Your skin protects you from things like dirt, germs, and other harmful things in the environment. But because it’s always exposed, it also gets hit with things like sunlight and UV rays, which can lead to sunburn, long-term skin damage, or even cancer.



We've long believed that stepping out into the sun requires ample sunscreen slathering, shade-seeking, and hat-wearing, especially between the peak hours of 12 noon and 3 p.m.



However, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a> and <a href="https://www.ntu.edu.sg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nanyang Technological University</a> (NTU Singapore) have made surprising new strides in our understanding of sunburn.



As it turns out, the DNA damage we've always associated with sunburn might not be the complete story.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-rna-and-sunburn-damage">DNA, RNA, and sunburn damage</h2>



When it comes to sunburn, the prevailing wisdom suggests that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-can-now-collect-human-dna-from-water-air-and-basically-everywhere/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNA</a> damage triggers inflammation and subsequent cell death.



However, this recent research suggests that the real offender might be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rna-world-unraveling-mysteries-life-origin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RNA</a>, not DNA. 



"Sunburn damages the DNA, leading to cell death and inflammation. So the textbooks say," stated assistant professor Anna Constance Vind from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the <a href="https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/organisations/institut-for-cellul%C3%A6r-og-molekyl%C3%A6r-medicin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a>. 



"But in this study we were surprised to learn that this is a result of damage to the RNA, not the DNA that causes the acute effects of sunburn." 



But what's the difference between DNA and RNA? While they share similarities, the two aren't interchangeable. 



DNA is a more consistent molecule, whereas RNA is more transitory. 



A particular type of RNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), carries information from DNA to create proteins - the fundamental building blocks of cells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-rna-the-basics">Understanding RNA -- the basics</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rna-world-unraveling-mysteries-life-origin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RNA, or ribonucleic acid</a>, is like the cell’s versatile messenger, playing several key roles in keeping our bodies running smoothly. 



Unlike DNA, which holds the long-term genetic blueprint, RNA is more dynamic and can move around the cell to help build proteins.



RNA essentially acts as the bridge between our genetic code and the actual production of the proteins that do all the work in our cells.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-fix-faulty-genes-before-birth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mRNA</a>, or messenger RNA, is a special type of RNA that has gained a lot of attention, especially with the development of mRNA vaccines. 



mRNA carries the instructions from DNA out of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm, where proteins are made. 



Think of mRNA as a temporary copy of a specific gene that tells the cell exactly which protein to produce and when. This makes mRNA incredibly important for everything from growth and repair to responding to infections.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mrna-and-ultraviolet-rays">mRNA and ultraviolet rays</h2>



The importance of mRNA in our body's response to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-does-skin-become-leathery-after-too-much-uv-light-from-sun-exposure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UV radiation</a> can't be understated. 



"DNA damage is serious as the mutations will get passed down to progenies of the cells, RNA damage happens all the time and does not cause permanent mutations," Vind explained. 



"Therefore, we used to believe that the RNA is less important, as long as the DNA is intact. But in fact, damages to the RNA are the first to trigger a response to UV radiation."



Investigating more deeply into the matter was no small task.



The researchers embarked on a study involving both mice and human skin cells to better understand the consequences of UV radiation on the skin. They discovered a consistent response in both species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zak-alpha-and-sunburn-damage">ZAK-alpha and sunburn damage</h2>



RNA damage activates a response in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-the-cellular-mortality-timer-that-dictates-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ribosomes</a> (protein complexes that interpret the mRNA to assemble proteins).



This process is managed by a protein known as ZAK-alpha, which triggers what is referred to as the "ribotoxic stress response."



Think of it like a vigilant watchman, always on the lookout for RNA damage. When it detects any, it won't hesitate to call for backup.



"We found that the first thing the cells respond to after being exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-sunbathing-help-you-lose-weight-uv-radiation-triggers-fat-burning/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UV radiation</a> is damage to the RNA, and that this is what triggers cell death and inflammation of the skin," explained Professor Simon Bekker-Jensen, who was also from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.



In mice exposed to UV radiation we found responses such as inflammation and cell death, but when we removed the ZAK gene, these responses disappeared, which means that ZAK plays a key role in the skin's response to UV-induced damage.



"So you could say that everything depends on this one response, which monitors all protein translations occurring,” Bekker-Jensen elaborated.



“The cells respond to the RNA damage, realizing that something is wrong, and this is what leads to&nbsp;cell death.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-paradigm-shift">Paradigm shift</h2>



The study's findings question our long-held beliefs about sunburn and how our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/skins-secret-strength-shields-against-puncture-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skin</a> safeguards itself. 



It suggests that RNA damage sparks a quicker, more efficient response, which safeguards the skin from additional harm.



"The fact that the DNA does not control the skin's initial response to UV radiation, but that something else does and that it does so more effectively and more quickly, is quite the paradigm shift," reflected Vind.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/sunburn-study_graphical-illustration_credit-Molecular-Cell-Journal_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/sunburn-study_graphical-illustration_credit-Molecular-Cell-Journal_1s.webp" alt="Using ZAK knockout mice, we here show that it is the RSR that is responsible for the early manifestation of UVB-induced skin inflammation and keratinocyte death and subsequent proliferation in vivo. We also show that the RSR controls both p38-mediated pyroptotic and JNK-mediated apoptotic programmed cell death of human keratinocytes in vitro. In sum, our work highlights that skin cells rely on a cytoplasmic and ribosomal stress signal rather than a nuclear and DNA-templated signal for rapid inflammatory responses to UV exposure. Credit: Molecular Cell Journal" class="wp-image-1971003"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Using ZAK knockout mice, we here show that it is the RSR that is responsible for the early manifestation of UVB-induced skin inflammation and keratinocyte death and subsequent proliferation in vivo. We also show that the RSR controls both p38-mediated pyroptotic and JNK-mediated apoptotic programmed cell death of human keratinocytes in vitro. In sum, our work highlights that skin cells rely on a cytoplasmic and ribosomal stress signal rather than a nuclear and DNA-templated signal for rapid inflammatory responses to UV exposure. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Molecular Cell Journal</figcaption></figure>



Knowing how our skin reacts to UV damage at a cellular level could potentially transform prevention and treatment approaches to sunburn and other inflammatory skin conditions.



"Many inflammatory skin diseases are worsened by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-parents-are-not-using-sunscreen-properly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sun exposure</a>. Thus, understanding how our skin responds at the cellular level to UV damage opens the door to innovative treatments for certain chronic skin conditions," explained Dr. Franklin Zhong, Nanyang assistant professor at NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewriting-the-textbooks">Rewriting the textbooks</h2>



In closing, it seems now is the time to revise our textbooks and rethink how we perceive the effects of UV radiation on our skin. 



"This new knowledge turns things upside down. I think most people associate sunburn with DNA damage; it is established knowledge," Professor Simon Bekker-Jensen concluded. 



"But now we need to rewrite the textbooks, and it will affect future research on the effects of UV radiation on the skin."



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1097276524008840" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Cell</a>.



-----



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Main cause of sunburn is finally identified, and it's not what we've been told

Your skin protects you from things like dirt, germs, and other harmful things in the environment. But because it’s always exposed, it also gets hit with things like sunlight and UV rays, which can lead to sunburn, long-term skin damage, or even cancer. We've long believed that stepping out into the sun requires ample sunscreen slathering, shade-seeking, and hat-wearing, especially between the peak hours of 12 noon and 3 p.m. However, researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have made surprising new...

The surprising reason why many people stay in unhappy relationships. A new study from the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> has investigated why people stay in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/relationships-harm-mental-health/">romantic relationships</a> when they are not satisfied. The researchers found that many individuals consider their partner's desires as much as their own when deciding if they should end an unhappy relationship.

“The more dependent people believed their partner was on the relationship, the less likely they were to initiate a breakup,” explained study lead author Professor Samantha Joel. The surprising reason why many people stay in unhappy relationships

Previous studies have found that some of the factors involved in the decision to end a relationship include the amount of time, resources, and emotion invested. Research has also shown that individuals may remain in unfulfilling relationships if the alternatives, such as being alone or the availability of prospective partners, seem less appealing.


Professor Joel explained that, in these cases, deciding to stay or go is based on self-interest. The new study, however, provides the first evidence that this decision is often based on how difficult the split would be for the other person.

“When people perceived that the partner was highly committed to the relationship they were less likely to initiate a break up,” said Professor Joel. “This is true even for people who weren't really committed to the relationship themselves or who were personally unsatisfied with the relationship. Generally, we don't want to hurt our partners and we care about what they want.”


According to Professor Joel, the partner who is making the choice to stay for the other person may be hoping that the relationship will improve.

“One thing we don't know is how accurate people's perceptions are. It could be the person is overestimating how committed the other partner is and how painful the break up would be.”

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/professor-stephen-hawking-warns-destroy-earth/">Professor</a> Joel said that deciding to stay based on a partner's perceived dependence on the relationship could be a double-edge sword. It could be a good decision if the relationship improves. Otherwise, a bad relationship has been prolonged.

Furthermore, it is questionable if sticking it out for a partner's sake is really the respectful thing to do. Professor Joel added, “Who wants a partner who doesn't really want to be in the relationship?”

The study is published in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Personality_and_Social_Psychology">Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The surprising reason why many people stay in unhappy relationships

The surprising reason why many people stay in unhappy relationships....

The calming effect of lavender could help treat anxiety, study finds. A new study has demonstrated for the first time that the calming effect of lavender is produced by smelling, and not by inhaling, the fragrant compound linalool. The research suggests that linalool could be a safer alternative to current anxiolytic drugs such as benzodiazepines, which are used to treat <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/depression-anxiety-heart-attack/">anxiety</a>.

Study co-author Dr. Hideki Kashiwadani is an expert in Neurobiology and Brain Physiology at <a href="https://www.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/en/">Kagoshima University</a> in Japan.

“In folk medicine, it has long been believed that odorous compounds derived from plant extracts can relieve anxiety,” said Dr. Kashiwadani. 

The findings of the research add to a growing collection of evidence that linalool, a scented alcohol found in lavender extracts, produces strong relaxing effects. However, according to Dr. Kashiwadani, previous investigations have failed to address the specific site where this biochemical reaction may take place. 

Many experts have speculated that linalool is absorbed through inhalation into the bloodstream, where it directly influences brain cell receptors called GABAA receptors (GABAARs). These receptors are also the target of benzodiazepines. 

Pinpointing the true mechanism that underlies the calming effects of linalool is a critical step in developing clinical treatments for humans. The research team designed a trial involving mice to investigate whether the smell of linalool, and the subsequent stimulation of olfactory neurons, may be responsible for the relaxation associated with the compound.

“We observed the behavior of mice exposed to linalool vapor, to determine its anxiolytic effects,” said Dr. Kashiwada. “As in previous studies, we found that linalool odor has an anxiolytic effect in normal mice. Notably, this did not impair their movement.” The calming effect of lavender could help treat anxiety, study finds

On the other hand, there was no anxiolytic effect found in mice who had lost their sense of smell after their olfactory neurons were destroyed. This discovery implies that the scent of linalool triggers olfactory signals that promote relaxation.

The study also revealed that the anxiolytic effect in normal mice disappeared when they had been treated with flumazenil, which blocks GABAA receptors.

“When combined, these results suggest that linalool does not act directly on GABAA receptors like benzodiazepines do - but must activate them via olfactory neurons in the nose in order to produce its relaxing effects,” explained Dr. Kashiwadani.


Further research is needed to establish how and where linalool could be safely and effectively administered before human trials can be developed.

“These findings nonetheless bring us closer to clinical use of linalool to relieve anxiety - in surgery for example, where pretreatment with anxiolytics can alleviate preoperative stress and thus help to place patients under general anesthesia more smoothly,” said Dr. Kashiwadani. “Vaporized linalool could also provide a safe alternative for patients who have difficulties with oral or suppository administration of anxiolytics, such as infants or confused elders.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience">Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The calming effect of lavender could help treat anxiety, study finds

The calming effect of lavender could help treat anxiety, study...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu/">University of Oregon</a> has demonstrated the remarkable effect of sunlight as a disinfectant in the home. According to the researchers, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cavefish-evolved-without-sunlight/">sunlight</a> can destroy around half of the bacteria living in household dust.


The experts want families and medical workers to become aware that sunshine could eliminate potentially harmful bugs linked to respiratory disease.

“Humans spend most of their time indoors, where exposure to dust particles that carry a variety of bacteria, including pathogens that can make us sick, is unavoidable,” said study lead author Dr. Ashkaan Fahimipour. 

“Therefore, it is important to understand how features of the buildings we occupy influence dust ecosystems and how this could affect our health.”

For the investigation, the researchers created eleven identical rooms and filled them with dust obtained from residential homes. The team applied treatments to the windows, which were developed to transmit either visible, ultraviolet, or no light. 

After 90 days, dust was collected from each environment and was tested for the composition, abundance, and viability of any bacteria present.

The study revealed that dust from dark rooms contained organisms related to species associated with respiratory diseases. These organisms were mostly absent in dust collected from rooms that were exposed to daylight.

In addition, dust from the sunlit rooms contained a smaller proportion of human skin-derived bacteria and a larger proportion of outdoor air-derived bacteria, which indicates that daylight can transform the microbiome of indoor dust to that of dust found outdoors.


“Our study supports a century-old folk wisdom, that daylight has the potential to kill microbes on dust particles, but we need more research to understand the underlying causes of shifts in the dust microbiome following light exposure,” said Dr. Fahimipour. 

“We hope that with further understanding, we could design access to daylight in buildings such as schools, offices, hospitals and homes in ways that reduce the risk of dust-borne infections.”

Dr. Fahimipour pointed out that while more research is needed to apply the findings to the real world, there is no harm in letting more sunlight into our homes.

“There are a lot of procedures to prevent infections in hospitals already and in future we might also suggest sunlight as a cheap and easy measure to take.”


The study is published in the journal <a href="https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/">Microbiome</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Letting in sunlight can kill off harmful bacteria in your home

A new study from the University of Oregon has demonstrated...

A new study <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31324-2">published in the journal Cell</a> on November 15th shows that “brown fat,” or brown adipose tissue (BAT), a type of body fat that generates heat when the body is cold, interacts with the gut hormone secretin to signal the brain to stop eating when full.

For their study, researchers from Germany and Finland injected mice with secretin, which resulted in the mice having suppressed appetites and caused an increase of heat production via brown fat. Mice who had inactivated brown fat tissue did not experience suppressed <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/appetite-human-obesity-drug/">appetite</a> when injected with secretin, thus showing that it’s the secretin’s effect on the brown fat that triggers fullness.

Lead author Martin Klingenspor, chair of molecular nutritional medicine at the <a href="https://www.tum.de/en/homepage/">Technical University of Munich</a>, said, "We demonstrate a connection between the gut, the brain, and brown tissue, uncovering a previously unknown facet of the complex regulatory system controlling energy balance. The view of brown fat as a mere heater organ must be revised, and more attention needs to be directed towards its function in the control of hunger and satiation."

After studying the effects of secretin and brown fat in mice, researchers measured secretin levels in 17 human volunteers. They found that higher levels of secretin correlated with more active brown fat.

Klingenspor hopes that this correlation between secretin and brown fat will lead to the discovery of certain foods that stimulate secretin production, which could potentially help people lose weight by promoting satiation. “Secretin secretion is sensitive to nutrients, so eating the right starter could be helpful in promoting satiation and result in reduced meal size and caloric intake,” he said.

Furthermore, targeting brown fat in the fight against obesity could prove to be efficient. By using secretin to do so, researchers believe future treatments for obesity and metabolic disease could be on the horizon.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How does your brain know when to stop eating?

A new study published in the journal Cell on November...

The United States has a huge problem with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/americans-waste-pound-food/">food waste</a>. 

According to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/faqs.htm">United States Department of Agriculture</a> (USDA), unused food makes up 30 to 40 percent of the food supply in the US. It’s a problem that costs money, fills up landfills, and negatively impacts food security. 

Nutrient-rich food that could otherwise help feed families in need is thrown out, households are buying more than they need, grocery stores throw out perfectly decent produce based on appearance, and arbitrary sell-by/use-by dates often confuse consumers. 

Now, a new report from the <a href="https://www.glopan.org/">Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition</a> has found that the food waste trend is not slowing down and around one trillion dollars worth of food is wasted every year.

This equates to around one-third of all food produced worldwide, which means one-third of food never even reaches the consumer’s plate. 

Coupled with the massive amounts of food wasted every year are the rising problems with food insecurity and the countries around the world where billions of people don’t have enough food or have nutrient-poor diets. 

Food can spoil during storage and transportation, even before making it to the consumer, but the report found that retailers and consumers in high-income areas simply buy too much. 

“Consumer waste in high-income countries is typically linked to purchasing and storage of large quantities of food at the household level, inefficient meal planning and preparation, and post-meal disposal of non-consumed portions,” the report states. 

If you go into your local supermarket, you’ll see rows and rows of beautiful produce including perfectly shaped fruits and vegetables with vibrant colored skins with only the smallest of imperfections. 

That’s because grocery stores and supermarkets have high aesthetic standards because they know that imperfect produce likely won’t sell. 

This is also why grocery stores overstock, it creates the illusion of abundance and encourages consumers to buy more. The recent report found that more than half of all fruit and vegetables produced every year are thrown out and a quarter of the world’s meat never reaches consumers either. 

Besides meat and produce, food waste also includes nutrient-rich items like dairy and nuts. 

One of the biggest issues with dairy food waste is expiration dates that can be confusing. Have you ever thrown out milk that was just at its expiration date without testing first to see if the milk had actually spoiled? 

One report in 2013 found that over 90 percent of Americans are prematurely throwing out food based on expiration dates alone.

“Expiration dates are in need of some serious myth-busting because they’re leading us to waste money and throw out perfectly good food, along with all of the resources that went into growing it,” Dana Gunders, a staff scientist with the food and agriculture program at the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/">NRDC</a> said in a <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht">press release</a>. “Phrases like ‘sell by’, ’use by’, and ‘best before’ are poorly regulated, misinterpreted and leading to a false confidence in food safety. It is time for a well-intended but wildly ineffective food date labeling system to get a makeover.”

Food waste isn’t just a costly problem that’s taking food away from people that potentially need it. It’s also contributing to climate change by increasing our carbon footprint and putting more stress on landfills and waste processing facilities.

The report emphasizes that by tackling food waste, we can reduce the loss of nutrient-rich food and shift how people think about the food they eat and what they need. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Roughly one-third of food produced worldwide goes to waste

The United States has a huge problem with food waste....

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California San Francisco</a> (UCSF) has revealed that ambulance response times are not as fast for low-income people. Based on more than 63,000 cases of cardiac arrest, the researchers found that ambulances took an average of four minutes longer to respond to calls from low-income areas compared to high-income communities.

Study lead author Dr. Renee Y. Hsia is a professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF and an emergency physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

“When it comes to a cardiac arrest, every minute counts,” said Dr. Hsia. “We found that emergency medical services response times were 10 percent longer in the poorest neighborhoods.”

“That stacks the odds against survival for low-income patients. As a society, we might hope that public services, such as ambulances, would be equally accessible, but our results show that this is not the case, even for deadly conditions like cardiac arrest.”

While unequal access to medical care has been established as one of the biggest contributors to the health care disparities found in poorer communities, hospital and ER shutdowns across the country and the closures of privately-owned ambulance companies are making the issue even worse.

“The repercussions of the loss of these services may be particularly detrimental in low-income communities, which rely more heavily on prehospital care and have a higher increased incidence of severe, life-threatening illnesses,” wrote the study authors.

The investigation was focused on cardiac arrest cases from the 2014 National Emergency Medical Services Information Systems, which included data from 46 states. The team examined the length of time from ambulance dispatch to arrival at the patient's location, from arrival to departure from the scene, from departure at the scene to arrival at the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-hospitals-health/">hospital</a>, and also the total emergency medical services time. 

Overall, the experts analyzed 63,600 cardiac arrest cases, which involved patients who had an average age of 60. The authors reported that high-income areas had a greater proportion of white, male patients with private insurance, while low-income areas had a greater proportion of Medicaid-insured patients.

The study revealed that the average emergency response time was 43 minutes in the lowest income zip code, compared to 37.5 minutes in the highest income zip code. The analysis also showed that EMS responses were more likely to meet the 8-minute and 15-minute national benchmarks in high-income communities.

Even after the team controlled for differences such as the time of day, the average emergency response times were 10 percent longer in low-income communities.

“Each minute of delay increases the odds that a patient will not survive a heart attack,” said Dr. Hsia. “Our findings are particularly concerning given the time-sensitivity of conditions like cardiac arrest, in which the heart has ceased functioning and immediate medical care is required to restore function and circulation.”

“Our findings show that health care disparities exist at the system-level, including ambulance transport times. As hospital closures and the cost of health care continue to rise, we must examine how to ensure access to care for our most vulnerable.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ambulance response times are significantly longer in low-income areas

A new study from the University of California San Francisco...

A shift away from meat consumption will help fight climate change. A new study estimates that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cowspiracy-film-review/">livestock sector</a> could use up almost half of the total greenhouse gas emissions budget by the year 2030, which means that addressing the issue should be a big part of climate mitigation strategies. Dr. Helen Harwatt, who is a farmed animal law and policy fellow at <a href="https://hls.harvard.edu/">Harvard Law School</a>, explained that a transition to dietary protein from plant sources instead of animal sources could drastically help to limit <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/geoengineering-program-global-warming/">global warming</a>.

According to Dr. Harwatt, switching from animal to plant proteins could also potentially feed an additional 350 million people in the United States alone. She has developed a three-step strategy to gradually replace animal proteins with plant-sourced proteins. A shift away from meat consumption will help fight climate change

The proposed strategy starts with acknowledging the fact that livestock numbers have hit their peak and must decline. Next, targets must be set to transition away from livestock products. Dr. Harwatt recommends a “worst-first” approach, by first eliminating foods linked with the highest greenhouse gas emissions such as beef, cow's milk, and then pig meat. 

Finally, suitable alternatives to animal-sourced protein must be identified using a “best available food” approach, which means taking into account the land use and emissions associated with potential replacements. A shift away from meat consumption will help fight climate change

Currently, the global livestock population is around 28 billion animals, and this industry has become the biggest source of two major greenhouse gases - methane and nitrous oxide. Methane emissions from the livestock sector are projected to rise by 60 percent over the next decade.

“Given the livestock sector's significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and methane dominance, animal to plant protein shifts make a much-needed contribution to meeting the Paris temperature goals and reducing warming in the short term, while providing a suite of co-benefits,” said Dr. Harwatt.

“Failure to implement animal to plant protein shifts increases the risk of exceeding temperature goals and requires additional, and unrealistic, greenhouse gas reductions from other sectors. The current revision of national contributions to meeting the Paris Agreement from 2020 onwards should ideally integrate animal to plant-protein shifts. As a next step, the COP24 in December this year provides an excellent opportunity for policy makers to start this important conversation.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tcpo20/current">Climate Policy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

A shift away from meat consumption will help fight climate change

A shift away from meat consumption will help fight climate...

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-two-internal-clocks/">human brain</a> reacts differently to sounds of understandable language than it does to white noise, non-speech sounds, and different languages. But this is old news to neuroscientists. However, what neuroscientists didn’t know up until recently was how quickly the brain shifts to pay attention, process, and understand familiar language sounds.

Now, researchers from the <a href="http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/">University of Maryland’s School of Medicine</a> have tracked and timed this shift and documented their findings in a paper published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

Christian Brodbeck, a Postdoctoral Researcher from the <a href="https://isr.umd.edu/">Institute for Systems Research</a>, L. Elliot Hong of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Professor Jonathan Z. Simon, with a triple appointment in the Departments of Biology and Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as ISR, discovered that the brain processes language within a tenth of a second of the ears picking it up.

According to Simon, “When we listen to someone talking, the change in our brain's processing from not caring what kind of sound it is to recognizing it as a word happens surprisingly early. In fact, this happens pretty much as soon as the linguistic information becomes available.”

The team mapped and examined study participants’ neural brain activity while listening to a single person tell a story using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive neuroimaging method that uses sensitive magnetometers to track magnetic fields produced within the brain. 

The results showed that the brain’s auditory cortex analyzes acoustic patterns and phonetic sounds that make up syllables within a tenth of a second from these sounds entering the ears. Within that sliver of time, the brain is able to distinguish language sounds from non-language sounds, understand the linguistic message, and keep up with a speaker speaking three words per second by predicting what it’s likely to hear next.

“We usually think that what the brain processes this early must be only at the level of sound, without regard for language," Simon said. "But if the brain can take knowledge of language into account right away, it would actually process sound more accurately. In our study we see that the brain takes advantage of language processing at the very earliest stage it can."

The researchers also found that people are able to selectively hear a single speaker within a noisy environment. The brain focuses on one person speaking while blocking out other familiar, conversational language within the same environment — like a cocktail party.

“This may reveal a 'bottleneck' in our brains' speech perception," Brodbeck said. "We think lexical perception works by our brain considering the match between the incoming speech signal and many different words at the same time. It could be that this mechanism involves mental resources that have limitations on how many different options can be tried simultaneously, making it impossible to attend to more than one speaker at the same time."

Having mapped the speed of understanding language, the team hopes their findings can lay the groundwork for others to determine how exactly the brain understands what word is being said, and what said word in means in a certain context.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How do our brains shift to understand and pay attention to language

The human brain reacts differently to sounds of understandable language...

The average American family wastes 250 pounds of food each year. According to a new survey from the <a href="https://www.drink-milk.com/">American Dairy Association Mideast</a>, 94 percent of Americans waste food at home. The average family was found to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-packaging-food-waste/">waste</a> nearly one third of the food they buy, which is the equivalent of 250 pounds of food each year.

Karen Bakies is a registered dietitian and the vice president of nutrition affairs for the American Dairy Association Mideast in Columbus, Ohio.

“Imagine coming home with four bags of groceries and throwing one straight into the trash. That's really what is happening in most households,” said Bakies. “Whether people are over purchasing groceries or getting tired of their leftovers, too much food is being thrown away in America.”

The most reported reason for throwing away food at home was that it had reached its expiration date, while another 60 percent of respondents said they have tossed out food that they did not think was safe to eat. 

According to the experts, just a few simple changes can help a family waste less food. First, Bakies recommends organizing the refrigerator by rotating older food to the front so that it is not overlooked. Cheese and yogurt should be on the top shelf and produce should be stored in humidity-controlled drawers.

Bakies also suggests that families could get more creative by finding ways to use ingredients that were bought for a specific purpose. For example, if a recipe calls for only a cup of whipped cream, the rest of the product could be incorporated into other recipes such as mashed potatoes.

In addition, perishables can be moved to the freezer. Fruits, vegetables, and even dairy products such as milk and cheese can be frozen for weeks until it is needed. Bakies also says that sauces or herbs can be portioned out and frozen. 

“A family of four could save up to $2,000 by wasting less food, but it's not just great for your family, it's also great for your community. Just half of that money is enough to provide over 8,000 meals to those in need.” said Bakies. “And if you do find yourself with extra groceries, donate them to a local food pantry rather than letting them go to waste.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The average American family wastes 250 pounds of food each year

The average American family wastes 250 pounds of food each...

When people are struggling with poor sleep, they may also be short on key nutrients like vitamin A, calcium and magnesium, a new study shows.

A team of nutritionists led by Dr. Chioma Ikonte, director of nutrition science at dietary supplement company <a href="http://www.pharmavite.com/">Pharmavite, LLC</a>, examined data collected in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.htm">National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey</a>. They found that people who got less than seven hours of sleep each night tended to consume less calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin and zinc. They were also short on vitamins A, B1 and D, the researchers said.

"This work adds to the body of growing evidence associating specific nutrient intakes with sleep outcomes," Ikonte said. "Our findings suggest that individuals with short sleep duration might benefit from improving their intake of these nutrients through diet and supplementation."

According to Ikonte’s findings, nutrition isn’t just linked to not getting enough sleep, but to poor sleep in general, including sleep disorders and insomnia.

The researchers wanted to find the role that micronutrients may play in poor sleep. Micronutrients are minerals and vitamins that the human body doesn’t produce on its own. They must come from the diet. But around the world, the researchers noted, billions of people suffer from at least one micronutrient deficiency.

This is bad news, since micronutrients play a big role in growth, disease prevention, healing and more.

More research is needed, the scientists warned. Because they were looking at data collected in the past, they could not determine if poor nutrition led to poor sleep or vice versa.

"Whether chronic short sleep causes nutrient insufficiency or the nutrient insufficiency causes short sleep still needs to be determined," Ikonte said. "A clinical study that investigates [impacts of] supplementation with these nutrients on sleep outcomes is needed to demonstrate cause and effect."

Ikonte will present the team’s findings today at <a href="https://meeting.nutrition.org/">Nutrition 2019</a>, the annual meeting of the <a href="https://nutrition.org/">American Society for Nutrition</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Poor sleep connected to poor nutrition, study shows

When people are struggling with poor sleep, they may also...

The US is lagging behind other countries in reducing plastic bag use In response to the world’s <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plastic-waste-kills-person/">plastic crisis</a>, many federal and local governments across the globe are banning single-use plastic bags. As of now, 50 countries have passed legislation to tax or ban plastic bags.

On average, a person will use a plastic bag for 12 minutes, but once it’s discarded plastic leaches toxic chemicals that persist in marine environments for 1,000 years. 

Plastic trash is also responsible for the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whale-dies-plastic-stomach/">deaths of 100,000 marine animals each year</a>. 

<a href="https://www.reusethisbag.com/">Reusethisbag</a>, a company dedicated to wholesale reusable tote and grocery bags, recently released a study on <a href="https://www.reusethisbag.com/articles/where-are-plastic-bags-banned-around-the-world/">plastic bag bans</a> and their impacts in the countries that implement them. 

Every second, as many as 160,000 plastic bags are used worldwide, and even though many countries are working to reduce plastic waste, the US is lagging behind when it comes to plastic bag restrictions.

For the study, Reusethisbag drew data from the <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/">National Conference of State Legislators </a>and state and county reports. 

Out of all 50 states in the US, only California and Hawaii have restricted plastic bag use. Ten states have preemptive bans in place, and 200 municipalities have bans or taxes on plastic. 

Meanwhile, cities that have plastic bans or taxes have seen dramatic declines in plastic waste.

For example, in Seattle, there has been a 48 percent drop in residential plastic bag waste and a 76 percent decline in commercial plastic waste in the five years since a plastic bag ban was implemented. 

These small improvements pale in comparison when you look at other countries like Ireland which has seen a 90 percent decline in plastic bag use since a tax was implemented. In China, a 2008 ban has resulted in an 80 percent drop in plastic waste. The US is lagging behind other countries in reducing plastic bag use but will start to have a big impact once implied fully.

The study shows that plastic bag bans and taxes work and could go a long way in helping to combat the world’s plastic crisis. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The US is lagging behind other countries in reducing plastic bag use

The US is lagging behind other countries in reducing plastic...

Limiting global warming could prevent thousands of heat-related deaths. If countries commit to the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, it could prevent thousands of annual heat-related deaths a new study has found. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristo</a>l studied the potential impacts of limiting warming under the Paris Accord and focused on mortality rather than temperatures or emissions. 

“We are no longer counting the impact of climate change in terms of degrees of global warming, but rather in terms of number of lives lost,” said Dann Mitchell, a co-lead author of the study which was published in the journal Science Advances. 

As the next round of climate pledges for the Paris Climate Agreement are due in 2020, the study emphasizes the importance of limiting emissions and combating warming climate trends. 

Currently, nearly every country on Earth has pledged to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement which aims to prevent global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but recent studies have shown that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2030-limit-climate-change-warming/">limiting warming to 1.5 degrees</a> would go a long way in preventing catastrophic sea level rise and extreme weather events. 

In this study, the researchers reviewed temperature and mortality data as well as climate projections for 15 cities in the US to see how different climate mitigation strategies would impact heat-related deaths. 

“Our study brings together a wide range of physical and social complexities to show just how human lives could be impacted if we do not cut carbon emissions,” said Mitchell. “Considering the US citizens that will be adversely affected by increasing global temperatures, we strongly encourage them to hold their politicians to account."

If warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, it could prevent 70 to 1,980 deaths per year, per city. But if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, it could prevent 110 to 2,720 deaths, depending on the city. 

“If global temperature rise is reduced to 1.5°C from where we are headed, the cities’ exposure to extreme heat would decrease and up to thousands of annual heat-related deaths could be avoided per city,” said Dr. Eunice Lo, the lead author of the study. “Strengthened climate actions are needed as they would substantially benefit public health in the United States.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com </a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/ParabolStudio

Limiting global warming could prevent thousands of heat-related deaths

Limiting global warming could prevent thousands of heat-related deaths. If...

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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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

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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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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



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 capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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