What if the secret to eating less wasn’t portion control or calorie counting, but chili peppers? For centuries, spice has added excitement to meals. Now, it may also offer a simple way to manage how much you eat. 



New research from <a href="https://www.psu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penn State</a> shows that a small boost in spiciness can lead to reduced calorie intake without affecting how much you enjoy your food.



Eating behaviors are influenced by many things - taste, texture, aroma, and even how fast you chew. Most strategies aimed at reducing food intake focus on controlling portions or changing food composition. But this study highlights a different path: tweaking oral burn. 



That warm, tingly sensation from capsaicin - the compound in chili peppers - might be doing more than just making your tongue tingle.



Researchers conducted three controlled experiments to understand if chili heat could reduce energy intake. Their findings were clear: a little heat slows you down and helps you <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-plastic-food-packaging-contains-9936-harmful-chemicals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eat</a> less.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spicy-food-slows-eating">Spicy food slows eating</h2>



Paige Cunningham, a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State who led the study, said that her team suspected that making a meal spicier might slow people down.



"We thought, let's test, under controlled experimental conditions in the lab, if adding a small amount of spice, but not so much that the meal is inedible, will make people eat slower and therefore eat less,” explained Cunningham.



The research team designed three experiments using two familiar meals: beef chili and chicken tikka masala. Each participant consumed both a mild and a spicy version of the meal across different visits. 



The key manipulation involved adjusting the ratio of hot to sweet paprika while keeping everything else - flavor, texture, macronutrients - constant. Every session was recorded to track bite size, eating rate, meal duration, and more.



They found that adding spice didn’t make the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-food-day-fighting-global-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meal</a> unpleasant. Instead, it changed how people ate. The spicy meals were consumed more slowly. Eating rate dropped, and participants took fewer bites per minute. Interestingly, participants still liked the spicy meals just as much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spicy-beef-and-tikka-led-to-eating-less-food">Spicy beef and tikka led to eating less food</h2>



In Experiment 1, participants consumed about 46 grams less of the spicy beef chili compared to the mild version. That’s a 13% reduction in intake, which also meant 53 fewer kilocalories. 



The eating rate was 11% slower during the spicy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vaccinating-plants-could-boost-global-food-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meal</a>, and the bite rate dropped as well. However, total meal duration and bite size didn’t change significantly. Participants simply took more time between bites, eating more thoughtfully.



“This points to added chilies as a potential strategy for reducing the risk of energy overconsumption,” said John Hayes, professor of food science and co-author on the study. “Next time you're looking to eat a little less, try adding a blast of chilies, as it may slow you down and help you eat less.”



Experiment 2a used chicken tikka masala instead of chili. Here, the manipulation failed - the spicy version was not perceived as much spicier than the mild one. As a result, there was no significant difference in intake or eating behavior. 



This outcome stressed an important point: the effect depends on the perceptible level of heat. Mild differences won’t move the needle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-stronger-spice-yields-stronger-results">A stronger spice yields stronger results</h2>



To address the failed manipulation in Experiment 2a, the researchers revised their approach in Experiment 2b. They increased the paprika content in the chicken tikka and ensured the spicy version delivered a noticeable burn. 



This time, the result mirrored the chili experiment. Participants ate 64 grams less spicy tikka, a reduction of 18%. Eating rate dropped by 17%, and bite frequency also decreased.



The spice didn’t make the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fungi-fusion-turning-food-waste-into-culinary-delights/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">food</a> less enjoyable. In both chili and tikka trials, liking scores remained stable. Appetite ratings before and after meals also stayed roughly the same. What changed was how people interacted with the food. The spicy versions encouraged slower, more mindful eating.



Notably, water consumption didn’t vary between mild and spicy versions. This ruled out a common assumption: that drinking more water fills people up. “This is why we need to do empirical studies of behavior, because what you might intuitively expect is often not the case,” Hayes remarked.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mechanisms-and-possible-thresholds">Mechanisms and possible thresholds</h2>



So, what’s actually happening here? The likely mechanism is increased oro-sensory exposure. Spicy foods stay in the mouth longer, allowing time for fullness signals to reach the brain. This has been linked with reduced energy intake in earlier studies involving texture changes. 



But here, the change was chemical, not physical. That makes it a novel method for influencing eating behavior.



Interestingly, the data suggests a potential threshold effect. The spicy version in Experiment 2a didn’t yield any change because it wasn’t spicy enough. In contrast, Experiment 2b used a 4% hot paprika blend, producing a spiciness rating around 68 out of 101. 



That version led to real behavior changes. The spicy beef chili in Experiment 1, rated at 54, also caused a measurable reduction. Meals that reached a certain burn intensity consistently led to slower eating and lower intake.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-individual-differences-and-tolerance">Individual differences and tolerance</h2>



The study also explored how personal traits affect response to spice. Participants with higher levels of neuroticism and openness were less responsive to spice changes. 



However, traits like age, BMI, and frequency of eating spicy food didn’t seem to affect outcomes. That said, the researchers did recruit only moderate spice consumers. This reduced variability and helped maintain experimental control.



No participants reported discomfort, and the spice levels used fell well below extreme intensity. 



This suggests there’s a “sweet spot” for oral burn - strong enough to affect eating, but not so strong that it reduces meal enjoyment or causes distress. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-drought-has-caused-crisis-levels-of-food-and-water-scarcity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meals</a> rated around 50–70 on the spice scale seem to hit that balance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adding-spice-can-change-eating-habits">Adding spice can change eating habits</h2>



The broader implications of this research are promising. Spicy food is widely used around the world, and the ingredients - like chili pepper and paprika - are affordable and accessible. 



As capsaicin gains attention for its potential health benefits, including improved metabolism and satiety, these findings add another layer: it can reshape how we eat.



In daily life, eating occurs in varied environments. While this study happened in a lab, it still shows a robust effect across different dishes. The results also challenge the idea that we must alter what we eat to eat less. Instead, we may just need to adjust how we experience it.



“This reduction in intake occurred without negatively impacting how much participants liked the food,” said Hayes. That’s a significant point. No one wants to sacrifice enjoyment for control. Here, you don’t have to.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adding-chili-to-your-plate">Adding chili to your plate</h2>



From chili con carne to tikka masala, a little extra heat might be a gentle nudge toward eating less. The key lies in slowing down the eating process. That pause between bites, triggered by oral burn, gives your body time to say, “I’m full.”



These findings invite more exploration. Can this strategy help long-term? Will it work in more diverse populations or in social eating situations? And what is the best spice level to use at home? 



While those questions remain, one thing is clear - adding a little chili might do more than wake up your taste buds. It might just help you regain control over your plate.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329325001417?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Food Quality and Preference</a>.



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Spicy foods can slow down eating and cut calorie intake

What if the secret to eating less wasn’t portion control or calorie counting, but chili peppers? For centuries, spice has added excitement to meals. Now, it may also offer a simple way to manage how much you eat. New research from Penn State shows that a small boost in spiciness can lead to reduced calorie intake without affecting how much you enjoy your food. Eating behaviors are influenced by many things - taste, texture, aroma, and even how fast you chew. Most strategies aimed at reducing food...

A new report from the American Psychological Association (APA), <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/10/generation-z-stressed.aspx">Stress in America: Generation Z</a>, has revealed that issues in the headlines such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/immigration-policies-stress-latino/">immigration</a> are causing major stress among Americans between the ages of 15 and 21. Despite this anxiety, the young adults of Gen Z who are old enough to vote were found to be the least likely to show up at the 2018 midterm elections.

According to the survey, which involved 3,458 young adults and 300 individuals who were between the ages of 15 and 17, mass shootings cause the most stress among members of Generation Z. 

Young people are also very stressed over other issues in the news, such as the separation and deportation of immigrant families. In fact, America's youngest generation was found to be even more worried about this particular issue than adults were overall. In addition, Gen Z members were more likely than other generations to report their mental health as being fair or poor. 

Regardless of their stress levels, only 54 percent of Gen Z adults between ages 18 and 21 said they intend to vote in the U.S. midterm elections.

“Current events are clearly stressful for everyone in the country, but young people are really feeling the impact of issues in the news, particularly those issues that may feel beyond their control,” said Dr. Arthur C. Evans Jr., APA's chief executive officer. “At the same time, the high percentage of Gen Z reporting fair or poor mental health could be an indicator that they are more aware of and accepting of mental health issues. Their openness to mental health topics represents an opportunity to start discussions about managing their stress, no matter the cause.”

Overall, 91 percent of Gen Z survey respondents said they have experienced at least one physical or emotional symptom because of stress, such as feeling depressed, sad, or lacking interest or motivation.


Among adults, money and work continued to top the list of significant stressors tracked annually by the survey. Nearly two-thirds of American adults reported money and work as stressors in their lives.

The Stress in America survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of the APA in July and August 2018.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Generation Z: Stressed over current issues, but least likely to vote

A new report from the American Psychological Association (APA), Stress...

An investigation into the relationship between <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meditation-helps-chronic-pain/">stress</a> and the structural integrity of the brain has revealed that people who are more stressed have lower brain volume. Middle-aged adults with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol also showed a decline in cognitive performance.

The hormone cortisol influences a range of bodily processes, including metabolism, immune response, blood pressure, and memory formation. In addition, extra cortisol is released to help the body respond to stress.

Study co-author Dr. Sudha Seshadri is a professor of Neurology at <a href="http://www.uthscsa.edu/">UT Health San Antonio</a>. While this research did not follow up on the participants to look for the development of dementia, the effects of stress could be a precursor to cognitive decline later in life, according to Dr. Seshadri.

“We have previously shown that changes of this magnitude do predict level of mental dementia, even vascular brain injury, two or three decades later,” explained Dr. Seshadri.

The study was focused on more than 2,200 young and middle-aged adults with no history of dementia who were participating in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framingham_Heart_Study">Framingham Heart Study</a>. 

The memory and thinking skills of the participants were tested at the beginning of the study, and again around eight years later. The majority of the individuals also had MRI scans which were used to examine brain volume. Blood samples were collected so that early morning serum cortisol levels could be measured.

Compared to those with lower cortisol levels, the experts found a connection between elevated cortisol levels and lower scores on memory and cognition tests. Higher levels of cortisol were also linked to lower brain volume.

Among other limitations, the study was observational, which means that cause and effect cannot be defined with certainty. In addition, most of the participants were Caucasian and lived in the same general area. Therefore, the study does accurately not represent the population of the United States.

Regardless, Dr. Seshadri said that the findings suggests that stress may be driving worrisome brain changes.

“The fact that in this range, having a higher cortisol level was associated with the changes in brain function this early in life was both alarming and an opportunity,” said Dr. Seshadri. “There’s one more strand that one can work on to reduce the public health impact of dementia. I cannot tell you for sure that lowering cortisol is going to necessarily result in benefits, but it’s a first step.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://n.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stress linked to smaller brain size, cognitive performance decline

An investigation into the relationship between stress and the structural...

A growing collection of studies has demonstrated the impact of rising temperatures and heat stress on the productivity of workers. However, the majority of this research was focused on workers based in developing countries, so the pattern of heat-related work productivity loss (WPL) on a global scale has remained unclear.

An international team of experts from the <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">Institute of Atmospheric Physics</a> and the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> set out to investigate. The study was focused on a survey that was designed to examine the effect of heat stress on work productivity loss worldwide. The researchers analyzed 4,363 responses to the survey, which was conducted in 2016.

The analysis revealed that the annual heat-related work productivity loss was 6.6 days for developing countries and 3.5 days for developed countries. 

The researchers found evidence that the WPL is inversely proportional to the level of a country's development. They also identified some regions that will be more vulnerable to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/heatwaves-severe-frequent/">heat waves</a> due to relatively low adaptability to heat, including Central Asia and northern Europe.

To estimate work productivity loss in the future, the team used various greenhouse gas concentration scenarios. When global warming reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius, the annual WPL will be 9 days for developed countries and 19 days for developing countries. If global warming is increased by four degrees Celsius, the annual WPL will reach 33 days in developed countries and 94 days in developing countries.

“Heat waves surely impact more seriously the developing countries in general, but our study quantitatively estimated how much heat waves would reduce the productivity and identified the most vulnerable regions over the world,” said study co-author YU Shuang. “Our results call for attention to the need of adaptation to increasing heat waves by improving protective infrastructure especially for the developing regions in the Belt and Road.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-cleaner-production">Journal of Cleaner Production</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>

As global temperatures rise, work productivity will decline

A growing collection of studies has demonstrated the impact of...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-delhi/">93 percent of the world’s children breathe toxic air, report finds Air pollution</a> is a leading threat to children’s health, as a new <a href="http://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) report found that over 40 percent of the world’s population, including one billion children under the age of 15, are breathing unsafe air. 

The report was released in advance of today’s first ever WHO conference on air pollution. The shocking findings show that in 2016, 600,000 children died due to respiratory infections from breathing polluted air. Additionally, 93 percent of the world’s children are breathing in dangerous levels of pollutants every day.

Studies have shown that air pollution stunts development, increases the risk of some cancers, and is a leading cause of early death in many countries. 

“Polluted air is poisoning millions of children and ruining their lives,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General. “This is inexcusable. Every child should be able to breathe clean air so they can grow and fulfill their full potential.”

“Air pollution is stunting our children’s brains, affecting their health in more ways than we suspected. But there are many straight-forward ways to reduce emissions of dangerous pollutants,” added Maria Neira, the Director of the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health at WHO.

Air pollution is a major problem in low and middle-income countries where development, indoor pollution, and unregulated emissions consistently degrade indoor and outdoor air quality. 

98 percent of all children under five breath in small particulate matter levels above what is considered safe, according to the WHO. 

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/29/health/air-pollution-children-health-who-india-intl/index.html">CNN</a> reported that in India yesterday, the average level of PM2.5, particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, was 354 and anything over 25 is deemed unsafe by the WHO. 

Children, who are lower to the ground where air pollution concentrations are higher, are more likely to suffer from air pollution because they breathe more than adults and in their early years spend more time inside near heating and cooking fumes. 

The goal of the conference today is to discuss what actions are necessary to reduce air pollution, emissions, and improve air quality for the millions of people at risk of breathing in high levels of pollution. 

World leaders, policymakers, government agencies, and researchers will work together to decide how to proceed in the future to lessen the threats of air pollution worldwide. 

“WHO is supporting implementation of health-wise policy measures like accelerating the switch to clean cooking and heating fuels and technologies, promoting the use of cleaner transport, energy-efficient housing and urban planning,” said Neira. “We are preparing the ground for low emission power generation, cleaner, safer industrial technologies, and better municipal waste management.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

93 percent of the world’s children breathe toxic air, report finds

93 percent of the world’s children breathe toxic air, report...

A new study published in the <a href="https://sites.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union’s</a> <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018JD029449">Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</a> has found that planes passing over rain and snow can intensify the precipitation in that area 10-fold. The burst of precipitation is caused by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/airplane-carbon-dioxide-levels/">aircraft</a> wings cutting through clouds of supercool water droplets above a layer of active rain or snow.

“The interesting thing about this feature is that it is caused by aircraft, but it is not caused by pollution," said lead author Dimitri Moisseev, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki </a>and the <a href="https://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/">Finnish Meteorological Institute</a>. "Even if there would be absolutely ecological airplanes, which don't have any combustion, no fuel or anything, it would still happen.”

Moisseev noticed this phenomenon when he saw streamers of heightened precipitation via scans from the University of Helsinki Kumpula campus radar antenna. These straight patches of severe precipitation appeared on a background of lighter rain or snow and bowed toward the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

It has been known that air pressure change from passing aircrafts can trigger supercooled water droplets to freeze. This happens when air quickly expands in the wake of wing and propeller tips, therefore causing a local drop in pressure and temperature. Many had theorized that planes could also increase intensity of rain and snow in underlying clouds via this same process, however, this was never observed until now.

To prove that the planes were causing the uptick in precipitation severity, Moisseev and his team analyzed the University of Helsinki's weather radar data between 2008 and 2018. They found 17 days where the characteristic linear streamers appeared between December 2008 and January 2018. Archived flight paths confirmed that aircrafts passed within 1 to 6 miles (2 to 10 kilometers) of the intensified precipitation in most of those 17 cases.

"The intensified precipitation basically follows the track of an airplane above the cloud," Moisseev explained. "It could extend over hundreds of kilometers, but the cross-section would be maybe 100 meters. So it's a very narrow, long feature." 

Moisseev and his colleagues believe that airplane-created ice crystals probably fall from a supercooled upper cloud layer into a lower layer where rain and/or snow is occuring, thus creating more weather from the lower cloud layer.

Although the punch of precipitation is artificially created, the natural process that occurs when planes cut through storm systems could help meteorologists study the formation of precipitation and help them "nowcast" natural rain and snow conditions 2 to 6 hours into the future. This would be a huge jump forward for airport operations.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Planes passing over weather patches can intensify precipitation

A new study published in the American Geophysical Union’s Journal...

Colder temperatures result in emotion-driven purchases. Can the air conditioning in your favorite store really impact what you decide to buy? Could it be that luxury stores intentionally keep temperatures colder to influence you to make a purchase?

Rhonda Hadi, an associate professor of marketing at <a href="https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/">Saïd Business School, University of Oxford</a>, and Lauren Block, the Lippert Professor of Marketing at <a href="http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/">Baruch College, City University of New York</a>, studied how cold temperatures in retail environments affect consumers and their decision-making process. 

According to their report, “Warm Hearts and Cool Heads: Uncomfortable Temperature Influences Reliance on Affect in Decision Making,” published in the <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/701820">Journal of the Association for Consumer Research</a>, when consumers are uncomfortably chilly, they rely more on their emotions rather than calculations when making retail-related decisions.

This might explain why stores like Bergdorf Goodman kept its stores at a low 68.3 degrees Fahrenheit and Hong Kong’s IFC mall is kept at a cool 59 degrees Fahrenheit.Colder temperatures result in emotion-driven purchases

Hadi and Block conducted a series of experiments in which consumers were exposed to cold temperatures before making sentimental decisions like purchasing insurance for a piece of family heirloom furniture or donating to an important cause. 

The cool temperature influenced people to rely on their emotions in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleeping-better-decisions/">making decisions</a>. According to the research, focusing in on how happy something will make them, rather than doing the math, warms a consumer and makes them feel more comfortable.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Colder temperatures result in emotion-driven purchases

Colder temperatures result in emotion-driven purchases. Can the air conditioning...

<div id="titlewrap"></div>
Planet Earth faces an extinction crisis and, depending on the scientist you ask, may be in the midst of a "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-hunted-6th-extinction/">sixth mass extinction</a>." Last month, a U.N. report banged the alarm bells with a forecast of up to 1 million species lost due to human activity. Those disappearances, in turn, would bring tremendous losses for human civilization. 

From billions of dollars in unpollinated crops to a spiritually devastating planet devoid of our natural companions, extinctions could rob humanity of much of what it needs to survive and thrive. 

"The diversity of species are responsible for the benefits that humans get from the environment, and the benefits are immense," said Nick Haddad, a <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> biologist who studies insect conservation. "If we lose the biodiversity that's projected, a million species, then, it's unclear how human civilization can function." 

And the blame for those extinctions lies at the feet of humanity itself, due to habitat destruction, overharvesting, climate change and other anthropogenic pressures, May's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/1-million-species-extinction/">report</a> emphasized.

The study tasked hundreds of scientists with examining thousands of studies on extinction. (The UN published a <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf">summary</a> from the report in May; the full report will arrive later this year.)  Along with the top-line prediction on species loss, the report examined trends in 18 categories of nature's contributions to humans. And aside from the production of some resources, like energy and lumber, all those contributions have declined and stand to fall further with species loss, the report found. 

"There has been an increase in crop production and an increase in various types of material production," said Stephen Polasky, coordinating lead author on the report's section on nature's contributions and a <a href="https://umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> ecologist. "But virtually all the others — pollination and those regulatory services, the decline in the ability to filter air and water, the sort of more nonmaterial, cultural, spiritual services — all of those have declined."

$577 Billion in Crops

Even those increases in production come with obvious trade-offs, like the conversion of forests to cropland. Farmers can also trace better crop yields to pesticide use, which ironically contributes to loss of the insect pollinators crucial to agriculture.

Such pollinator loss puts "between $235 billion and $577 billion" of annual agricultural production at risk globally, the report said. These insects face threats not only from pesticide use, but also habitat loss, producing the so-called "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html">insect apocalypse</a>," Haddad said. And insect losses are indeed dire. 

For example, "the western monarch butterfly's populations have dropped by 97%," Haddad said. "I mean this is literally on the verge of total loss."

Studies have also linked tremendous agricultural losses to the disappearance of pest predators, said Gerardo Ceballos, an ecologist at Mexico's <a href="https://www.unah.edu.hn/">Universidad Nacional Autónoma</a> and a visiting professor at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a>. "By losing the bats in a particular area, just in an island," he said, "it will cost something like $1 billion in insect[-related] losses of crops."

Beyond crops, food resources could also dwindle with the collapse of fisheries from overfishing, pollution and other causes.

A Blow to Human Health

Mass extinction has financial implications beyond agriculture, too. 

"Tourism to protected areas generates an estimated $600 billion annually," Polasky said. 

And the planet's biomass provides a valuable climate-change protection by storing, or sequestering, carbon — 5.6 gigatons per year, worth $840 billion annually, Polasky said.

"Global warming is produced not only by the use of fossil fuels but also by losing the ecosystems that maintain this balance," Ceballos said. "And so we're losing so many tropical and other forests because of human activities that we are losing the capability to maintain a stable climate." 

From 2010 to 2015, according to the U.N. report, about 79 million acres of "primary or recovering forest" vanished.

Well-functioning ecosystems, with diverse species, also crucially balance and clean our air and water, Ceballos added. And human health leans on species diversity in the doctor's office, too, as 25 to 50% of drugs, including 70% of cancer drugs, come from or are inspired by nature, Polasky said. Future species loss means, potentially, the loss of as-yet-undiscovered drugs.

Lost Connections

Extinction happens within the context of massively complicated ecological webs, and so the causes and effects can be equally complex. One species' loss can amplify the pressures on another, as seen, for example, when tree loss increases flooding, making waterways silty and unlivable for fish. 

Ceballos also gave the example of prairie dogs. Once considered a pest, their populations fell as the government paid bounties to hunt them. Studies later showed that the rodents maintained grasslands by removing invasive species and burrowing in soil. Lost grasses, in turn, deprived bison (and domestic cattle) of feeding grounds.

The interconnected losses of species diversity, in fact, could compound so greatly that the effects destroy far more than a few industries, Ceballos said. The production of tens of millions of climate refugees, the further loss of the ability to adequately feed the planet, and other effects could mean the end of human civilization — if nothing is done, he said.

"We're losing so many species at such a high rate that we are collapsing the whole environmental system that produces our well-being," he said. "And that basically will mean the end of civilization as we know it."

Scientists alerting the world about the dangers of species loss point out, too, that we should care for reasons beyond the practical and self-focused. Our fellow species wouldn't deserve to die at our hands, even if the threat to us weren't so dire, Ceballos said.

"All these plants and animals have been our companions since we started our journey as humanity 3 million years ago," Ceballos said. "We are in large part what we are because of all them."

Stay tuned to <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> for a follow-up on solutions to the extinction crisis.

--

By <a href="mailto:michael.dhar@gmail.com">Michael Dhar</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/JMP_Traveler

One million species gone: What humanity stands to lose

Planet Earth faces an extinction crisis and, depending on the...

Could air pollution increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders?. Air pollution and poor air quality has been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, an increased risk of some cancers, decreased well being, and even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-shorten-life-expectancy/">premature death</a>. 

Now, a new study has found a potential link between poor air quality and higher rates of psychiatric disorders.

An international team of researchers from academic institutions in the United States, Denmark, and Sweden reviewed and analyzed a US health insurance claims database, and a population dataset from Denmark. 

There is an array of genetic and environmental factors that increase the risk of developing a mental disorder. It’s been suggested that the interplay of genetic, neurochemical, and environmental factors at different levels can impact the progression, severity, and onset of mental illnesses.  

For this study, the researchers wanted to investigate the impacts of air pollution on mental health for people. 

“We hypothesized that pollutants might affect our brains through neuroinflammatory pathways that have also been shown to cause depression-like signs in animal studies,” said Andrey Rzhetsky, the leader of the study. 

The researchers used 87 measurements of air quality from the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> and a national pollution register from Denmark. 

The researchers were able to estimate air pollution exposure at the individual level for 1.4 million Danes and at the county level for 151 million US individuals.  

“We strived to provide validation of association results in independent large datasets,” said Rzhetsky.

Poor air quality was linked to higher rates of both bipolar disorder and major depression in the US and Danish datasets. Air pollution exposure within the first ten years of life in Denmark also correlated with a two-fold increase in developing a personality disorder or schizophrenia. 

“Our study shows that living in polluted areas, especially early on in life, is predictive of mental disorders in both the United States and Denmark,” said Atif Khan, the first author of the study. “The physical environment - in particular air quality - warrants more research to better understand how our environment is contributing to neurological and psychiatric disorders.”

The researchers note that the study results created quite a stir among the scientific community, and opinions were so divided that the study was published alongside a companion article.

“A causal association of air pollution with mental diseases is an intriguing possibility,”  John Ioannidis wrote in the companion piece. “Despite analyses involving large datasets, the available evidence has substantial shortcomings, and a long series of potential biases may invalidate the observed associations. More analyses by multiple investigators, including contrarians, are necessary.”

Both the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000353">study</a> and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000370">companion piece</a> were published in the journal PLOS Biology.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/LukeandKarla.Travel

Could air pollution increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders?

Could air pollution increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders?....

Spending time in nature has been shown to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-boosts-health-well-being/">benefit health and well-being</a>. 

Now, the first study of its kind has found that a visit to a city park helps improve mood and can make people feel as happy as they do on Christmas. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a> conducted the research and discovered that a mood boost from a visit to a city park lasted up to four hours. 

“This is the first study that uses Twitter to examine how user sentiment changes before, during, and after visits to different types of parks,” said Aaron Schwartz, the leader of the research. 

The researchers used data from Twitter and reviewed hundreds of tweets per day posted by people across 160 parks in San Francisco over three months. 

Tweets posted from parks were generally positive, and the researchers found that the park environments had a definite impact on mood and happiness. Importantly, the researchers found that this positive impact was stronger in areas with lots of green vegetation. 

“We found that, yes, across all the tweets, people are happier in parks, but the effect was stronger in large regional parks with extensive tree cover and vegetation.” said Schwartz.

The researchers used a hedonometer, an online tool developed by researchers at the University of Vermont and the <a href="https://www.mitre.org/">MITRE Corporation. </a>The hedonometer has been analyzing tweets for over ten years. 

For this study, the researchers used words ranked as happy on a scale of one to nine from the hedonometer to assess the average happiness score of tweets posted from parks. 

“Then, working with the U.S. Forest Service, we developed some new techniques for mapping vegetation of urban areas--at a very detailed resolution, about a thousand times more detailed than existing methods,” said Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, a co-author of the study. “That’s what really enabled us to get an accurate understanding of how the greenness and vegetation of these urban areas relates to people’s sentiment there.”

Tweets from parks were happier by .23 points on the hedonometer scale, the equivalent of the mood boost on Twitter during Christmas Day. 

The researchers can’t say for sure why city parks have the mood-elevating impact they do, and the study notes that Twitter data is not a representative sample of the population. Still, tweets are offering new insights for scientific studies on the mood and emotions of large groups of people. 

“Being in nature offers restorative benefits on dimensions not available for purchase in a store, or downloadable on a screen,” said Chris Danforth, a member of the team that created the hedonometer. “While we don’t address causality in our study, we do find that negative language--like ‘not,’ ‘no,’ ‘don’t,’ ‘can’t,’--decreased in the period immediately after visits to urban parks, offering specific linguistic markers of the mood boost available outside.” 

The study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10045">People and Nature</a>, adds more evidence proving the benefits of urban green spaces and could help inform city planning in the future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Fancycrave.com, Pexels

Visiting green city parks boosts mood, study reveals

Spending time in nature has been shown to benefit health...

You can find vegan, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthy-plant-based-foods-heart-disease/">plant-based</a> and dairy-free substitutes for most of your grocery store staples these days, including milk, cheese, yogurt, meat, and even eggs. 

One brand of eggless, liquid egg product is out-competing everyone else and is second only to Egg Beaters in terms of liquid egg sales in the United States, according to <a href="http://www.iriworldwide.com/">IRI</a>, a market research company. 

JUST Egg is a liquid egg product made from mung bean that was developed by the plant-based foods company <a href="https://www.ju.st/en-us">JUST</a>. The company’s liquid egg product is one of its latest innovations and was launched in 2017. 

While liquid eggs make up only a small share of egg sales in the US, with most going towards the eggs that come in shells, JUST Egg’s rise paves the way for even more plant-based foods to take over grocery store shelves. 

IRI found that JUST Egg had the greatest sales growth in the liquid egg market in the US. The price point is still higher than other liquid egg products. 

<a href="https://qz.com/1689009/plant-based-eggs-are-starting-to-compete-with-the-real-thing/">Quartz</a> reported that since the product’s launch, JUST founder Josh Tetrick claimed to have sold the equivalent of 10 million eggs. 

JUST recently announced that its liquid egg product would be available in 2,100 grocery stores around the country after the product was picked up by the large retail company, Kroger. 

You may soon be able to buy JUST Egg at Fred Meyer, Kroger, and Ralph’s. The product is already on the shelves of Safeway and Winn Dixie among other stores. 

“We believe a just food system starts with breakfast and our partnership with the Kroger family of stores, the largest grocery store chain in the United States, makes JUST Egg accessible to countless consumers in communities around the country,” said Josh Tetrick, the CEO of JUST, in a press release

JUST had always wanted to develop an egg alternative, but it took some time to create a convincing substitute. 

JUST Egg is made from mung bean flour mixed with water and a special “de-foaming agent” which helps isolate a protein curd from the slurry, according to <a href="https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2017/08/09/Hampton-Creek-explores-the-potential-of-mung-bean-protein-isolate">Food Navigator</a>. This curd can then be used to make many products. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.ju.st/en-us/products/consumer/egg/scramble">JUST Egg</a>

Plant-based egg product rising in popularity in the US

You can find vegan, plant-based and dairy-free substitutes for most...

The US cities more vulnerable to climate change may be the least prepared. The damaging consequences of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-insects-smaller/">climate change</a> will affect different regions of the United States based not only on a city's geographic location, but also on its level of preparedness to face extreme weather events. 

According to research from <a href="https://listwithclever.com/">Clever Real Estate</a>, the U.S. cities that are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are also the least prepared for them. 

Santa Ana, California, for example, was found to have the highest risk of a climate-related disaster in the country. At the same time, Santa Ana was ranked among the top five cities with the lowest degree of preparedness. 

Based on data from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), the researchers ranked the 100 most populated cities in terms of their risk and readiness for extreme climate events, including sea-level rise, flooding, heat, and drought. 

There were some cities, such as Hialeah, Florida, that ranked in the top five riskiest areas for multiple climate disasters. The real estate group recommends that anyone who is considering a move to one of the more threatened regions of the country should be aware of these types of risks in advance.

The study also pinpointed cities that are less threatened by extreme weather and that are more adaptable to changing climate conditions, including Seattle, Washington. 

Overall, coastal cities had the highest risk scores for climate change-related hazards. Sea-level rise was found to threaten cities on the east coast and the Gulf coast more than cities on the west coast. 

In Florida and the Midwest, heat waves are the biggest threat, while California and Texas are the most susceptible to flooding. Warmer states will be hit the hardest by extreme cold events due to a lack of the necessary infrastructure. 

"Echoing the report of ND-GAIN, these results are not intended to herald the coming apocalypse, but rather to uncover hidden vulnerabilities and encourage a collective proactive response," wrote the study authors. 

"While we cannot stop climate change, we can adapt to it by taking precautionary measures and educating the general public about the coming risks."

The full report from Clever can be found <a href="https://listwithclever.com/real-estate-blog/top-cities-impacted-climate-change">here</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>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Gibson Outdoor Photo

The US cities more vulnerable to climate change may be the least prepared

The US cities more vulnerable to climate change may be...

When we’re faced with a <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_00.htm">complex decision</a> or a tough choice, we often break down the process into a hierarchy of smaller, more manageable decisions. 

The problem is, while this process can help us make a key decision, when something goes wrong after our choice, it can be difficult to pinpoint where a better decision could have been made along the way.  

Neuroscientists from the<a href="http://www.mit.edu/"> Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> explored hierarchy decision making in animals to better understand how the brain assesses each step to determine what went wrong. 

In a new study published in the journal Science, the researchers discovered that the brain goes through two computations in the frontal cortex to gauge the success or failure of each step. In each stage, the brain works to confidently confirm that the decision made was the right one. 

The frontal cortex is key to calculating confidence in each step in hierarchical decision making.  

“Creating a hierarchy in one’s mind and navigating that hierarchy while reasoning about outcomes is one of the exciting frontiers of cognitive neuroscience,” said Mehrdad Jazayeri, the senior author of the study. “One of the things that is thought to be critical for hierarchical reasoning is to have some level of confidence about how likely it is that different nodes [of a hierarchy] could have led to the negative outcome.

The researchers first needed to find a way to study hierarchical decision making in the brain and so they created a specific task. 

With the task, an animal would see a flash of light and have to choose between one of two eye movements if the accompanying flash of light occurred before or after 850 milliseconds. 

The researchers switched up the rules of the task by changing the correct eye movement choice after 10 to 28 trial flashes. If the animal made the right eye movement, a reward was given. The researchers also recorded neural activity in the frontal cortex after each trial. 

When the rules changed, the animal had to learn what went wrong if they didn’t get a reward after the second flash of light. This allowed the researchers to see how confidence in past decisions factored into new choices. 

Confidence played a role in the animal’s behavior, and the researchers found that when the length of time between flashes was obviously longer or shorter than 850 milliseconds, the animals were more confident. 

When the time between flashes was right on or around the 850 mark, the animals had a harder time choosing. 

“They know that they’re not confident, and they know that if they’re not confident, it’s not necessarily the case that the rule has changed. They know they might have made a mistake [in their interval judgment],” said Jazayeri.

The neural activity records showed that two regions of the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsomedial frontal cortex became active after an animal made the wrong choice. 

Activity in the anterior cingulate cortex seemed to predict how an animal would decide to respond to a rule switch and gauge their previous decisions. 

The results of the study help show how we make decisions and what factors help influence complex decision making. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How the brain breaks tough decisions down into smaller pieces

When we’re faced with a complex decision or a tough...

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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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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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