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...

A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a> used small tracking devices to monitor food consumption in four very different wild vertebrates. The experts have discovered that animals using a high-risk strategy to find food are particularly threatened with extinction. 

Over a six year study period, the researchers used thumbnail-sized electronic tags to record the movement of condors, cheetahs, penguins, and sheep in Argentina, South Africa, and Northern Ireland. 

The tags, which are nicknamed the “Daily Diary,” capture everything from the surrounding temperature to the animal's minute movements. Data from the tags can be used to measure: the probability of finding <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/food-waste-united-states/">food</a>, the size of the food, the effort used to find the food, and the energy used for other activities such as rest and play.  

Professor Rory Wilson is a world-renowned expert on animal movement and the study's lead author.

“We know that animal populations across the world are taking a hit, with the most charismatic animals like lions and cheetahs being among the worst affected, but up until now it hasn't been clear why,” explained Professor Wilson.

“Our study has revealed that animals that use a high-risk gambling strategy to find food, like lions and tigers, which have to search for long periods before they get lucky and find prey, are more likely to fail to accrue the energy they need to breed, compared to animals that adopt a low-risk gambling strategy, like herbivores such as zebras.”

[caption id="attachment_1861942" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-penguin.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861942" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-penguin-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="464" /></a> Image Credit: David Grémillet[/caption]

The amount of time that young members of a species can survive without food depends on their size, but all of the newborns examined in this study could not live without food for more than a few days.

The animals who engaged in a high-risk food-finding strategies put their offspring at risk. The dangers of this hunting behavior can be seen by comparing two penguin species. Magellanic penguins of Argentina find fish with no problem, while African penguins have very poor odds for their food-finding stakes.

“It appears that commercial fishing has changed the game rules for the worse for the African penguins. When animals are taking rare prey anyway, even small changes in the ecosystem stemming from human activities can be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of breeding success, and this seems to be the case for the African penguin, whose population is now just 1% of what it was 100 years ago,” said Professor Wilson.

The model developed by the research team may prove to be critical to the development of successful conservation plans to protect species worldwide. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Emily Shepard

Animals with risky foraging tactics are most at risk of extinction

A team of researchers led by Swansea University used small...

A new study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> has revealed that killer whales have some of the same sociable personality traits as humans and chimpanzees, including playfulness, cheerfulness, and affection. 

Researchers analyzed the personality traits of captive <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-pcb-pollution/">killer whales</a> at SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego, and the Loro Parque zoo in Tenerife, Spain. Out of the 24 killer whales examined for the study, six were caught in the wild and the rest were born in captivity.

Trainers who worked closely with the killer whales ranked the animals on a list of 38 personality traits, including playfulness, independence, stubbornness, bravery, sensitivity, and protectiveness.

Yulán Úbeda is a doctoral student in Psychology at the <a href="http://www2.udg.edu/WelcometoUniversity/Welcome/English/tabid/13376/language/en-US/Default.aspx">University of Girona</a> and the study's lead researcher.

“This is the first study to examine the personality traits of killer whales and how they relate to us and other primates,” said Úbeda. “These similar personality traits may have developed because they were necessary to form complex social interactions in tightly knit groups that we see in killer whales, humans and other primates.”

The experts used a common personality measure called the five-factor model, which assesses extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, dominance, and carefulness. They compared the results to previous studies of the same characteristics in chimpanzees and humans. 

The study revealed that the personality traits of killer whales were similar to those of both humans and chimpanzees, with more similarities to chimpanzees. 

Looking at the extraversion factor, the killer whales were playful, gregarious, and sociable - a combination of traits found in both humans and chimpanzees. The whales were also found to share personality traits for conscientiousness and agreeableness with chimpanzees, including stubbornness, protectiveness, and patience.

The findings suggest some evolutionary convergence between killer whales and primates due to the advanced cognitive abilities required for complex social interactions. Killer whales can live into their 90s in tightly knit pods, displaying advanced communication skills and cooperation. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/com/">Journal of Comparative Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Killer whales have similar personality traits as humans and chimps

A new study published by the American Psychological Association has...

“And therefore think him as a serpent's egg,
Which, hatch'd, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.”
-Brutus, in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Lucky for us, mischievous or not, plenty of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bird-eggs-color-dinosaurs/">dinosaurs</a> were, like the titular emperor of Shakespeare’s play, killed in the shell. Natural disasters such as floods and landslides have preserved dinosaur eggs, including entire nests, on every continent but Australia and Antarctica. China in particular, followed by France, India, Argentina, and Montana in the United States, have proven to be particularly rich sites of discovery. The crushed shells of these ancient eggs have given us what we know about dinosaur reproduction and how—or if—they reared their young.

It is often misstated that the first dinosaur eggs were discovered in 1923 during an expedition by the American Museum of Natural History to the evocatively named Flaming Cliffs in the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia. This expedition, funded by titans of industry including J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, did indeed unearth some remarkable dinosaur eggs, now attributed to the theropod Oviraptor. But, in fact, eggs had been discovered as early as 1859 in the French Pyrenees, though they were not identified as belonging to dinosaurs at the time. And other eggs had been discovered near Marseilles, France in 1900, and in Montana in 1913. 

Intriguingly, the 1923 discovery included an array of Neolithic jewelry made of dinosaur egg shell fragments, indicating that our primitive ancestors had stumbled upon these ancient ova as well. Since that time, more than 200 hundred sites have been identified worldwide, most of them from the Late Cretaceous, near the end of the age of the dinosaurs. In a disappointing turn for Michael Crichton fans, only an armful of Jurassic-era eggs have yet been discovered.

Nonetheless, we have been able to extrapolate huge amounts of data from the late-era dinosaur nests that have been found. We have some idea of which dinosaurs exhibited parental care, for one. Ornithischian and sauropod dinosaurs appear to have nested in a style more similar to that of modern crocodilians than to that of birds, our living dinosaurs. Large numbers of eggs were deposited in depressions in the ground and buried. Their buried state can be discerned through shell analysis. More <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/dinosaur-eggs-gas-conductance-through-the-shell-water-loss-during-incubation-and-clutch-size/1420082AFD48E4061BC79EB7A5BA9638">porous eggs are more likely to have been buried</a> because they require humidity, as in a covered nest. 

The quantities of eggs found in many such nests, and their disorganized arrangement, suggests that these dinosaurs, possessed paired oviducts as crocodilians do. This meant that they produced the entire clutch before it was laid all at once. The egg shell structure of these dinosaurs is also more similar to that of crocodilian eggs than those of birds. It can be inferred, then, that like crocodilians, ornithischians and sauropods exhibited minimal brooding behavior and may have had little or nothing to do with raising the young. Some hadrosaur eggs, though, have been found in dish-like structures and the unossified bones of the hatchlings found to resemble those of altricial birds, which require parental care. In many other species, the size of adults compared to that of the hatchlings might have made such care prohibitive. Imagine a 65-ton titanosaur bending down to feed a chick the size of a goose.

[caption id="attachment_1861916" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/dinosaur-eggs.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861916" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/dinosaur-eggs-1024x617.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="422" /></a> Image Credit: Marco Foto/Shutterstock[/caption]

So, too, the time it took the eggs to hatch supports a theory of limited parenting. <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/540">One study </a>demonstrated that two ornithischians, Protoceratops and Hypacrosaurus, may have take six months or more to hatch, meaning that their parents would have needed to remain sedentary for half the year or more, thought to be unlikely due to seasonal migrations. Another study found that a large titanosaur from Argentina <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1031">buried its eggs near hydrothermal vents</a> in order to take advantage of their heat, obviating the need for incubation by the parent. Leaving your eggs in the care of the elements had its risks, though—some sauropod nests in India have been discovered <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322">with fossilized snakes coiled atop them</a>.

Unlike their cousins, theropod dinosaurs, from which birds are descended, do appear to have exhibited parental care in many cases. Theropod fossils represent both extremes in the size of known dinosaur eggs, with <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/1892864/Buffetaut_et_al._2005a_Minute_theropod_eggs_Thailand_Naturwissenschaften.pdf">some from Thailand</a> as small as those of a modern-day goldfinch and <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/science/science-news/2017/may/largest-dinosaur-eggs-ever-discovered">others from China</a> topping out at two feet long. These eggs, which possess smaller pores, appear to have only been partially buried in soil, suggesting that they were actively incubated. 

Tantalizingly, it appears to be this transition to greater exposure that led to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0646-5">the evolution of colored eggs</a>, a trait that persists in many birds today. Greater exposure meant the need for camouflage. Buried eggs, both in dinosaurs and modern reptiles, are always white. The arrangement of the eggs, too, is an indication that the nest was managed by a parent. While some primitive theropod nests exhibit the scattered egg formation more typical of ornithischians, others, notably oviraptorids and troodontids, produced nests in which the eggs are arranged in a circular patterns, a sign that an adult sat in the middle and kept them warm. In fact, several fossils have been found that preserve the parent in situ, likely after it was buried in a flood or landslide. This is the origin of the name “oviraptor” which means “egg thief” in Latin; when first discovered, the adult on the nest was believed to be a predator rather than a parent. 

Because these parents did not move in time to avoid whatever catastrophe buried them, it has been hypothesized that, like the modern day emu, the father brooded the eggs in a lethargic state, eating and drinking little until his charges emerged. The <a href="https://www.esf.edu/EFB/faculty/documents/varricchio2008paternalcaredinosours.pdf">paternal care theory</a> is further supported by the large clutch sizes in such nests, which may have been the result of a polygamous mating system in which multiple females laid their eggs in the same nest. 

A fossil of another theropod species, Sinosauropteryx, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiao-Chun_Wu/publication/7904913_A_Pair_of_Shelled_Eggs_Inside_A_Female_Dinosaur/links/544660060cf2f14fb80f34bf.pdf">was found with two eggs inside of it</a>, demonstrating that some theropods retained two oviducts, as compared to the one in the birds of today. This fact, in conjunction with the asymmetrical shape of the egg, shows that they produced two eggs at a time, rather than in rapid succession, like crocodiles and likely more-primitive dinosaurs. Thus, an entire clutch might take a week or more to lay, as is the case for modern avians who produce large clutches. 

And so the continuum between our modern dinosaurs and their fossilized ancestors is reinforced, an ever-denser mosaic of bones, feathers, and eggshells.

--

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/genista/65927114/in/photolist-7AvwBW-dAjWk5-dKdMrE-9r1D7u-dK8mrg-5F4sVT-dKdP2S-dK8jhr-dCt8ju-dCyUdW-5o9mvE-6PTQo-4dqzn-dCLWiq-dKdNmC-dAjSgq-8ati8V-dCMmVq-2akubEf-99hNnn-Dd7amu-GFi4W8-dK8oLP-pqF22y-Fx1sre-21cYkJD-21cYkqx-ptVHDB-ERpDSa-PH5UfA-ERkM92-ExsiNd-EP4v6f-Er7h6v-MWVAiS-HiwBGb-Qqi3Xw-PDHjyh-N54WZs-Nb7ie3-JdCWf5-qVWiTk-Lfks27-Fcqv7V-xrc2mG-nKiZBr-dAerUc-9KWyBv-7pJ4Zv-6FFVfN">Kai Schreiber</a>

Preserved eggs reveal how dinosaurs raised their kids

“And therefore think him as a serpent's egg, Which, hatch'd,...

For a bird, singing the right song can spell the difference between finding a mate or not. Female <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-declining-numbers/">songbirds</a> judge their mates based on singing ability and the more complex a male’s song is, the better. 

But a new study has found that fledglings and nestlings who experience stress are not able to sing as skillfully as their young and healthy male counterparts. 

The study was conducted by researchers from <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/">Lancaster University</a> and published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205101">PLOS ONE. </a>

Singing ability for male songbirds develops during the early years, and researchers have hypothesized that stress during these years, such as not receiving enough food, hinders the development of singing ability.

It’s called the “developmental stress hypothesis,” and the researchers decided to test the idea in the wild. 

In a long-term study, the researchers monitored 18 white-throated dipper nestlings. The team observed and recorded brood size, how many times parents fed their young, and the nestlings’ health at nine days old. 

Later, the researchers returned to study the birdsong of the adults that had been monitored as nestlings. 

The dippers that were healthier when they were younger sang more complex songs, and there was an increase in unique syllables compared to the nestlings that had been less healthy. The research revealed that birds that hadn’t been stressed also sang more often.

Previous research had reached similar conclusions with captive songbirds, but this study is the first to find evidence of developmental stress impacting singing ability in the wild. 

The researchers next hope to understand what underlying mechanisms influence singing ability. 

“Song complexity and singing frequency in male birds are shaped by female choice; they signal male quality because song is costly to develop and produce,” said Lucy Magoolagan, the lead author of the study. “The timing of song learning and development of the brain structures involved occur at a time nestlings are exposed to a number of potential stressors. Our results provide some of the first evidence from a wild bird of how the conditions experience during early life impact adult song.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Andrew Mawby, 2008

Stressful early years hinder a songbird’s ability to sing

For a bird, singing the right song can spell the...

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

A study led by the <a href="https://ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a> is describing how a unique island ecosystem evolved 43 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch. The research is focused on two new fossil relatives of marsupials that inhabited the Pontide region of modern-day Turkey.

“Evolution in many ways is easier to study in an island context than on a large continent like North America because it's a simpler ecosystem,” said study co-author Professor K. Christopher Beard. 

“Evolutionary biologists have been focusing on islands ever since Darwin and Wallace independently formulated their ideas about evolution based on their observations of plants and animals living on the Galapagos and the Malay archipelago, which is modern Indonesia.”

According to Professor Beard, however, the lack of a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-modern-birds-dinosaurs/">fossil record</a> for animals living on islands across a multimillion-year timeframe  has largely prevented the opportunity to understand how island ecosystems are constructed.

“No other ecosystem on the face of the planet from any time period matches what we're finding in the Eocene of Turkey - it's a completely unique mammalian ecosystem much like Madagascar is today.”

“But how did this island biota develop over time? You need fossils and time depth to see that. We're able here to study in great detail how this ancient island evolved - where the different animals came from, how they got there and when they got there. Once they got there, some of these mammals, including one of the new marsupial lineages we've discovered, were able to diversify on the island. Most of the Eocene mammals on the Pontide island seem to have gotten there by swimming or rafting across parts of the Tethys Sea, instead of getting stranded on the island when it got separated from adjacent parts of Eurasia.”

The team found evidence among the Pontide marsupial fossils that distinctive forms of life on islands are ill-fated in general, given enough time.

“One thing we know for sure is that the incredibly interesting and unique Eocene biota that occurred on this island in what is now Turkey at some point was totally eradicated,” said Professor Beard. “It was eradicated when the island was re-connected to mainland Eurasia and more cosmopolitan animals were able to access it for the first time, driving the weird island biota to extinction.” 

“The message for conservation biology today is that island ecosystems are inherently ephemeral on the grand scale of macroevolutionary time. Today, conservation biologists are concerned about many endangered taxa on islands. The ugly truth that paleontology provides is that, given enough time, most island faunas are doomed to extinction. They're cul-de-sacs of evolution - even though they're wonderful places to study processes of evolution.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</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: Oscar Sanisidro | University of Kansas

Marsupial fossils reveal evolution of unique island ecosystem

A study led by the University of Kansas is describing...

Nearly ten years after the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/long-term-damage-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/">Deepwater Horizon Oil spill</a>, an estimated 10 million gallons of crude oil remains buried in the seafloor sediment across the Gulf of Mexico. This pollution may continue to cause severe damage to marine life, including the impairment of sensory systems.

The effective functioning of sensory systems is critical to the survival of marine fish. However, beyond the obvious importance of their olfactory system, the impact of crude oil exposure on sensory function remains largely unclear.

A study from <a href="https://www.fau.edu/">Florida Atlantic University</a> is the first of its kind to quantify the physiological effects of crude oil on the olfactory function of a marine vertebrate. The investigation, which was focused on the Atlantic stingray, confirmed that exposure to crude oil can significantly impair the sense of smell after just 48 hours of exposure. 

The results of the analysis also suggest that exposure to crude oil could have a negative impact on fitness, lead to premature death, and cause additional cascading effects through lower trophic levels.

Study co-author Dr. Stephen M. Kajiura is a professor of Biological Sciences at <a href="https://www.fau.edu/">Florida Atlantic University</a>.

“Elasmobranchs are renowned for their well-developed sensory systems, which are critical to alert them of the presence of predators, prey, mates, and unfavorable environmental conditions. Any impairment of these sensory systems could have a damaging effect on their survival and fitness,” said Dr. Kajiura.

[caption id="attachment_1861903" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/atlantic-stingray.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861903" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/atlantic-stingray-1024x677.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="463" /></a> Atlantic stingray, Image Credit: Stephen M. Kajiura, Ph.D./Florida Atlantic University[/caption]

Study lead author Eloise J. Cave conducted the research as part of her master's degree in Dr. Kajiura's lab, and is now a PhD student at the Florida Institute of Technology. 

After exposing stingrays to clean or oil-treated water, Cave found that the animals exposed to oil exhibited a smaller response, with a slower onset and longer duration.

“Unlike other sensory systems in which the receptor cells are not in immediate contact with the environment such as the eye, inner ear, lateral line, and electroreceptors, the chemo-sensory cells of the olfactory organ are directly exposed, through the mucus, to the seawater,” said Dr. Kajiura. “As a result, environmental pollutants have the ability to directly damage the receptor cells and affect olfactory function.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Stephen M. Kajiura, Ph.D./Florida Atlantic University

The Deepwater Horizon spill continues to affect animals today

Nearly ten years after the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, an...

Birds can’t smell. It’s one of those myths that has persisted not only in popular science coverage, but in the academic community as well. Some blame that paragon of ornithological observation, John James Audubon. 

<a href="https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS81.pdf">In 1826</a>, the famed scientist and illustrator conducted a series of experiments intended to discern whether or not turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) located carrion by sight or by smell. He fashioned a model “carcass” out of a deer skin stuffed with grass. Presumably scentless, the dummy deer nonetheless attracted a vulture, which quickly decamped after investigating and finding it devoid of anything edible. 

Audubon then hid a putrescent hog carcass under a pile of brush; no vultures alit to partake in the fly-blown flesh despite what one assumes was a powerful odor. The fact is, nearby vultures probably did smell it...and that’s why they didn’t come flapping down to devour it. As it turns out, turkey vultures, contrary to their perception as undiscerning gluttons for anything rotten, prefer relatively fresh corpses.

[caption id="attachment_1861822" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/29848682227_3dd50072b1_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861822" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/29848682227_3dd50072b1_o-1024x656.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="448" /></a> Turkey Vulture, Image Credit: Andy Reago &amp; Chrissy McClarren[/caption]

Despite his misguided conclusions, though, the idea of the anosmic, or un-scented, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/smallest-flightless-birds/">bird</a> probably wasn’t Audubon’s fault after all. The real reason that avian olfaction has historically gotten short shrift is likely the fact that ornithological research has focused on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3522863">bird’s other sensory capabilities</a>, notably sight and hearing, thus prejudicing perceptions of its other senses. Why would animals with such highly evolved visual and auditory abilities need an acute sense of smell as well?

In many species, especially those that are flighted, scent would seem to be an afterthought...intuitively, it wouldn’t be useful to animals who spend their time aloft, where scents vanish as quickly as the winds that bring them. So, too, birds lack the vomeronasal organs used by many mammals and reptiles to detect pheromones, suggesting that scent plays little role in social signalling. 

Despite Aubudon’s skepticism, there are plenty of indications that other early natural observers did suspect that birds could smell. A poem dating to 280 AD references the ability of the woodcock (Scolopax sp.) to smell its prey and an aviarist of the early 19th century notes the ability of his woodcocks to sniff out morsels as well. A journal entry from a Portuguese missionary dating to the 1500s notes that honeyguides, which feed on beeswax, were able to locate candles made of the substance by scent alone. By the early 20th century, it was known that many species of bird had sizeable olfactory bulbs, strongly suggesting that they possessed some sense of smell.

Since the 1960s, further experimental evidence has thoroughly verified these suspicions. Notably, ornithologist Betsy Bang studied morphological features in numerous species of bird, in particular the nares, or nostrils, and <a href="https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v085n01/p0055-p0061.pdf">the olfactory bulb</a>. Her findings reinforced previous studies on bird brains...the olfactory bulb, responsible for processing scent inputs, was just too large to be non-functional in many birds. 

Another ornithologist, Kenneth Stager, arrived at more definitive proof that turkey vultures in particular were flying scenthounds <a href="https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS81.pdf">in 1964</a>. In talking to engineers who managed natural gas pipelines, he learned that turkey vultures had been known to congregate at leaks in the pipes since the 1930s. It was at this point that petroleum companies had begun introducing a gas known as ethyl mercaptan to the lines, so that people could smell when natural gas, itself a dangerous but odorless compound, was leaking. This is the scent you’ll notice when the pilot light on the stove goes out and gas escapes into the room unburnt. The substance is also given off by decaying bodies. Thinking that they had found the mother of all carcasses, turkey vultures would come zooming in to the site of the leak from miles around. Since it seems unlikely that they would confuse an oil pipeline for a meal visually, it is clear that they were attracted by the scent. More recent research has built upon these findings. 

A <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1649/2309">2008 study</a> found strong correlations between the numbers of olfactory receptor (OR) genes in a birds’ genome and the size of its olfactory bulb. Intriguingly, while even mammals do not always have a full complement of functional OR genes, nearly all of them were functional in the birds examined in this study. 

In 2011, <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1725/3625.short">an exhaustive comparative study</a> of the skull structures of fossil theropod dinosaurs—from which birds evolved—as well as those of extinct and living bird species, found that in fact olfactory bulb size had increased as birds diverged from dinosaurs, indicating that smell became more important, not less. This notion was further refined in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/33/1/295/2579756">a 2016 study</a>, which found that OR genes involved in detecting hydrophilic, or waterborne, chemicals, were more active in seafaring species and OR genes geared toward sensing volatile compounds were prevalent in terrestrial birds. The correspondence of genes coding for the detection of scents most common in a given species’ environment further solidified the utility of scent perception. Indeed, lifestyle is a relatively accurate predictor of avian olfactory sensitivity. 

Olfaction appears to be most acute in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1990.tb05203.x">ground-dwelling, nocturnal birds</a> such as kiwis and kakapos, who likely compensated for their diminished vision by adapting highly sensitive noses. Kiwis are known to snuffle about on the forest floor like hedgehogs, using their powerful noses to locate insects and other treats. The Procellariformes, or tube-nosed birds, which include seabirds such as albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters, are also highly sensitive to certain odors. At sea for the majority of the year, these birds have come to rely on scent to locate food and to navigate home over the apparently featureless waves. 

In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09738-5">a 2017 study</a>, scientists temporarily eliminated the olfactory capabilities of a group of Cory’s shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) using a chemical treatment. The birds were then released and their movements were tracked. Unlike their counterparts who retained their sense of smell, their navigation patterns to and from their nesting sites were strangely linear. Birds who were able to smell used a zig-zag pattern, suggesting that they were following scent gradients back to their colonies. The anosmic birds appeared to fall back to purely visual modes of navigation, which, it turns out, are less efficient. Additional studies have found that many procellariforms, and other seabirds, are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10840055_Behavioral_attraction_of_Leach's_storm-petrels_Oceanodroma_leucorhoa_to_dimethyl_sulfide">attracted to dimethyl sulfide</a>, a compound released by dying or stressed phytoplankton, which suggests the presence of other animals, such as krill, feeding upon them. These birds eat krill and other species that rely on phytoplankton and so follow the odor gradient until they reach areas of high plankton density, where their prey aggregates. 

Scent appears to play a role in mating for some species as well. Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhincus) produce certain compounds in their uropygial glands, the source of the oil used in preening, only during the mating season, indicating that there may be a role in attracting mates or signaling receptivity. Male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) whose nostrils were blocked with dental cement exhibited different brain activity while copulating than those with unblocked nostrils, indicating that scent may play a role in sexual interaction. 

Remarkably, <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2003/030514/full/news030512-5.html">the odor produced by the crested auklet</a> (Aethia cristatella) only during its breeding season can be detected by humans—who contend that it smells like tangerines. These birds conduct mating rituals that involve nuzzling each other’s necks, where the glands that produce the scent are located. Because these compounds are also thought to repel ticks and other parasites, the strength of this scent may be an indicator of evolutionary fitness and allow females to select an ideal mate partially on the base of his odor. Even the adorable kakapos possess a musky odor all their own—apparently quite pleasant to human nostrils— and this is thought to have a role in mate selection as well.

Some species also appear to use scent as a means of predator detection. <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7cc2/2e75c6cce7c7839c1f8f698c7a5fb1180d66.pdf">House finches</a> (Carpodacus mexicanus), which have relatively small olfactory bulbs, were found to avoid the scent of predators. So were starlings and blue tits. In contrast, kiwis and kakapos were found to be unable to distinguish the scents of introduced predators, leading some to conclude that this may be one reason they are so vulnerable to such invasives as rats and weasels. Though their powerful olfactory sense probably does pick up the stink of weasel or rat urine, they simply haven’t yet learned to associate these odors with danger. Other songbird species use aromatic herbs and even cigarette butts to repel parasites from their nests. In order to select the most useful plants, they must possess some ability to smell them. 

All of this compounded data indicates with certainty that olfaction plays an essential role in the life history of many birds. One question, though, remains unanswered: when you’re a bird, do humans stink? Based on personal experience, I am going to hypothesize that yes, yes they do.

--

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/blachswan/16046714602/in/photolist-qrZBc9-Eit4yW-26AWkyV-XEBeCj-22WBbSk-5UztBt-T3hqPP-aCDYgZ-4Qpeno-ofis8H-SzbafW-dK8mvx-4QoCxt-dhQtr7-8oEtFh-cWdAfy-7aCKgW-jTYg4R-7ZSYDK-28qq3cU-ecXo8c-bxNh61-qavCoL-boz1L3-6zbA5Q-gNC2yQ-ofiA2D-7ZSZ5B-8Fvxz3-ehSZ8X-7ZW6oj-7ZSWaT-9QWsZq-pviv9T-7ZSWSt-7ZW7Lu-7ZW9kQ-7aCFz3-7ZSWZn-ZswLoJ-s89pof-V1hCP9-7ZSWgv-PM4WH-85bwk9-s8hm1Z-7ZSW8K-YtsgS3-7ZSWD8-YvAQrx">Ed Dunens</a>

Birds follow their noses with a highly developed sense of smell

Birds can’t smell. It’s one of those myths that has...

The analysis of sabre-toothed cat fossils recovered from the La Brea Tar Pits is revealing new clues about the behavior of these extinct animals. Experts have found evidence to suggest that the fierce prehistoric predators may have actually been nurturing, sharing their food with fellow cats who were injured. 

Professor Larisa DeSantis of <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a> told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2184926-sabre-toothed-cats-shared-their-food-with-injured-pride-members/#.W-sAkikD61Y.email">New Scientist</a> that what makes the tar pits in Los Angeles really special is that among the remains of the animals that were trapped here are the preserved fossils of many top predators. It is rare to find the remains of apex predators, primarily because they are few in number. 

Professor DeSantis teamed up with Christopher Shaw at the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries to examine sabre-toothed cat fossils. The researchers set out to gain a better understanding of how the ancient creatures lived.

The team compared 21 Smilodon skulls that showed signs of jaw injuries to 135 skulls that appeared to be uninjured. The researchers noted that markings on the teeth of the uninjured jaws resembled those that can be found on the teeth of living lions, while the scratches and marks on the injured jaws looked like those found on modern-day <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cheetahs-dodge-larger-predators/">cheetahs</a>.


Professor DeSantis “That tells us something about the prehistoric cats’ diets. Lions are generalized feeders, they eat flesh and bone. But cheetahs tend to avoid bone,” Professor DeSantis told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2184926-sabre-toothed-cats-shared-their-food-with-injured-pride-members/#.W-sAkikD61Y.email">New Scientist</a>.

This means that the sabre-toothed cats normally tore through the bone when feeding, but shifted to a softer diet after their jaws or teeth were injured. According to Professor DeSantis, the findings suggest that Smilodon was a social animal, with healthy cats sharing their kills with injured animals. 

DeSantis and Shaw’s theory assumes that the injured cats were unable to hunt and also that Smilodon was a social cat, which is a concept that has been challenged by other experts. 

However, new fossil evidence from the La Brea tar pits indicates that Smilodon could roar like a modern lion. If communication was important for Smilodon, then it was likely to have been a social animal.

“As the decades have passed, I think that people have begun to abandon the idea that all sabre-toothed carnivores were solitary animals,” said Shaw. “Some of these injuries were so severe that injured animals would have benefited from living in a social group that nurtured injured members and provided food and protection.”

The research was presented at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.geosociety.org/">Geological Society of America</a> in Indianapolis.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sabre-toothed cats may have been surprisingly social and sharing

The analysis of sabre-toothed cat fossils recovered from the La...

China made <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-weaken-ban-rhino-tiger-parts/">international headlines</a> in October when it announced it would be opening up the trade in rhino horns and tiger bones under certain circumstances, replacing a 1993 ban on the trade.

According to the <a href="http://english.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2018/10/29/content_281476367121088.htm">announcement</a> made October 29th, rhino horns and tiger bones could be used for medical research and healing. China stated that rhino horns and tiger bones used in medical research and healing could only be obtained from rhinos and tigers raised in farms.

The announcement was met with swift outrage from conservationists, animal advocates and others. Both rhinos and tigers are currently experiencing steep declines in the wild and people worried that opening up a trade in their parts would jeopardize the remaining populations.

“China’s decision to reopen a legalized trade in farmed tiger bone and rhino horn reverses 25 years of conservation progress in reducing the demand for these products in traditional Chinese medicine and improving the effectiveness of law enforcement,” said Leigh Henry, director of wildlife policy, World Wildlife Fund-US in a<a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/in-a-blow-to-wildlife-china-lifts-a-ban-on-the-use-of-tiger-and-rhino-parts"> blog post</a>. “This devastating reversal by China runs completely counter to the image of wildlife champion the world had come to expect with China’s ivory trade ban, which was such a positive development for the world’s elephants.”

Now China has just<a href="http://www.china.org.cn/china/Off_the_Wire/2018-11/12/content_71941870.htm"> announced</a> a temporary halt on the reversal. The government stated the regulation has been postponed for further studying.

“The ‘three strict bans’ will continue to be enforced: strictly ban the import and export of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts; strictly ban the sale, purchase, transport, carrying and mailing of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts; and strictly ban the use of rhino horns and tiger bones in medicine,” the State Council Executive Deputy Secretary-General Ding Xuedong stated during media questions.

The government did not state whether the trade in tiger bones and rhino horns would be re-opened after the temporary halt. The announcement was still welcome news for conservationists and animal advocacy groups.

“WWF welcomes the news that China has postponed lifting its ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn and tiger bone, signaling a positive response to international reaction,” said Margaret Kinnaird, WWF’s wildlife practice leader in<a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/in-a-blow-to-wildlife-china-lifts-a-ban-on-the-use-of-tiger-and-rhino-parts"> an update to their blog post</a>. “Allowing trade from even captive animals could have had devastating impacts on wild rhino and tiger populations. This move helps maintain the leadership role China has taken in tackling the illegal wildlife trade and reducing market demand.”

There are currently an<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951#use-trade"> estimated</a> 6,000 tigers living on farms in China, compared to only 3,200 tigers living in the wild. Rhino farms can be found in South Africa which legalized the domestic trade of rhino horns.

Tiger and rhino farming fuels the poaching of the animals in the wild. Big Cat Rescue<a href="https://bigcatrescue.org/tiger-farms/"> states</a>, “Farming has normalized and legitimized the sale of tiger parts and products and has undermined global efforts to stamp out the illegal trade. There is no way to differentiate contraband from a wild born or captive born tiger.”

While the ultimate fate of tigers and rhinos in China is still unclear, China reiterated their commitment to ending illegal wildlife trafficking.

“The Chinese government has been consistent and firm in its stance on wildlife protection. I would like to reiterate that the Chinese government has not changed its stance on wildlife protection and will not ease the crackdown on illegal trafficking and trade of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts and other criminal activities,” Xuedong stated.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

China postpones opening up rhino, tiger trade following outrage

China made international headlines in October when it announced it...

The Giant South American Turtle is one of the world’s largest freshwater turtles, but illegal poaching and habitat loss have taken a toll on populations along the Amazon river. 

But according to a new study, there are some river beaches in the Brazilian Amazon where the turtles and a host of other species are making a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-turtles-comeback-conservation/">comeback</a> thanks to local grassroots protection efforts.

Some beaches are guarded round the clock by local volunteers who keep poachers away and make sure that the hatchlings are safe. River turtles flock to the beaches to lay their eggs, and unfortunately, their eggs are highly coveted. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>, the <a href="https://ufal.br/">Universidade Federal de Alagoas</a>, <a href="https://www.anglia.ac.uk/">Anglia Ruskin University</a> and <a href="https://ufam.edu.br/">Universidade Federal do Amazonas</a> analyzed data that had been collected from popular nesting beaches along the Amazon River spanning the past four decades. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Sustainability. 

The researchers also surveyed both protected and unprotected beaches along the same area of the river and took stock of turtle nests as well as the abundance of other native species like river dolphins and iguanas. 

On the beaches protected by locals, the researchers found that there were nine times more hatchlings compared to 1977, amounting to an annual increase of 70,000 hatchlings. 

The researchers found that on unprotected beaches, poachers harvested 99 percent of the eggs from nests that were surveyed.  

There were also major increases in biodiversity near the protected beaches, meaning that the turtles were not the only species benefiting from constant monitoring. 

The protection program is part of the largest conservation program in the Brazilian Amazon, but it can be dangerous work and offers little reward. 

The researchers hope their study highlights the success and importance of local conservation as something that needs to be expanded and financially supported. 

“This study clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of empowering local management action by stakeholders who have the largest stake and a 24/7 presence at key conservation sites,” said Carlos Peres, a senior author of the study. “The beaches protected by local communities represent noisy islands of high biodiversity, surrounded by lifeless unprotected beaches, which are invariably empty and silent.”
--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>

Local grassroots protection effort has helped Amazon turtles thrive

The Giant South American Turtle is one of the world’s...

The most complete skeleton ever found from a long-extinct group of birds called Enantiornithines has been recovered in Utah. The 75-million-year-old fossilized bird is providing researchers with important new insight into the evolution of flight. 

The skeleton showed evidence of advanced adaptations for flying, which suggests that the ancient species evolved these features separately from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-skull-dinosaurs-birds/">modern-day birds</a>.

Enantiornithine birds existed during the Cretaceous Period and based on the distribution of their fossils, which have been found on every continent except Antarctica, the birds were very successful. Enantiornithines are associated with rocks that date back as far as 130 million years, and with rocks that are as recent as the Late Cretaceous 65 million years ago. 

The enantiornithine fossil described in the current study is from the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah and has been named Mirarce eatoni. 

Mirarce is unique because it is the most complete enantiornithine bird fossil ever discovered in North America. It is also special because it is one of the largest birds known to be recovered from the Age of Dinosaurs.

Most Cretaceous birds were the size of crows, but Mirarce was about the size of a turkey vulture. This fossil is explaining trends in enantiornithine evolution, as well as bird evolution in general. 

On the surface, enantiornithines look like modern birds, yet there are many anatomical differences. Most enantiornithines had a sternum with a low keel and a wide wishbone. This means that, even though they could fly, they were not as well-adapted for flight as modern birds.

Mirarce, on the other hand, shows that the birds had separately evolved adaptations for advanced flight by the Late Cretaceous that are similar to what we see in modern birds. The wishbone is narrower and the sternum has a deeper keel for bigger flight muscles. 

The most significant find, however, are quill knobs on the forearm bones of Mirarce. This is the first discovery of quill knobs, which help to stabilize the wing feathers for active flight, in any enantiornithine bird - providing evidence that Mirarce was a very strong flier.

This important fossil was found in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah, a monument that is currently being threatened with severe size reduction by the government. Reducing the size of protected area puts some of our nation's most valuable natural resources at risk.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</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: Illustration Mirarce <a href="http://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com">Brian Engh</a>

Ancient bird fossil reveals clues about the evolution of flight

The most complete skeleton ever found from a long-extinct group...

After exposing adult krill to ocean acidification levels that are predicted to occur over the next century, researchers at the <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/">University of Tasmania</a> were surprised to find that they were largely unaffected. The study contradicts the findings of previous research that suggest Antarctic krill will be vulnerable to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-skeletons-coral/">acidification</a> during certain stages of life. 

Study lead author and PhD student Jess Ericson said the long-term lab analysis was the first of its kind.

“Our study found that adult krill are able to survive, grow and mature when exposed for up to one year to ocean acidification levels that can be expected this century,” said Ericson. 

“We reared adult krill in laboratory tanks for 46-weeks in seawater with a range of pH levels, including those in the present day, levels predicted within 100-300 years, and up to an extreme level.”

“We measured a suite of physiological and biochemical variables to investigate how future ocean acidification may affect the survival, size, lipid stores, reproduction, metabolism and extracellular fluid of krill.”


Ericson said the results showed that the physiological processes of the krill were not hindered by the pH levels that are expected over the coming century. 

“The adult krill we monitored were able to actively maintain the acid-base balance of their body fluids as seawater pH levels decreased, thereby enhancing their resilience to ocean acidification.”

According to Ericson, the findings are important because krill serve as a critical link in the Antarctic food chain.

“Ocean acidification caused by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions is predicted to occur most rapidly at high latitudes, such as in the Southern Ocean.”

“Krill are a major prey item for marine mammals and seabirds, and any decrease in their abundance as a result of ocean acidification could result in significant changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic ecosystem.”

Ericson explained that increasing ocean acidity is known to have negative effects on a range of marine invertebrates, causing issues such as the dissolution of calcium carbonate shells, delayed growth, increased mortality, and delayed reproduction. There has also been evidence that acidification causes abnormalities in offspring. 

“Our finding that adult Antarctic krill appear resilient to such conditions is therefore an interesting and significant result,” she said. “However, the persistence of krill in a changing ocean will also depend on how they respond to ocean acidification in synergy with other stressors, such as ocean warming and decreases in sea ice extent.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio">Communications Biology</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antarctic krill are surprisingly resilient to ocean acidification

After exposing adult krill to ocean acidification levels that are...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



-----



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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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

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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

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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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