A walk in the forest often brings peace, calm, and a deep sense of renewal. From ancient times to modern therapy practices, forests have stood as symbols of balance and healing. But not all forests heal equally. 



As cities grow and public health concerns rise, scientists are uncovering how the design and structure of forests matter. The health benefits we get from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cities-in-the-global-south-have-far-less-green-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">green spaces</a>, especially forests, depend not just on their presence, but on what they are made of.



A new study from the University of Surrey and the <a href="https://www.ugent.be/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Ghent</a> sheds light on this. Working with partners across Europe, the research team explored how specific features of forests influence human health. 



The findings mark a major step in understanding the complex links between ecological structure and wellbeing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-traits-and-human-health-benefits">Forest traits and human health benefits </h2>



The study, which is part of the larger Dr. Forest research project, included 164 forests across five European countries. The researchers focused on seven ecological characteristics and their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-green-spaces-are-urgently-needed-across-the-global-south/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">influence</a> on various health outcomes.



The forests were not selected at random. They varied in structure, species mix, and density, allowing researchers to draw comparisons. This wide range of forest types provided a rare opportunity to explore how real-world differences affect human experiences and health.



The goal was not to judge forests as good or bad, but to understand how their differences shaped people’s health responses. What emerged was a nuanced view. Forests benefit health, but their structure can amplify or limit those effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-power-of-tree-diversity">The power of tree diversity</h2>



One of the key traits studied was tree species diversity. The findings showed that more diverse forests offered modest but positive health <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-tree-layout-influences-human-health-and-mortality-rates/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outcomes</a>. These effects were not dramatic, but they were consistent enough to support the idea that diversity is beneficial.



Tree diversity does not just matter for human health. It also supports broader biodiversity, helping insects, birds, and mammals thrive. This makes it a safe, low-risk strategy for forest managers aiming to enhance public health while improving ecosystem resilience.



More tree species create different textures, shapes, and colors, making forests more visually stimulating and ecologically stable. These aspects can subtly influence how people feel and behave when they visit such areas. 



While the direct health impacts may be limited, the indirect ones, through enhanced engagement and ecosystem strength, are valuable.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-canopy-structure-a-major-influence">Canopy structure: A major influence</h2>



Among the ecological features studied, canopy structure had the strongest impact. Dense canopies reduce heat by offering shade and help regulate the forest's internal climate. They also provide larger leaf surfaces, which trap fine particulate matter and improve air quality.



These benefits are especially important in urban settings, where heatwaves and pollution are on the rise. In such contexts, a well-structured canopy becomes more than a luxury. It is a necessity. The cooling effect alone can reduce heat stress and the risk of heat-related illnesses.



Yet, there are trade-offs. Denser canopies create more humid conditions. While that is good for moisture-loving plants, it also creates ideal habitats for ticks, which carry Lyme disease. 



In addition, less sunlight reaches the forest floor. This limits the growth of medicinal plants, reducing some of the forest's potential healing properties.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-gains-beyond-structure">Mental health gains beyond structure</h2>



Perhaps the most consistent finding across the study was the benefit of simply being in a forest. Regardless of structure or biodiversity, spending time in a forest improved mental wellbeing. People reported lower anxiety and stress, along with more positive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprising-mental-health-benefits-of-living-near-green-spaces/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a>.



What enhanced these effects was how natural and biodiverse the forest felt to the visitor. Forests that looked wild, vibrant, and untamed tended to offer more psychological relief. This suggests that human perception plays a key role in shaping forest-based experiences.



“Our study shows that forests generally provide a mental health benefit, reducing anxiety and stress, regardless of their biodiversity or structure. As one in six people in England experience anxiety and depression each week, this research suggests that simply being in a forest can improve mental health,” noted Dr. Melissa Marselle, a lecturer in environmental psychology at the <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Surrey</a>.



“For the UK, this means preserving urban forests so people can easily access forests where they live, work and play for their mental wellbeing. Contact with forests could be prescribed by the NHS, as research shows that NHS nature prescriptions are effective at improving mental health.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-designing-healthier-cities-with-forests">Designing healthier cities with forests </h2>



The study points to a pressing need in urban planning. It is not enough to plant trees and call it a forest. The structure, layout, and biodiversity of these spaces must be considered. Urban forests should reduce heat, absorb pollution, and offer mental rest.



This involves difficult trade-offs. Canopy density must balance between cooling the environment and letting in enough light. Species choices should consider both ecological function and visual appeal. Forests must feel natural to the human eye while also being safe and accessible.



Planners and health professionals can now use this evidence to shape better public spaces. Health services could integrate forest access into mental health treatments. Parks could be designed not just for recreation but also for healing. In a time when stress-related disorders are rising, these changes could make a meaningful difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forests-are-essential-tools-for-public-health">Forests are essential tools for public health</h2>



This research redefines the role of forests. No longer just natural assets or scenic spots, they emerge as powerful contributors to public health. But their power lies in their details. Forests must be built, preserved, and managed with intention.



Tree diversity adds depth and life. Canopy structure shapes the microclimate and air. Visitor perceptions tie it all together. Forests that feel alive and balanced bring calm and strength to those who enter them.



Nature has always played a quiet role in healing. Now, with evidence in hand, we have the chance to shape that role more deliberately. Managed well, forests can support both ecosystems and the people who rely on them for peace and mental clarity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01547-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Sustainability</a>.



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Forests provide different health benefits based on their structure

A walk in the forest often brings peace, calm, and a deep sense of renewal. From ancient times to modern therapy practices, forests have stood as symbols of balance and healing. But not all forests heal equally. As cities grow and public health concerns rise, scientists are uncovering how the design and structure of forests matter. The health benefits we get from green spaces, especially forests, depend not just on their presence, but on what they are made of. A new study from the University of Surrey...

It turns out that young people who avoid teen romance may not be socially immature at all. Instead, they just might be better adjusted and happier than their peers.

The new study from the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> shows that adults should promote being single as a better option for high schoolers, researchers said. 

"In the end, school health educators, mental health professionals, and teachers should affirm social norms that support adolescents' individual freedom to decide whether to date or not, indicating that both are acceptable and healthy options," lead author Brooke Douglas, a doctoral candidate, told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>.

The scientists worked with nearly 600 high school sophomores to reach their conclusions about teen romance.

The team split students into four groups, based on their reported dating activity starting in the sixth grade. The groups were “low,” “increasing,” “high middle school” and “frequent.” Using ratings from their teachers and questionnaires filled out by the students themselves, the researchers compared the four groups.

They found that the students who avoided teen romance – those who didn’t date or become entangled in romantic relationships – had good social skills and low rates of depression. In fact, they often were better off in those departments than their peers.

"This high frequency has led some researchers to suggest that dating during teenage years is a normative behavior. That is, adolescents who have a romantic relationship are therefore considered 'on time' in their psychological development,” Douglas said in a press release.

The study turns that notion on its head.

It also means that educators, school administrators and other adults have a lot of work ahead to destroy the myth that dating is a vital part of the teen experience – especially given the significantly lower depression rates among teens who didn’t date.

"While the study refutes the notion of non-daters as social misfits, it also calls for health promotion interventions at schools and elsewhere to include non-dating as an option for normal, healthy development," Douglas said.

The study has been published in the <a href="http://www.ashaweb.org/resources/journal-of-school-health/">Journal of School Health</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Youngsters who avoid teen romance are happier, study says

It turns out that young people who avoid teen romance...

If you’re left-handed, you’re part of an exclusive club. Just 10% of the human population favors their left hand over their right.

That minority status has led to trouble for lefties throughout history. 

“In the Middle Ages, for instance, the left-hander lived in danger of being accused of practicing witchcraft,” <a href="https://time.com/3978951/lefties-history/">Time</a> magazine wrote in 1969. “The Devil himself was considered a southpaw, and he and other evil spirits were always conjured up by left-handed gestures.”

While lefties in most places face uncomfortable scissors, notebooks and other inconveniences rather than persecution today, that history of bias against left-handed people meant that few people would choose to be a leftie – even if it does give an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/left-handed-advantage-sports/">advantage in sports</a>.

Now, researchers have found the genes connected to left-handedness. They used the UK Biobank, a collection of data – including genetic information – from more than 500,000 people. By studying the genomes, the team of researchers from the University of Oxford were able to pinpoint four specific loci on the human genome that play a role in handedness. The team studied the genomes of 400,000 people – including nearly 40,000 lefties – to reach their conclusions.

And it turns out, those loci might indicate hidden skills among lefties. For example, they might have better verbal skills than the other 90% of the human population.

"This raises the intriguing possibility for future research that left-handers might have an advantage when it comes to performing verbal tasks, but it must be remembered that these differences were only seen as averages over very large numbers of people and not all left-handers will be similar," co-author Dr. Akira Wiberg said in a press release.

Researchers also found a correlation between schizophrenia and left-handedness, though they said more research is needed to determine whether that’s more than just coincidence.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awz257">Brain</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Researchers find gene that makes people left-handed

If you’re left-handed, you’re part of an exclusive club. Just...

Hula dancing, the famous traditional dance that originated in the Pacific Islands, has been shown to help Native Hawaiians <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hot-yoga-lower-blood-pressure/">lower their blood pressure</a>, according to a new study. 

Hawaiians who danced the hula as part of a blood-pressure-lowering program saw successful results, even more than people who were educated about diet and participated in regular exercise. 

Native Hawaiians face a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, and rates of heart disease are four times higher for Native Hawaiians than non-Hispanic white people, according to Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula, the lead author of the study. 

Past research has shown that Native Hawaiians are less likely to participate in regular lifestyle interventions and programs to lower blood pressure. 

Expanding on these findings, Kaholokula and a team of researchers from the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii at Manoa</a> designed a new program. 

“We found that Native Hawaiians want group-based and culturally relevant lifestyle interventions that resonate with their cultural values and perspectives,” Kaholokula said. “We created an intervention based on hula, the traditional dance of Native Hawaiians, which can be performed at different levels of intensity by men and women of all ages and is practiced as a form of cultural and creative expression.”

More than 250 Native Hawaiians with high blood pressure or diabetes participated in the study, which included hypertension education and a hula program. 

The participants were given information on diet, exercise, and medication that helps aid in controlling blood pressure before being assigned to either a control group or a hula program consisting of one-hour classes twice a week for three months. 

After the three months, the participants cut back to one lesson a month for three months but participated in group activities meant to promote a heart-healthy lifestyle. 

Participants in the control group did not take part in any interventions or have any more education on managing blood pressure. 

After the six-month study period, the hula group had lowered blood pressure to below 130/80 mmHg and significantly lowered their systolic blood pressure.

The hula group was also more likely to keep their blood pressure in check six months after the hula classes ended. 

“The participants said the hula was fun and helped meet their spiritual and cultural needs,” said Kaholokula. “More than 80% stayed with the program for six months, and 77% were still at it 12 months in, which reflects high interest in a culturally grounded program like this.”

The study has many positive implications, and even though the hula intervention program was specifically designed for Native Hawaiians, incorporating culturally relevant and traditional activities into group interventions could be more effective in promoting lifestyle changes. 

“This study is a great example of how interventions can be more effective when tailored for cultural relevance to participants,” said Eduardo Sanchez, the American Heart Association’s Chief Medical Officer for Prevention. “Not only are people achieving health-promoting levels of physical activity, they are also having fun, engaging in a valued cultural practice, and connecting with their community in the group classes -- all important for well-being.”

The researchers presented their findings at the <a href="https://professional.heart.org/professional/EducationMeetings/MeetingsLiveCME/Hypertension/UCM_316905_Hypertension-Scientific-Sessions.jsp">American Heart Association’s Hypertension 2019 Scientific Sessions</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Boykov

Hula dancing helped native Hawaiians lower their blood pressure

Hula dancing, the famous traditional dance that originated in the...

Amazon makes pledge to reduce single-use plastic waste. Last month, the billionaire behemoth corporation Amazon came under heavy criticism after unveiling new packaging that is not able to be recycled. Three items used for mail purchases are all deemed as single-use only, which means that they cannot be refashioned for any other purpose.

These items are all used for Amazon’s Prime service, and include an air pillow, bubble-lined plastic bag, and a standard plastic bag – which would all be left to never degrade naturally after their one-time use. 

Luckily, Amazon’s Indian arm has now announced plans to replace all <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/panama-ban-plastic-bags/">single-use plastic</a> in its packaging by June 2020, using paper cushions in place of plastic packaging. This move comes ahead of Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s impending ban on plastic bags, cups, and straws. 

It also follows an announcement by rival Flipkart, which said it has cut down on single-use plastic by 25% and plans to move entirely to recycled plastic consumption in its own supply chain by March 2021. 

Amazon has often been criticized for using too much plastic and thermocol to wrap the billions of packages the company ships every year. A petition on Change.org for Amazon to curb its plastic use recently gained 4,000 signatures. Amazon makes pledge to reduce single-use plastic waste 

In an effort to be more environmentally friendly (and maybe appease some perturbed customers) this new paper material is said to be entirely recyclable. 

While efforts such as banning straws and plastic bags in many major cities across the world are a move in a positive direction, it’s not the general public that contributes the most to overall pollution. Substantial efforts to protect our environment will only come at the expense of gigantic corporations such as Amazon making significant changes to their operating procedures and non-recyclable waste.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock

Amazon makes pledge to reduce single-use plastic waste

Amazon makes pledge to reduce single-use plastic waste. Last month,...

9/11 first responders have an elevated risk of heart disease. Researchers have determined that New York City firefighters exposed to 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) dust have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). 

According to the study, the first responders on the scene have a 44-percent higher risk of CVD compared to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rough-sleep-firefighters-risk/">firefighters</a> who arrived when the airborne dust was not as thick. 

Study lead author Dr. David J. Prezant is a professor at <a href="http://www.aecom.yu.edu/">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a>, a pulmonary disease specialist at Montefiore Health System, and the chief medical officer for the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).

"The increase in risk was significant, even taking into account known CVD risk factors such as age, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking," said Dr. Prezant. 

Earlier studies linked WTC exposure to a higher risk of blood cancer and autoimmune rheumatologic diseases. Dr. Prezant said the research collectively "highlights the need to add these health conditions to the list of WTC-related diseases that are coverable under the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act."

The current study was focused on 9,796 male firefighters who worked at the WTC site. Most were non-smokers with an average age of 40 on September 11, 2001. 

The researchers divided the firefighters into four groups: those who first arrived at the WTC site during the morning of 9/11, those who first arrived that afternoon, those who first arrived on September 12, and those who first arrived between days 3 and 14.

The experts also reviewed 16 years of medical records, physician exams, and questionnaires to assess the participants for primary and secondary CVD events. 

Firefighters who arrived during and immediately after the WTC collapse were found to have a 44-percent higher risk of experiencing primary and secondary CVD events compared with those who arrived on September 12 or later.

In addition, firefighters who worked at the WTC site for six months or more were 30 percent more likely to experience a primary or secondary CVD event. These associations remained statistically significant regardless of other factors, such as age, race, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and probable PTSD.

"An important message is that new chest pain in this group should not automatically be attributed to well-known WTC-related illnesses, such as acid reflux or obstructive airway disease. It might very well be associated with CVD," said Dr. Prezant.

"Our results emphasize why it is crucial to monitor the long-term health of anyone exposed to massive environmental disasters, even many years after the event," added study co-lead author Dr. Rachel Zeig-Owens. "By screening for and treating the other CVD risk factors - such as elevated cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, and smoking - we are able to lower the overall risk of CVD in those most exposed to the World Trade Center disaster."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/">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

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Anthony Correia

9/11 first responders have an elevated risk of heart disease

9/11 first responders have an elevated risk of heart disease....

Silk has long been associated with China and for good reason. The Mulberry silk moth (Bombyx mori) is native to China, initially the only place that the moth was raised for silk. 

<a href="http://www.silk-road.com/artl/silkhistory.shtml#The_legend_of_Hsi-Ling-Shih">Chinese myth claims</a> that manufacture of the fabric was invented by Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih, wife of the mythical Yellow Emperor at roughly 3,000 BCE. What is certain is that silk was <a href="http://www.historyofclothing.com/textile-history/history-of-silk/">being manufactured</a> in China by the 27th century BCE. By 300 CE, Japan was manufacturing silk with their own domestic cultivation of silk moths. Around 500 CE, Byzantine monks smuggled silkworm cocoons into the Byzantine Empire inside of hollow bamboo staffs. Soon, Byzantium was manufacturing its silk, seriously hurting China’s monopoly on the silk industry. 

Today, silk is still a <a href="http://www.tradeforum.org/Silk-in-World-Markets/">source of profit</a> for China. Silk makes up only 0.2% of the global textile market, but the annual turnover of the China National Silk Import and Export Corporation alone was $2-$2.5 billion US. In traditional silk manufacturing, the silk moth is raised in captivity where it makes cocoons out of its silk. The cocoons are collected and processed to be made into fabric. There are many other insects that produce silk and different ways to create silk fabric, though.

In Thailand, <a href="http://www.catwalkyourself.com/fashion-dictionary/wild-silk-tussah/">different moths</a> have been cultivated than the traditional mulberry silk moth. Though the moths in Thailand and China are domesticated that the traditional sense of the word implies, they are held captive. Ghandi was critical of the silk industry because in traditional silk production, the silk moth pupae is boiled alive to extract the silk from the cocoon. There are some companies in India in particular in which the moths are allowed to leave their cocoons before the silk is collected. Other small scale silk production follows a completely different model for manufacturing silk. 

Silk is also produced by a variety of arthropods in different varieties, including spiders. Wild silk is collected from arthropods, usually moths that are not held in captivity. Instead, the silk cocoons are collected in the wild from wild moths. <a href="http://www.stayorg.com/fabrics/tussar-silk.html">Tussar silk</a> is made from silk of moths native to India that feed on native plants there. The silk is traditionally collected in the wild. 

<a href="https://www.thetextileatlas.com/craft-stories/eri-silk-assam-india">Eri silk</a> is another type made by a moth native to North-eastern India, where the moth feeds off castor plants. The Eri silk is particularly interesting because the cocoon is open on one end, allowing the moth to leave without damaging the silk manufactured from it. For this reason, this silk is often manufactured without hurting the silk moths. 

Silk sometimes even has the potential to actually protect the environment. In Madagascar, burial rituals are fascinating and more similar to those of animal-centric traditions in Indonesia than closer mainland Africa. Most human remains are interred in tombs, whether those are caves or buildings, rather than buried in the earth or cremated. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-whats-good-for-the-forest-is-good-for-the-native-silk-industry/">Mongabay</a> reports that in the Central Highlands of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/protect-madagascars-rosewood-trees/">Madagascar</a>, burial rituals have a very specific local flavor connected to wild silk. There is a long tradition of silk burial shrouds being made from the silk of the native landibe silk moth (Borocera cajani). After several years, a ceremony is carried out with human remains. During the ‘turning of the bones’ ceremony, the remains are wrapped in an additional layer of silk. Many of the elderly have silk burial shrouds already prepared when they die. 

The wild Malagasy silk is different from Asian silk in a few ways. Landibe silk is thicker than Asian silk, sometimes being mistaken for cotton. Products woven from the landibe silk are durable and said to be stronger than traditional Asian silk although not always as highly valued. Until recently, the cocoons of the mulberry silk moth native to China but cultivated also in Madagascar were more expensive than the native moth cocoons. Unfortunately, scarcity has driven up the cost of landibe cocoons and silk products, making them close to the same price as Asian silk. 

In 1902, Madagascar’s silk cocoon harvest was 100 tons but in 2009 that harvest was only 43 tons, according to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-whats-good-for-the-forest-is-good-for-the-native-silk-industry/">Mongabay</a>.  The landibe moths responsible for Madagascar’s wild silk feed mainly on tapia trees (Uapaca bojeri), especially near the time they start creating their cocoons. Larger amounts of human caused fires have cleared some of the landscape of the tapia forests recently in the common ‘tavy’ practice. The tapia trees are fire resistant though, and scientists disagree on whether the tapia cover has actually decreased by these activities. 

What does seem to be clear is that the landibe silk moths have declined, making creating native wild silk products harder to produce. It’s also true that healthy forests support higher populations of silk moths. However, the local silk industry may be a way to preserve the culture of the area as well as the tapia forests of Madagascar. 

Some non-profit organizations have taught local people business silks, enabling them to make not only burial shrouds and products they use themselves but also create scarves, blankets and other things to sell to tourists. This gives a source of income in an incredibly poor country, especially for women who often have a hard time finding jobs or making a living. 

<a href="https://www.wildsilkmarkets.com">Wild Silk Markets</a> has created an online market of silk tapestries and other decorative products made in a process that doesn’t kill the silk moth. The idea behind the business is to create a sustainable livelihood for traditional Malagasy silk manufacturers as well as support forest conservation. Local weaving cooperatives are also a way for local women to provide for themselves or their families, sometimes these cooperatives use wild silks but also Chinese silks and cotton. 

The <a href="https://folkartmarket.org/artist/prisca-marie-ramanaliniaina/">International Folk Art Market</a> in Santa Fe New Mexico, a non profit dedicated to supporting traditional folk art and artists, created a documentary about the silk production and a Malagasy artist has participated in the market. 

The wild silk of Madagascar shows how local cultures and environments can be tightly interwoven, each dependent on the other. It’s no coincidence that we are losing languages and traditions in huge numbers at the same time we lose biodiversity. Both the silk moth and the weaver are part of Madagascar’s environment.                         

--

By<a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com"> Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Tylototriton/Wikimedia Commons

Wild silk business may support forest conservation in Madagascar

Silk has long been associated with China and for good...

Your mood could be affected by your gut bacteria. Within the past two decades, scientists have realized that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/regulating-gut-bacteria-anxiety/">gut bacteria</a> can actually affect a person’s mood. According to a report in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332460-500-gut-feeling-how-a-healthy-microbiome-helps-beat-stress-and-lift-mood/">New Scientist</a>, the path to discovery began in 2004 when a researcher at <a href="http://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyushu University</a> saw that mice who lacked microbes in their guts reacted abnormally to stress.

Unlike mice found in nature, these mice were raised in a sterile environment, and therefore lacked the valuable microbes found in the guts of wild mice. Without microbes, these lab-bred mice were left vulnerable to pathogens that would normally be fought off by the good bacteria in the gut. The team bred them to study the results of physical disease on microbe-lacking mice, however, they witnessed a surprising behavioral result as well.

The mice that lacked microbes spent less time with their fellow mice and had a more exaggerated response to stress in comparison to mice with the appropriate microbes. It almost looked as though the mice were depressed, as New Scientist reported. However, after researchers fed these mice a pathogen-free microbial mixture, the mice developed a normal stress response within mere days.

This connection between microbes and mood was then dubbed the gut-brain axis.

After this initial study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110830/full/news.2011.510.html">another study</a> led by John Cryan and Ted Dinan of <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/en/">University College Cork</a> discovered that the bacterium Lactobacillus rhamnosus has an anti-anxiety effect in mice.

“They became a lot more chilled out and relaxed. They behaved as if they were on Valium or Prozac,” Cryan said. “We looked at their brains and found widespread changes.”

To figure out how these findings related to humans, Cryan and Dinan gave normal mice a faecal transplant from a person with depression. The mice that received the transplant also developed depression-like symptoms, thus proving that the gut-brain axis discovered in mice translates to humans as well.

But it was still unclear how the gut-brain axis actually worked, according to New Scientist. Due to the blood-brain barrier, which prevents cells, particles, and some molecules from entering the brain, how could the neurotransmitters produced by microbes — which include dopamine and serotonin — affect the brain?

In 2017, scientists discovered a special set of cells in the gut lining, which detect neurotransmitters produced by microbes and create a pulse in the vagus nerve, which connects the gut to the brain. Furthermore, more evidence suggests that gut microbes and their molecules can actually adjust the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, and can even influence the development of the brain within the first three years of a person’s life.

Therefore, the amount of gut bacteria one has can actually affect the way a person processes emotions. And as <a href="https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00006842-201710000-00010">another 2017 study</a> from the <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a>, concluded, consuming probiotics can improve one’s emotional processing and may even curb some symptoms of depression and anxiety.

“I do believe the data supports a role for microbes modulating how we feel,” lead researcher Kirsten Tillisch told New Scientist, but she cautioned that these studies show correlation between gut microbes and mood, not causation. 

Therefore, it’s possible that mood is affecting the microbes rather than the other way around.

In order to bring new probiotic-based mental health treatment to the mainstream, researchers must discover which microbes actually reside in the gut. To do so, a new technique of microbial research has been developed. It’s dubbed whole-genome shotgun sequencing and it can reportedly locate species and subspecies by analyzing every gene in a sample taken from an environment.

Whole-genome sequencing has already been used by researchers at <a href="https://www.kuleuven.be/english/">KU Leuven in Belgium</a>, who were able to view <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30718848">the microbes in the guts of over 1,000 people</a>. By doing so, the team was able to report that people who were diagnosed with depression showed a reduced number of Coprococcus and Dialister bacteria.

“This new way of looking at brain health is literally turning things upside down,” Cryan told New Scientist.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/T. L. Furrer

Your mood could be affected by your gut bacteria

Your mood could be affected by your gut bacteria. Within...

A team of researchers believe that by taxing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sugary-drinks-cancer/">sugar-sweetened beverages</a> (SSBs) by the amount of sugar they contain could result in massive health benefits and economic gains. 

At the present, seven U.S. cities tax SSBs based on volume. However, this tax doesn’t take into account the actual amount of sugar in each beverage.

"Despite their different sugar content and resulting different harms, all sugar-sweetened beverages are taxed at the same rate per liter under a volumetric tax," the team, made up of researchers from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a>, the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a>, the <a href="https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/">Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania</a>, and the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> stated. "This tax structure gives consumers no incentive to substitute from high-sugar to low-sugar SSBs, even though the latter are less harmful. Thus, while a volumetric tax reduces consumption of SSBs in general, it does not provide the maximum possible health benefits."

"A basic economic principle is that such corrective taxes should be proportional to the harm caused," the authors said. "The harm from sugary drinks comes from the sugar, and SSBs vary substantially in sugar per unit volume."

Although they believe a tax on included sugar would be more beneficial than a tax on liquid volume, the authors stated that the latter is still instrumental in fighting obesity. By the researchers’ calculations, a 34-cent-per-liter volumetric tax results in the average U.S. adult to drink 2.9 fewer ounces of SSBs per day (a 22% reduction). This decrease in sugar intake could result in a 2.3-pound weight loss for said average adult. 

Furthermore, if a nationwide volumetric SSB tax is initiated, researchers estimate obesity rates would drop by 2% (a 2.1 million decrease of obese adults), and would lower the number of new Type 2 diabetes diagnoses by 2.3% (about 36,000 new cases per year).

And such a tax would also result in massive health care savings — about $1.4 billion per year nationwide.

But taxing based on SSB sugar amounts would yield even greater results, the researchers said. U.S. adults would consume 2.3 fewer grams of sugar per day under this tax in comparison to the volumetric tax, thus helping them lose an additional 0.7 pounds. Obesity would drop in an additional 630,000 adults, Type 2 diagnosis would be slashed by another 0.7%, and the economic gain would skyrocket to an additional $400 million.

"Once there is agreement to tax SSBs, it seems natural to tax the harmful sugar, instead of the liquid that comes with the sugar," the authors said. "Our calculations suggest that this idea offers valuable low-hanging fruit for improving public health."

This study is published in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/monticello

How a sugar tax could cut down on obesity while enhancing economic gains

A team of researchers believe that by taxing sugar-sweetened beverages...

Ancient DNA study spans millions of years of Central and South Asian history. The largest-ever study of ancient human DNA sheds light on the early history and migrations of people in Central and South Asia from the Mesolithic Era to the Iron Age. 

A team of archaeologists, geneticists and anthropologists analyzed and sequenced the genomes of 524 ancient individuals from Central and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=south+asia&amp;cvid=054854f3d8ff480d9d9ad22327ba1d3a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">South Asia</a>, increasing the number of total ancient studied and published genomes worldwide by 25 percent. 

The researchers sequenced ancient human genomes, compared the DNA data to other previously sequenced genomes and reviewed key archeological and linguistic records from the region. 

The expansive research was published in two papers in the journals Science and Cell and has helped put several debates about the early origins of language and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-first-farmers-east-africa/">farming</a> to rest. 

“These studies speak to two of the most profound cultural transformations in ancient Eurasia--the transition from hunting and gathering to farming and the spread of Indo-European languages, which are spoken today from the British Isles to South Asia--along with the movement of people,” said Vagheesh Narasimhan, a co-first author of both papers.

One of the biggest takeaways of the study is that it helps confirm the theory that Indo-European languages spread and first arrived in Europe via the Eurasian Steppe. 

More than 400 languages including Hindu, Bengali, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and English are considered Indo-European, and as the largest language family on Earth, it’s long been wondered how the roots of these languages spread. 

It’s long been thought that Indo-European languages either arrived in Europe from herders traveling through the Steppe or by farmers migrating from Anatolia, which is present-day Turkey. 

This recent study helps confirm the Steppe theory because people living in South Asia share little common ancestry with ancient Anatolian farmers. Ancient DNA study spans millions of years of Central and South Asian history

“We can rule out a large-scale spread of farmers with Anatolian roots into South Asia, the centerpiece of the ‘Anatolian hypothesis’ that such movement brought farming and Indo-European languages into the region,” said David Reich, a co-senior author of the papers. “Since no substantial movements of people occurred, this is checkmate for the Anatolian hypothesis.”

The researchers linked present-day speakers of certain branches of Indo-European languages to a subgroup of ancient Steppe pastoralists that spread into Europe 5,000 years ago before returning to Central and South Asia. 

Another important mystery solved by the study is how ancient populations shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. Did settlements switch to farming as populations migrated into new areas or did they copy other communities?

The researchers found that the practice of farming in Iran and Turan coincides with the arrival of Anatolian ancestry. 

“This confirms that the spread of agriculture entailed not only a westward route from Anatolia to Europe but also an eastward route from Anatolia into regions of Asia previously only inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups,” said Ron Pinhasi, a co-senior author of the Science article.

However, the history of farming in Central and South Asia is not clean-cut and the researchers found that by 5,000 years ago, a two-way pattern of ancestry and farming technology split north and south along the “Bronze Age Silk Road.” 

In South Asia, the researchers didn’t find any common ancestry to Anatolian people who helped spread farming west, rather South Asians are related to an Iranian lineage that separated from early farmers and hunters and gathers. 

For South Asia, farming was a practice adopted by local foragers rather than through the spread of farming cultures. 

“The study directly ties present-day South Asians to the ancient peoples of South Asia’s first civilization,” said Narasimhan.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Vasant Shinde/Cell

Ancient DNA study spans millions of years of Central and South Asian history

Ancient DNA study spans millions of years of Central and...

Democratic presidential candidates offer climate crisis plans at town hall. Wednesday night, ten Democratic presidential candidates took part in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/05/politics/climate-town-hall-highlights/index.html">CNN’s Climate Crisis Town Hall,</a> discussing climate change and their plans for the future of the environment. 

The Town Hall lasted for seven hours with each candidate given 40 minutes to discuss the environment and answer questions. 

Many candidates offered ambitious plans, but at a time when climate change demands action, ambitious and even expensive policies may be the only way to mitigate catastrophic warming and sea-level rise. 

Here’s what the candidates had to offer:

Julián Castro went first and set the stage for the rest of the candidates. The former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has a ten trillion dollar climate plan that first involves rejoining the Paris Accord. 

A carbon pollution fee, stopping fracking on federal land, and promoting renewable energy are all on Castro’s climate to-do list. 

Importantly, Castro highlighted how climate change unfairly impacts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/communities-of-color-face-pollution/">marginalized and minority communities</a> and justice for minorities is a cornerstone of the candidate’s campaign.

California Senator Kamala Harris made a bold splash when she promised to abolish the Senate filibuster in order to see the Green New Deal passed. Harris’ $10 trillion plan includes ending fossil fuel emissions by 2030 and having a carbon-neutral economy by 2045. 

“I strongly believe this is a fight against powerful interests,” Harris said on Wednesday night. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden wants to lead the world in the fight against climate change, but his plan was one of the least expensive compared to the trillions pledged by other candidates. 

Among Biden’s climate goals, he wants to invest $1.7 trillion into clean energy, reverse GOP tax cuts and invest in green jobs, fine serial polluters, and have zero-emission energy production by 2050. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s climate plan has a price tag nearly double that of Biden or Pete Buttigieg. 

Like Biden, though, Warren wants to reverse GOP tax cuts to help pay for climate mitigation. 

Much of Warren’s climate plan adopts from former 2020 candidate Jay Inslee including retiring coal-fired electricity, having zero-emission cars and trucks by 2030, and zero-emission energy production by 2035. 

Senator Bernie Sanders, no stranger to the presidential race, had an even more ambitious and costly plan. 

Sander’s $16 trillion plan would invest more in green energy than any other candidate, and his climate policies include banning fracking, fining major polluters, and having zero-carbon emissions by 2050. 

“We are fighting for the survival of the planet Earth, our only planet. How is this not a major priority?” Sanders asked.

As the 2020 presidential election looms closer, these climate policy plans could make or break a candidate’s campaign. 

Regardless of the price tag or ambitious energy investments, the question is how much climate action can we expect if these candidates take office, and is there a plan B to ensure climate mitigation takes priority? 

--

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/24Novembers

Democratic presidential candidates offer climate crisis plans at town hall

Democratic presidential candidates offer climate crisis plans at town hall....

According to the <a href="http://www.fs-unep-centre.org/">Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019 report</a>, worldwide investment in renewable energy over the last decade is set to hit $2.6 trillion this year. As a result, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/renewable-energy-storage-costs/">renewable energy</a> capacity will have quadrupled from 414 GW at the end of 2009 to 1,650 GW by the end of 2019.

"Overall, we note that these figures represent a small share of the overall economic transition required to address climate change," wrote the authors of the report.

"The stock of fossil fuel power already installed, and those added this decade, has helped renewables, excluding large hydro, raise their share of global electricity generation, from 11.6% in 2017 to 12.9% in 2018." 

"Were it not for this green power, world carbon dioxide emissions last year would have been an estimated 2 gigatons greater. Nevertheless, global power-sector emissions are likely to have risen by at least 10 percent between the end of 2009 and 2019."

Solar power will account for half, or s1.3 trillion, of the global renewable energy investment - growing from 25 GW at the beginning of 2010 to an expected 663 GW this year. To put it into perspective, this is enough energy to produce all of the electricity needed to power 100 million of the estimated 128 million households in the United States. 

The study authors noted that renewables have also become much more cost-competitive over the last decade. Since 2009, the levelized cost of electricity has dropped by 81 percent for solar photovoltaics and by 46 percent for onshore wind.

[caption id="attachment_1877433" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/figure.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1877433" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/figure.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="500" /></a> Image Credit: UN Environment / FS / BNEF[/caption]

"Sharp falls in the cost of electricity from wind and solar over recent years have transformed the choice facing policy-makers," explained Jon Moore, who is the chief executive of BloombergNEF. "These technologies were always low-carbon and relatively quick to build. Now, in many countries around the world, either wind or solar is the cheapest option for electricity generation."

China has been the biggest investor in renewable energy capacity, commiting $758 billion between 2010 and the first half of 2019. The United States ranked second with an investment of $356 billion, followed by Japan at $202 billion.

Within the same decade, Europe spent $698 billion on renewables capacity, with Germany contributing the most at $179 billion.

"The technologies to use wind, sun or geothermal energy are available, they are competitive and clean. Within 10 years Germany will produce two-thirds of its power based on renewables. We are demonstrating that an industrial country can phase out coal and, at the same time, nuclear energy without putting its economy at risk," said Svenja Schulze, Germany's Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

"We know that renewables make sense for the climate and for the economy. Yet we are not investing nearly enough to decarbonize power production, transport and heat in time to limit global warming to 2C or ideally 1.5C. If we want to achieve a safe and sustainable future, we need to do a lot more now in terms of creating an enabling-regulatory environment and infrastructure that encourage investment in renewables."

While China was the largest single investor in 2018, renewable energy capacity investment was more widespread than ever last year, with 29 countries investing more than $1 billion.

"Investing in renewable energy is investing in a sustainable and profitable future, as the last decade of incredible growth in renewables has shown," said Inger Andersen, who is the executive director of the <a href="http://www.unenvironment.org/">UN Environment Programme</a>.

"But we cannot afford to be complacent. Global power sector emissions have risen about 10 per cent over this period. It is clear that we need to rapidly step up the pace of the global switch to renewables if we are to meet international climate and development goals."

The report has been released ahead of the UN Global Climate Action Summit.

--

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>

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Alberto Masnovo

Renewable energy investment has skyrocketed over the last ten years

According to the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019...

In a new study published by <a href="https://www.endocrine.org/about-us">The Endocrine Society</a>, researchers have found that e-cigarettes may be damaging to fertility. Using a mouse model, the experts also demonstrated that vaping can lead to negative pregnancy outcomes.

According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC), the number of middle and high school students using <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/e-cigarettes-quit-smoking/">e-cigarettes</a> has exploded in recent years, jumping from 2.1 million in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2018. Vaping is also driving increased tobacco use among adolescents.

E-cigarettes are promoted as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, yet little is known about the potential health impacts of vaping. Last month, a study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine showed that vaping just one time caused immediate damage to blood vessels and vascular function, even when the electronic cigarettes were nicotine-free.

For the current analysis, the researchers used a mouse model to examine whether e-cigarette exposure impairs fertility and offspring health. Study co-author Dr. Kathleen Caron is a professor and chair in the Department of Cell Biology &amp; Physiology at UNC Chapel Hill. 

"We found that e-cigarette usage prior to conception significantly delayed implantation of a fertilized embryo to the uterus, thus delaying and reducing fertility (in mice)," said Dr. Caron. "We also discovered that e-cigarette usage throughout pregnancy changed the long-term health and metabolism of female offspring - imparting lifelong, second-generation effects on the growing fetus."

After exposure to e-cigarette vapor, female mice exhibited reduced embryo implantation and a notable delay in the onset of pregnancy with the first litter. In addition, the offspring that were exposed to e-cigarettes in utero failed to gain as much weight as control mice.

"These findings are important because they change our views on the perceived safety of e-cigarettes as alternatives to traditional cigarettes before and during pregnancy," said Dr. Caron.

The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jes">Journal of the Endocrine Society</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Oleggg

E-cigarette exposure may cause fertility issues and damage to fetuses

In a new study published by The Endocrine Society, researchers...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

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

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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> 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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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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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