Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still leaving space for wildlife? A new proposal says they can.



By setting aside one-fifth of farmland for nature, and tweaking everyday practices on the rest, we can help wildlife recover without sacrificing the food on our tables.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farming-with-wildlife-in-mind">Farming with wildlife in mind</h2>



The plan comes from ecologists at the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> and the University of Alcalá in Spain. Study co-author Professor James Bullock elaborated on the importance of the research.



“Reversing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-calls-for-global-change-to-stop-biodiversity-loss/">biodiversity loss</a> and degradation of ecosystems is essential both for nature as well as long-term global food security. But there is no single silver bullet for nature recovery and so far it has been unclear how to integrate rewilding into agricultural landscapes," said Professor Bullock. 



“Our proposed approach moves beyond land sparing versus land sharing. We believe rewilding can be interwoven into agricultural landscapes and could be key to maintaining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/increasing-plant-based-food-production-would-have-extremely-positive-impact/">food production</a> in a way that is sustainable in the long term for people and the planet.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dedicating-land-to-nature-recovery">Dedicating land to nature recovery</h2>



According to the study, fostering rewilding approaches alongside farming could create agroecological landscapes that accommodate biodiversity while remaining resilient and functionally connected. Certain incentives would encourage farmers to adopt this approach.



“While setting aside land for nature recovery could potentially be made a legal requirement for farmers and landowners, there is more likely to be acceptance and success of rewilding if there are incentives in the form of payments for ecosystem services and tax deductions,” noted Professor José María Rey Benayas, lead author on the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-farming-needs-wildlife">Why farming needs wildlife</h2>



Modern farming has greatly increased food production since the 1940s. But this has often come at the expense of nature. 



Clearing land, using heavy fertilizers and pesticides, and removing natural features like hedgerows have pushed many plant and animal species to the edge.



This loss doesn’t just affect wildlife - it disrupts vital services that farms depend on, such as healthy soil, natural pest control, and water retention. As these services decline, the long-term productivity and resilience of farming systems are put at risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cost-of-declining-wildlife">The cost of declining wildlife</h2>



Across Europe and beyond, once-common species are disappearing from farmland. For example, the U.K. has lost over 40 million birds since 1970, and wild bee populations have declined in more than half of European countries, according to multiple long-term surveys.



These animals aren’t just part of the scenery - they’re key to food production. Birds eat crop pests. Bees and other insects pollinate the flowers that develop into fruits and vegetables. Their loss means greater reliance on artificial fertilisers, pesticides, and expensive manual labour.



Bringing wildlife back isn’t just a conservation goal - it’s a practical step toward more affordable and reliable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-cover-crops-may-be-the-future-of-sustainable-farming/">farming</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-steps-to-farming-alongside-wildlife">Steps to farming alongside wildlife </h2>



The researchers suggest a four-part plan that links nature conservation with everyday farming. 



First, they recommend reserving at least 20% of farmland for nature. This space would include large patches of woodland, wetlands, and species-rich grassland to form strong core habitats. 



Second, these patches should be connected by green corridors - such as hedgerows, ponds, and strips of scrubland - that allow wildlife to move, feed, and reproduce.



Third, they propose protecting small hotspots within working fields. This would involve setting aside about 10% of cropped land for flower strips, beetle banks, and bird perches, bringing the total to the 30% global restoration goal. 



Finally, they call for small changes in daily farming practices, like reducing chemical use, planting flowers for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-face-extinction-risk-due-to-climate-change/">pollinators</a>, and letting livestock graze more freely to help spread seeds and support healthy soil.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewilding-has-benefits-for-farmers">Rewilding has benefits for farmers</h2>



Many European regions cannot host bears or bison. However, smaller species such as lynx, wildcat, or European hare can still boost ecosystem health. Choosing the right mix depends on local conditions.



Helping wildlife can pay off in more ways than one. When farms support natural habitats, they often see practical benefits in return. 



Better soil retains more water and nutrients, which supports stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farmers-can-help-make-crops-more-resilient/">crops</a>. Pollinators and natural predators of pests can help increase yields in nearby fields. 



Farmers may also spend less on fertilizers and pesticides, lowering overall input costs. In some places, governments might provide payments or tax breaks to reward efforts that support biodiversity and ecosystem services.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-room-for-wildlife">Making room for wildlife</h2>



Reaching the 20% target may be challenging for small farms, but collective action can make it achievable. At the same time, each region will need to adapt the plan to fit its local conditions. 



Areas with heavily degraded farmland have the most to gain, while places with traditional, low-impact farming may require fewer changes. 



The researchers emphasize that this is just a starting point - but the message is clear: making room for wildlife alongside farming can help secure both indigenous species and food for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2860">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.



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Farming for wildlife: How traditional practices can protect nature

Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still leaving space for wildlife? A new proposal says they can. By setting aside one-fifth of farmland for nature, and tweaking everyday practices on the rest, we can help wildlife recover without sacrificing the food on our tables. Farming with wildlife in mind The plan comes from ecologists at the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology and the University of Alcalá in Spain. Study co-author Professor James Bullock elaborated on the importance of the research. “Reversing biodiversity loss...

Living organisms need <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-changes-in-oxygen-linked-to-first-mass-extinction/">oxygen</a> in order to respire, which involves converting stored chemical energy into useful forms such as heat and kinetic energy. They require this energy in order to move, grow, reproduce and carry out all their daily activities. Plants produce oxygen via the process of photosynthesis, but animals have to take it in from the air or water in which they live.&nbsp;



Oxygen is not very soluble in water and it diffuses slowly through this medium. This means that aquatic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to low oxygen conditions, known as hypoxia. If levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) are too low, aquatic organisms are affected. Fish and other aquatic species may die, altering the food chains and community structure in the ecosystem.&nbsp;



Although a lot of research on hypoxia (the depletion of DO below levels known to be harmful to fish and other aquatic aerobic life) has been conducted in lakes, as well as in coastal and marine ecosystems, not much is known about the prevalence of hypoxia in rivers or streams. Overall, it was thought to be a rather rare occurrence when rivers or streams experienced hypoxia, but little research has been done. Oxygen levels are usually related to the photosynthetic activity of plants, and the flow of water; moving water carries more oxygen than water that stands still.



Until now, the prevalence and dynamics of hypoxia outbreaks in inland rivers and streams has not been known. A new study led by&nbsp;Professor Joanna Blaszczak from the <a href="https://www.unr.edu/">University of Nevada, Reno</a> shows hypoxia is not a rare event in the world’s rivers and streams at all. On the contrary, it is far more common than was once thought.&nbsp;



The team of researchers used data from published reports to assess the distribution, frequency, and global extent of riverine hypoxia using 118,369,376 paired DO and water temperature measurements from 125,158 unique locations in 93 countries and territories across six continents. The data spans over 100 years from 1900 to 2018.



The report, published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lol2.10297">Limnology and Oceanography Letters</a>, defines hypoxia as having an oxygen concentration of less than 2 milligrams per liter of water. According to the findings, hypoxia was recorded in rivers and streams in 53 countries, with 12.6 percent of all locations in the study exhibiting at least one hypoxic measurement over the study period.&nbsp;



“Hypoxia in coastal waters and lakes is widely recognized as a detrimental environmental issue, yet we have lacked a comparable understanding of hypoxia in rivers,” said Professor Blaszczak, who is with the University’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unr.edu/cabnr">College of Agriculture, Biotechnology &amp; Natural Resources</a>. “While 12.6 percent might not seem like a huge percentage, previously it was generally thought that occurrences of hypoxia in rivers and streams were exceedingly rare. Having demonstrated the presence of hypoxia in one of every eight river locations is definitely a game changer in terms of how we need to think of and give attention to the issue of hypoxia in rivers and streams."



Professor Blaszczak explained that, in the past, DO readings were taken manually with a hand-held probe. However, advances in measuring hypoxia over the past 15 years, using field-deployable dissolved oxygen sensor technology, have enabled researchers to measure oxygen levels constantly, and far more accurately. The team found that oxygen levels are higher during the day than at night, because photosynthesis takes place during the hours of daylight, enriching the water with oxygen.



“Photosynthesis by algae produces oxygen that is released into the water column,” explained Professor Blaszczak. “So, you’re not getting a true picture of hypoxia occurrence if you only measure during the day. Hypoxic conditions are much more likely to develop in the early morning hours, after the lack of photosynthesis all night. The newer technology allows for us to capture that data.”



The data showed that that hypoxia in rivers was most present in warmer, smaller and lower-gradient, stiller waters, where oxygen isn’t being “stirred” into the water from turbulence. Blaszczak says the research found these conditions occur most often in rivers that drain naturally occurring wetlands, as well as in rivers draining some urban areas, where human actions have created hypoxic conditions.



“We as people managing waters often influence these conditions - by extracting water, building dams and increasing the amount of organic matter released into rivers, for example,” said Professor Blaszczak. “We can set up these conditions of very low flows. Rivers surrounded by wetlands and urban areas had about the same probability of hypoxia occurrence. That shows that while it can occur naturally, we also can create these conditions that are conducive to hypoxia.”&nbsp;



The widespread, short-term occurrence of hypoxia in rivers across the globe was concerning to the researchers. Not only does low oxygen concentration threaten the lives of aquatic organisms, but it also stimulates the release of methane and nitrous oxide, both of them greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change.&nbsp;



“There’s just nothing good about hypoxia in rivers or other bodies of water,” said Professor Blaszczak. “We can’t eliminate it completely, but we can certainly do a better job of monitoring it and take actions to prevent it, rather than to stimulate it.”



The dataset on river and stream hypoxia across the globe will help researchers to monitor the changes in future. Blaszczak says that, looking at data from 1950 to 2018, there does not seem to have been an overall global increase in hypoxic conditions in rivers. This is a positive finding, even though there are some locations, such as in the U.S. state of Florida, where the presence of hypoxia has become far more extreme.&nbsp;



She embarked on leading the study after attending a workshop in September 2018, held in Switzerland and convened by Jim Heffernan and Tom Battin from Duke University. The workshop aimed to advance the global understanding of the dynamics of hypoxia in rivers and streams and was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation.



Professor Blaszczak suggests that more monitoring with the newer technology is key to mitigating the harmful effects of hypoxia in rivers in future.



“We need to further develop our capacity to identify when and where rivers are vulnerable to the development of hypoxic conditions, so that we can guide river management in the face of continuing climate and land-use change. Supporting ongoing monitoring and expanding monitoring to regions where data is sparse is essential."



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Hypoxia is a serious problem in rivers worldwide

Living organisms need oxygen in order to respire, which involves...

Eurasian spruce <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bark-beetles-timberlands-devastated/">bark beetles</a> (Ips typographus) burrow into the bark of Norway spruce trees (Picea abies), where they mate and afterwards lay their eggs. Recently, this phenomenon led to major outbreaks in Europe that have decimated millions of hectares of conifer forests. 



According to a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001887">PLoS Biology</a>, these beetles usually attack trees that are already infected with symbiotic fungi, such as Grosmannia penicillate, which weaken the host trees, breaking down their chemical defenses and thus allowing the beetles to successfully grow and reproduce in the bark.



In order to understand what chemical signals the beetles use to identify host trees infected with the fungi, the scientists conducted several laboratory experiments on captive bark beetles and samples of Norway spruce bark. The analyses revealed that the fungi break down chemicals in tree bark resin (known as monoterpenes) into new compounds, such as camphor and thujanol, which 12 days after infection dominate the chemical mixture emitted by bark samples. Through single cell recordings of sensory neurons in the beetles’ antennae, the experts discovered that they can detect camphor and thujanol and are more attracted to bark containing these fungi-produced compounds.



According to the researchers, these tree-resin derived compounds produced by the fungi allow bark beetles to assess the presence of their symbiont and thus help them identify suitable trees for feeding and breeding. “The bark beetles currently killing millions of spruce trees every year in Europe are supported in their attacks by fungal associates. We discovered that these fungi convert volatile compounds from spruce resin to products, which may serve as cues for bark beetles to find them,” explained study senior author Jonathan Gershenzon, the director of the <a href="https://www.ice.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology</a>.&nbsp;



“These compounds may also be useful in integrated pest management strategies as attractants or repellents of bark beetles perhaps in combination with pheromones. In this way, oxygenated monoterpenes and other microbial volatiles represent a rich source of untapped insect semiochemicals that can be exploited for protecting forests from devastating pest species such as&nbsp;I.&nbsp;typographus,” the authors concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Bark beetles seek out trees that are already weakened

Eurasian spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus) burrow into the bark...

In the summer of 2022, reports of dead deer were on the rise in rural properties due to a viral illness. According to the <a href="https://www.urbanaparks.org/officials-suspect-drought-induced-illness-causing-deer-deaths-in-meadowbrook-park/">Urbana Park District</a>, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) occurs in white-tailed deer populations around the state of Illinois every few years. Once deer are infected, they die within days. Now, <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> scientists have identified gene variants in deer that are associated with susceptibility to the virus.



“This is the first time this gene has been sequenced completely in white-tailed deer. This is important because without the sequences, there's no starting point to do any kind of research,” said study co-author Alfred Roca, a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences.&nbsp;



The team sequenced the gene for Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3), a protein that spans membranes in immune cells and helps recognize double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses. When a dsRNA virus enters the cell, TLR3 activates immune defenses, triggering inflammation and priming the rest of the immune system.



The study found dozens of variable sites in the DNA, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Two of the SNPs were significantly more common in uninfected deer.



“Because we found mutations in TLR3 more frequently in EHD-negative animals, we think deer with these mutations are less susceptible to EHD,” said co-author <a href="https://ansc.illinois.edu/directory/yishida">Yasuko Ishida</a>.



Many white-tailed deer are exposed to EHD in their lifetimes, but only some will die from the disease. Outbreaks occur every three to five years, when environmental conditions favor the life cycle of midges that carry the virus.&nbsp;



Midges spend their larval stages in mud under the ponds and puddles that deer drink from during drought conditions. In the late summer, the water sources dry up, and the adult flies emerge to bite and infect deer. This cycle does not occur annually, as it is interrupted by rain or a cold snap.



There are no options available to wildlife managers to prevent outbreaks in natural habitats. The researchers say it's still helpful to understand the genetic underpinnings of the disease. This study will also help to inform the public on what the disease looks like and the severity of an outbreak.&nbsp;



The disease is an increasing threat to the state’s northern regions. Another recent study shows the disease has been slowly but steadily moving northward, either due to climate change or greater reporting.



Study lead author Jacob Wessels completed the research as part of his master’s degree and now serves as a conservation police officer with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.



“It’s very complicated to respond to an outbreak of EHD because there are often large numbers of deer found dead near water," said Wessels. "People don’t know what to do when that happens, but we encourage the public to report potential EHD outbreaks to their local IDNR wildlife biologist for the surveillance and future study of the disease."



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14020426">Genes</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Some deer are protected from deadly disease by genetics

In the summer of 2022, reports of dead deer were...

Canker is a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-harness-plant-energy-to-improve-solar-panels/">plant</a> disease characterized by a small area of dead tissue that spreads slowly, over years, and may eventually kill the plant. It is mostly found in stems, branches and twigs, and is caused by a variety of different pathogens. Canker in branches and stems of crop plants, such as gapes, tomatoes, citrus, nuts and stone fruits, can cause significant economic loss.&nbsp;



Scientists from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> have now identified that pine trees may also host the fungus. In the journal Plant Disease, the experts report that during routine inspections of trees in Orange County between 2018 and 2022, they found more than 30 mature pines that had been infected within an area of 100 acres. The pines showed symptoms of severe dieback and death.&nbsp;



The disease, identified as ghost canker, affected trees that belonged to three different pine species; Pinus eldarica,&nbsp;P. halepensis&nbsp;and&nbsp;P. radiata. Signs of the canker are first discernible in the lower parts of the canopy, and then they advance into the crown, causing rapid dieback and, in some cases, tree death.&nbsp;



The symptoms start to manifest in the lower portion of the canopy, where areas of canker are visible and branches begin to die. Thereafter, the disease advances into the crown and trunk, leading to quick dieback and, in some cases, to tree death. Cross sections of affected branches revealed wedged-shaped areas of infection with indistinct margins, reminiscent of triangular ghosts.



Akif Eskalen, a professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis, suspects drought and other stress conditions brought on by climate change have weakened the trees, making them more susceptible to new threats.



“We have been seeing this on pine trees for the last several years,” he said. “Our common crop pathogens are finding new hosts.”



The researchers used genetic analysis to identify the pathogens causing pine ghost canker in the pine trees and found the fungal pathogens&nbsp;Neofusicoccum mediterraneum and Neofusicoccum parvum, both of which affect numerous other trees of economic importance, including walnut, chestnut and olive trees.



They tested whether these two species were indeed the causative agents by inoculating healthy trees with isolates of the two fungi. After three months, the newly infected trees showed lesions in their vascular tissue while the control group of trees remained symptomless.



The pathogens infect a tree by entering through wounds caused either by insects, such as red-haired pine bark beetles, or pruning. This means that trees in managed or landscaped areas could be at risk. Another route is via tiny natural openings in stems, known as lenticels, through which fungi can make their way, said Marcelo Bustamante, a Ph.D. candidate in Eskalen’s lab and first author on the paper.&nbsp;



The danger is that these fungal infections can spread by means of spores. The higher the prevalence of diseased trees, the faster the rate of transmission to surrounding trees. In addition, rain, irrigation water and humidity by fog can trigger the right circumstances for the spores to spread, said Bustamante.



The authors encourage people to look out for signs of the disease among their own trees and those in the neighborhood. Dead branches can indicate the presence of a canker. Detecting the fungus is not an emergency but “people should keep an eye on their plants when they see abnormalities,” Eskalen said.



Other signs include localized areas on stems, branches and tree trunks that are discolored and sunken. On bark, the spores can look like strings of discolored dots.



The lab has posted a&nbsp;<a href="https://ucanr.edu/sites/eskalenlab/files/380804.pdf">brochure</a>&nbsp;about how best to manage wood canker diseases. Tips include:



<ul><li>Keep your trees healthy; proper irrigation and maintenance will keep trees strong.</li><li>Prune dead branches to reduce sources of infestation.</li><li>Avoid unnecessary pruning; perform structural pruning only.</li></ul>



“The detection of these pathogens in urban forests raises concerns of potential spillover events to other forest and agricultural hosts in Southern California,” wrote the researchers.



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Common crop pathogens are finding new hosts

Canker is a plant disease characterized by a small area...

According to the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), about one in eight people worldwide (cc. 970 million individuals) currently suffer from a mental disorder. These mental health issues cost the world economy $2.5 trillion each year, a number estimated to rise to $6 trillion by 2030. 



Although mental issues are mostly treated by medication or psychological/psychiatric counseling, a large review study conducted by researchers at the <a href="https://www.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a> (UniSA) has recently found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/any-type-of-physical-activity-can-help-protect-the-brain/">physical activity</a> is 1.5 times more effective than counseling or medications.



By examining 97 reviews and 1,039 trials involving a total of 128,119 participants, the experts discovered that physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of anxiety, depression, and distress, and that exercise interventions which were 12 weeks or shorter were the most effective in alleviating mental illness symptoms.&nbsp;



The largest benefits were observed in people with depression, pregnant and postpartum women, people diagnosed with HIV or kidney disease, and healthy individuals. These findings highlight not only the effectiveness of such interventions, but also the speed at which physical activity can make significant mental changes. Thus, physical activity should be prioritized in order to order to better manage the increasing incidence of mental health issues.



“Physical activity is known to help improve mental health. Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment. Our review shows that physical activity interventions can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in all clinical populations, with some groups showing even greater signs of improvement,” said study lead author Ben Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow in Health and Human Performance at UniSA.



“Higher intensity exercise had greater improvements for depression and anxiety, while longer durations had smaller effects when compared to short and mid-duration bursts. We also found that all types of physical activity and exercise were beneficial, including aerobic exercise such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and Yoga. Importantly, the research shows that it doesn’t take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health.”



According to senior author Carol Maher, a professor of Population and Digital Health at UniSA, this study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the effects of all types of physical activity on anxiety, depression, and distress in all adult populations.



“Examining these studies as a whole is an effective way to for clinicians to easily understand the body of evidence that supports physical activity in managing mental health disorders. We hope this review will underscore the need for physical activity, including structured exercise interventions, as a mainstay approach for managing depression and anxiety,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195">British Journal of Sports Medicine</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Exercise may improve mental health more than medication

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about one in...

According to a comprehensive review study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.23984">Clinical Cardiology</a>, people who suffer from insomnia are 69 percent more likely to have a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-is-a-major-risk-factor-for-heart-attacks/">heart attack</a> compared to those without sleep disorders during an average nine years of follow-up. The experts found that individuals who sleep five or fewer hours per night have the greatest risk of experiencing a heart attack, while people with both insomnia and diabetes are twice as likely to have a heart attack than those without these conditions.



“Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but in many ways it’s no longer just an illness, it’s more of a life choice. We just don’t prioritize sleep as much as we should,” said study lead author Yomna E. Dean, a medical student at <a href="https://www.alexu.edu.eg/index.php/en/">Alexandria University</a> in Egypt. “Our study showed that people with insomnia are more likely to have a heart attack regardless of age, and heart attacks occurred more often in women with insomnia.”



The scientists conducted a systematic literature review of 1,226 studies, comprising data for 1,184,256 adults (43 percent women) with an average age of 52. Among those, 13 percent (153,881) had insomnia, defined by the presence of any of these three symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep. Most of the participants (96 percent) did not have a previous history of heart attacks. During a follow-up period of nine years, 2,406 of those who had insomnia experienced heart attacks, as well as 12,398 of those in the non-insomnia category.



The investigation revealed a statistically significant association between insomnia and heart attacks across all subgroups of patients, regardless of their age, follow-up duration, sex, and comorbidities such as diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. However, those with such comorbidities were at an even greater risk for heart attacks. “People with diabetes who also have insomnia had a twofold likelihood of having a heart attack,” Dean reported.



While those who slept five or less hours per night were 1.38 and 1.56 times more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who slept seven or eight hours, there was no difference in the likelihood of heart attacks between them and those who slept over nine hours, supporting previous findings that too much sleep can also be damaging.



Moreover, although disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep were associated with a 13 percent increased risk of heart attacks, non-restorative sleep and daytime disfunction did not seem to influence the likelihood of heart attacks.



“Based on our pooled data, insomnia should be considered a risk factor for developing a heart attack, and we need to do a better job of educating people about how dangerous [lack of good sleep] can be. Practice good sleep hygiene; the room should be dark, quiet, and on the cooler side, and put away devices. Do something that is calming to wind down, and if you have tried all these things and still can’t sleep or are sleeping less than five hours, talk to your doctor,” Dean concluded.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Insomnia increases heart attack risk by 69 percent

According to a comprehensive review study published in the journal...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a>, experts have determined that a spring <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heatwaves-in-europe-linked-to-over-20000-excess-deaths/">heatwave</a> in April 2021 caused record snow melt across the western United States. This phenomenon disrupted the natural water cycle, and contributed to severe water supply shortages in the region.&nbsp;



Record-breaking snowmelt rates were documented at nearly 25 percent of all mountain snowpack monitoring sites in the western states. This loss of snow depleted a natural water reservoir that is critically need during the hotter months.&nbsp;



“One thing that stood out was the spatial pattern. It wasn't just one single mountain range or one part of the West – there were snowmelt records across the entire Western U.S., in all 11 states," noted said study co-author Dr. Daniel McEvoy.



The researchers discovered that record snowmelt rates occurred throughout the entire month of April, but two particular heatwaves did the most damage. During the first week of April 2021, temperatures were four to six degrees Celsius above average in the Rocky Mountains. During the third week of April, the Pacific Northwest experienced temperatures up to eight degrees Celsius above average.



“Summer heat waves are studied extensively, but people don't often care as much about a spring heatwave because the actual air temperatures don't usually lead to human health impacts,” said Dr. McEvoy. “But at the same time, they are creating these hydrological and climatological extreme impacts.”&nbsp;



“What really motivated this study was that in May and June of 2021, I kept hearing from other climatologists, meteorologists, hydrologists, and even skiers, that ‘the snow really came off the mountains fast this year. I kept hearing that over and over again.”&nbsp;



According to Dr. McEvoy, the spring 2021 heatwave was one of several extreme climate events over the course of that year. “There was a compounding set of climate extremes that all contributed to this rapid expansion and intensification of the drought across the Western U.S. during the late spring and summer.”&nbsp;



The researchers noted that these spring heatwaves are consistent with the long-term trend of spring warming across the West, and that because of this, April 1 may no longer be a reliable benchmark for evaluating snowpack levels and their seasonal contributions to western water supplies.&nbsp;



Dr. McEvoy said that future research will examine the impacts and frequency of spring heatwaves. “Understanding the predictability of these types of snowmelt events would be helpful for both drought early warning and water resource management,” says McEvoy.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bd">Environmental Research Letters</a>.



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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.

Spring heatwaves deplete the water supply in the Western US

In a new study from the Desert Research Institute, experts...

Silhouette,Young,Woman,Practicing,Yoga,On,The,Beach,At,Sunset.

In 2014, a smoking cessation study led by <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insightful-psychedelic-experiences-may-improve-mental-health/">psychedelic</a> substances such as psilocybin (the active hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms), combined with cognitive behavioral therapy, were highly effective in helping some people quit smoking for years.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a> examined the post-treatment journals kept by participants in that study, and discovered that psychedelics combined with talk therapy could help people reinvent themselves, by changing their perception of who they are. In the 2014 experiment, this treatment helped longtime smokers see themselves as nonsmokers and thus develop a new core identity that made 80 percent of them stop smoking for six months and 60 percent remain smoking-free after five years.



During the smoking cessation study, the experimenters provided participants guided imagery exercises in which they were asked to see smoking as a behavior external to their core identity and nicotine addiction as an external force manipulating their behavior for its own ends. According to Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins and co-author of both studies, psilocybin – and possibly other psychedelic substances – could serve as a catalyst to help motivate and inspire people to make a change with the aid of cognitive behavioral therapy.



“Cognitive behavioral therapy asks us to tune into the thoughts and feelings that we experience in our day-to-day lives and how those relate to our behaviors. In turn, people often tend to build a narrative or sense of self around those cognitions and behaviors. This sets the stage for actually having the psilocybin experience, which can both provide novel insights and perspectives as well as serve as a marker of that identity shift like a rite of passage, signifying the change for instance from smoker to nonsmoker,” he explained.



But how do psychedelics help with this transformation? According to lead author of the current study Neşe Devenot, a postdoctoral fellow at Cincinnati, people frequently get stuck in the same ruts of behavior, responding in the same way to specific stressors or other triggers – a phenomenon which she compares with a downward skier who uses the same grooved path down the mountain that they have used thousands of times.



“Psychedelics have been compared to skiing in fresh snow. Some researchers suggest that you might have more freedom to maneuver your skis anywhere down the mountain,” Devenot explained. “The entrenched grooves of bad habits might not have as much pull on our skis, so we can lay down other paths.”



“We’re looking for ways to help people shift behaviors and overcome the inertia of their habits that are more in line with their goals and aspirations. That’s why psychedelics are of wider interest to researchers,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2022.0022">Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Psychedelics could help us reinvent ourselves

In 2014, a smoking cessation study led by Johns Hopkins...

The mortality risk of being <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbes-help-bears-gain-weight-regardless-of-diet/">overweight</a> is extremely higher than what was previously thought, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">CU Boulder</a>. The experts report that obesity or excess weight increases the risk of death by 22 to 91 percent.



The results of the analysis, based on nearly 18,000 individuals, suggest that about one in six deaths in the United States are related to excess weight or obesity.



“Existing studies have likely underestimated the mortality consequences of living in a country where cheap, unhealthy food has grown increasingly accessible, and sedentary lifestyles have become the norm,” said study author Professor Ryan Masters. “This study and others are beginning to expose the true toll of this public health crisis.”



The research contradicts the idea that only those who are classified as "extremely obese" have an increased risk of death. The current study shows that groups with higher BMIs have much higher mortality rates as well.



“The conventional wisdom is that elevated BMI generally does not raise mortality risk until you get to very high levels, and that there are actually some survival benefits to being overweight,” said Professor Masters. “I have been suspicious of these claims.”



Body mass index (BMI) is based on weight and height only and doesn’t account for differences in body composition or how long a person has been overweight, explained Professor Masters. He noted that Tom Cruise (at 5 feet 7 inches and an extremely muscular 201 pounds at one point), had a BMI of 31.5, putting him in the category of “obese.”



“It’s a reflection of stature at a point in time. That’s it,” said Professor Masters. “It isn’t fully capturing all of the nuances and different sizes and shapes the body comes in.”



The study was focused on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which followed 17,784 people from 1988 to 2015.



According to the results of the analysis, there are no significant mortality risks associated with being “underweight." In fact, individuals with low BMI (18.5–22.5) were found to have the lowest mortality risk.



On the other hand, the results suggest that U.S. adult deaths linked to high BMI are about eight times higher than previously estimated.



Professor Masters said he hopes the research will alert scientists to be “extremely cautious” when making conclusions based on BMI.&nbsp;



“For groups born in the 1970s or 1980s who have lived their whole lives in this obesogenic environment, the prospects of healthy aging into older adulthood does not look good right now. I hope this work can influence higher-level discussions about what we as a society can do about it.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2023.2168035">Population Studies</a>.



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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.

One in six U.S. adult deaths linked to excess weight

The mortality risk of being overweight is extremely higher than...

A recent study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01558-4">Nature Climate Change</a> has found that, although the Amazon rainforest and the Tibetan Plateau are located on different sides of the globe, changes in the South American ecosystem caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-air-pollution-could-give-global-warming-a-boost/">global warming</a> could trigger changes in the vicinity of the Himalayas.



“Logging, road construction, and warming are already today stressing the Amazon rainforest, and will likely do so even more in the future – and while the Amazon region is of course an important Earth system element by itself, it’s also a burning question if and how changes in that region could affect other parts of the world,” said study co-author Jingfang Fan, an expert in Earth Systems Analysis at the <a href="https://english.bnu.edu.cn/">Beijing Normal University</a> in China and the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) in Germany.&nbsp;



“For the first time, we’ve now been able to robustly identify and quantify these so called teleconnections. Our research confirms&nbsp;that Earth system tipping elements are indeed inter-linked even over long distances, and the Amazon is one key example how this could play out.”



The scientists analyzed near-surface air temperature changes in a grid of over 65,000 subregions of the globe, using data collected during the past four decades. The investigation revealed a pronounced propagation pathway spanning more than 20,000 kilometers – from South America via Southern Africa to the Middle East and reaching finally the Tibetan Plateau. According to the experts, this propagation pathway could be explained by our planet’s main atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns.



Afterwards, the researchers used climate computer simulations to assess how global warming could impact this pathway by the end of the century. “We’ve been surprised to see how strongly climate extremes in the Amazon are connected to climate extremes in Tibet,” said study co-author Jürgen Kurths, an expert in Complexity Sciences at PIK. “When it’s getting warmer in the Amazon, it also does so in Tibet, hence for temperature there’s a positive correlation. It’s different for precipitation. When we have more rain in the Amazon, there’s less snowfall in Tibet.”



Moreover, the analysis revealed that the Tibetan Plateau has already been losing stability and approaching a tipping point since 2008. “Our research underlines that tipping cascades are a risk to be taken seriously: inter-linked tipping elements in the Earth system can trigger each other, with potentially severe consequences,” warned co-author Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, an atmospheric physicist at PIK.&nbsp;



“To be clear, it’s unlikely that the climate system as a whole will tip. Yet, over time, sub-continental tipping events can severely affect entire societies and threaten important parts of the biosphere. This is a risk we should rather avoid. And we can do so by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by developing nature-based solutions for removing CO2 from the atmosphere,” he concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Amazon heat drives changes on the other side of the globe

A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change...

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of flight have a specialized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-wing-shape-is-driven-by-environment-and-behavior/">wing</a> structure called the propatagium, without which they could not fly. For a long time, the evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery. Now, by conducting statistical analyses of arm joints preserved in fossils of nonavian dinosaurs, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> has found that this structure may have first emerged in these prehistoric creatures.



Scientists have long known that modern birds evolved from various lineages of dinosaurs, which had some of the features now unique to birds, such as feathers or particular types of bone structures. The recent discovery of the possible origins of the propatagium sheds new light on the origins of bird flight.



“At the leading edge of a bird’s wing is a structure called the propatagium, which contains a muscle connecting the shoulder and wrist that helps the wing flapping and makes bird flight possible,” said study senior author Tatsuya Hirasawa, an associate professor of Evolution and Vertebrate Paleontology at Tokyo.&nbsp;



“It’s not found in other vertebrates, and it’s also found to have disappeared or lost its function in flightless birds, one of the reasons we know it’s essential for flight. So, in order to understand how flight evolved in birds, we must know how the propatagium evolved. This is what prompted us to explore some distant ancestors of modern birds, theropod dinosaurs.”



Theropod dinosaurs - such as the well-known Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor – had arms instead of wings and were incapable of flight. Thus, if scientists could find evidence of the existence of the propatagium in these dinosaurs, it would help explain the evolutionary transition from arms to wings. However, since the propatagium consists of soft tissues that don’t fossilize well, scientists needed an indirect method of identifying the presence or lack of this structure in theropods.&nbsp;



“The solution we came up with to assess the presence of a propatagium was to collect data about the angles of joints along the arm, or wing, of a dinosaur or bird,” said lead author Yurika Uno, a graduate student from Hirasawa’s lab. “In modern birds, the wings cannot fully extend due to the propatagium, constraining the range of angles possible between connecting sections. If we could find a similarly specific set of angles between joints in dinosaur specimens, we can be fairly sure they too possessed a propatagium. And through quantitative analyses of the fossilized postures of birds and nondinosaurs, we found the telltale ranges of joint angles we hoped to.”



This method revealed that the propatagium most likely evolved in a group of dinosaurs called maniraptoran theropods, which included the Velociraptor. This hypothesis was confirmed when the experts identified this structure in preserved soft tissue fossils of the feathered oviraptorosaurian&nbsp;Caudipteryx&nbsp;and winged dromaeosaurian&nbsp;Microraptor.&nbsp;



Although it is now known when the propatagium emerged, a more difficult question which will need further research has to do with the reasons for its emergence and further development in non-flying prehistoric creatures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40851-023-00204-x">Zoological Letters</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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What is the evolutionary origin of birds’ wings?

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of...

According to a recent study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s <a href="https://accscientificsession.acc.org/">Annual Scientific Session Together with the World Congress of Cardiology</a>, people using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-use-may-cause-dangerous-drug-interactions/">cannabis</a> daily are one-third more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to those who never use the drug. This study is one of the largest and most comprehensive to date to investigate the possible long-term cardiovascular implications of frequent cannabis use.



CAD is the most common form of heart disease, occurring when the arteries that supply blood to the heart narrow down due to a buildup of cholesterol. This condition causes chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue, and can ultimately lead to heart attacks. Previous studies have suggested that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive component of cannabis – acts on receptors located not only in the central nervous system, but also in the heart and blood vessels, which could induce inflammation and the buildup of plaque, and ultimately lead to CAD.



In the current study, the experts analyzed data on the health and habits of 175,000 people – collected through the <a href="https://allofus.nih.gov/">All of Us Research Program of the National Institutes of Health</a> – in order to better understand the relationship between cannabis use frequency and rates of CAD. The analysis revealed that daily cannabis users were 34 percent more likely to develop CAD than people who never used the drug – a causal relationship found to be independent of potential confounding effects of age, sex, or other major cardiovascular risk factors, such as alcohol or tobacco use.



“We found that cannabis use is linked to CAD, and there seems to be a dose-response relationship in that more frequent cannabis use is associated with a higher risk of CAD,” said study lead author Ishan Paranjpe, a resident physician at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>. “In terms of the public health message, it shows that there are probably certain harms of cannabis use that weren’t recognized before, and people should take that into account.”



Since cannabis is currently legal or decriminalized in over half of U.S. states for recreational use (and over three-quarters of states allow it to be used for medical purposes), these findings suggest that it is important for people to be aware of the drug’s potentially dangerous effects, and make sure to regularly monitor their heart health if they use it frequently.



—-



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Frequent cannabis use can lead to heart disease

According to a recent study presented at the American College...

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.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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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...

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video 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 history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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