For decades, researchers have questioned whether boys and girls are born with the same natural ability in math. In 2005, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Spelke took a firm stand, stating that there are no differences in overall intrinsic aptitude for science and mathematics among women and men.



Now, the evidence is even stronger. In a new study, researchers from <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard University</a> and several institutions across France examined math performance in more than 2.5 million French schoolchildren. 



The team found that at the very beginning of first grade, boys and girls start off nearly equal in math. But just four months into formal math instruction, a small gap appears - and it keeps growing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nationwide-study-tracks-the-math-gap">Nationwide study tracks the math gap</h2>



The research draws on a French government testing program that was launched in 2018. This nationwide effort tracked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reminiscing-can-boost-language-development-in-preschoolers/">language</a> and math skills of young students from first through sixth grade. 



Over five years and across four student cohorts, the program gave researchers an unmatched view of early math development.



At school entry, French girls scored slightly better than boys in language. Math scores, though, were essentially the same. 



"The headline conclusion is that the gender gap emerges when systematic instruction in mathematics begins," Spelke explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-for-gender-differences">Looking for gender differences </h2>



Spelke had already spent decades studying how young children understand numbers and shapes. Back in 2005, she wrote a major review for American Psychologist. The piece challenged the notion that boys are biologically wired for better math performance than girls.



"My argument was, 'OK, if there really were biological differences, maybe we would see them in the infancy period,'" said Spelke. 



She and her team always tracked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/young-children-learn-gender-stereotypes-from-storybooks/">gender</a> in their studies, but they never found infant boys outperforming girls in math, or vice versa. Still, Spelke admitted that something could be happening later in development.



"The fact that there are no differences in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/conscious-awareness-when-does-our-sense-of-purpose-emerge/">infants</a> could be because the abilities that show gender effects actually emerge during preschool," she proposed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-math-instruction-for-boys-and-girls">Math instruction for boys and girls</h2>



In recent years, Spelke has turned her attention to how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-better-way-for-kids-to-learn-math/">children learn counting</a> and numbers in real classrooms. 



Spelke partnered with Nobel Prize-winning MIT economist Esther Duflo to advise the Delhi office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The team is helping four Indian states create and test math lessons for children in preschool through first grade.



In France, she works alongside her longtime collaborator, neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene. Together, they serve on the French Ministry of Education's Scientific Council, which helped develop the EvalAide testing program. 



The idea was simple: measure where every child stands in math and language and use that data to guide better teaching.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gender-gap-emerges-in-math">Gender gap emerges in math</h2>



For this study, the team analyzed data from four full cohorts of first-graders entering school between 2018 and 2021. 



What they found was consistent: no math gap at the time of school entry, a small but significant gap favoring boys after four months, and a steadily widening gap by second, fourth, and even sixth grade.



"It was even bigger in fourth grade," Spelke said. "And in sixth grade it was bigger still."



Interestingly, the gender gap in language shrank slightly after the first few months of school and stayed relatively stable in later years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ruling-out-old-explanations">Ruling out old explanations</h2>



So why does the math gap grow with time in school? The researchers ruled out several familiar theories.



"If there was really a pervasive social bias, and the parents were susceptible to it, we would expect boys to be more oriented toward spatial and numerical tasks when they first got to school," said Spelke.



But that didn’t happen. At school entry, there was no math gap. This points away from both biological and early social bias explanations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-experiment-during-the-pandemic">An experiment during the pandemic </h2>



The EvalAide dataset offered other insights. French first-graders can be nearly a year apart in age, depending on when their birthday falls. 



The team wondered if the older students were skewing results. They weren’t. The widening gender gap aligned more closely with time spent in school than with age.



Then came an unusual variable: COVID-19. The 2019 cohort missed the final 2.5 months of first grade due to lockdowns. That gap year created a natural experiment.



"With less time in school, the amount of the gender gap grew by less than it did in the other years where there wasn't a long school closure," said Spelke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confirming-the-math-gender-gap">Confirming the math gender gap</h2>



The cohort also began school just after a national education crisis. In early 2019, French students had scored <a href="https://www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/braincamps/society/how-to-improve-the-relationship-between-education-and-employment/maths-an-essential-subject-whose-level-is-falling-in-a-majority-of-countries/#:~:text=In%202003%2C%2015%25%20of%20French,European%20average%20of%20527%20points.">lowest</a> among 23 European countries in math, according to international rankings. 



In response, the French Education Ministry - guided by its Scientific Council - called for more math teaching in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-pandemic-setbacks-reduced-kindergarten-readiness/">kindergarten</a>.



Sure enough, a tiny math gender gap appeared in fall 2019 among new first-graders. That gap hadn’t shown up in 2018 but was still present in 2020 and 2021.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-problems-in-early-math-instruction">Problems in early math instruction </h2>



The study doesn't pinpoint a single cause, but its message is clear: differences in math achievement between boys and girls seem to grow as a result of what happens in early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/schools-are-in-a-battle-with-cell-phones-to-keep-students-engaged/">school</a> instruction.



"We still don't know what that is exactly," Spelke said. "But now we have a chance to find out by randomized evaluations of changes to the curriculum."



The findings put pressure on education systems to ask hard questions about how math is taught in the early years - and what needs to change to make it fair for everyone.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09126-4">Nature</a>.



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Early math instruction may unintentionally favor boys

For decades, researchers have questioned whether boys and girls are born with the same natural ability in math. In 2005, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Spelke took a firm stand, stating that there are no differences in overall intrinsic aptitude for science and mathematics among women and men. Now, the evidence is even stronger. In a new study, researchers from Harvard University and several institutions across France examined math performance in more than 2.5 million French schoolchildren. The team found that at the very beginning of first grade, boys...

The benefits of regular physical exercise have long been recognized. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physical activity can improve your&nbsp;brain health, help&nbsp;manage weight, reduce the&nbsp;risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/links-between-climate-and-heart-disease-must-be-addressed/">disease</a>, strengthen&nbsp;bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do&nbsp;everyday activities. In addition, regular exercise reduces your overall risk of dying prematurely.&nbsp;



Physical activity is such an important aspect of keeping ourselves healthy that the US Department of Health and Human Services issued&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2712935">Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans</a>&nbsp;in 2018. They recommended that adults engage in at least 150-300 minutes/week of moderate physical activity or 75-150 minutes/week of vigorous physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both intensities. The <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a> followed suit, recommending at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or at least 75 minutes per week or vigorous aerobic exercise, or a combination of both.



Previous studies have often used a single measurement of a person’s level of physical exercise on which to base statistical analyses and research outcomes. And despite the well-known advantages of regular exercise, it remains unclear whether it is beneficial or harmful to do more long-term moderate or vigorous exercise than is currently recommended. New research, published in the American Heart Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ">Circulation</a>, has now investigated this question, making use of over 110,000 participants and a study that lasted 30 years.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dong Hoon Lee is a research associate in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. &nbsp;



“The potential impact of physical activity on health is great, yet it remains unclear whether engaging in high levels of prolonged, vigorous or moderate intensity physical activity, above the recommended levels, provides any additional benefits or harmful effects on cardiovascular health,” said Lee. “Our study leveraged repeated measures of self-reported physical activity over decades to examine the association between long-term physical activity during middle and late adulthood, and mortality.”



The researchers analyzed medical data and mortality records from 116,221 people who had participated in two large prospective studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. In the study, 63 percent of participants were female, and more than 96 percent were white adults. The individuals had an average age of 66 years and an average body mass index (BMI) of 26 kg/m2&nbsp;over the 30-year follow-up period. During this time, the researchers documented a total of 47,596 deaths.



Participants were asked to complete questionnaires at enrollment - and then every two years - on demographic, lifestyle, and medical history information. The questionnaires included questions about health, physician-diagnosed illnesses, family medical histories and personal habits such as cigarette and alcohol consumption and frequency of exercise. &nbsp;Exercise data was reported as the average time spent per week on various physical activities over the past year.&nbsp;



Moderate exercise included activities carried out at a less energetic level, such as walking, and lower-intensity swimming, weightlifting, calisthenics and working outdoors. Vigorous activities included more energetic aerobic exercises such as jogging, running, swimming, bicycling and even climbing stairs.



The results of the analysis supported the guidelines established by the CDC and followed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Adults who met the guidelines for weekly vigorous physical activity had a 19 percent lower risk of dying overall, and a 31 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in particular. Adults who met the guidelines for weekly moderate exercise levels had a 20–21 percent lower risk of death overall, and a 22–25 percent lower risk of dying from CVD in particular.&nbsp;



However, the most striking results pertain to those participants who performed more than double the currently recommended minimum levels of either vigorous or moderate exercise. They had the lowest long-term risk of premature death.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<ul><li>Participants who performed two to four times above the recommended amount of long-term vigorous physical activity (150-300 min/week) had an observed 27–33 percent lower risk of CVD mortality and an overall 21–23 percent lower risk of death from all causes.</li><li>Participants who performed two to four times above the recommended amount of moderate physical activity (300-600 min/week) had an observed 28–38 percent lower risk of CVD mortality and an overall 26–31 percent lower risk of mortality from all causes.</li></ul>



In addition, no harmful cardiovascular health effects were found among the adults who reported engaging in more than four times the recommended minimum activity levels.&nbsp; Previous studies have found evidence that long-term, high-intensity, endurance exercise, such as marathons, triathlons and long-distance bicycle races, may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular events, including myocardial fibrosis, coronary artery calcification, atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death.



“This finding may reduce the concerns around the potential harmful effect of engaging in high levels of physical activity observed in several previous studies,” Lee noted. However, the study also found that engaging in long-term vigorous or moderate physical activity at more than four times the recommended weekly levels did not provide any additional reduction in the risk of death.



“Our study provides evidence to guide individuals to choose the right amount and intensity of physical activity over their lifetime to maintain their overall health,” said Lee. "Our findings support the current national physical activity guidelines and further suggest that the maximum benefits may be achieved by performing medium to high levels of either moderate or vigorous activity or a combination.”



The study highlighted that people who did less than 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or less than 150 minutes of moderate activity, every week over the long term had the greatest risk of premature death. Lee noted that this segment of the current population would benefit most from introducing 75–150 minutes of vigorous physical activity or 150–300 minutes of moderate activity (or an equivalent combination of both) into their weekly routines over the long term.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Donna K. Arnett is a past president of the American Heart Association (2012-2013) and the dean and a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health in Lexington, Kentucky. Arnett served as co-chair of the writing committee for&nbsp;the American Heart Association’s 2019 Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, but was not involved in the current study.&nbsp;



“We have known for a long time that moderate and intense levels of physical exercise can reduce a person’s risk of both atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and mortality,” said Arnett.&nbsp;



“We have also seen that getting more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or more than 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical exercise each week may reduce a person’s risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease even further, so it makes sense that getting those extra minutes of exercise may also decrease mortality.”



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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

How much exercise reduces the risk of premature death?

The benefits of regular physical exercise have long been recognized....

Tired,Man,Using,Laptop,At,The,Office,Or,Home

With the worries accompanying the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the pressures of inflation and various other life stressors, many people worldwide are feeling at the end of their tether. For some, the cumulative effect of these prolonged periods of stress can result in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/burnout-job-saliva/">burnout</a> – a more severe state than normal tiredness, characterized by constant exhaustion, emotional numbness and confusion at home and in the workplace.



While some conventional tools used to diagnose this phenomenon usually focus on work-related stress, the impact of burnout is much more extensive, according to Gordon Parker, a psychiatrist at the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a> in Australia and founder of the <a href="https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/">Black Dog Institute</a>, an organization conducting research into mood disorders and aiming to remove the social stigmas surrounding mental illness.



“Most people think that burnout is a work problem. Actually, we found that stress experienced at work or at home can set the wheels of burnout in motion,” Parker explained. “Our&nbsp;analyses&nbsp;indicated that burnout may also develop as a result of predisposing personality traits, especially perfectionism. People with perfectionistic traits are usually excellent workers, as they’re extremely reliable and conscientious. However, they’re also prone to burnout as they set unrealistic and unrelenting standards for their own performance, which are ultimately impossible to live up to.”



In his recently published book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-identifying-burnout-pathways-recovery-ebook/dp/B09195F4DP">Burnout: A Guide to Identifying Burnout and Pathways to Recovery</a> – written together with Gabriela Tavella and Kerrie Eyers - Parker identifies and explains sources and possible coping strategies to minimize the impact of stress. The book contains new evidence-based tools for readers to assess their psychological state and generate plans for recovery based on their personal situation. Each chapter helps readers recognize their own burnout patterns, while providing approaches to help them regain their passions and build their resilience against the myriad stressors from their daily lives.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Perfectionists are more likely to develop burnout

With the worries accompanying the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in...

Water pollution caused by the rapid development of the chemical industry is currently a major problem worldwide, making scientists struggle to develop various <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-technology-uses-sunlight-to-purify-water/">water purification</a> technologies and materials. However, carbon-based porous materials using existing adsorption mechanisms have significant limitations, since the adsorption rate is slow and high thermal energy is needed for recycling. Although experts have developed a variety of materials to improve contaminant removal efficiency, it has been extremely difficult to construct materials that simultaneously satisfy excellent recyclability, high efficiency, economic efficiency of raw materials, and industrialization potential.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.dgist.ac.kr/en/">Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology</a> (DGIST) in South Korea has successfully developed an “atypical porous polymer material,” which can completely remove phenolic organic contaminants in water at extremely high speeds. This material can efficiently remove not only microplastics, but also small-sized volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moreover, scientists expect it to be utilized as a high-efficiency adsorption material which can be commercialized widely due to the low costs of its raw materials and the fact that it uses solar power in the water purification process.



Several experiments confirmed that this polymer does not require high thermal energy for recycling and can be used multiple times without loss of performance. Since the material has the capacity to absorb light broadly and convert it into heat, the researchers were able to produce a water treatment membrane that can evaporate water using solar energy.



“The technology we developed here is an unrivaled water purification technology with the world’s highest purification efficiency, removing more than 99.9 percent of phenolic microplastics and VOC contaminants in water at ultra-high speeds,” said study senior author Chiyoung Park, an expert in Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST. “We expected that it will be a universal technology with high economic efficiency that can purify contaminated water and supply drinking water even in areas where there is no power supply.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202206982">Advanced Materials</a>.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Scientists develop an eco-friendly material to purify water

Water pollution caused by the rapid development of the chemical...

On Friday, December 30, 2022, the Biden administration imposed a new rule expanding the definition of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quality-waterways-changes-season/">waterways</a> that the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA) has authority to regulate. This important move reverses a Trump-era change, while seeking to overcome almost a decade of challenges to EPA powers and to strike a balance aiming to protect both waterways and commerce.



In 2015, the Obama administration significantly and controversially widened the scope of the Clean Water Act – a landmark 1972 law aiming to gradually improve the health of polluted and degraded rivers and lakes – to cover even ephemeral streams and ponds. After four years, the Trump administration dramatically weakened EPA’s water pollution authority with a rule of its own that sparked major debates among environmentalists.



Now, in broadening once more EPA’s powers - by covering “traditional navigable waters,” including interstate waterways and upstream water sources which impact the health and quality of those waterways - the agency hopes “to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS [“Waters of the United States”] that safeguards our nation’s waters, strengthens economic opportunity, and protects people’s health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners,” as EPA administrator Michael Regan put it.



According to environmental scientists and activists, this change is central to restore the health of impaired waterways and fragile wildlife habitats, since it gives federal and state governments the authority to significantly limit the flow of water pollutants, including industrial effluents, livestock waste, and construction runoff.



“The rule’s clear and supportable definition of waters of the United States will allow for more efficient and effective implementation and provide the clarity long desired by farmers, industry, environmental organizations, and other stakeholders,” said Michael L. Connor, the U.S. Army’s assistant secretary for civil works.



However, the new rule has already drawn a significant amount of criticism too, particularly from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – which argued that the rule would only add to regulatory uncertainty and unpredictability, and could hinder the planning and construction of major government-funded infrastructures – as well as by several Republican officials claiming that the rule will unfairly burden farmers, miners, ranchers, infrastructure builders, and landowners.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Biden administration broadens protection for U.S. waterways

On Friday, December 30, 2022, the Biden administration imposed a...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/black-carbon-emissions-arctic/">Black carbon</a> aerosols arise due to an incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass, and are characterized by their strong capacity for light absorption. Moreover, this carbon’s deposition in snow and ice reduces the albedo of frozen surfaces, which can accelerate the melting of glaciers and snow cover, thus changing the hydrological processes and water resources in these regions. The South Asia areas close to the Tibetan Plateau have among the highest levels of black carbon emissions on our planet, with many scientists warning that black carbon aerosols from South Asia can be transported across the Himalayan Mountains to inland regions of the Plateau.&nbsp;



Now, by analyzing the influence of black carbon aerosols on regional precipitation and glaciers over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, an international team of scientists has found that, since the 21st century, these aerosols have indirectly affected the mass gain of the Tibetan Plateau, by changing long-range water vapor transport from the South Asian monsoon region.



“Black carbon aerosols in South Asia heat up the middle and upper atmosphere, thus increasing the North–South temperature gradient,” explained study corresponding author Shichang Kang, an expert in Environmental Studies at the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;“Accordingly, the convective activity in South Asia is enhanced, which causes&nbsp;convergence of water vapor in South Asia. Meanwhile, black carbon also increases the number of cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere.”



Such changes in the meteorological conditions caused by black carbon aerosols make more water vapor form precipitation in South Asia, weakening the northward transport to the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, precipitation in the southern and central parts of the plateau decreases during the monsoon, leading to a slower rate of mass gain of glaciers. According to the scientists, from 2007 to 2016, this reduced mass gain accounted for 11 percent of the average glacial mass loss on the Tibetan Plateau and 22.1 percent in the Himalayas.



“The transboundary transport and deposition of black carbon aerosols from South Asia accelerate glacier ablation over the Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile, the reduction of summer precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau will reduce the mass gain of plateau glaciers, which will increase the amount of glacier mass deficit,” Kang concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35128-1">Nature Communications</a>.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Black carbon fuels glacial loss on the Tibetan Plateau

Black carbon aerosols arise due to an incomplete combustion of...

After three years following a strict “zero-Covid” strategy, China relaxed most of its restrictions at the beginning of December, leading to an unprecedented outbreak. Due to the population’s major lack of natural immunity, a “soup” of Omicron variants is now rapidly spreading throughout China in what is probably the largest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-may-trigger-the-deadliest-wave-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/">Covid-19</a> wave the world has witnessed since the beginning of the pandemic.



According to recent estimates of the UK-based health data company <a href="https://www.airfinity.com/">Airfinity</a>, at the moment about 9,000 people are dying daily in China, with infections totaling 18.6 million since the beginning of December. The experts expect China’s wave to reach its first peak on January 13, with approximately 3.7 million infections and 25,000 deaths per day. These figures are in stark contrast with those coming from Chinese officials, who currently report only several thousands of cases per day and just ten Covid-related deaths since December 7.&nbsp;



Worried about the possible global spread of new, more virulent variants, several countries such as the United States, Italy, Spain, and Japan have started re-imposing travel restrictions, such as mandatory PCR tests of airline passengers arriving from China. While the European Union’s health agency considers an EU-wide introduction of mandatory Covid screenings as “unjustified” due to the “higher population immunity in the EU/EEA, as well as the prior emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China,” the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) is asking Chinese officials to be more forthcoming with detailed data on the outbreak.



“In the absence of comprehensive information from China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a Twitter post.



In order to closely monitor the possible emergence of new variants, several scientists are proposing to test wastewater from airlines. “Previous Covid-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option,” said Kirsten Nordlund, a spokesperson for the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers of Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC).



However, as the rapid global spread of previous variants such as Delta and Omicron - despite travel restrictions imposed after the detection of these variants in India and South Africa, respectively - has already proven, it is most likely too late to stop China’s outbreak from soon impacting the entire world. Hopefully, either Omicron will manage to outcompete other emerging variants - as it so successfully did until now – or these new variants will not be more virulent and lead to deadlier waves around the globe.&nbsp;



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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World’s largest Covid wave currently unfolding across China

After three years following a strict “zero-Covid” strategy, China relaxed...

Celebrations can benefit your health and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blue-spaces-in-childhood-improve-well-being-later-in-life/">well-being</a>, according to a new study from Indiana University. The experts found that celebrating positive life events and achievements while gathering for food and drink can help you feel more socially supported.&nbsp;



"Despite the ubiquity of celebrations in everyday life, very little is known about how they may contribute to consumer well-being," wrote the study authors. "In the current work, the authors propose that celebrations promote perceived social support, which prior work has conceptualized as the belief that others will be there for you in future, negative life events."



According to the researchers, social support is associated with health and well-being outcomes, including increased life-span and decreased anxiety and depression.



“Many celebrations this time of year include two of the three conditions – eating and drinking while gathering together,” said study co-author Professor Kelley Gullo Wight.&nbsp;



“Adding the third condition, making an intentional effort to recognize other’s positive achievements, is key. For example, take the time to congratulate someone for getting accepted to their first-choice university, or a work project that went well, or a new job offer. This will maximize the benefits to your well-being and the well-being of all the attendees at that holiday party.”



Over several years, the researchers used experiments to survey thousands of participants. The study showed that even virtual gatherings can increase perceived social support, as long as everyone has food and drink and they are celebrating positive events.&nbsp;



“We found that when people feel supported socially after a celebration, they’re more ‘pro-social,’ and more willing to volunteer their time or donate to a cause,” said study co-author Professor Danielle Brick. “This would be a good time for non-profits to market donation campaigns, around the time many people are celebrating positive life events, like holidays or graduations.”



The researchers noted that hosting celebrations which increase perceived social support can be especially beneficial at places serving populations more at-risk of loneliness and isolation, like nursing homes or community centers.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07439156221145696">Journal of Public Policy &amp; Marketing</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



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Celebrations are beneficial for health and well-being

Celebrations can benefit your health and well-being, according to a...

When the Spanish arrived in 1519, the Basin of Mexico supported an unusually large population of indigenous Aztec people. Whereas Seville, the largest urban center in Spain, had a population of fewer than 50,000 residents, the Basin, now known as Mexico City, was home to as many as 3 million. Food for this population was cultivated using an extraordinarily precise agricultural system that relied on an accurate calendar to identify when to till the land, plant the crops and take in the harvest.&nbsp;



This region has a dry spring, with summer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/south-asian-monsoons-will-intensify-in-a-warmer-climate/">monsoons</a>, making it critical not to plant the maize crops too early or too late. If seeds were planted too early, in response to a random early rainfall event, all the young seedlings could die before the true monsoon weather arrived. If seeds were planted too late, the plants would have a short growing season and end up producing a lower yield. Considering that the Aztecs of the time did not have the celestial instruments used by Europeans (e.g., gnomon, compass, quadrant, and astrolabe), scientists have always wondered how they knew exactly when the day for planting (or harvesting) arrived.&nbsp;



New research by scientists from the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California Riverside</a>, and colleagues, has now combined information from the records of colonial chroniclers and from detailed measurements of coordinates referencing the mountains around the Basin of Mexico and the movement of the sun. With this information, the researchers set out to understand whether the Aztecs perhaps used the mountains of the Basin as a solar observatory, and kept track of the days by monitoring the position of sunrise against the peaks of these mountains.



Many scholars believe that the Aztec calendar-keepers used the sun’s position at sunrise against the prominent peaks on the basin’s mountainous horizon as calendrical landmarks, a “horizon calendar” that provided accurate indicators of specific dates along the solar year. The use of the landscape as a calendric tool is based on the fact that, because of the tilting of the Earth, the point on the horizon where the sun rises shifts from day-to-day throughout the year.



As a result of their initial investigations, the researchers hypothesized that the Aztecs used the eastern mountains of the Basin of Mexico to adjust the agricultural calendar to the solar year. They were also able to use this very precise system to recognize leap years and add in the extra day that keeps the calendar year synchronized with the solar year.&nbsp; “We concluded they must have stood at a single spot, looking eastwards, from one day to another, to tell the time of year by watching the rising sun,” said Exequiel Ezcurra, distinguished UCR professor of ecology who led the research.



To find that spot, the researchers studied Mexica manuscripts. These ancient texts referred to Mount Tlaloc, which lies east of the Basin. The research team explored the high mountains around the Basin and a temple at the mountain’s summit. Using astronomical computer models, they confirmed that a long causeway structure built at the temple aligns exactly with the rising sun on February 24 each year; this is known to be the first day of the Aztec New Year.



“Our hypothesis is that they used the whole Valley of Mexico. Their working instrument was the Basin itself. When the sun rose at a landmark point behind the Sierras, they knew it was time to start planting,” Ezcurra said.



According to the researchers, this landmark point was most likely to have been Mount Tlaloc. The Aztecs could have counted the number of days in a year, starting from the day on which the sun rises behind Mount Tlaloc in spring, and ending on the next springtime sunrise behind Mt Tlaloc. This would give 365 days. In the Aztec system, there were 18 “months” in a year, each one consisting of 20 days. This was followed by 5 nemontemi, or “useless” days, at the end of the year. After four years of counting the days in this way, a calendar-keeper would have had to add an extra day to the year, in order to keep the sun rising behind the peak of Mount Tlaloc on the same day of the year.&nbsp;



Landscape features are still often used to mark calendric dates in many traditional villages. Despite modern communications and the standardization of calendric time, many communities still have ceremonies related to planting or harvest that are celebrated when sunrise or sunset is aligned with landscape features that act as reference points. For example, the sun rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge, in the UK, each year on the 21st June, marking the summer solstice and the longest day of the year.&nbsp;&nbsp;



This study may be the first to demonstrate how the Mexica were able to keep time using the effect of Earth’s tilt, the sun, and the mountains as guiding landmarks.&nbsp;In addition, it illustrates how humans can use a variety of methods to solve questions they have about the natural world.&nbsp;



“The same goals can be achieved in different ways. It can be difficult to see that sometimes. We don’t always need to rely solely on modern technology,” Ezcurra said. “The Aztecs were just as good as, or better than, the Europeans at keeping time, using their own methods.”



The Aztec observatory could also have a more modern function, according to Ezcurra. Comparing old images of the Basin of Mexico to current ones shows how the forest is slowly climbing up Mount Tlaloc, likely as a result of an increase in average temperatures at lower elevation.



“In the 1940s the tree line was way below the summit. Now there are trees growing on the summit itself,” Ezcurra said. “What was an observatory for the ancients could also be an observatory for the 21st century, to understand global climate changes.”



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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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Aztecs kept accurate time using the sun and the mountains

When the Spanish arrived in 1519, the Basin of Mexico...

A team of archeologists from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> (OSU) has discovered projectile points in Idaho which are thousands of years older than any other such <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/two-migrations-north-america/">artifacts</a> previously found in the Americas. These findings could help scientists fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.



Through carbon-14 dating, the researchers discovered that the 13 full and fragmentary projectile points – which are all razor sharp and measure between half an inch and two inches – date to roughly 15,700 years ago. This is 3,000 years older than the Clovis fluted points previously found in North America, and 2,300 years older than the points discovered before at the same Cooper’s Ferry site along present day Idaho’s Salmon River.



“From a scientific point of view, these discoveries add very important details about what the archaeological record of the earliest peoples of the Americas looks like,” said study lead author Loren Davis, a professor of Anthropology at OSU. “It’s one thing to say, ‘We think that people were here in the Americas 16,000 years ago;’ it’s another thing to measure it by finding well-made artifacts they left behind.”



Surprisingly, the points are highly similar to similar objects found in Hokkaido, Japan, dating to 16,000 – 20,000 years ago. Their discovery in Idaho confirms the hypothesis that there may have been early genetic and cultural connections between the ice age peoples of North America and Northeast Asia.



“The earliest peoples of North America possessed cultural knowledge that they used to survive and thrive over time. Some of this knowledge can be seen in the way people made stone tools, such as the projectile points found at the Cooper’s Ferry site. By comparing these points with other sites of the same age and older, we can infer the spatial extents of social networks where this technological knowledge was shared between peoples,” Davis explained.



Although these slender projectile points were very small, being most likely attached to darts rather than arrows or spears, they were probably quite deadly. “There’s an assumption that early projectile points had to be big to kill large game; however, smaller projectile points mounted on darts will penetrate deeply and cause tremendous internal damage,” Davis said. “You can hunt any animal we know about with weapons like these.”



These findings add more detail to our current scientific and historical knowledge of early human populations in the Pacific Northwest. “Finding a site where people made pits and stored complete and broken projectile points nearly 16,000 years ago gives us valuable details about the lives of our region’s earliest inhabitants,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade1248">Science Advances</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com 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.

Oldest stone weapons of the Americas found in Idaho

A team of archeologists from Oregon State University (OSU) has...

A,Frontal,Portrait,(head,Shot),Of,A,Passive,Snowy,Owl

This week, birdwatchers flocked to Cypress in Southern California to catch a glimpse of a very rare sight – a white-feathered snowy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/inbreeding-northern-spotted-owls/">owl</a> perched on a rooftop. Since snowy owls are native to arctic areas and less than 30,000 individuals are believed to exist worldwide, spotting one in a region such as Southern California can turn out to be a major event.



“I consider it an honor to be able to see the bird,” said Rob Young, an employer at the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/santa-ana">Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge</a>, and one of the many people who gathered in the Cypress neighborhood to admire this majestic bird. “Kind of put a feather in my cap so to speak, no pun intended.”



According to experts, the bird’s appearance in Southern California is a mystery, particularly due to the drastic differences between this region and its natural habitat. Reports claim that this species has not been spotted so further south since 1928. For these reasons, people are also concerned about the bird’s safety.



“The only thing it has to worry about here is that there’s a lot more potential damage,” explained local veterinarian Scott Weldy. “There are a lot more cars. We have power lines, the windmills. We have tons of things that traumatize flying birds here in Southern California.”



Alongside passionate birdwatchers, wildlife experts also came to observe the bird, pondering if it could be injured or unable to fly for various reasons. “The first thing I’m noticing is the tail feathers are frayed,” said Dr. Elizabeth Wood from the <a href="http://www.wwccoc.org/">Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center</a>. “So, that can indicate that the bird has been grounded for quite some time. It may just be from the days that it’s been on these roofs, but that can affect flight.”



“The best thing we can do is not capture or disturb it if it doesn’t need anything. We can do more harm than good if the capture went wrong,” concluded Debbie McGuire, the former Director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.



-—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com 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.

Rare Arctic snowy owl spotted in Southern California

This week, birdwatchers flocked to Cypress in Southern California to...

Close,Up,Picture,Of,Brown,Eyes,From,A,Young,Man

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/">National Eye Institute</a> (NEI) has used patient stem cells and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/3d-printed-lungs-lives/">3D bioprinting</a> to produce eye tissue that could advance our understanding of age-related blinding diseases. The experts printed a combination of cells which form the outer blood-retina barrier and support the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors. This method provides a technically unlimited supply of patient-derived eye tissue to study degenerative retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).



“We know that AMD starts in the outer blood-retina barrier,” said study senior author Kapil Bharti, the head of the NEI Section on Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research. “However, mechanisms of AMD initiation and progression to advanced dry and wet stages remain poorly understood due to the lack of physiologically relevant human models.”



The outer blood-retina barrier consists of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which is separated by Bruch’s membrane from the blood-vessel rich choriocapillaris. This membrane plays a fundamental role in regulating the exchange of both nutrients and waste between the choriocapillaris and the RPE. In individuals suffering from AMD, lipoprotein deposits (called “drusen”) form outside the membrane, impeding its function, and, over time, the RPE break down leading to the degeneration of photoreceptors and, ultimately, to vision loss.



The scientists combined three immature choroidal cell types in a hydrogel: pericytes and endothelial cells (which are critical components of capillaries), and fibroblasts, which give tissues structure. Then, they printed the gel on a biodegradable scaffold and noticed that, in just a few days, the cells began to mature into a dense capillary network. On day nine, the researchers seeded retinal pigment epithelial cells on the opposite side of the scaffold.&nbsp;



The printed tissue reached full maturity on day 42, and began looking and behaving similarly to native outer blood-retina barrier. Under induced stress, this printed tissue exhibited patterns of early AMD, such as drusen deposits beneath the RPE, followed by progression to late dry stage AMD, characterized by widespread tissue degradation. Keeping this tissue under low oxygen conditions induced wet AMD-like appearance, with a massive proliferation of choroidal vessels which migrated into the sub-RPE zone. However, by using anti-VEGF drugs, which are employed by physicians to treat AMD, they managed to suppress vessel proliferation and migration, and to restore tissue morphology.



“By printing cells, we’re facilitating the exchange of cellular cues that are necessary for normal outer blood-retina barrier anatomy,” Bharti explained. “For example, presence of RPE cells induces gene expression changes in fibroblasts that contribute to the formation of Bruch’s membrane - something that was suggested many years ago but wasn’t proven until our model.”



“Our collaborative efforts have resulted in very relevant retina tissue models of degenerative eye diseases. Such tissue models have many potential uses in translational applications, including therapeutics development,” concluded co-author Marc Ferrer, the director of the 3D Tissue Bioprinting Laboratory at NIH’s <a href="https://ncats.nih.gov/">National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01701-1">Nature Methods</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Scientists create eye tissue through 3D bioprinting

A team of scientists led by the National Eye Institute...

African,American,Docktor,In,While,Coat,Checking,Neck,Of,Elderly

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tattoo-ink-lymph-nodes/">Lymph nodes</a> usually serve as the headquarters of our immune system. When we are vaccinated or get an infection, these nodes are the sites at which immune cells congregate, activate, and proliferate in order to mobilize an effective immune defense. However, with age, the normal tissue in the lymph nodes (called “the stroma”) is gradually replaced by adipose tissue (fat), in a phenomenon known as lipomatosis. Although this phenomenon is quite common and increases with age, relatively few scientific studies have addressed it to date.



Now, by analyzing over 200 lymph nodes, a team of researchers from <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a> in Sweden has found that lipomatosis begins in the medulla (the central part of the lymph nodes), and is characterized by the transformation of the fibroblasts (the supporting parts of the lymph nodes) into adipocytes (fat cells). In addition, some specific types of fibroblasts located in the medulla seem to be more prone to become adipocytes.



According to the scientists, in the early stages of lipomatosis, changes arise which impair the ability of lymph nodes to provide effective immunity. For instance, the specialized blood and lymphatic vessels that are normally used channels for immune cells to enter and exit the lymph nodes are destroyed in the areas of the nodes where fat has formed. Thus, lipomatosis may be a critical factor why many elderly people get more severe infections or have poorer responses to vaccination.



“Our study is a first step towards understanding why lipomatosis occur, and towards the longer term goal of finding ways to prevent its progression and the destruction of the lymph node,” said study lead author Tove Bekkhus, an expert in Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology at Uppsala.



Since the researchers are currently unable to mimic the effects they observed in human lymph nodes in animal models normally used for the study of aging, direct analyses of human subjects is necessary.&nbsp;



“I hope our work will spur an interest among other researchers in including lymph nodes lipomatosis as a factor when studying elderly people’s responses to vaccination and infections. The changes we observe are also highly relevant to cancer research, since in several types of cancer, the lymph nodes are the first places cancer cells spread to,” said study senior author Maria Ulvmar, a professor of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at the same university.



“Our publication provides the first chapter of a story about fat and loss of function in our lymph nodes when we age. We will now continue to develop this story by designing new studies to learn more about the underlying causes and consequences of these changes.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/path.6030">Journal of Pathology</a>. &nbsp;



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com 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.

Aging turns lymph nodes into fat, impairing immunity

Lymph nodes usually serve as the headquarters of our immune...

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

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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.



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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

[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;



---



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

[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



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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;



---



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



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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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



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.

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



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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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