If you’re a male gray frog trying to find a mate, you’d better have a fast and steady call. That’s what female treefrogs usually go for. But when the crowd gets loud and chaotic, things change. The males that don’t sound all that great? They suddenly have a shot.



In quiet situations where females only hear two males at once, their preferences are clear. They go for the one with the sharper, more rhythmic call. 



But when four or even eight males are calling at once, things get messy. Female choices become unpredictable. This isn’t just a frog issue - it ties into a broader idea that scientists call “choice overload.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-frogs-face-chaos-in-the-chorus">Frogs face chaos in the chorus</h2>



In nature, frogs gather in large, noisy groups called choruses. Picture a shallow pond in spring, with dozens of males calling out at the same time. It’s the frog equivalent of a dating scene in a packed nightclub.



The researchers found that the crowded conditions of these choruses might be too overwhelming for females to reliably pick the best mate. It’s not that they stop caring - it’s that they can’t tell who’s who.



Professor Jessie Tanner of the <a href="https://www.utk.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Tennessee, Knoxville</a>, led a team studying how choice overload affects evolution.



“Because female mate choice can drive evolution, our results suggest that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unraveling-the-story-of-early-animal-evolution/">evolution</a> might happen more slowly than we thought before,” she said. 



“Some males that are fairly unattractive could still mate, especially if they take advantage of crowded spaces where females might be less able to discriminate between attractive and unattractive males.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-when-choices-are-too-hard">What happens when choices are too hard?</h2>



The idea of choice overload is pretty common in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/science-behind-predicting-and-changing-human-behavior/">human behavior</a>. You walk into a store to buy toothpaste and face 50 brands. You either freeze, grab something random, or walk away. Same goes for dating apps with endless swiping.



“We wanted to understand how having to make mating decisions in crowded environments, where choice overload could be a problem, might drive the evolution of calls,” Tanner explained. 



“Since males that are chosen by females pass on their genes to the next generation, this mate choice can cause the population to change over time.”



When animals, like people, face too many options, their decision-making can break down. That opens up a chance for less attractive mates to get picked - not because they became more appealing, but because the chooser got overwhelmed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-choice-overload-in-other-animals">Choice overload in other animals</h2>



This isn’t just about frogs. Scientists are now looking at how this effect shows up in other animals. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-increasingly-stressed-over-the-past-century/">Bumblebees</a>, for instance, are on the list. So are wood roaches.



“Our lab is working to understand how choice overload and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-have-lungs-that-cancel-out-background-noise/">noise</a> may each contribute to the difficulty female treefrogs face in making mating decisions,” Tanner said. 



“We are also working to understand whether this choice overload is something that occurs generally in many different kinds of animals or is more specific to individual species.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simultaneous-cricket-songs">Simultaneous cricket songs </h2>



Tanner, who has a background in both psychology and biology, first got into animal behavior while studying mate choice as an undergrad. She later became interested in sound - especially how it plays into animal communication.



That led to earlier work on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-male-crickets-go-silent-how-females-adapt-and-respond/">crickets</a>. Like treefrogs, male crickets use sound to attract mates. A study on cricket mating showed that noisy environments might either block females from hearing calls or make them too confused to pick. It was hard to tell which was causing the problem.



“During that study, it became clear that our work was consistent with both the possibility that many simultaneous cricket songs created noise that made it hard for females to hear, and the possibility that the females were experiencing choice overload,” Tanner said. “Our current work looks to disentangle those ideas.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-average-becomes-good-enough">When average becomes good enough</h2>



The research adds a new layer to how scientists think about evolution. Normally, stronger signals - like a faster frog call - are expected to win out and spread through the population over time. 



But if crowded conditions keep females from consistently picking the top performers, evolution slows down. Mediocre traits stick around longer.



That changes the math for survival. In nature, being the best isn’t always enough - and sometimes, being just okay is good enough, especially if the crowd’s loud and the choices are many.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.0585" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.



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Frogs settle for average mates when dating gets too noisy

If you’re a male gray frog trying to find a mate, you’d better have a fast and steady call. That’s what female treefrogs usually go for. But when the crowd gets loud and chaotic, things change. The males that don’t sound all that great? They suddenly have a shot. In quiet situations where females only hear two males at once, their preferences are clear. They go for the one with the sharper, more rhythmic call. But when four or even eight males are calling at once, things...

New species of ancient whale was all gums and no bite. A new fossil discovery is helping researchers piece together the origins of the unique baleen filter feeding system in whales.

Baleen is a feeding structure that allows whales like the humpback whale to filter out prey while taking in large amounts of seawater. 

Baleen is not like teeth but instead is made up of the same proteins as human hair and fingernails. In that regard, baleen is like a giant strainer made of stiff bristles. 

How the baleen came to be has remained a mystery to researchers because baleen do not preserve well in the fossil record and researchers know that earlier <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oldest-baleen-whale-teeth/">baleen whales had teeth</a>. The question is how did baleen whales transition from a mouth full teeth to a mouth full of baleen? 

A 33 million-year-old whale <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fish-fossils-provide-new-insight-into-the-origins-of-teeth/">fossil</a> with neither baleen or teeth is helping scientists find the answer. 

[caption id="attachment_1863225" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/baleen.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863225" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/baleen-1024x701.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="479" /></a> Humpback whale baleen, Image Credit: Ari S. Friedlaender/University of California, Santa Cruz under NOAA permit[/caption]

Researchers from the <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/">National Museum of Natural History</a> and <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a> studied the fossil and found that it belonged to a new kind of toothless whale, Maiabalaena nesbittae. 

Maiabalaena, which means mother whale, dates back to the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, a period of significant change for life on Earth, and the researchers think that Maiabalaena represents an important transition in whale evolution. 

The researchers theorize that early baleen whale relatives went toothless long before developing baleen which suggests that the evolution of baleen occurred in steps. 

“Maiabalaena represents a surprising intermediate stage between modern filter-feeding whales and their toothed ancestors,” said Carlos Mauricio Peredo, the leader to of the research. 

Peredo and his colleagues describe their remarkable find, and its implications for whale evolution in the journal Current Biology. 

Maiabalaena is the oldest known toothless whale ever discovered, but if it had neither teeth nor baleen, how did it feed? After analyzing bones in the throat of the fossil, the researchers theorize that the whale was a suction feeder and an effective one at that. New species of ancient whale was all gums and no bite 

“Filter-feeding in baleen whales represents an innovation without precedent among any other mammals, and its origin has been a long-standing question since Darwin,” said Peredo. 

The team plans to delve deeper into the evolution of whale feeding systems at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary to see how environmental changes impacted whale feeding and caused whales species to diversify into the modern groups of whales that we know today. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Alex Boersma

New species of ancient whale was all gums and no bite

New species of ancient whale was all gums and no...

The captive lion breeding industry has been a black-eye on the South Africa’s tourism industry for years. An industry centered on breeding lions for hunters to shoot in an enclosed area is sure to draw controversy, especially when unsuspecting tourists are deceived into paying to visit the facilities. Now, a committee of lawmakers who oversee environmental affairs in South Africa is calling for an end to the industry.

This month, the committee released their report on a two-day colloquium on the captive breeding of lions for hunting and the bone trade. In the report, the committee calls on the Department of Environmental Affairs to “initiate a policy and legislative review of Captive Breeding of Lions for hunting and Lion bone trade with a view of putting an end to this practice.”

As Earth.com <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lion-voluntourism-trips-harm/">reported</a> earlier this year, there are an estimated 260 captive breeding facilities in South Africa holding around 7,000 lions. 

The report states, “The animals, which are born in captivity are taken away from their mothers within hours of being born so they can be used in petting facilities, where unwitting tourists visit these farms and pay money to look at or touch young lion cubs. They do not know that they are supporting a horrific industry, an industry that even many hunting associations reject as being unethical. The farms often advertise as wildlife sanctuaries to lure in foreign volunteers under the pretence of helping save the species.”

Once the lions become too old to interact with tourists they are sold for canned hunting, where they are hunted in an enclosed space. The lions are an easy target; they are acclimated to humans after spending years as tourist props. Some lions are even baited or sedated to help guarantee a kill. The lions are basically given to the hunters “on a silver platter”, the report explains.

Standing in stark contrast to the commercially bred captive lions are the 3,000 wild lions left in South Africa. These lions mostly live in protected areas where hunting is not allowed. While the international trade in the body parts of wild lions is banned, South Africa is permitted to export a certain quota of parts from captive bred lions each year.

South Africa’s lion breeding industry was in the headlines earlier this year when the government announced that they were almost doubling this annual quota to 1,500 skeletons.

The committee also asks the Department of Environmental Affairs to reconsider the decision to increase the lion bone quota, stating the decision “was informed by commercial considerations, as opposed to science.”

The report is likely welcome news for animal advocates who have been calling for an end to the cruel industry but the report is receiving opposition from others. According to <a href="https://www.thesouthafrican.com/south-africa-mps-end-lion-huting/">The South African</a>, the South African Predator Association warned that if the parliament’s recommendations were enacted it would result in the loss of thousands of jobs. Hunting groups meanwhile have tried to distance themselves from the contentious canned hunting industry.

“This reconsideration is necessary given the huge public sentiment expressed against the increase in lion bone trade quota. The committee’s position is to protect South Africa’s esteemed conservation image, but more fundamentally the Brand South Africa,” the committee concludes in a <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/environmental-affairs-committee-calls-policy-and-legislative-review-captive-lion-breeding-hunting-and-lion-bone-trade">press release.</a>

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

South African lawmakers call for end to captive lion trophy hunting

The captive lion breeding industry has been a black-eye on...

A tale of tails: Vestigial organs as evolutionary footprints “The leg bone’s connected to the hip bone…the hip bone’s connected to the backbone...”

So goes the song used to teach school children the skeletal structure. And a useful little ditty it is, at least in describing the human skeleton. But, in fact, neither of these lines applies to certain animals, such as whales and manatees. Their much-reduced pelvises are detached from their spinal columns. And when they have legs at all, they are minute and usually embedded inside the body. The same is true of snakes. These evolutionary artifacts are remnants of structures that were, in earlier incarnations of the creatures, useful and even essential. A tale of tails: Vestigial organs as evolutionary footprints 

They are “vestigial”, so-called after the Latin “vestigium,” for “footprint.” Vestigial features found in animals—and plants as well—provide some of the clearest evidence of their evolution from other organisms. Like a trail of footprints, the successive modification of these features can be traced back to their origins. As organisms adapted to new niches over the millennia, they lost the need to maintain certain organs and appendages. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/whales-select-new-songs/">Whales</a> and manatees lost the hind limbs so necessary to their terrestrial ancestors as they took to the seas, instead evolving flukes to propel them through the water. Snakes shed the limbs of their lizard forebears as they adopted a new means of locomotion that did not require them. Lamarck and Darwin referred to the anatomical remnants of these limbs and of other structures as “<a href="https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2503.xml">rudimentary</a>.” German anatomist Robert Wiedersheim popularized the use of the term “vestigial” in an 1891 paper and the term has stuck.

Vestigiality is, however, frequently misunderstood. It’s semantically vague, which likely accounts for some of the confusion. Vestigiality can describe structures that no longer have a clear purpose and is often delimited by that criterion in popular science coverage. But <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4662599/">it can also describe</a> structures that have, over periods of evolutionary time, changed in function, such as the wings of flightless birds, which, while no longer used in flying, often aid in balance.

Science denialists, particularly those of the creationist bent, have eagerly latched on to the latter notion as evidence that these structures were intentionally designed and do not in fact offer support for the theory of evolution by natural selection. While it is true that many vestigial structures previously thought to be without purpose have in recent years been found to retain anatomical functions, the creationist argument fails to understand the logic that explains the existence of vestigial features in the first place. 

Whether functional or not, these structures are homologues of those found in ancestral forms. That is, they are traceable to features found in less-derived organisms. Humans, for example, possess an appendix, an organ located at the juncture of the large and small intestines. In more-primitive mammals, this organ is the apex of a larger structure known as the cecum, which houses bacteria that allow them to digest cellulose, a necessary adaptation to feeding on leaves and other vegetable matter. We evolved to process a diet relatively low in cellulose and so did not require an extensive cecum. 

Some primitive primates, notably lemurs, still retain a functional cecum, indicating an evolutionary continuum between primitive and advanced primates. While recent research has demonstrated that the human appendix may serve as a refuge for useful bacteria, humans can survive without it, as indicated by the lack of detrimental effects noted in those who have their infected appendices removed. So, too, modern horses retain two structures known as splint bones on either side of their hooves. These bones are relics of an earlier stage in horse evolution. Primitive horses had three toes rather than the one, highly modified, toe that comprises the hoof of a modern horse. 

A related phenomenon, known as atavism, further reinforces the fact that vestigial structures are consistent with an  evolutionary explanation of life. Though vestigial structures represent reduced forms of structures found in less-derived organisms, the genes that code for their production often remain in the genomes of more-derived organisms. Such is the case with the coccyx, or tailbone, in humans. In animals with tails, the coccyx serves as the base of the tail. While in most humans, the coccyx remains hidden inside the body, where it serves as a point of muscular attachment and not much more, in rare instances, infants are born with protuberant tails extending from this structure. 

These tails may contain additional vertebrae and, disturbingly, can even wag. The presence of these anomalous appendages testifies to the preservation of genes that code for tails even in the most advanced primate species. In fact, most animals, even those that do not possess tails in adulthood, display them at some point in the embryonic stage. Though the ubiquity of tails diminished as primates came down from the trees, where their balancing and gripping functions were useful, the genes that coded for them persisted in the genome. And unknown factors may cause them to occasionally express. 

Whales have proven this as well: one in perhaps 500 whales possesses visible remnant legs. Even more demonstrative proof of this has occurred in birds, which, as everyone knows, lack true teeth. However, this is due to the lack of a single protein. When that protein is experimentally reintroduced, chickens can indeed grow teeth, conclusively demonstrating the presence of genes coding for teeth in their genomes. 

Plants, too, have shown the persistence of genes that code for vestigial structures. Certain plants produce unisexual flowers; that is, they are either male or female. Nonetheless, they retain vestiges of anatomical features of the opposite sex. Plants that evolved from these forms have occasionally reverted to bisexual reproduction, in which both sexes are again evident in a single flower. The genes necessary to produce bisexual flowers had lain dormant until natural selection forced them to express again. 

So it is that vestigial structures provide both anatomical and genomic signposts in our search for evolutionary origins. While few of us would wish for a tail of our own, we should be grateful for the traction that our tailbones offer us in the debates between proponents of evolution and those of creationism. Though creationists would use the existence of vestigial structures to “wag the human” as it were, we can rest assured of their utility in shoring up the theory of natural selection.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

A tale of tails: Vestigial organs as evolutionary footprints

A tale of tails: Vestigial organs as evolutionary footprints “The...

With Thanksgiving behind us, holiday shopping is now in full effect, with many running to malls, local shops and the internet in search of the perfect present. For many people, it may seem like the perfect gift for a loved one would be an adorable new puppy or kitten. But giving a pet as a present is a controversial notion with some in the animal welfare field urging people to forgo the furry gifts altogether.

A <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/designer-pets-health-issues/">pet</a> can make a thoughtful and loving present that stays with the person for years to come. But therein lies the potential problem. When someone buys a pet as a surprise present for someone else, the recipient of the pet has not agreed to the years-long and financially burdensome commitment. While the present is well-intentioned, it may become taxing to the recipient. 

Even for children, giving a pet as a present can become difficult if the child has not thought through the responsibilities involved with owning a pet. The young kitten who seems alluring curled under the tree on Christmas morning may become less appealing once it scratches the child or the child gets tasked with cleaning the litter box.

The issue of pets as presents becomes apparent when you examine rabbits bought during Easter time. Shortly after Easter, many shelters and rescues experience hikes in the number of rabbits relinquished. Rabbits can make difficult pets for the unprepared household. As prey animals, they will run in fear at the sight of danger and prefer not to be picked up by humans. The child may become bored with the skittish animal and the parents overwhelmed with all the care the rabbit needs.

According to a National Geographic <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/rabbits-easter-animal-welfare-pets-rescue-bunnies/">article </a>on this issue, one rabbit rescue group stated they normally receive one to two calls a week about abandoned rabbits but six weeks after Easter they receive three to four calls a day. 

Because of the risk of relinquishment, some animal rescues will not allow their animals to be adopted out as presents. But the <a href="https://www.aspca.org/">ASPCA</a> does not see any reason to prohibit this. 

“There really is just no data to support that we should be denying the adoption of a dog or cat to person one who wants to gift a pet to a loved one,” their website states.

The ASPCA conducted a <a href="https://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-pets-gifts">survey </a>on people who acquired their pets as a present. Ninety-six percent of respondents thought receiving their pet as a present either increased or had no impact of their love or attachment to their pet. Almost 90% of respondents still had their pet.

Similarly, a 1999 <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Kass/publication/7406615_Reasons_for_Relinquishment_of_Companion_Animals_in_US_Animal_Shelters_Selected_Health_and_Personal_Issues/links/02bfe50eeeb03d678d000000.pdf">study </a>which examined the reasons for the relinquishment of companion animals in the U.S. found that only 0.3% of dogs and 0.4% of cats were surrendered because they were an “unwanted gift”.

So, should you give pets as presents? The ASPCA says, “The ASPCA recommends the giving of pets as gifts only to people who have expressed a sustained interest in owning one, and the ability to care for it responsibly….If the recipient is under 12 years old, the child’s parents should be ready and eager to assume care for the animal. If the gift is a surprise, the gift-giver should be aware of the recipient’s lifestyle and schedule—enough to know that the recipient has the time and means be a responsible owner.”

The problem with giving a pet as a present does not seem to be the idea of “gifting” an animal, but rather the potential lack of preparedness from the recipient. As seen with rabbits adopted around Easter time, if the proper research and forethought is not put into the decision the animal could end up relinquished to a shelter once the novelty wears off. 

This holiday season, if you want to give your loved ones a doe-eyed puppy with a bow wrapped around his neck, first have a conversation with them about whether they are prepared for the commitment.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Is it a good idea to give a pet as a holiday gift?

With Thanksgiving behind us, holiday shopping is now in full...

A new study published by the <a href="https://www.egu.eu/">European Geosciences Union</a> has revealed that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/led-lights-seabirds-fishing-nets/">seabirds</a> could potentially be used to measure ocean currents. Obtaining data about the tide from birds could be particularly helpful for the marine renewable energy industry because detailed information on current speeds is needed to generate tidal energy. 

When the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) tracked razorbills to study their behavior, the tag data revealed that the seabirds spent a lot of their time floating on the surface of the ocean at night. 

Matt Cooper is a Master of Oceanography graduate from <a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/">Bangor University</a> in Wales and the lead author of the current study.

“We saw this as an opportunity to re-use the data and test if the birds might be drifting with the tidal current,” said Cooper.

Engineers traditionally measure the tide using radar or with instruments deployed on anchors and buoys, but these methods are challenging and expensive. Tagged seabirds could help identify sites that would be good sources of tidal energy if they could provide tidal data over a large area.

[caption id="attachment_1863185" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Seabirds-may-help-reveal-how-to-produce-renewable-tide-energy.png"><img class="wp-image-1863185" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Seabirds-may-help-reveal-how-to-produce-renewable-tide-energy.png" alt="" width="700" height="726" /></a> Image Credit: Derren Fox/RSPB[/caption]

“We took data that was discarded from the original study and applied it to test a hypothesis in a different area of research,” said Cooper. “As far as we are aware, this paper is the first to describe the use of tagged seabirds for measuring currents of any kind.”

The GPS tags on the razorbills recorded their position every 100 seconds, which enabled the experts to calculate the speed and direction of the birds' movements. After sunset, the birds spent long periods of time on the sea surface drifting along with the current. 

Cooper explained that using seabirds to measure tidal currents has limitations.“We must remember that these birds are behaving naturally and we cannot determine where they go.”

However, the study does prove that there is potential for this inexpensive method to provide crucial tidal information over a wide area. Cooper hopes that this technique will ultimately reduce the costs of generating tidal renewable energy, “which has been a barrier to the development of this much needed industry.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.ocean-science.net/">Ocean Science</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: Derren Fox/RSPB

Seabirds may help reveal how to produce renewable tide energy

A new study published by the European Geosciences Union has...

Populations of Atlantic cod and Polar cod, both species of fish that spawn in extremely cold temperatures, could drastically decrease if climate change continues unchecked. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Alfred Wegener Institute</a> found that an increase in ocean temperatures and ocean acidification could force Polar and Atlantic Cod farther north, a move that could endanger populations and collapse an important link in the Arctic food web. 

If the cod die off, the Arctic seals and seabirds that depend on cod as a major food source will suffer, as will fishing operations that primarily catch Atlantic cod. 

The study was published in the journal Science Advances and the results highlight the necessity of limiting global warming and meeting the targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Both Atlantic cod and Polar cod thrive and spawn in cold waters, and increases in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-waters-marine-ecosystems/">ocean temperature</a> could threaten the health and development of the cod eggs. 

To see just how much of a risk climate change poses to Atlantic and Polar Cod, researchers Flemming Dahlke and Daniela Storch used climate models and lab experiment data to show how increases in temperature and ocean acidification will impact embryo development. 

When cod larvae hatch, they are especially vulnerable to environmental changes, and even a small increase in water temperature can cause the larvae to die or become deformed according to the study. 

The researchers also found that ocean pH levels of 7.7 decrease the chance of survival by 20 to 30 percent. 

“We've observed that the young Atlantic cod not only react adversely to warmer temperatures, but also to especially cold ones,” said Storch. “The acidification amplifies this effect." In other words: the added burden of acidification reduces the suitable temperature range for Atlantic cod and polar cod to spawn.”

For the study, the researchers reviewed three climate scenarios, a business-as-usual scenario, a moderate warming scenario, and a scenario where the goals of the Paris Accord are met. 

“They show that, for the business-as-usual scenario, conditions for the young Atlantic cod will especially deteriorate in the North Atlantic near the end of this century,” said Dahlke. “In the regions around Iceland and Norway, up to 60 percent fewer cod larvae will hatch from their eggs.”

The team also found that if emissions are not reduced, Atlantic cod will be forced farther north and may encroach on the territory of Polar cod. 

“If the Atlantic cod populations and their spawning grounds shift to the northeast in the future, the fish will most likely spawn in completely different systems of currents,” said Dahlke. “If that happens, we can't yet begin to gauge the effects.”

The researchers say that if emissions are reduced and the goals of the Paris Accord achieved, it could have a drastic impact in reducing the threats climate change poses to Atlantic and Polar cod populations. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Warming waters will push Atlantic cod north and threaten populations

Populations of Atlantic cod and Polar cod, both species of...

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Call it a cephalopod renaissance. Octopuses, it seems, are everywhere these days. Science news sites are rife with stories about these molluscs—their <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/04/14/new-england-aquarium-has-its-own-octopus-escape-story/3ShjEIp3tdIAqbLGPLtuSO/story.html">daring escapes from aquariums</a>, their <a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2003/oct/feateye">oddly human interactions with their keepers</a>, their <a href="https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2016/04/01/why-the-mimic-octopus-is-the-ultimate-master-of-disguise/">talent for mimicry</a>, the propensity for one species to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lho7Ej34Q4">use discarded coconut shells as moveable shelters</a>. Home decor, jewelry, fashion, and art have picked up on the trend too. This is hardly a new development, though—it’s more like a resurgence. Ancient cultures, from the Minoans and Greeks, to the Japanese, to the Scandinavians, have fixated on the bizarre appearance and disconcerting intelligence of octopuses, enshrining them in art and legend. 

The argonaut, a lesser-known octopus whose blob-like mantle, or body, is tucked away inside a translucent, removable shell has thus far been given short shrift in this most recent surge of appreciation. Though perhaps lacking the humanoid charisma of their benthic, or bottom-dwelling cousins, these pelagic, or open-ocean, denizens are hardly deficient in charm. 

Aristotle hypothesized in his History of Animals that they used their webbed forearms as sails for their boat-like shells, which he believed to have been hijacked from another animal. This has long been disproven, but what is now known about the argonauts is equally bizarre. Also called the paper nautilus, these creatures were first assigned their current taxonomy in Carolus Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae (1758 ed.). 

Long referred to as nautiluses or “sailors”  by the ancient Greeks, that name was given by Linnaeus to their cousins the true nautiluses (family Nautilidae), a separate group of cephalopods that also have shells. Linnaeus named them instead for the sailors aboard the mythological Argo, captained by Jason. Jason and his Argonauts were a fixture in Greek mythology, notable for questing after the Golden Fleece, the hide of a magical ram. Like the Argonauts, these octopi roam the open ocean, but they quest after more prosaic things….food and mates. 

The females of the species attract the most attention. It is they that produce the papery shells that give them their common name—paper nautilus. These shells appear to be receptacles, or brood chambers, for their eggs, which are carried until hatching. The males, 4-10% of the size of the females, which may reach lengths of up to a foot, do not produce shells at all. Their anatomy, though, is just as modified as that of the female. They possess a hectocotylus, a modified arm on the left side. This arm is stored inside a sac until a suitable female is happened upon. Then, it is released into the females mantle cavity, where the spermatophore it contains fertilizes the 20,000-100,000 eggs.

When these arms, which can persist in living form for a considerable amount of time, were first discovered, they were believed to be parasitic worms. Females have been found with up to 30 hectocotyli, indicating that they mate more than once. On occasion, the miniscule males have been found riding along inside the female’s shell. Very little else is known about their behavior. The more-conspicuous females, though only rarely observed alive in the wild, have provided most of the current knowledge about the argonaut. Further insights have been provided by occasional mass strandings, which provide numerous specimens for study.

Because the female shells display a fair degree of individual variation, it was once thought that there were some 50 species of argonauts. Closer study has suggested that there may be as few as four. These shells are secreted by the female’s specialized forearms, a fact not discovered until it was demonstrated by pioneering French marine biologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeanne-Villepreux-Power">Jeanne Villepreux-Power</a> in 1832. 

Females begin producing them when they are only two weeks old. Unlike most shells, which are composed of aragonite, those of the argonaut are composed of calcite. That composition, along with its attenuated thickness, makes it <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/BBLv223n2p236">uniquely vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification</a>, a side effect of the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. The declining pH of the ocean may make it difficult for females to mineralize their shells.

[caption id="attachment_1863061" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/argonaut-eggcase.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863061" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/argonaut-eggcase-1024x747.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="510" /></a> Argonauta hians (eggcase of the winged argonaut octopus), Image Credit: James St. John/Flickr[/caption]

This is a major problem for this eerily beautiful mollusc. In addition to providing shelter for their eggs, these shells also assist females in maintaining neutral buoyancy at depth. Bubbles found inside the shell in captive specimens were long thought to be an result of captive life, perhaps forced in by aeration devices. But <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/05/18/rspb.2010.0155">a 2010 study</a> demonstrated that female argonauts actively take air into the shell at the surface and compress it in order to adjust their buoyancy. Neutral buoyancy is a key adaptation in a pelagic species; it allows the animal to expend less energy maintaining its position in the water column. Interestingly, unlike their cousins the nautiluses, they can exit their shells without apparent harm. If they lose a shell, they can simply secrete a new one. Despite the fragility of these vessels, argonaut shells are evident in the fossil record as early as 33 million years ago.

When females have been observed alive in the wild, they display a number of strange habits. Individuals have been found riding atop jellyfish. Closer examination has revealed that they aren’t just hitchhiking. They’re actually using the unfortunate cnidarians as food vacuums. They chew holes into the top of the bells of the jellyfish and siphon off food that their hosts have captured. They’ve also been seen living inside of salps, a type of gelatinous, transparent invertebrate. Their closest relatives, the blanket and football octopuses, have similar associations. When not parasitizing lower life forms, female argonauts may form rafts of up to 30 individuals, clinging to each other as they float through the waves. This rafting strategy, which likely saves energy, may also make them vulnerable to their many predators. Seabirds, fish, including sharks, seals, and whales and dolphins all enjoy the juicy bodies tucked away inside those papery porcelain shells. What could be more tempting than a whole cluster of them, floating together like grapes ready to be plucked from the stalk?

Argonauts are predators themselves and are known to eat fish, crustaceans, and other mollusks, including pteropods and heteropods, which are free-swimming snails, and even other octopi. When not using jellyfish to suck them up, they chase their prey using jet propulsion. This means of locomotion involves taking water into the mantle and expelling it forcefully—hardly the passive sailing imagined by Aristotle. 

Because they quickly expire in captivity, it is not known whether argonauts possess the intelligence so apparent in other octopuses. Appropriately enough for a creature with mythological associations, much of their life history is still obscured by the depths, and shared with human observers in tantalizing fragments washed ashore or seen through a veil of ink as the creatures retreat into the waves.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrpbps/2888129947/in/photolist-5pdqpV-5y9vaa-on2cM-fTHk81-ir51Mb-cn2mi7-58RhvM-a1xxR4-XPMzXZ-XapLGv-KYNX3E-fSCznG-4YCFhB-596fM1-cn2jwj-6PDgrz-cn2aGW-cn2bGJ-7XtxfD-KYNWoy-KAoys3-KYNDZb-9TCTCa-oatvTP-n9FT6s-adePSL-ehLqB9-e4f3xc-4CNgZu-axubJp-rH3HQ-dXUQCA-a96wuA-qq1hmy-G63EsU-X1gp9q-7d9BXT-cqCpHm-fdThyw-596idJ-cqCped-fnmdoa-fJnU8e-fz5BGj-cqCnPq-ZvxLah-J4jCTC-bx774w-23rgVfN-fB73xb">mrpbps</a>/flickr

Octopus on the half shell: The amazing argonaut

Call it a cephalopod renaissance. Octopuses, it seems, are everywhere...

New species of microbes discovered in the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California could play an essential role in reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the ocean.

The discovery, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that there is much to be learned from microbes and that there are whole worlds of new species waiting to be explored and identified. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://utmsi.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute</a> explored microbial communities living in deep-sea sediments in the Guaymas Basin 2,000 meters below the surface. 

Water temperature at those depths is extremely hot, measuring around 200 degrees Celsius in some areas due to undersea volcanic activity. 

The researchers collected and analyzed sediment samples and were able to identify and map 551 microbes, some of which were wholly new discoveries and represent new branches on the tree of life. 

Nearly two dozen new types of microbes were discovered within the sediments, and like other microbial communities living in harsh and extreme environments, the Guaymas Basin microbes depend on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cave-organisms-methane-gas/">methane and butane as energy sources</a>. 

Because of these pollutant-eating abilities, the researchers think that the newly discovered microbes could one day help clean up oil spills.

[caption id="attachment_1863117" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/deep-sea.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863117" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/deep-sea-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="525" /></a> Image Credit: Brett Baker/University of Texas at Austin[/caption]

“This shows the deep oceans contain expansive unexplored biodiversity, and microscopic organisms there are capable of degrading oil and other harmful chemicals,” said Brett Baker, the lead researcher for the study. “Beneath the ocean floor huge reservoirs of hydrocarbon gases--including methane, propane, butane and others--exist now, and these microbes prevent greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.”

Baker and his team have so far conducted the largest ever genomic sampling of the Guaymas Basin, but there are likely many more new microbes yet to be discovered. 

“We think that this is probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of diversity in the Guaymas Basin,” said Baker. “So, we're doing a lot more DNA sequencing to try to get a handle on how much more there is. This paper is really just our first hint at what these things are and what they are doing.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Brett Baker/University of Texas at Austin

Newly discovered deep-sea microbes feed on greenhouse gasses

New species of microbes discovered in the Guaymas Basin in...

Tegu lizards are large, omnivorous reptiles native to South America, but are also an invasive species in the US and pose a threat to local habitats and endangered animals. 

Like many invasive species, tegus in the United States can be attributed to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/popular-exotic-pets-dumped/">exotic pet trade</a>, a major driver of introducing invasive species to new environments. 

While the tegu is a threat to native species in Florida where invasive colonies of tegus are most abundant, the reptile possesses some unique qualities that make it an appealing animal to study. 

For one, the tegu is unlike most reptiles because it can regulate its own body temperature and raise its temperature by 10 degrees Celsius above its surroundings. 

Genomic information on reptiles is surprisingly lacking, but DNA and genome mapping could offer valuable insights into why the tegu is so different from other reptiles and what allows it to thrive in non-native habitats. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.mpi-cbg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology</a> chose to sequence the genome of the Salvator merianae tegu lizard in a new study published in the journal GigaScience. 

The tegu’s genome sequence is the most complete reptile genome ever pieced together, and the study could help with future reptile genome research.

[caption id="attachment_1863112" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/What-makes-tegu-lizards-adapt-so-well-to-non-native-habitats.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863112" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/What-makes-tegu-lizards-adapt-so-well-to-non-native-habitats-1024x611.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="418" /></a> Image Credit: Renato Recoder[/caption]

State of the art, “long read” sequencing technology allowed the researchers to read the tegu’s DNA and sequence its complete genome despite the difficult hurdles in mapping repetitive sequences. 

“Similar to other reptiles, a large portion of the tegu genomes consists of repetitive sequences, which occur many times in the genome,” said Michael Hiller and Juliana Roscito, authors of the study. “Repeats are a main problem when assembling a genome, especially when repeats are longer than the length of the sequenced DNA fragments, which results in gaps (breaks) in the assembly.”

One of the main goals of the research was to sequence a reptile genome that would aid in the study of other limbless reptiles like snakes.

“We were interested in studying limb loss in snakes and other reptiles,” Hiller and Roscito said. “Since limbless reptiles had ancestors with fully developed limbs, we needed a well-assembled genome of a lizard with fully developed limbs as a reference.”

The researchers were able to compare the tegu’s genome to 16 other species. 

“We hope that these resources facilitate comparative reptile genomics to understand how unique morphological features evolved in this group of species and how vertebrate genomes evolve in general,” said Hiller and Roscito. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What makes tegu lizards adapt so well to non-native habitats?

Tegu lizards are large, omnivorous reptiles native to South America,...

Thirteen pounds of plastic and waste were found in the stomach a dead sperm whale in Indonesia. 

Researchers from the Wakatobi National Park, the Academy of Marine and Fisheries Community, and the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund (WWF)</a> tasked with studying the whale have not yet determined a cause of death, but its stomach contents highlight the realities of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/polar-bear-cubs-plastic-pollution/">plastic crisis</a> currently taking over our world’s oceans.

According to the WWF 115 plastic cups, two sandals, 19 pieces of hard plastic, six wood splinters, four plastic bottles, seven pounds of rope, and 25 plastic bags were found in the sperm whale. 

The whale had washed ashore on Kapota Island in Southeast Sulawesi where it was first found by a team from the Wakatobi National Park, according to the <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/11/20/6-kg-of-garbage-found-in-dead-whales-stomach-in-wakatobi.html?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1542698749">Jarkata Post</a>.

By the time the whale was found, it had already started to decompose which further complicated identifying a cause of death. According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/669685624/researchers-find-115-plastic-cups-in-dead-whales-stomach">NPR</a>, the sperm whale was over 31 feet long. 

Plastic is extremely problematic for marine wildlife, and this isn’t the first time a whale has been found with a stomach full of plastic. 

When a whale eats plastic, it disrupts the digestive system and tricks the whale into thinking it’s full, according to <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/whale-dead-plastic-bags-thailand-animals/">National Geographic.</a>

“At some point, their stomach fills up with trash and they can't eat real food,” Regina Asmutis-Silvia from the <a href="https://us.whales.org/">Whale and Dolphin Conservation</a> program told National Geographic. “You're not getting any nutrients in and you've basically completely clogged your digestive system.”

Our oceans are filling up with plastic. Millions of tons of unrecycled plastic and microplastics enter the oceans every year, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife and habitats. 

This latest incident is just one in a long, tragic line of the world’s wildlife suffering due to humanity’s widespread problem with pollution. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Muhammad Irpan Sejati Tassakka/AKKP Wakatobi/AP

Dead whale found with a stomach full of 115 plastic cups

Thirteen pounds of plastic and waste were found in the...

A mother’s phone call seems to be have been the key to the discovery of a new dinosaur: Macrocollum itaquii.

The fossilized bones represent what may be the oldest known long-necked sauropodomorph ever discovered. And they were discovered after Estefânia Temp Müller gave her paleontologist son a call in 2012, to tell him his uncle had found some fossils on his property in southern Brazil.

His mother’s call led to the discovery of the new species, Dr. Rodrigo Temp Müller told the website <a href="https://www.livescience.com/">LiveScience</a>. He and his colleagues found the remains of three long-necked dinosaurs at the property in Agudo, with two skulls perfectly preserved. 

Macrocollum itaquii lived about 225 million years ago, during the Triassic. The dino was about 11 feet long and 5 feet tall, and weighed in at 220 pounds. Unlike its relative the brontosaurus, M. itaquii walked on two legs, not four.

Its long neck probably gave it an advantage when foraging for food and allowed it to reach vegetation high in trees – an important trait for the likely herbivorous species.

“There are three articulated skeletons in five tons of rock,” Müller, from the <a href="http://w3.ufsm.br/sai/index.php/2016-03-14-12-07-10/studying-at-ufsm">Federal University of Santa Maria</a> in Brazil, told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/">The Independent</a>. “This is unique. It suggests these animals probably died together, as they share the same degree of disarticulation.”

If the dinosaurs truly did die together, it suggests they lived in groups rather than separately, he added.

"It had a small head and a long neck," Müller told LiveScience. "In its hand, there was a large and sharp claw on its 'thumb.'"

In addition to its distant connection to brontosaurus, Macrocollum itaquii appears to be related to several species discovered in India. Brazil and South Asia were both once part of a supercontinent known as Gondwana, before it broke up into South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Australia and Antarctica.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/11/20180633">Biology Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image credit: <a href="http://coral.ufsm.br/cappa/">CAPPA/UFSM</a>

Mother's phone call leads to dino Macrocollum itaquii

A mother’s phone call seems to be have been the...

As fans of “Dynasties” tune in to today’s episode, they’ll not only learn about how lioness mothers raise their young. They’ll also learn more about Earth’s shrinking lion populations.

The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06mvmmr">new BBC One nature series</a>, hosted by Sir David Attenborough, follows five of Earth’s endangered species: chimpanzees, penguins, lions, painted wolves and tigers.

This week’s episode shows how lionesses protect their cubs from male lions and hyenas – but those aren’t the biggest threats to lions’ survival.

Humans are.

“Down from as many as 200,000 lions a century ago, some experts believe that we could now have as few as 20,000 individuals remaining in the wild – and that number is likely to be falling by the day,” Dr. Niki Rust, a postdoctoral researcher, wrote in a review of the episode for <a href="http://theconversation.com/dynasties-lions-may-disappear-without-urgent-funding-for-conservation-107116">The Conversation</a>. “Worryingly, the general public are mostly unaware of their precarious conservation status. We have done a bad job of showing the perilous state of these big cats.”

Without funding for conservation and work by humans, shrinking lion populations may soon lead to extinction, said Rust, a social scientist at <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> and technical advisor in wildlife for the <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/">World Wildlife Fund-United Kingdom</a>.

Threats to the lions include habitat loss and loss of prey animals as humans develop rural areas, to farmers killing them to protect livestock, illegal wildlife trade and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asian-lion-bone-market-poaching/">poaching</a>, and trophy hunting, she said.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, she added.

“For instance, for lions that reside alongside people in areas outside national parks, research has shown that it is absolutely vital to reduce the perceived costs of lions to local people, like livestock depredation, while increasing their benefits, such as income from photographic tourism or trophy hunting,” Rust said.

Employing poachers as lion guardians in places like Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia has helped to turn around shrinking lion populations in those countries, reducing killing by up to 99 percent, she said.

Pride Lion Conservation Alliance has brought together five different conservation groups so that they can combine their efforts to protect the wild cats.

But more help is needed – to the tune of $900 million to $2.1 billion for conservation. It’s time for brainstorming to determine how to raise that funding, if people want to protect big cats, Rust said.

“An idea from Sir David Attenborough himself argues that companies that use lions in their marketing should pay for lion conservation. What is abundantly clear is that if we want lions to have a future, we must start stumping up the cash for their conservation,” she said.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

New BBC show sheds light on shrinking lion populations

As fans of “Dynasties” tune in to today’s episode, they’ll...

<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.

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<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...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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