lives we save…

The threat to insects highlights what humanity stands to lose, Ehrlich said. "The other organisms on the planet are our life-support system," he said. "Without them, our crops can't be pollinated. Our water can't be purified."

To address that threat, Ehrlich advises reducing consumption and conserving habitat – which humanity has actually been doing quite well, Pimm said.

"We've massively expanded the areas in the planet that we have protected," he said. "We need to do a lot more … but equally, it's a mistake to think that it's all over."

--

By <a href="mailto:michael.dhar@gmail.com">Michael Dhar</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

How humans hunted, farmed and warmed their way to the 6th mass extinction

The so-called sixth mass extinction may have first caught flame...

Ten new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parasitic-wasp-spiders-loners/">parasitic wasp species</a> from Australia have been described by researchers from the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a>.

The researchers took inspiration from Oreo cookies and the popular television series Doctor Who when coming up with names for the new species. 

“I named one wasp Sathon oreo as the antennae are dark brown with a thick white stripe in the middle... like an Oreo chocolate biscuit,” said Dr. Erinn Fagan-Jeffries from the University of Adelaide's School of Biological Sciences.

A study detailing the ten new species was published in the journal Zootaxa. 

One species, Choeras zygon, injects its eggs into caterpillars, and the newly hatched wasps eat their way out of the live caterpillar. Choera zygon is named after the fictional Zygon aliens in Doctor Who that utilize similarly gruesome parasitic traits when inhabiting a host.

[caption id="attachment_1871065" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Dr-Erinn-Fagan-Jeffries-2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871065" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Dr-Erinn-Fagan-Jeffries-2.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="434" /></a> Choeras zygon, Image Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries[/caption]

It may be an unpleasant way to die for caterpillars, but the researchers stress that parasitoid wasps are important in keeping caterpillar populations in check and play a crucial role in the ecosystem.

Another species was named after the Bush Blitz television show which is a collaboration between the Australian government and <a href="https://au.earthwatch.org/">Earthwatch Australia</a> to document Australia’s wildlife and vegetation. 

The researchers analyzed wasp specimens collected from six different Bush Blitz surveys in South Australia and Tasmania. 

“Less than 10% of this group of wasps have scientific names, which is why programs like Bush Blitz are so vital,” said Jo Harding, the manager of Bush Blitz. “We have discovered over 1,660 new species since 2010, and 17 of those are wasps.” 

The names and their origins may be unique, but when it comes to taxonomy, naming is a vital part of the game. 

“Until taxonomists name and formally describe a species, it is difficult for other researchers, such as those working in conservation, or biological control, to do anything with it,” said Harding.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries

Newly discovered wasp species named after Oreos, Dr Who characters

Ten new parasitic wasp species from Australia have been described...

Researchers from Russia and South Korea are in the process of cloning a 42,000-year-old horse that has been extinct for around 4,000 years. The young horse, which was only about two weeks old when it died, has been almost perfectly preserved in the frozen soil of a Siberian crater.

The scientists are reportedly optimistic as they attempt to extract viable cells from the young specimen in an effort to resurrect the prehistoric Lenskaya breed of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/horses-tails-blow-insects-away/">horse</a>.

A source at the <a href="https://www.s-vfu.ru/en/">North-Eastern Federal University</a>, where the work is being conducted, told the <a href="https://siberiantimes.com/">Siberian Times</a> that the team is “confident” that the project will be a success. “The attempts will continue until the end of April this year.”

The research team, led by South Korean cloning expert Professor Hwang Woo-suk, has made more than 20 attempts to obtain useable cells in the last month alone.

“Cells are grown in a special nutrient medium,” explained Russian researcher Dr. Lena Grigoryeva. “At first the material is milled and put in a CO2 incubator for a few days. Three to four days later the cells are checked and the nutrient medium is replaced.”

[caption id="attachment_1871027" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/horse.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871027" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/horse.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="426" /></a> The horse was preserved in permafrost for over 42,000 years, Image Credit: Michil Yakolev/The Siberian Times[/caption]

The team considers this work as a stepping stone to bringing back the giant woolly mammoth with remains that were also frozen and preserved in Siberian permafrost. The current project is so far along that the researchers are already considering the use of a Korean horse as a surrogate to carry the cloned baby.

“The Korean horse will fit in perfectly,” said Dr. Grigoryeva. “They have been used in cloning for a while and the technology is mastered to perfection. Besides, the Korean horse is quite ancient too. It is a successor of Mongolian horse.”

According to the Siberian Times, the Yakut horse is another candidate for surrogacy. This breed is native to eastern Siberia and succeeded the cold-resistant Lenskaya species.

“There are the types of horses that are very close with the ancient one,” said Professor Hwang. “And if we manage to clone the horse - it will be the first step to cloning the mammoth. It will help us to work out the technology.”

--

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: Maria Vasilieva/The Siberian Times

Scientists are attempting to clone a 42,000-year-old horse

Researchers from Russia and South Korea are in the process...

Cat owners and dog owners will often fight like, well… cats and dogs. But the eternal struggle between these two groups may have just recorded a major victory for the canine aficionados, according to a new <a href="http://gss.norc.org/">US General Social Survey</a>, which has tracked a litany of American trends over the last half-century. 

With last year’s edition being the first to include questions about pets and the relationship between owner and animal, the survey scored results that showed – while pet owners and non-owners have similar levels of happiness – there is a significant divide within the happiness levels of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dog-owners-perceived-attractive/">dog owners</a> and cat owners. 

Results showed that dog owners were twice as likely to call themselves “very happy,” with 36 percent versus only 18 percent for cat owners. Additionally, dog owners also reported seeking comfort from their animals at a higher rate, along with playing with their pets and even considering their dog a part of the family. 

When put in the context of happiness divide between other groups, the results are even more interesting. The difference between these pet owners as more significant than the happiness disparity between middle class and upper class people, and very close to the difference between people who report they are in “fair” versus “good or excellent” health.

If you’re a dog owner, you may want to immediately run to your nearest cat owner friend and shout these results right in their face – but there are some stipulations. Survey data also showed that dog owners are more likely to be married and own their homes than cat owners, so it’s possible these external factors have an effect in their happiness levels too. Although, in this context, it might be an opportunity to remind your cat-owning friend of why he’s still single.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dog owners are happier than cat owners, survey shows

Cat owners and dog owners will often fight like, well… cats...

The annual <a href="http://www.ukbms.org/">UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme</a> (UKBMS) has revealed that more than two-thirds of butterfly species returned in greater numbers in 2018 compared to the previous year. Two of the rarest UK species, the Large Blue and Black Hairstreak, made a bigger comeback than any other year on record. 

From 2017 to 2018, numbers of the Large Blue increased by 58 percent and numbers of the endangered Black Hairstreak exploded by more than 900 percent. According to the experts, these rare <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/orange-butterflies-southern-california/">butterfly populations</a> were boosted by both warm summer weather and a cold spell in late winter that likely helped caterpillars survive. 

Common white butterflies also had a good year after many below-average seasons, with the numbers of various white species rising by as much as 155 percent. In addition, the Brown Argus and Speckled Wood recorded their third best season, while the threatened Duke of Burgundy was up by 65 percent.

Despite this progress, however, the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/">Butterfly Conservation</a> reports that “2018 was still only an average year for the UK’s butterflies.” Overall, 36 out of 57 species have declined since record-keeping began just over four decades ago. 

Not all of the UK’s butterflies had a good 2018 season, as the hot spring and summer weather produced drought conditions that damaged caterpillar food plants. As a result, the Gatekeeper, the Small Skipper, and Essex Skipper all experienced significant declines of up to 32 percent.

Professor Tom Brereton is the associate director of monitoring at Butterfly Conservation. 

“2018 brought some welcome relief for butterflies following five below average years in a row. But, there were not as many butterflies around as we might have expected given the fabulous weather over much of the butterfly season and overall 2018 ranked as barely better than average,” said Brereton.

“This and the fact that two-thirds of butterflies show negative trends over the long-term highlights the scale of the challenge we face in restoring their fortunes and creating a healthier environment.”

“It remains to be seen what the knock-on effects of the 2018 heatwave will be. We know that extreme events such as this, which are set to increase under climate change, are generally damaging to butterflies.”

“The results show the positive impact that suitable weather conditions can have if there is suitable habitat in place for our butterflies to thrive,” added butterfly ecologist Dr. Marc Botham.

“Thanks to ongoing habitat management, many of our threatened species can benefit from the good weather like that of summer 2018, but more still needs to be done to improve the condition of the wider countryside as a whole so other species can also take advantage. This can start in our own back gardens, by leaving areas unmown and planting native wildflower species, for example.”

The UKBMS is organized and funded by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Butterflies make a big comeback across the pond

The annual UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) has revealed that...

For the first time, four lizards have been genetically modified using the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gene-editing-tool-color-plants/">CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool</a>.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> (UGA) were able to target the pigmentation genes of Anolis sagrei lizards to create four albino offspring.

This feat is particularly noteworthy because reptile embryos are very difficult to manipulate and work with given their soft shells and difficult to pinpoint fertilization. 

“Reptiles are very understudied in terms of their reproductive biology and embryonic development,” said Douglas Menke, the leader of the study. “There are no good methods to manipulate embryos like we can easily do with mammals, fish or amphibians. To our knowledge, no other lab in the world has produced a genetically altered reptile.”

But the researchers were able to overcome these challenges and microinject CRISPR proteins into multiple immature eggs or oocytes located in the ovaries of 21 Anolis lizards. 

The team specifically targeted the tyrosinase gene and successfully injected the gene editing solution into 146 oocytes. 

After just four weeks, four albino lizard offspring hatched from their eggs, and the team’s efforts paid off. 

“When I saw our first albino hatchling, it was truly awe inspiring,” said Ashley Rasys, the first author on the study. “I’m most excited about the possibility of expanding this approach into many other reptilian model systems, effectively opening the doorway for future functional studies.”

Albinism is a trait inherited from both parents and in this study, the researchers found that the CRISPR protein targeted the tyrosinase protein from both the mother and father of the offspring which means that the CRISPR solution was active long after fertilization. 

“That was a surprise,” said Menke. “It enabled us to see the functional requirements of the gene without having to breed mutated animals to produce offspring who inherit the mutated gene from both parents. It’s a big time-saver.”

The researchers say that the results of their study, now submitted for peer-review, could have far-reaching implications for future gene-editing research and also human genetics as the tyrosinase gene is necessary for some aspects of eye development.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a>

Researchers create the first ever gene-edited lizards

For the first time, four lizards have been genetically modified...

“Trust in me, just in me…” croons Kaa, the Indian python (Python molurus) in the Disney adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book as he hypnotizes poor man cub Mowgli and prepares to ingest him. The Kaa of Kipling’s original tale is far more benevolent than his screen incarnation, helping the hapless human child escape from a number of scrapes with other creatures of the Indian jungle in an inversion of the perception of the snake as a dead-eyed predator. Let’s be honest though: in this rare instance, Disney’s version is probably more accurate... pythons have in fact eaten humans.

Kipling’s Kaa more closely resembles one of North America’s two boa species—namely, the charmingly docile rubber boa (Charina bottae), who is more likely to curl lightly around your wrist than to squeeze the life out of you. Incidentally, pythons like Kaa were once considered to be part of the Boidae, the family containing the boas and anacondas. However, <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/pythons-and-boas-shed-new-light-on-reptile-evolution#">more recent research</a> has demonstrated that they belong to separate families, and, due to similarities in habitat and habit, evolutionarily converged, resulting in remarkably similar appearances and adaptations. 

The rubber boa is not nearly so large as Kaa and his brethren, with the larger females topping out at a bit under two feet. They lack the sinuous grace of their Asian and African cousins in the Pythonidae—and for that matter, their South American boa brethren as well. These most northerly of the boas—found from southern California all the way up into British Columbia and as far east as Wyoming—are the pudgy folk songstresses to the serpentine Shakiras and Selenas of the western hemisphere. 

They look more like kinked garden hoses than they do taut coils of muscle. Their slack skin, which wrinkles and folds when they coil up, makes them look as if they’d be more comfortable in hand-woven knits and Birkenstocks than in body stockings and stilettos. One can’t quite picture them gyrating to the sensuous strains of Latin pop, an amusing irony given the fact that their genus name derives from the Greek for “graceful.” Henri de Blainville—who formally described the species in 1835, naming it after Paul-Émile Botta, the French surgeon who discovered it—referred to their bodies as “spongy.” 

Some observers have even compared these humble boas, when they are in their defensive posture, to piles of excrement. Brown on top and creamy on the bottom, they lack the ornate patterning and vibrant coloration of their tropical confreres and might, in an uncharitable moment, be mistaken for turds. But, for all of their aesthetic deficiencies, they demonstrate a fortitude that their relatives lack. Along with the rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata) of the southwest, they are one of only two species from their family found in North America. They are remarkably cold-tolerant, sometimes found slithering through the snow and even attempting to burrow into it. They’re not typically active during the worst of winter, but they are among the first snakes in their range to emerge from hibernation in areas where it is necessary.

[caption id="attachment_1870945" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rubber-boa.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870945" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rubber-boa.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> Adult northern rubber boa, Image Credit: Todd Battey[/caption]

This ability to function in chilly weather, somewhat atypical in ectotherms, has allowed them to carve out a niche in areas of the world otherwise inhospitable to their close kin—and even their more distant reptilian affiliates. Specimens captured while out and about—not hibernating—have been measured as having body temperatures as low as 54°F. In addition to the benefits this confers to a species that lives in climates with extreme seasonal variations, it also facilitates a nocturnal lifestyle that may compensate for its sluggish habits. Non-reactive in the extreme, the rubber boa isn’t particularly good at evading predators, preferring a glacial slither to the whiplike velocities achieved by other serpents. So, instead, it prefers to hunt at night. The colder temperatures during that time make for slower movement, which is less likely to attract the attention of predators—hawks, coyotes, raccoons, skunks. 

It was long believed that the rubber boa’s strange tail was intended to distract the creatures that might eat it. The terminal vertebrae of the tail are fused and form a head-like structure. Because of the scarring evident on this false noggin in wild specimens, it was thought that it served to distract predators. 

However, further analysis has demonstrated that this is unlikely. For one, the snake’s predators tend to be large and unlikely to be deterred by a second head. Food is food. Further, the rubber boa is known for feeding on newborn rodents and insectivores such as shrews...whose parents will in fact strike at the head region of a perceived predator. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that panicked mice will indeed sink their teeth into the fake head when their babies are at imminent risk of becoming dinner. These snakes aren’t relegated to such risky dining experiences exclusively though. In addition to eating wriggling newborn mammals, from mice to bats, rubber boas are also willing to take equally pink and tender bird hatchlings, various amphibians, the eggs of other reptiles, and, per at least one account, even <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mojave-rattlesnakes-different-venom/">rattlesnakes</a>.

Rubber boas are largely fossorial...that is, they live underground, usually in pre-made rodent burrows or in natural crevices in rocks and plant substrates. Their skin dehydrates more rapidly than that of other snakes, so their damp hideaways likely serve to maintain their delicate complexions. Though they are believed to be relatively common throughout most of their range, they are not often sighted. They maintain tiny territories, with specimens often sighted in the same spots year after year, and prefer to remain sheltered, save for those times when a sunbath seems necessary. Though they are less likely than some snakes to emerge for some rays, females who are gestating do tend to seek out warmth in order to maintain adequate temperatures for their growing young. They are ovoviviparous. That is: their offspring hatch inside them and are born alive, with broods of two to eight young produced in the late summer or fall every few years. Rubber boa babies emerge as pink and unpleasantly dewy as the baby rodents that their mother devoured in order to sustain them.

However, unlike the squirmy mammalian babies that sustained them, baby rubber boas are immediately self-sufficient. And they may not feed for over a year, subsisting on stored energy from their mothers until after their first hibernation period. Their ability to live for long periods without sustenance persists throughout their lives...females usually do not eat while gestating and some captive specimens have survived without eating for several years, without apparent ill-effect.

For all of its rather lackadaisical lifestyle choices, populations of the northern subspecies (C. bottae bottae) appear to be relatively stable. Specimens regularly live into their 20s and one specimen first sighted in the wild in 1971 as an adult was later captured and lived until 2006 in captivity, putting it at upwards of 50 years old at the time of its death. 

However, the southern subspecies (C. b. umbratica), restricted to the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains of southern California, was listed as threatened by the state in 1971 due to its limited range. <a href="http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/the-search-for-the-southern-californian-rubber-boa">Recent research</a> has aimed to better understand its habits in the region and determine its eligibility for federal protection.

It would be a shame to lose this most trustworthy of snakes. They may not writhe about with the gymnastic abandon of their legless relatives, but they are among the few who perform an even more impressive spectacle—reptiles on ice. No triple lutzes in evidence, admittedly, but given their ectothermic restrictions, even a little shimmy is a noteworthy accomplishment.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Snakes in the snow: The resilience of the rubber boa

“Trust in me, just in me…” croons Kaa, the Indian...

A global study conducted by researchers at <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en">King Abdullah University of Science and Technology</a> (KAUST) shows that when foreign marine species are introduced to a new habitat, they can pose a threat to their new environment. 

The team set out to show just how complex the ecological impact of new species on an existing environment can be in an effort to quell the debate about whether or not exotic species even have an impact at all.

Lead author Andrea Anton and her colleagues at the KAUST <a href="https://rsrc.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/Home.aspx">Red Sea Research Center</a> extracted data from over 150 studies that covered 76 exotic species. Rather than categorizing the change in environment as “positive” or “negative,” the team used a metric that measured an increase or decrease in specific ecological variables.

[caption id="attachment_1870949" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/lionfish.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870949" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/lionfish.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="252" /></a> Lionfish occur naturally in Caribbean coral reefs, (left) but in seagrass areas, they are invasive species (right). Image Credit: Andrea Anton[/caption]

Generally, the team found that exotic species often disrupt marine ecosystems, although their impact is fairly low compared to other factors like global warming and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/overfishing-history-conservation/">overfishing</a>. For example, exotics had negative effects on primary producers but less impact on species on other trophic levels. 

And the impact of exotics was also dependent on their origin and the environment in which they were introduced. The team saw that marine species almost always impacted their environment, whereas freshwater and terrestrial exotics did not. Overall, the team found that exotic species often reduced the abundance of native species, however they did not affect communities in terms of survival or diversity.

"Globally, exotic species are a threat: although we also found that only 10 percent of species introduced outside their natural area of distribution are actually destructive,” Anton said. “However, 90 percent of them are not. So both sides of the debate are partially correct."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Exotic marine species pose a complex threat to their new environment

A global study conducted by researchers at King Abdullah University...

Dogs have a sense of smell that is 10,000 times more powerful than that of humans, which means they are aware of many scents that we cannot detect. A new study has revealed that dogs can use their remarkable sense of smell to identify cancer in blood samples with an accuracy rate of nearly 97 percent.

“Although there is currently no cure for cancer, early detection offers the best hope of survival,” said Heather Junqueira, who is the lead researcher at <a href="https://www.capf.org/bioscentdx/">BioScentDx</a>. “A highly sensitive test for detecting cancer could potentially save thousands of lives and change the way the disease is treated.”

The research team trained four beagles to distinguish between blood samples collected from patients with malignant lung cancer and normal blood samples. While one of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dogs-detect-epileptic-seizures/">dogs</a> was uncooperative, the other three beagles correctly identified the samples from cancer patients almost 97 percent of the time. These dogs also identified the healthy samples 97.5 percent of the time.

“This work is very exciting because it paves the way for further research along two paths, both of which could lead to new cancer-detection tools,” said Junqueira. “One is using canine scent detection as a screening method for cancers, and the other would be to determine the biologic compounds the dogs detect and then design cancer-screening tests based on those compounds.”

BioScentDx has recently launched a breast cancer study in which participants donate samples of their breath for screening by cancer-sniffing dogs. The researchers also hope to isolate the chemical components that the dogs are detecting when they pick up on the presence of cancer. 

The research was presented at the American Physiological Society’s annual meeting <a href="https://experimentalbiology.org/2019/home.aspx">Experimental Biology 2019</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: BioScentDx

Dogs can accurately detect cancer in blood samples

Dogs have a sense of smell that is 10,000 times...

<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.

<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://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</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.

<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://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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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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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