Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy. This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns. Yellowstone, aspens, and elk In the 1920s, people eliminated wolves in Yellowstone. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right...

The oceans did not behave normally in 2023. They got too hot, stayed hot too long, and covered almost the entire planet with heat. It wasn’t just a spike in temperature. Scientists think this might be the start of something bigger - a change in how Earth’s climate works.



A new study reveals that the marine heatwaves (MHWs) of 2023 broke every known <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-oceans-are-rapidly-changing-colors-matching-climate-predictions/">record</a>. These heatwaves were stronger, lasted longer, and stretched across more ocean than ever before. It wasn’t one event. It was many, overlapping and spreading.



Marine heatwaves aren’t just warm patches in the sea. They are prolonged, intense spikes in sea temperature that can linger for months. And their impact is devastating - killing coral, driving fish away, and disrupting entire fisheries. 



Fueled by human-driven climate change, these events are becoming more frequent and more severe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oceans-signal-major-climate-change">Oceans signal major climate change</h2>



According to the study, 96% of the global ocean surface experienced heatwave conditions. Regions like the North Atlantic, North Pacific, Tropical Pacific, and Southwest Pacific endured the worst of it. Together, they made up 90% of the abnormal ocean <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-oceans-day-2025-sustaining-what-sustains-us/">heating</a>.



The North Atlantic heatwave stretched on for 525 days, beginning in mid-2022 and refusing to let up. Meanwhile, the Southwest Pacific experienced a marine heatwave so vast and prolonged, it shattered previous records.



Then came the El Niño in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Ocean temperatures there peaked at 1.63 degrees Celsius above average. For marine life, that kind of heat isn’t a small deal. It changes everything. Movement, breeding, survival.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-caused-the-marine-heatwaves">What caused the marine heatwaves?</h2>



A team led by Tianyun Dong analyzed satellite data and high-resolution models like ECCO2 to conduct a global analysis. They used a technique to track how heat moved through the ocean’s top <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-last-ocean-crisis-wiped-out-coral-reefs-will-it-happen-again/">layers</a>.



The researchers found several causes for the 2023 marine heatwaves. In some areas, there was less cloud cover, allowing more sunlight to hit the water. Elsewhere, weaker winds led to less mixing, causing warm water to stagnate.



Ocean currents also shifted from their usual patterns, further contributing to the buildup of heat.



Different places had different triggers. But they all added up to the same thing - oceans that stayed hot far too long.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signs-of-a-climate-tipping-point">Signs of a climate tipping point</h2>



"The 2023 MHWs may mark a fundamental shift in ocean-atmosphere dynamics, potentially serving as an early warning of an approaching tipping point in Earth’s climate system,” wrote the study authors.



A climate tipping point means crossing a threshold where the system can’t recover on its own. For the oceans, that could lead to more frequent heatwaves, collapsing food webs, and dwindling fish populations. 



And the impact won’t stay confined to the sea. Warmer oceans hold less oxygen, disrupt the exchange of heat and moisture with the atmosphere, and help drive extreme weather - affecting everything from storms and rainfall to droughts on land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-intensifying-impacts-of-a-warm-climate">Intensifying impacts of a warm climate </h2>



The extreme marine heatwaves of 2023 did not provide closure. They opened a floodgate of questions. 



According to the researchers, the 2023 events highlight the intensifying impacts of a warm climate and the challenges in understanding extreme events.



Scientists now face the urgent task of monitoring how often these events occur, how they evolve over time, and whether they’re becoming harder to reverse.



The current tools are not enough. They need higher-resolution data, faster processing, and models that can better predict these complex changes across different regions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tipping-point-for-the-climate">A tipping point for the climate</h2>



Policymakers, too, have work to do. They need access to clearer forecasts, localized ocean temperature warnings, and stronger coordination with climate scientists. Decision-making must move faster. 



Communities, especially those in coastal areas, cannot afford to wait. They must prepare for more frequent disruptions to fisheries, tourism, and marine ecosystems.



The ocean has long shielded us, absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat from global warming. But that protection isn’t limitless. In 2023, the ocean began to show the consequences of being pushed beyond its breaking point.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr0910" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Overheating oceans: Have we reached a climate tipping point?

The oceans did not behave normally in 2023. They got...

The "Iguanas from Above" project brought together nearly 14,000 volunteers to count endangered Galapagos marine iguanas. These reptiles, found only in the Galapagos Islands, are facing many threats. Counting them from the ground is difficult due to the inaccessible terrain.



To overcome this, researchers at <a href="https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leipzig University</a> launched a drone-based survey. They then invited the public to analyze these aerial images online. 



“This expands the role of citizen science, provides significant support for researchers, and offers a valuable opportunity to actively engage people in conservation topics,” noted Dr. Amy MacLeod, who leads the campaign.



This effort resulted in more than 1.3 million classifications across nearly 58,000 images. Each image was reviewed up to 30 times. The goal was not just participation but reliable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/iguanas-traveled-5000-miles-from-north-america-to-fiji/">population</a> estimates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-best-methods-for-counting-iguanas">Best methods for counting iguanas</h2>



To ensure reliability, scientists compared volunteer results with expert evaluations. A gold standard dataset of 4,345 images served as the benchmark. 



Volunteers achieved 68-94% detection accuracy. They were more likely to miss iguanas than to add extra individuals by mistake.



Rather than use a majority vote, the team applied a minimum threshold method. If five or more volunteers agreed on iguana presence, the count was accepted. This method improved accuracy, especially when images were complex or crowded.



Clustering methods, especially HDBSCAN, performed best for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-reptiles-are-more-colorful-in-open-habitats/">counting</a> iguanas. It grouped volunteer marks to identify individual iguanas more reliably than other approaches.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-accuracy-of-volunteer-counts">Accuracy of volunteer counts</h2>



The success of volunteer counts depended heavily on image quality. During the first project phase, drone images had poor focus and lighting. 



These issues led to frequent undercounting. Later phases used clearer images, which resulted in higher accuracy.



Volunteers had trouble distinguishing iguanas from dark volcanic rocks. This was especially true for small or well-camouflaged iguanas. When image quality was high, count differences between volunteers and experts narrowed considerably.



Even with better images, undercounting remained common. Researchers found that when many iguanas were in a single frame, volunteers often reported fewer than were actually there.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-made-people-join-or-quit">What made people join or quit</h2>



Not all volunteers contributed equally. Most submitted fewer than 50 classifications. But a small group, known as “super volunteers,” completed thousands. Some volunteers preferred staying anonymous, yet still showed high dedication.



Feedback from surveys revealed what discouraged participants. Blank images - photos without any iguanas - reduced motivation. Blurred images and difficult terrain also caused fatigue. Repetition made the task less engaging for some users.



Still, the volunteers’ dedication proved strong. One contributor analyzed every image in all three phases. Many were driven by the desire to help science rather than by any external rewards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-the-iguana-counts-reliable">Are the iguana counts reliable?</h2>



The research team tested whether removing inputs from anonymous or inexperienced users would improve results. They found it reduced the number of useful classifications and sometimes harmed accuracy.



While using more classifiers per image might seem helpful, it did not always increase reliability. The key was balancing quantity with quality and giving more weight to the counts of skilled participants.



The HDBSCAN method gave the most consistent results. It required fewer assumptions and handled spatial data better. It also offered a base for future machine learning models that could automate parts of the work.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-a-smarter-monitoring-system">Toward a smarter monitoring system</h2>



This project confirms that volunteers can help count iguanas, but still tend to undercount. The team plans to apply correction factors for future population estimates. They aim to use the data to update the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN Red List</a> and improve conservation plans.



They are also testing whether volunteers can identify reproductive behaviors, such as males in breeding colors or lekking sites. These insights could enrich understanding of marine iguana ecology.



Moving forward, the researchers will integrate machine learning into the workflow. AI models will be trained using volunteer data. These tools may help detect iguanas and filter out empty images. The hope is to create a semi-automated pipeline for faster and cheaper monitoring.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wider-impacts-and-future-vision">Wider impacts and future vision</h2>



This method could apply to other hard-to-monitor species in remote areas. Online platforms like <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zooniverse</a> show that people worldwide are eager to help <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-we-see-some-animals-as-more-human-than-others/">conservation</a> science.



The combination of drone surveys and crowdsourced analysis can reshape how we approach large-scale wildlife monitoring. According to the researchers, if experts alone had analyzed the images, it would have taken decades.



Now, with volunteer help and upcoming AI tools, they aim to complete a full population survey of the Galapagos marine iguana by 2026. The project is still live, and anyone can join to help protect this unique species.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-08381-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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People around the world are helping save Galapagos iguanas

The "Iguanas from Above" project brought together nearly 14,000 volunteers...

Hawaiian field crickets once relied on their mating calls to attract partners. Over recent decades, most males have lost this ability due to a mutation called “flatwing." The mutation changed the wing shape of males, silencing their songs. 



While this adaptation has helped the male crickets avoid a deadly parasitoid fly, the change has also reshaped their social interactions.



Previous research was focused on how the flatwing mutation affected male-male or male-female <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parasitic-crickets-hide-in-ant-colonies-without-being-caught/">dynamics</a>. But recently, attention has shifted to the less studied space of female-female interaction. 



A new study published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.1007" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</a> explores what happens between females when song disappears.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interactions-of-female-crickets">Interactions of female crickets </h2>



In animal behavior studies, researchers often focus on male competition or female mate choice. In non-social insects like crickets, female-female interactions have long been overlooked. 



Yet these interactions can influence mating patterns, reproductive strategies, and even evolutionary <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-juvenile-crickets-cannot-survive-the-strain-of-human-noise/">outcomes</a>. The new research highlights how females engage in social behavior beyond direct reproduction. 



Females in many species assess competitors, monitor social status, or respond to environmental cues. These patterns are complex and not limited to higher animals like primates or ants.



Crickets, although not social in the traditional sense, offer many opportunities for female interaction. Females often gather around calling males. This can lead to chance encounters, competition, or cooperation - depending on the context.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flatwing-affects-female-crickets-too">Flatwing affects female crickets too</h2>



The flatwing mutation only alters male wings but still influences females carrying it. Female carriers show changes in gene expression and physical condition. This suggests the mutation could influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/future-of-farming-insect-waste-reshapes-soil-health/">social behavior</a> indirectly.



The researchers, including study lead author Ana Drago, designed an experiment to explore this idea. They used pure-breeding lines of flatwing and normal-wing females. 



Pairs were matched or mismatched by genotype and observed under two conditions: presence or absence of male song.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-female-crickets-and-antennal-contact">Female crickets and antennal contact</h2>



Among all behaviors recorded, antennal contact was the most frequent. This gentle, investigative interaction involves using antennae to explore another cricket’s body. Females did this more often and for longer when male song was playing.



This pattern held even stronger when both females shared the same genotype. Flatwing pairs, in particular, showed a sharp rise in interaction under song. This suggests that both environmental and genetic factors shape social behavior.



"Intrasexual female social behavior was common, expressed by 86.5% of individuals. Females primarily engaged in antennal contact, which is reasonable to interpret as detection and assessment behavior," noted the study authors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-in-cricket-behavior">Changes in cricket behavior</h2>



Calling song is a key environmental signal. It can trigger phonotaxis (movement toward sound) and may raise general alertness. In the experiment, exposure to song led females to become more socially active.



This was not just a passive result of increased movement. Females maintained contact for longer durations, suggesting something more than mate search.



These interactions might help assess the partner’s condition or status. Chemical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-are-still-disappearing-and-there-are-hundreds-of-reasons-why/">cues</a>, such as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), could play a role here. CHCs provide information about maturity, health, and mating history in many insect species.



CHC profiles in T. oceanicus are sexually dimorphic. Females may use them to determine the sex and fitness of another individual. If song primes females to expect mates nearby, it makes sense they would increase social investigation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biting-and-mounting-are-rare">Biting and mounting are rare</h2>



Biting, a form of aggression, occurred in about 13% of female crickets. Song made biting more likely but did not increase its frequency. This suggests females escalate rarely, possibly only after extended interaction. 



Unlike males, females did not show pre-bite displays. They targeted legs and abdomens rather than heads.



Sexual behavior among two females was even rarer. Only two mounting attempts occurred, both under song and between same-genotype pairs. One was accepted. 



The low frequency may reflect the female’s stronger sex recognition or a lack of behavioral overlap with male courtship.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genes-and-song-shape-interaction">Genes and song shape interaction</h2>



The researchers also investigated indirect genetic effects and genotype-by-environment interactions - situations where one individual’s genetic makeup influences the behavior of another. 



In pairs with the flatwing genotype exposed to song, female behavior showed greater variability, indicating this genotype may be more socially sensitive.



This aligns with previous research showing increased plasticity in flatwing males. The song environment interacted with both the focal and partner genotype. Together, these shaped how much and how long females interacted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-female-crickets-affect-male-success">Female crickets affect male success</h2>



Flatwing males avoid parasitism by staying silent. But their success depends on female choice. If <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-dominance-in-primates-is-more-common-than-we-thought/">female behavior</a> changes based on genotype and social context, it may affect male survival indirectly.



"The reproductive success of flatwing males is inherently tied to female mate choice, which has been suggested to potentially be a stronger factor than flatwing satellite behavior in reducing parasitism risk," explained the researchers.



"It is therefore possible that female-female social behaviors indirectly influence parasitism risk, though this requires further study."



In dense populations, where female encounters are more frequent, these patterns could have a major impact. 



The silence that protects males may also reduce the social complexity among females, reshaping communication and competition across generations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-even-silent-crickets-stay-social">Even silent crickets stay social</h2>



Crickets may be quieter today, but their social worlds are not silent. Female-female cricket interactions, once ignored, now offer clues to how evolution plays out in subtle, indirect ways. 



By exploring these relationships, researchers uncover how behavior, genetics, and environment blend to shape even the smallest creatures’ lives.



"The results of this study urge that future research pays due attention to any sex that may be understudied in a given system. This is crucial to uncover intrasexual social, sexual and aggressive behaviors that may subsequently affect intersexual dynamics," concluded the researchers.



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When male crickets go silent: How females adapt and respond

Hawaiian field crickets once relied on their mating calls to...

The air we breathe may do more than harm our lungs - it could also be quietly raising our risk of dementia.



A global analysis of data from nearly 30 million people suggests that air pollution - particularly from vehicle exhaust - significantly increases the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-blood-test-can-track-the-progression-of-alzheimers/">Alzheimer’s</a> and vascular dementia.



Dementia currently affects over 57 million people. The number is projected to rise to almost 153 million by 2050. Although some areas such as Europe and North America are witnessing minor declines in prevalence, the global view is much less reassuring.



Researchers from the University of Cambridge’s <a href="https://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/">Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit</a> took a closer look at the connection between pollution and dementia. 



By combining results from 51 studies conducted across several continents - 34 of which qualified for meta-analysis - the experts were able to draw on a larger and more dependable data pool.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-pollutants-raise-dementia-risk">Which pollutants raise dementia risk?</h2>



The analysis focused on three major air pollutants: PM2.5, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-nitrogen-oxide-pollution-could-boost-crop-yields/">nitrogen dioxide</a> (NO₂), and soot. 



PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, consists of tiny particles small enough to reach deep into the lungs. These particles are generated by sources such as vehicle exhaust, industrial processes, wood burning, and construction dust.



Nitrogen dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, is commonly found in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vehicle-emissions-are-the-biggest-source-of-ammonia-pollution/">vehicle emissions</a> - especially from diesel engines. This gas is known to worsen asthma and reduce lung function.



Soot comes from sources like diesel exhaust and wood fires. It not only harms the environment but can also reach deep into the lungs, contributing to respiratory and heart problems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-air-pollution-s-role-in-dementia">Air pollution’s role in dementia</h2>



The findings were clear: for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³) increase in PM2.5, the relative risk of developing dementia rose by 17 percent. For the same increase in NO₂, the risk increased by three percent. 



For each 1 μg/m³ rise in soot, the relative dementia risk rose by 13 percent. To put that in context, in 2023, the average roadside PM2.5 level in Central London was 10 μg/m³ - the same amount linked to a 17% higher dementia risk. 



London’s average NO₂ level stood at 33 μg/m³. Roadside soot levels were 0.93 μg/m³ in London, 1.51 μg/m³ in Birmingham, and 0.65 μg/m³ in Glasgow.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tackling-air-pollution-for-public-health">Tackling air pollution for public health</h2>



“Epidemiological evidence plays a crucial role in allowing us to determine whether or not air pollution increases the risk of dementia and by how much,” said Dr. Haneen Khreis. 



“Our work provides further evidence to support the observation that long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution is a risk factor for the onset of dementia in previously healthy adults."



According to Dr. Khreis, tackling air pollution can deliver long-term health, social, climate, and economic benefits. "It can reduce the immense burden on patients, families, and caregivers, while easing pressure on overstretched healthcare systems.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-air-pollution-affect-the-brain">How does air pollution affect the brain?</h2>



The health impacts appear to go beyond just Alzheimer’s. The researchers found the association between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-of-people-die-from-air-pollution-each-year-yet-theres-still-a-lack-of-monitoring/">air pollution</a> and dementia was slightly stronger for vascular dementia, which is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. 



Around 180,000 people in the UK alone are affected by this type of dementia.



How does air pollution impact the brain? Researchers have identified several possible mechanisms.



The most widely supported theories involve inflammation and oxidative stress - both of which can damage cells, proteins, and even DNA. These processes are already linked to other chronic diseases. 



Pollutants may enter the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-air-pollution-impacts-brain-health/">brain</a> directly, or indirectly via the bloodstream, after first affecting the lungs or heart. Once in the brain, they can trigger the kind of inflammation known to contribute to dementia.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-equity-gap-in-air-pollution-studies">Equity gap in air pollution studies</h2>



The review also highlighted a gap in the current research: most of the studies were conducted in high-income countries and focused on predominantly white populations. 



This matters because marginalized communities often face higher exposure to pollution, yet they remain underrepresented in research.



“Efforts to reduce exposure to these key <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cutting-super-pollutants-could-quickly-cool-the-planet/">pollutants</a> are likely to help reduce the burden of dementia on society,” said study co-first author Clare Rogowski. 



“Stricter limits for several pollutants are likely to be necessary targeting major contributors such as the transport and industry sectors. Given the extent of air pollution, there is an urgent need for regional, national, and international policy interventions to combat air pollution equitably.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-environmental-fixes-to-fight-dementia">Environmental fixes to fight dementia</h2>



The team argues that solutions can’t just come from doctors or healthcare workers. Urban design, environmental policy, and transportation planning all play a role.



“These findings underscore the need for an interdisciplinary approach to dementia prevention,” said Dr. Christiaan Bredell. 



“Preventing dementia is not just the responsibility of healthcare: this study strengthens the case that urban planning, transport policy, and environmental regulation all have a significant role to play.”



The message is clear: reducing air pollution isn't just a public health priority - it’s a critical step toward protecting brain health on a global scale.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(25)00118-4/fulltext">The Lancet Planetary Health</a>.



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Air pollution confirmed as a major risk factor for dementia

The air we breathe may do more than harm our...

New satellite data reveals a troubling truth: since 2002, Earth’s continents are drying rapidly. This is not a temporary drought but a global reconfiguration of freshwater balance. Climate change, groundwater misuse, and long droughts have driven this shift.



A study led by <a href="https://www.asu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arizona State University</a> highlights four massive “mega-drying” zones in the Northern Hemisphere. The researchers analyzed over 22 years of data from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites.



They found that these drying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-only-has-six-continents-not-seven-tectonic-plates-under-iceland-study/">regions</a> are expanding by about 831,600 km² [321,000 sq mi] each year. That is roughly twice California’s size.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-groundwater-loss-and-drying-continents">Groundwater loss and drying continents</h2>



The study found a major imbalance. Dry zones are drying faster than wet zones are gaining water. Since 2014, dry extremes have surged, rising one million square miles per year in non-glaciated areas. This points to a major climate-driven tipping point linked to mega El Niño events.



About 75% of humanity, over 6 billion people, live in 101 countries that have lost freshwater since 2002. This overlap of population growth and freshwater <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/claim-earth-has-six-continents-not-seven-north-america-europe-connected/">decline</a> threatens global stability.



Groundwater accounts for 68% of the total land-based water loss. In drying regions, it now contributes more to sea level rise than Greenland’s glaciers. Surface <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-confirm-the-location-of-earths-missing-eighth-continent-zealandia/">water</a> (18%), soil moisture (9%), and snow water (5%) follow behind.



“These findings send perhaps the most alarming message yet about the impact of climate change on our water resources,” said Jay Famiglietti. “Continents are drying, freshwater availability is shrinking, and sea level rise is accelerating.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-four-huge-regions-are-drying">Four huge regions are drying</h2>



The study outlines four interconnected drying belts that now form vast, expanding zones of water loss across the Northern Hemisphere. In Northern Canada and Alaska, terrestrial <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ocean-animals-connect-countries-and-continents/">water</a> storage is declining at a rate of −0.34 inches per year, excluding glaciers.



Northern Russia follows with a drop of −0.16 inches per year, driven by permafrost thaw and ongoing droughts. Southwestern North America and Central America show a combined decline of −0.30 inches per year, affecting major urban centers like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.



The most severely impacted is the MENA and Pan Eurasia region, where the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin is losing −0.43 inches per year, and the Caspian and Aral Seas show an even steeper decline of −1.18 inches per year. What were once isolated hotspots have now merged into broad, continental-scale drying belts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dry-continents-are-raising-sea-levels">Dry continents are raising sea levels</h2>



Before 2014, most extreme drying occurred in the Southern Hemisphere. After 2014, the trend reversed. Most dry extremes now occur in the North and last longer. This flip aligns with the strongest El Niño event on record.



While wet regions have shrunk, the tropics remain the exception. Wetting continues near the equator but less than expected by IPCC climate models.



The land now contributes 44% of mass-driven sea level rise. This is more than Greenland or Antarctica. The annual contribution from drying non-glaciated land regions is 0.04 inches in sea level equivalent. Groundwater alone contributes 68% of that.



These changes are long-lasting. Over 62% of drying areas show trends persistent across 22 years. In contrast, many wetting trends are less robust and driven by temporary wet events.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-lost-faster-than-it-can-be-replaced">Water lost faster than it can be replaced</h2>



Regions already facing water stress, like the Indus Basin, North China Plain, and Central Valley, now experience 10% or more annual water loss compared to their renewable supply. Half of the world’s major aquifers are depleting fast.



Groundwater systems are like ancient trust funds. Once drained, they cannot be restored in human timeframes.



"It is striking how much non-renewable water we are losing," said Hrishikesh A. Chandanpurkar, lead author of the study and a research scientist at ASU.



"Glaciers and deep groundwater are sort of ancient trust funds. Instead of using them only in times of need such as a prolonged drought, we are taking them for granted. Also, we are not trying to replenish the groundwater systems during wet years and thus edging towards an imminent freshwater bankruptcy."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-global-wake-up-call">A global wake-up call</h2>



Famiglietti warns that continuing this path will undermine food and water security for billions. But there is a path forward.



“This research matters. It clearly shows that we urgently need new policies and groundwater management strategies on a global scale,” noted Famiglietti.



Urgent actions must focus on reducing groundwater overuse, boosting recharge, and protecting aquifers. Coordinated international efforts could slow drying and reduce sea level rise.



The findings from this study will inform an upcoming World Bank report on the water crisis. It will offer practical solutions to governments facing water scarcity.



Until then, the message is clear. Earth’s continents are drying. Water is vanishing faster than nature can replace it. The time to act is now.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx0298" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Vanishing freshwater: Earth's continents are rapidly drying out

New satellite data reveals a troubling truth: since 2002, Earth’s...

Female gorillas adjust their aggression depending on their needs and group structure. This finding comes from a 25-year-long study by Nikolaos Smit and Martha Robbins. 



The research shows that female gorillas use simple but flexible rules, called aggression heuristics, based on risk and social dynamics.



"Animals that live in groups often compete for access to resources such as food and mates. The potential costs of this competition can drive the formation of hierarchies that determine priority of access to resources without superfluous conflicts," wrote the study authors. 



"Accordingly, individuals may choose strategically who they compete with, in order to minimize costs and maximize gains."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pregnant-gorillas-take-more-risks">Pregnant gorillas take more risks</h2>



The study includes data from five wild gorilla <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gorillas-are-digging-for-a-surprising-food-in-the-jungle-soil/">groups</a> across Gabon and Uganda. The researchers found that most aggression comes from higher-ranking females targeting those just below them. However, 42% of aggression was aimed upward, toward more powerful females.



"Aggression, a proxy for competition, tends to increase when resources are limited and is usually directed toward lower-ranking individuals but can vary toward groupmates of different ranks, and variation is observed even within species," said lead author Nikos Smit from the <a href="https://www.utu.fi/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Turku</a>.



Pregnant and lactating females showed more aggression toward higher-ranking groupmates. Among them, females in their third trimester took the most risk. These reproductive states require more energy, which may drive these females to act more boldly, especially when food is scarce.



Interestingly, lactating females, despite higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-gorillas-get-sick-from-being-too-social/">energy needs</a>, were less aggressive toward powerful rivals than pregnant ones. This may reflect caution to protect their infants from retaliation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gorilla-aggression-and-risky-behaviors">Gorilla aggression and risky behaviors </h2>



Group makeup plays a big role in aggression direction. Female gorillas living in groups with more adult males tended to direct aggression toward more dominant females. This might be because male presence offers a protective buffer and reduces retaliation risks.



In contrast, in groups with more females, aggression was usually aimed downward. With more competition, females might prefer safer confrontations with weaker individuals.



These results show how gorillas balance risk and reward. "Overall, our results confirm that an individual's circumstantial needs and their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-endangered-primate-species-identified-in-new-report/">social</a> environment may influence individual decisions to engage in more risky behaviors such as aggression toward more powerful groupmates," said study senior author Martha Robbins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-weak-gorillas-use-light-aggression">Weak gorillas use light aggression</h2>



The researchers analyzed 6,871 aggressive interactions. Mild forms of aggression, such as vocalizations or vegetation pulling, were more common in upward aggression. Severe aggression, such as hitting or biting, was less frequent but present across the board.



The team quantified each aggressive act using a score. This score measured the difference in rank between the aggressor and the target. A high positive score meant a low-ranking female attacked a high-ranking one. A negative score meant aggression went down the hierarchy.



Mild aggression had higher average scores. This shows females prefer safer, non-escalating tactics when confronting stronger groupmates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gorillas-adjust-aggression-to-the-situation">Gorillas adjust aggression to the situation</h2>



This study reveals that female gorillas follow simple rules when managing conflict. These rules change with the number of males and females in the group, reproductive status, and other social factors.



The authors highlight that such flexible aggression strategies may not just apply to gorillas. Other species, including humans, may also shift behavior based on risk, reward, and group dynamics.



Their work adds to growing evidence showing that social animals, like gorillas, make strategic decisions. They do not just follow fixed species-wide instincts. Instead, they adapt based on the challenges they face.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-research-transparency-and-broader-impact">Research transparency and broader impact</h2>



This study not only opens new questions about the evolution of social rules in primates but also makes its <a href="https://gitlab.com/nksmt/GorillaHeuristics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data and code</a> public.



Funded by <a href="https://www.mpg.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Society</a> and several global conservation groups, this research highlights how long-term behavioral monitoring helps us understand animal societies and perhaps our own.



"Our study provides critical insights into the evolution of competitive behavior, showing that aggression heuristics, the simple rules that animals use to guide their aggressive interactions, are not simply species-specific but also dependent on the conditions that populations and individuals experience," noted the researchers.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/107093v2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eLife</a>.



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Gorillas adjust their aggression based on risk and reward

Female gorillas adjust their aggression depending on their needs and...

The Moon faces a constant spray of charged particles from the Sun, yet it keeps a whisper thin envelope of atoms swirling above its dusty plains. 



Two rival explanations, blasts from micrometeorites and the steady pickoff from the solar wind, have battled for decades.



New experiments with Apollo 16 samples now show that sunlight’s particle stream is far less efficient at stripping atoms than assumed, reshaping the story of how the Moon maintains its scant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-meteorites-provide-a-window-into-the-early-solar-system/">atmosphere</a>. The finding forces scientists to rethink long-held estimates of erosion rates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-moon-dust">A new look at Moon dust</h2>



Professor Friedrich Aumayr of the Institute of Applied Physics at <a href="https://www.tuwien.at/en/phy/iap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TU Wien</a> led the new study, which drilled into the physics of ion bombardment. His team combined lunar dust tests with detailed computer models to expose hidden quirks in the rock’s texture.



Earlier models treated the surface of the Moon as a smooth glassy slab, so every incoming particle knocked something loose. 



Real lunar soil is a messy mix of sharp grains and tiny gaps, making it hard for ions to travel. Instead of blasting atoms into space, they bounce around and quickly lose energy.



That nuance matters because the team measured sputter yields up to ten times lower than the textbook value, a shift great enough to topple decades of balance sheets. It means a smaller share of the exosphere comes from ion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-earth-got-its-water-meteorite-reveals-surprising-new-clues/">impacts</a> than models predicted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solar-wind-doesn-t-remove-much-dust">Solar wind doesn’t remove much dust</h2>



In space science slang, sputtering is the ping pong ejection of atoms when fast ions strike a surface. The effect shapes everything from comet tails to Europa’s glow, yet its efficiency depends on the microscopic landscape it meets and has proven devilishly hard to pin down.



“Using a specially developed quartz crystal microbalance, we were able to measure the mass loss of lunar material due to ion bombardment with extremely high accuracy,” said Johannes Brötzner, lead author of the study. 



Researchers bombarded Apollo grains with helium ions at roughly 135 miles per second, mirroring average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meteorite-from-the-moon-tells-a-detailed-story-about-lunar-volcanoes/">solar</a> wind speeds.&nbsp;



The experiment fed into 3D models that traced every collision inside the dust’s labyrinth. Most ions got trapped, so only about 0.01 atoms escaped per helium ion - a much lower sputter yield.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moon-s-atmosphere-comes-from-dust">Moon’s atmosphere comes from dust</h2>



The lower yield dovetails with a 2024 isotopic study that analyzed potassium and rubidium in Apollo samples and declared micrometeorite impacts the main gas supplier. 



Independent agreement between laboratories using such different tools is rare in planetary science and strengthens the verdict.



Together, the papers imply that tiny dust bullets vaporize far more material than the solar wind can sputter during quiet solar periods. Impact vaporization also lofts atoms with lower energies, matching density patterns recorded by NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/ladee/in-depth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LADEE</a> orbiter during its 2013-2014 mapping campaign.&nbsp;



Shelf life estimates now show that the exosphere would bleed away in just a few lunar days if micrometeorites paused, confirming how transient each atom really is. 



The result gives mission planners an environmental baseline for predicting dust behavior around future landers and rovers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-future-missions">Lessons for future missions</h2>



The timing is handy for NASA’s Artemis campaign, which aims to send astronauts to the lunar south pole later this decade. 



Accurate erosion rates help engineers judge how solar arrays, optical sensors, and habitat seals will fare during prolonged stays under relentless particle weather.



A better grasp of sputtering also guides remote sensing, because instruments that sniff sodium or helium must subtract the solar wind component before inferring recent impacts. Without that correction, mission scientists could mistake a quiet patch of sky for a lull in incoming dust.



The same physics applies beyond the Moon. When ESA and JAXA’s BepiColombo probe begins full science operations at Mercury in 2027, its instruments will need to separate signals from both sputtering and impacts. 



The new sputter yield curve will help scientists translate those signals into details about Mercury’s surface chemistry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-moon-s-dynamic-atmosphere">The Moon's dynamic atmosphere</h2>



By trimming the solar wind contribution, the study revises timelines for how quickly space weather alters the Moon’s atmosphere, darkens surface dust, and erases tracks or tool marks.



Equipment left by Apollo crews may thus last longer unaltered, offering historians and tourists clearer snapshots of early human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-meteorites-can-be-traced-to-three-asteroid-families/">exploration</a> on future visits.



Solar storms can boost ion levels 100-fold, making sputtering briefly dominant again. Tracking those surges will be a task for upcoming CubeSats that hitch rides on Artemis rockets, offering real time context for surface experiments.



Aumayr is already eyeing similar tests with dust from volcanic mare regions to see whether glassy beads behave differently. His group is also adapting the setup for icy terrain, which could refine erosion estimates for moons like Europa and Enceladus.



“Our study provides the first realistic, experimentally validated sputtering yields for actual lunar rock,” said Aumayr. Planetary scientists outside the project are taking note, saying the work turns a page in space weather textbooks.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02546-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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Apollo samples reveal what really created the Moon’s atmosphere

The Moon faces a constant spray of charged particles from...

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is nearly 80 miles wide, making it the largest glacier in the world by width. If it collapses entirely, the resulting changes could raise global sea levels. Scientists are racing to understand the forces at work before it’s too late.



To better understand how this could unfold, researchers developed a new way to study the cracks - or fractures - that weaken the massive ice shelves connected to glaciers. 



These shelves float on the ocean, but they’re anchored to land. When they fracture and collapse, they speed up the melting of the glacier behind them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-antarctic-glacier-nears-its-breaking-point">Antarctic glacier nears its breaking point</h2>



Using years of NASA satellite data, the team focused on vertical fractures in the Antarctic ice sheet - the largest on the planet, even though it’s losing about 136 billion tons of ice each year. 



Their attention was on the Thwaites Ice Shelf, a critical extension of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-the-future-behavior-of-thwaites-the-doomsday-glacier/">Thwaites</a> Glacier in West Antarctica.



Often called the “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/doomsday-glacier-may-collapse-sooner-than-we-thought/">Doomsday Glacier</a>” for its potential to raise sea levels by up to 11 feet, Thwaites is especially vulnerable. The ice shelf acts like a stopper, slowing the glacier’s flow into the ocean. If that shelf collapses, it could trigger a chain reaction of rapid ice loss.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-how-fractures-form">Rethinking how fractures form</h2>



The new method was developed by a research team at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penn State University</a>. Their findings zero in on how fractures form and evolve in ice shelves - and why existing models aren’t enough.



Shujie Wang is an assistant professor of geography, a faculty associate in the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, and a co-author of the study.



“We know little about fractures, and their behavior is much more complex than conventional models suggest,” she said. “Conventional models depend largely on simplified models and scarce, hard-to-obtain field observations.”



The Thwaites Ice Shelf is particularly unstable. It changes quickly, its surface is heavily fractured, and the ice flows at a fast pace. 



Researchers describe it as a final barrier that keeps the rest of the glacier from disintegrating.



Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State and co-author of the study, offered this analogy: “We’ve seen ice shelves break off, but we’ve never seen one grow back."



"This new research indicates we can predict better the point at which these will break off. It’s helping to establish the early-warning signals.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-resolution-views-of-ice-breaking">High-resolution views of ice breaking</h2>



To capture the changes in the ice shelf’s structure, the research team used data from NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite. It collected measurements between 2018 and 2024.



This satellite tracks ice elevation, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-much-will-antarctica-contribute-to-sea-level-rise/">sea level</a>, and other Earth features with remarkable precision.



The team built a new two-step process to analyze the satellite data. It lets them create high-resolution elevation profiles and visual cross-sections of fractures in the ice. 



Building on a previous algorithm Wang had designed to detect individual cracks, the new method gives researchers a better view of how different types of fractures form and evolve over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-antarctica-s-glacier-instability-feeds-on-itself">Antarctica’s glacier instability feeds on itself</h2>



The findings showed that the eastern section of the Thwaites Ice Shelf has more aggressive fracturing, while the western side appears more stable. The cause of that difference isn’t clear yet.



But the researchers pointed to several possible factors. These included warmer winter temperatures, less sea ice, and shifting ocean currents beneath the shelf. Further research is needed to know for sure.



As fractures spread, the ice flows faster. In Antarctica, that creates more cracks, which leads to more instability - a feedback loop that can push parts of the glacier past the point of no return.



“We believe that if the Thwaites Glacier gets very unstable, it will have catastrophic consequences,” Wang said. “It’s an important area to be studied, to say what’s going to change next.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-from-a-glacier-lost">Lessons from a glacier lost</h2>



This latest work builds on a 2023 study led by Wang that looked at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evidence-of-massive-ancient-icebergs-found-off-the-coast-of-britain/">Larsen B</a> Ice Shelf, which collapsed in 2002. 



That shelf, about 1,250 square miles in size, broke apart over just five weeks after years of weakening due to warmer air and ocean temperatures.



Back then, models didn’t catch the warning signs. Now, with this new method, researchers have better tools to predict when and where these breaks might happen.



While older approaches relied heavily on theory, the new system offers observations and data that can feed into more accurate models. Over time, the researchers hope this will lead to stronger predictions about how Antarctic ice is changing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tool-to-predict-ice-collapse">A tool to predict ice collapse</h2>



To support ongoing and future research, Zhengrui Huang, a doctoral candidate in geography and co-author of the paper, pulled together satellite data from more than 40 Antarctic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hidden-threat-lurking-in-antarcticas-ice-shelves/">ice shelves</a>. 



That dataset includes 3D information about fracture locations and depths - a potential goldmine for scientists working to understand ice dynamics.



“We expect this will be a key observational dataset of fractures for researchers who study and model Antarctic ice-shelf dynamics,” Huang said.



By sharing this data as an open resource, the team hopes to accelerate discoveries and sharpen predictions. The researchers also aim to help the world better understand what's at stake if massive glaciers like Thwaites keep crumbling.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JF008118" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface</a>.



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Glacier in Antarctica that could drown cities is breaking apart

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is nearly 80 miles...

A fossil dug up during the Civil War has spent more than a century mislabeled. Once thought to be a seaworm, it turns out the creature is something entirely different - and far more important.



It’s called Palaeocampa anthrax. And according to scientists at the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a>, it may be the first known member of its group to make the jump from sea to land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-sitting-in-a-museum-drawer">Fossil sitting in a museum drawer</h2>



The fossil was sitting in a drawer at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Richard J. Knecht, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Michigan, decided to take a closer look. 



What Knecht saw didn’t match the label. The creature wasn’t a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millipede-legs-grow-in-an-unexpected-way/">millipede</a>, or a caterpillar, or even a worm. It was a lobopod.



Lobopods are soft-bodied invertebrates that look like worms with legs. They’re considered ancestors of all arthropods - insects, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rethinking-arachnid-evolution-the-surprising-history-of-spiders/">spiders</a>, and crustaceans. Until now, they were believed to be purely marine animals that lived over 500 million years ago.



But this fossil tells a different story. "This is the first evidence that we have that this group actually did leave the ocean," Knecht said. "Transitioning from a saltwater environment, even to a freshwater environment, is a major evolutionary step." 



"Any time you find a group that made this transition, it's not just insightful, it's really important evolutionarily to try to understand how this happened." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-misidentified-for-over-a-century">Misidentified for over a century</h2>



Since it was first discovered, this lobopod fossil has been misclassified multiple times. Photos of it have appeared in scientific studies, but no one realized what it truly was.



"When the specimen was first discovered, lobopods didn't even exist as a group," said Knecht. "This is an example of why revisiting older specimens can be of real value." 



"Even specimens that are iconic and super well known provide an opportunity to make big discoveries just by viewing them with new techniques and fresh perspectives." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-all-came-down-to-the-spines">It all came down to the spines</h2>



This particular lobopod doesn’t look like much at first glance. It resembles a fuzzy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-caterpillars-defend-their-territory-without-a-fight/">caterpillar</a>, with tiny spines and bristles running down its body.



But when examined more closely, it stands apart from other lobopods. Most lobopodian spines grow in a pattern like stacked cones. Palaeocampa anthrax’s spines don’t. They’re segmented like bamboo, each one ending in a flat, turret-like tip.



Then came the real surprise: orange halos around the tips of the spines. That unusual feature led the team to ask a new question - was this lobopod fossil leaving behind a chemical clue?



To answer that, Knecht teamed up with Nanfang Yu, a physicist at Columbia University. Using infrared spectroscopy, they found fossilized molecules at the tips of the spines. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-defense-strategy-suits-dry-ground">Defense strategy suits dry ground</h2>



These molecules weren’t found anywhere else on the lobopod fossil or the surrounding rock. This pointed to a startling possibility: the creature might have secreted chemicals from the tips of its spines - possibly for defense.



"If I were to place a chip on the table, I'd say this organism was probably more terrestrial or amphibious, specifically because of that tip. It makes more sense in an aerial rather than a subaqueous environment," Knecht said.



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/divers-discovered-tiny-sea-creatures-clavelina-that-resemble-swimming-panda-bear-skeletons/">sea creatures</a> with spines use them to inject toxins. But if a defense mechanism simply leaks from the tip, it wouldn't work well underwater. It would just wash away. That kind of system makes a lot more sense on land or near land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-long-shot-fossil-find">A long shot fossil find</h2>



Finding a soft-bodied fossil like this is rare. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-noise-can-be-fatal-to-marine-invertebrates/">Invertebrates</a> don’t have bones, and their bodies decompose fast. To preserve one, it must die in just the right conditions - usually in oxygen-poor water with fine sediment that covers the body almost immediately.



That’s what makes sites like Mazon Creek in Illinois and Montceau-les-Mines in France so valuable. These sites, known as Lagerstätten, preserve fossils in exceptional detail. And that’s where Palaeocampa anthrax was found.



The fossil is one of only two lobopods from the Carboniferous period. It's also the youngest known example of its kind - and potentially the first to show evidence of life outside the sea.



"It's like winning the lottery not once, but three times. First, that the site existed at all; second, to have this level of preservation; and third, to then find it over 300 million years later," Knecht said. "It's a series of statistical miracles."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-fossil-matters">Why this fossil matters</h2>



This fossil does more than correct a case of mistaken identity. It shows that lobopods - some of the earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frozen-worm-comes-back-to-life-after-46000-years/">ancestors</a> of insects and spiders - may have begun exploring land far earlier than anyone thought.



It also proves the value of looking at old things in new ways. A mislabeled fossil, sitting in a drawer for 150 years, just rewrote a chapter of life’s story on Earth.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08483-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Biology</a>.



Image Credit: Richard J. Knecht



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Forgotten fossil is reshaping the theory of evolution on land

A fossil dug up during the Civil War has spent...

Lightning jolts the sky and the ground around eight million times daily, but the quiet deaths it causes in forests remain mostly out of sight. A recent study now estimates that about 320 million individual trees succumb to direct lightning damage every single year.



“We’re now able not only to estimate how many trees die from lightning strikes annually, but also to identify the regions most affected and assess the implications for global carbon storage and forest structure,” said Andreas Krause from the Technical University of Munich (<a href="https://www.tum.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TUM</a>).



The team calculated that these silent strikes account for roughly 2 to 3 percent of all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-is-zapping-forests-harder-than-we-thought/">plant</a> biomass lost annually, and end up causing the emission of up to 1.09 billion tons of carbon dioxide as the dead wood decays.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning-kills-trees-silently">Lightning kills trees silently</h2>



Forest pathologists often miss a lightning hit because the bark scars fade fast or never appear at all. Ground surveys in Central Panama were among the first to reveal how often a single bolt can kill multiple neighbors, especially among the biggest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-species-face-unprecedented-climate-shifts-across-their-ranges/">trunks</a>.



The follow-up work at the same site showed lightning is responsible for about 40 percent of large-tree deaths, which is more than those caused by storms or insects in that forest. This finding hinted that global numbers could be far larger than the few local case studies suggested.



Direct counts alone could not scale to the whole planet, so the Munich group turned to modeling. They stitched satellite maps of lightning frequency with on-the-ground mortality rates and fed the mix into a dynamic global vegetation model that tracks how simulated trees grow and die.



Technicians now fly drones fitted with thermal sensors above tree-fall zones, watching for lingering heat that betrays an invisible bolt. These surveys confirm that many lightning deaths would go uncounted by ground crews alone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-and-how-lightning-kills-trees">Where and how lightning kills trees</h2>



The model, LPJ-GUESS, already simulates the impacts of fires, droughts, and logging. By adding a lightning module, the researchers let virtual strikes hit the tallest simulated stems first, mirroring the real preference of bolts for sky-piercing crowns.



The team ran the system with two independent lightning data sets, one from NASA satellites and another from a worldwide sensor network, to check robustness. The two runs agreed within about ten percent, landing on the headline figure of 320 million tree deaths in a year.



To test realism, they compared the virtual Panama plot with years of tagged trees and found the model killed roughly three trees per strike, close to field counts. That match gave the team confidence to push the simulation out to every half-degree grid square on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-are-part-of-the-climate-solution-but-not-the-whole-answer/">Earth</a>.



In the output maps, the hottest kill zones stretch across the Congo Basin, northern South America, and Indonesia, where warm, moist air fires up thunderstorms almost year-round. Temperate forests mattered less for now, but the model hints that their share could climb as the climate warms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tall-trees-die-more-often">Tall trees die more often</h2>



The risk rises with height because taller trunks act like living lightning rods. Among trees wider than two feet (0.6 meters) across, lightning can account for one in 20 deaths worldwide, and nearly one in ten inside some African rainforests.



Losing a big canopy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smarter-forest-design-can-help-fight-climate-change/">tree</a> does more than thin the skyline. Each one packs about as much carbon as dozens of saplings, and shapes the light and humidity for everything growing beneath.



In tropical forests thick with lianas, the vines can even conduct electricity between neighboring trunks, which widens the kill radius. Such botanical wiring partly explains why a single discharge can fell clusters rather than lone stems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning-and-global-carbon-emissions">Lightning and global carbon emissions</h2>



Forests hold around 870 billion tons of carbon in their wood and soil. Each year, living trees pull another 2.4 billion tons out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis. 



Losing even two to three percent of that <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2024/nrs_2024_pan_001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon</a> stock every year is no minor loss - it matches the emissions released by burning live vegetation in wildfires.



The model calculates that lightning-killed wood releases as much carbon each year as the entire aviation industry. Most of that release happens slowly, as fungi and insects break down trunks that never burned.



Carbon accountants therefore need to track these non-fire disturbances, as well as considering the megafires that make headlines. Skipping them could underestimate natural greenhouse-gas sources as weather patterns shift.



Lightning does not always burn its victims, so the carbon flows into the atmosphere mostly as slow respiration, not smoke. That timeline complicates satellite assessments that rely on sudden fire scars.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-change-may-increase-lightning">Climate change may increase lightning </h2>



Warmer air holds more moisture and energy, and climate <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1259100" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">models</a> suggest United States lightning strikes may jump about 12 percent for every degree of global warming. 



Translated across the century, that projection means roughly 50 percent more flashes over mid-latitude lands.



Other research predicts fewer bolts in some tropical zones, showing the uncertainty that scientists still face. Even so, the new study underlines that any regional upswing could slice into forest carbon budgets that policymakers count on.



More strikes also raise the chance of wildfires, compounding the direct kills tallied here. Lightning already sparks most remote boreal fires, and an increase in strikes would lengthen the northern burning season.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-trees-with-better-tools">Tracking trees with better tools</h2>



The authors note that their numbers omit hidden knock-on effects, such as insects invading scarred trunks or delayed deaths that follow partial damage. 



Field crews armed with drones and lightning sensors could fill that data gap and sharpen future models.



“Most climate models project an increase in lightning frequency in the coming decades, so it’s worth paying closer attention to this largely overlooked disturbance,” said Krause. For now, the modeling exercise offers a first global baseline that forest managers can incorporate into planning.&nbsp;



From carbon budgets to conservation goals, adding silent lightning mortality changes the arithmetic. Knowing how many trees fall from lightning makes it easier to keep the planet’s living green ledger in the black.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70312">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Lightning-struck trees release as much carbon as the aviation industry

Lightning jolts the sky and the ground around eight million...

The Arctic winter has changed. A season once defined by deep freeze and solid snow is now marked by rain, melting ice, and even patches of green.



On a research trip to the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in February 2025, scientists were not met by deep snow and biting cold - but by puddles, blooming tundra, and rain. This isn’t just a freak event - it’s a sign of something bigger.



The researchers, affiliated with <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> and several European institutions, have published a commentary that describes what they witnessed during their latest winter field campaign.



The findings confirm what climate models have warned about for years: Arctic winters are warming fast, and the shift is reshaping the entire environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-disrupts-arctic-winter">Warming disrupts Arctic winter</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/image/svalbard-melts-into-the-arctic-ocean/">Svalbard</a> is warming six to seven times faster than the global average. Winter temperatures in the region are rising nearly twice as fast as those in other seasons.



This means the deep freeze once expected in January and February is giving way to strange, disruptive thaws.



“Standing in pools of water at the snout of the glacier, or on bare, green <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-changing-tundra-landscapes-affect-earths-climate/">tundra</a>, was shocking and surreal,” said Dr. James Bradley. "The thick snowpack covering the landscape vanished within days. The gear I packed felt like a relic from another climate.”



His team had prepared for subzero temperatures. They packed heavy gloves, insulated clothing, and snowmobiles. But they ended up working barehanded in the rain, on a glacier.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-snow-replaced-by-rain">Snow replaced by rain</h2>



Laura Molares Moncayo, a Ph.D. student at Queen Mary and the Natural History Museum, had was on a mission to study freshly fallen snow.



“But over a two-week period, we were only able to collect fresh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/secrets-of-snow-complexity-can-improve-winter-safety/">snow</a> once, as most of the precipitation fell as rain,” she said. 



"The unexpected melt not only disrupted our sampling plan, but also made us question how safe or feasible winter fieldwork really is under such rapidly changing conditions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-thaw-is-now-routine">Arctic thaw is now routine</h2>



Scientists have long predicted that the Arctic would <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warm faster</a> than the rest of the planet. What shocked this team was how quickly those predictions are turning into everyday reality.



When air temperatures rise above 0°C (32°F), even briefly, it changes everything. Meltwater pools form on top of frozen ground. Temporary lakes spread. Snow cover vanishes. Once-barren tundra starts blooming weeks or months too early. 



These changes don’t just make it harder to do science - they trigger a ripple effect across entire ecosystems.



Microbial carbon cycling is disrupted. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-is-no-longer-permanent-arctic-communities-in-danger/">Permafrost</a> starts to thaw. Greenhouse gases that were once locked underground begin to escape. Some of these effects reinforce warming, and set off feedback loops that could speed things up even more.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-winter-matters-for-everyone">Arctic winter matters for everyone</h2>



The team’s commentary doesn’t just describe strange weather. It calls attention to the broader risks - especially for Indigenous Arctic communities, whose infrastructure and emergency systems were never built for rain and floods in mid-winter.



It also warns that climate research itself is at risk. Equipment designed for snow and ice can fail when surrounded by slush and water.



Snowmobiles can’t get through to field sites. Emergency escape plans rely on frozen terrain. And researchers, already under pressure to capture rare seasonal data, may be forced to pause fieldwork or pull out entirely.



“Climate policy must catch up to the reality that the Arctic is changing much faster than expected, and winter is at the heart of that shift,” said Dr. Bradley.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-change-demands-readiness">Arctic change demands readiness</h2>



The authors stress that more investment is needed in Arctic monitoring during winter. Right now, there's a dangerous gap in both data and understanding of what’s happening during this fast-changing season.



They argue that policymakers need to shift from reacting to events after they happen to planning for them ahead of time.



Even well-funded research stations are struggling to operate in these new conditions. If that’s the case, what happens to small, remote communities that rely on snow roads, frozen rivers, or ice-based hunting grounds?



“We are still unaware of the consequences that these recurring events are bringing to Arctic ecosystems, especially during the winter period,” said Donato Giovannelli, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Naples Federico II.



“We might have been too cautious with our messages. Irreversible changes to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-climate-will-permanently-change-by-2050-scientists-warn/">Arctic climate</a> are happening in front of our own eyes.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60926-8">Nature Communications</a>.



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Arctic winters are starting to look more like spring

The Arctic winter has changed. A season once defined by...

Up to now, scientists have followed sharks, turtles, and even albatrosses by strapping recorders to their bodies, yet most rays have slipped through that technological net. 



Biologging - attaching tiny sensors that record movement, sound, and surroundings - has thrived in other species, but rays’ smooth skin and fin-like bodies limited most attempts to just a few hours.



The whitespotted eagle ray, a six and a half foot wide coastal predator, is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42564343/2924463" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a>). 



Dr. Matt Ajemian of Florida Atlantic University’s <a href="https://www.fau.edu/hboi/">Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute</a> led a team that finally built a tag that can track rays for up to 60 hours.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-eagle-rays-are-hard-to-track">Why eagle rays are hard to track</h2>



Studying rays in the wild is tougher than tracking sharks. Their flat bodies lack a sturdy dorsal fin for clamps, and their skin feels almost velvety, so adhesives and darts fail fast.



Many species migrate across reefs, lagoons, and shipping lanes, meaning any tag must survive swift turns and strong cross currents.



Fieldwork is further hampered by conservation rules that limit handling time, leaving researchers mere seconds to attach equipment.



Because of these hurdles, less than ten published studies have reported fine scale behavior of pelagic rays, compared with hundreds of sharks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-new-tag-works">How the new tag works</h2>



The Harbor Branch team nested a camera, motion sensors, <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/hydrophone.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hydrophone</a>, satellite pinger, and acoustic beacon inside a package smaller than a paperback and lighter than one pound.



Silicone suction cups hold the tag to the ray’s head, but the breakthrough was a soft strap that loops through the animal’s spiracles, the small breathing holes behind each eye, adding grip without piercing skin.



“Our goal was to create a system that could be applied in seconds, stay on during natural behaviors, and collect rich, multi dimensional data,” said Ajemian. Attachment now takes about eight seconds on a gently restrained ray.&nbsp;



In sea trials off Bermuda, ten tagged rays kept their devices for an average of 21 hours, and one individual carried it 59.2 hours, three times longer than previous ray tags.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-eagle-rays-do-underwater">What eagle rays do underwater</h2>



Video showed the fish cruising over seagrass, coral rubble, sand flats, and reef ledges - dives that matched depth readings down to 72 feet.



“We’ve shown that complex behaviors, like the crunching of clams, can be identified using sound and movement data alone, even without video,” noted doctoral researcher Cecilia Hampton. 



Audio captured the distinct crack of crushed clams, confirming feeding bouts even when the camera switched off to save battery. Motion logs revealed rhythmic wingbeats while swimming and chaotic bursts during bottom digging before prey capture.



The tag also filmed brief meetings with other eagle rays and a curious barracuda, hinting at social and predator prey links that surface observers rarely see.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-reads-ray-movements">AI reads ray movements</h2>



Every second, the tag’s accelerometer and gyroscope, parts of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), recorded 50 data points per axis.



A supervised Random Forest model trained on one ray’s footage correctly labeled “swimming” 99.6 percent of the time and picked out “browsing” and “digging” behaviors with useful accuracy.



Similar machine learning approaches already classify accelerometer data in cattle and narwhals, showing the method scales across species.



As training libraries grow, future tags may drop the camera entirely, extending battery life while still logging every clam crunch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saving-endangered-eagle-rays">Saving endangered eagle rays</h2>



Eagle rays help control conch and clam populations, yet bycatch, coastal construction, and targeted fisheries have pushed <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/19/2024-08340/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-whitespotted-eagle-ray" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">numbers</a> down 50 to 79 percent in three decades.



Knowing where and when rays feed lets managers draw smarter no take zones and adjust dredging schedules to avoid peak foraging periods.



The new tags revealed long stays around inlet passes, data that could guide boat speed limits in those hotspots.



They also showed night time visits to shellfish farms, backing earlier acoustic surveys that hinted at after dark foraging on cultured clams.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-tracking-eagle-rays">What’s next for tracking eagle rays</h2>



Slimmer sensor suites and longer life releases could turn rays into mobile habitat monitors, sampling noise, temperature, and water quality across coastal grids.



Other smooth skinned species, such as cownose rays and manta rays, share similar spiracle shapes, so minor tweaks may spread the method throughout the family and even to small sandbar skates.



Biologging on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-80744-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bluefin tuna</a> recently recorded a dramatic orca attack, proving that tags can chronicle entire food web interactions.



Combining these broader community insights with the new ray data could finally reveal how predators, prey, and habitats interact along tropical coastlines.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://animalbiotelemetry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40317-025-00416-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Animal Biotelemetry</a>.



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Tracking endangered rays: A new chapter in marine conservation

Up to now, scientists have followed sharks, turtles, and even...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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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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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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