Walk into any drugstore or open TikTok - everywhere you look, skin care products are calling your name. They promise miracles - clear <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-skins-bacteria-could-be-a-natural-sunscreen/">skin</a>, no wrinkles, no acne. But how do you know what works, especially now, with summer heating up?



Here’s the problem. The more products there are, the harder it gets to make sense of it all. You try one cream, then another, but still don't know what to choose. Luckily, a new study cuts through the noise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ingredients-for-common-skin-problems">Ingredients for common skin problems</h2>



A research team at Northwestern University <a href="https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Feinberg School of Medicine</a> set out to clarify skin care confusion. 



They identified ingredients that dermatologists most often recommend for seven common skin concerns. The study helps bridge the gap between marketing claims and actual results.



The project was led by Dr. Murad Alam, an expert in dermatology at Northwestern. His research provides a much-needed foundation for consumers seeking trustworthy information. 



According to the study, one of the most highly recommended ingredients is <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mineral-vs-chemical-sunscreen" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mineral sunscreen</a>. It shields skin from wrinkles, redness, and dryness. 



<a href="https://www.henryford.com/blog/2022/10/what-you-need-to-know-about-retinoids" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Retinoids</a>, derived from vitamin A, also earned strong endorsements. Dermatologists trust them to reduce acne, wrinkles, dark spots, large pores, and oily skin.



The full study lists ingredients matched to specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/future-tech-will-track-emotions-through-changes-in-our-skin/">skin</a> problems. These findings allow consumers to focus on what works best for their unique needs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-selecting-the-most-effective-ingredients">Selecting the most effective ingredients</h2>



This study isn’t based on guesses. It followed a method called <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delphi-method.asp">Delphi consensus</a> - a fancy name for a simple process. Experts rate ingredients, talk about them, and then rate them again.



Dozens of dermatologists took part. They gave each ingredient a score from 1 to 9. Then they discussed the results. After a second round of scoring, only the top-rated ingredients stayed on the list.



“This is the first time experts have come together nationally to cut through the overwhelming number of skin care options,” said Dr. Alam. 



“We wanted to help both doctors and everyday users understand which ingredients are backed by the most expert support.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fewer-skin-care-products-work-best">Fewer skin care products work best</h2>



Many people assume that using more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vitamin-c-promotes-skin-renewal-and-anti-aging-at-the-genetic-level-dna-demethylation/">products</a> leads to better results - a cleanser here, a serum there, and a moisturizer on top. It seems like more effort should mean better skin.



Dr. Alam strongly disagrees. “Using too many products can irritate your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/teen-skin-bacteria-could-hold-the-secret-to-acne-prevention/">skin</a> and make things <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-plastics-chemical-bpa-linked-to-autism-adhd-in-children/">worse</a>,” he said. “It’s about knowing which ingredients are most effective for your specific concerns and are best for your routine.”



This matters, especially now, with social media hyping endless skin routines. Simplicity works best. Too many layers may backfire. Your skin doesn’t need a ten-step routine. It needs smart choices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skin-care-products-are-not-strictly-tested">Skin care products are not strictly tested</h2>



There's another reason this study is noteworthy: skincare products aren’t held to the same rigorous standards as medications. 



While drugs must pass strict testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, your favorite serum typically bypasses that level of scrutiny.



Dr. Alam noted that most cosmetic products lack scientific review. This study fills that gap. The purpose is simple - give people a clearer path to healthier skin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simplify-your-skin-care-routine-nbsp">Simplify your skin care routine&nbsp;</h2>



Summer has fully arrived, bringing longer, hotter days along with plenty of sun exposure. This season often leads to more sweating, increased oiliness, and various skin problems such as breakouts, redness, and dryness. 



It is a time when your skin needs extra care and protection, but that does not mean you need a complicated routine. This is the perfect moment to simplify how you take care of your skin. 



Dermatologists recommend focusing only on ingredients that are backed by strong research and expert agreement, such as mineral sunscreen and retinoids. These ingredients have been shown to work effectively for many skin concerns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stick-with-what-works">Stick with what works</h2>



It is easy to get distracted by every new product that appears in stores or on social media. However, constantly switching between trendy products can do more harm than good. 



Instead, stick with what works. Choose the ingredients that dermatologists trust. Be consistent with your routine and, over time, your skin will show improvements.



New products will continue to appear in beauty stores. Brands will keep releasing items that promise fast results. But now, you can make smarter choices by focusing on proven solutions instead of getting caught up in every trend.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(25)00612-7/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology</a>.



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These are the very best skin care ingredients, according to an in-depth national study

Walk into any drugstore or open TikTok - everywhere you look, skin care products are calling your name. They promise miracles - clear skin, no wrinkles, no acne. But how do you know what works, especially now, with summer heating up? Here’s the problem. The more products there are, the harder it gets to make sense of it all. You try one cream, then another, but still don't know what to choose. Luckily, a new study cuts through the noise. Ingredients for common skin problems A research...

Does watching the news stress you out? Are you always on edge as you open up Twitter to see the trending headlines?  

If so, you’re certainly not alone, as a new study has found that Americans are losing sleep and getting sick over politics.  

The study, conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> and the <a href="https://www.ucmerced.edu/">University of California, Merced</a>, is the first of its kind to investigate how paying attention to current politics affects physical health and emotional wellbeing. 

Even if you’re not actively involved in the political discourse of today, it’s hard not to feel bombarded through social media, the 24 hours news cycle, and political campaigns.  

Kevin Smith, the leader of the study and a political scientist, has found all this exposure to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/polarization-politicians-violent-language/">polarizing politics</a> is taking its toll on Americans.  

“It became apparent, especially during the 2016 electoral season, that this was a polarized nation, and it was getting even more politically polarized,” said Smith. “The cost of that polarization to individuals had not fully been accounted for by social scientists or, indeed, health researchers.” 

It might be time to look at the health effects of politics as a public health crisis, the research suggests. 

 For the study, published in the journal PLOS One, the researchers collected data from <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/">YouGov </a>surveys. 

For five days in March of 2017, 800 respondents answered an online questionnaire with 32 questions that addressed physical health, mental health, regretted behavior, and social costs in relation to politics.

 40 percent of those surveyed reported that politics were causing stress, and one in five said that they were losing sleep over political issues.  

“Quite a few of the numbers jumped out at me,” said Smith. “Twenty percent have damaged friendships because of political disagreements. One in five report fatigue. And it’s a small (proportion), but 4% of the people in our sample said they’ve had suicidal thoughts because of politics. That translates into 10 million adults.”

One in five of the participants said that differing political views had damaged friendships, and 29.3 percent reported that they had lost their temper over politics.  

Left-leaning survey respondents seemed to have higher perceptions of political stress which could be due to the 2016 election outcomes.  

“Politics is really negatively affecting a lot of people’s lives, or at least, they’re perceiving that politics is really negatively affecting their lives in deep and meaningful ways,” said Smith. “If we understand what’s causing it, that can lead us to ameliorative strategies.”

--

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: Becky Wright Photography

Americans are stressed out and losing sleep over politics, study shows

Does watching the news stress you out? Are you always...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a> have found that the heart health benefits of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-in-growing-soybeans-could-help-feed-the-world/">soy</a> have not changed over time. The experts reviewed dozens of clinical trials from over the last 20 years and concluded that soy protein has consistently reduced both total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or "bad" cholesterol, which is associated with heart damage.

Since 2017, the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/home">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) has considered revoking the health claim on the connection between soy protein and a reduced risk of heart disease. The results of the current study, however, contradict the need for any such proposal by the FDA.

"At no time since the original claim for soy as a reducer of serum cholesterol has its ability been in question," said Professor David Jenkins. "It's been consistent since 1999. The data have not changed."

Across all 46 trials that the FDA cited as having "inconsistent findings," the experts found that the cholesterol-lowering effect of soy protein was unwavering.

"Sometimes you see a regression to the mean, where analyses with small studies produce big effects that diminish over time as sample sizes increase and results get more precise," said Professor John Sievenpiper. "We saw that with fish oil, for example. But in this case nothing has changed."

"These data strongly support the rationale behind the original FDA heart health claim for soy," said Professor Jenkins. "And it's important to note that while the reduction in cholesterol was less than five percent, if you put that together with other plant-based foods in a portfolio you get a much stronger effect."

Professor Jenkins recently helped to develop a dietary portfolio that identifies foods which can be combined to lower risk factors for heart disease by up to 30 percent, including nuts, plant-based protein, viscous fiber, and plant sterols. This portfolio has been incorporated into dietary guidelines by Heart UK and the European Atherosclerosis Society, and the FDA maintains health claims for several other plant foods.

"It's disheartening that the FDA has focused on soy," said Professor Jenkins. "We see similar data for other foods in the portfolio. If you knock out one leg of that stool then the others could be up for grabs, right when concerns about health and the environment are bringing plant-based eating into the mainstream."

"We're moving into an age of plant-based protein, and it would be a shame to see that shift undermined. Plant-based food producers, industry and retailers need all the help they can get, to make their products accessible."

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/jaha">Journal of the American Heart Association</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/Somrak Jendee

Soy protein found to have consistent heart health benefits over time

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that the...

One in 10 people have had near-death experiences. According to a new study from <a href="https://www.spinkhealth.com/">Spink Health</a>, 10% of people have had a “near-death” experience (NDE), where they experience spiritual and physical symptoms which may include out-of-body sensations, seeing or hearing hallucinations, racing thoughts, and time distortion.

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.rigshospitalet.dk/">Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital</a>, <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>, the <a href="https://www.schlaganfallcentrum.de/en/">Center for Stroke Research, Berlin</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Technology</a>, collected data on NDEs from 1,034 participants spanning 35 countries. 

They found that NDEs are equally as common in those who are not in imminent danger of death as in those who have experienced actual life-threatening events like heart attacks, car crashes, near drowning, and/or combat situations.

Of the 289 participants who reported having a NDE, 87% of participants experienced abnormal time perception, 65% exceptional speed of thought, 63% exceptionally vivid senses, and 53% felt separated from, or out of their body. Furthermore, 106 of those who reported a NDE reached a threshold of 7 on the Greyson NDE Scale, thus confirming they experienced a true NDE.

Other participants reported feeling at total peace, being aware they were outside of their body, seeing a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel, having their 'soul sucked out', hearing angels singing, and seeing their life flashing before them.

And some said they were aware of another's presence before they went to sleep — others even described the feeling of a demon sitting on their chest while they lay paralysed.

The team found that 73% of those who reported a NDE found it to be an unpleasant experience, with 27% reporting their experience as pleasant. But in those with a score of 7 or above on the Greyson NDE Scale, 53% reported a pleasant experience and 14% an unpleasant one.

The researchers also saw an interesting link between NDEs and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, a phase of sleep during which the eyes move rapidly and the brain is as active as when the person is awake. It’s during REM sleep that a person has the most vivid dreams and sometimes one can experience temporary paralysis. If and when <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rem-sleep-risk-dementia/">REM sleep</a> intrudes into wakefulness, one can sometimes experience hallucinations and sleep paralysis.

Interestingly, REM sleep intrusion on wakefulness was more common in the 47% of people with scores of 7 or above on the Greyson NDE Scale than in the 26% of people with scores of 6 or below, or in those 14% who have had no such experiences.

"Our central finding is that we confirmed the association of near-death experiences with REM sleep intrusion,” said Dr. Daniel Kondziella, a neurologist at the University of Copenhagen. “Although association is not causality, identifying the physiological mechanisms behind REM sleep intrusion into wakefulness might advance our understanding of near-death experiences."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/lassedesignen

One in 10 people have had near-death experiences

One in 10 people have had near-death experiences. According to...

Fast fashion has risen in popularity in recent years by allowing consumers to quickly and cheaply buy the latest styles. While this growing market may be great for consumers who want to try out luxurious clothing at a fraction of the cost, it comes at a steep environmental price.

Fast fashion generally refers to when inexpensive clothing is rapidly produced by retailers to mimic high-end trends. Retailers selling clothing for ridiculously low prices can be found throughout the internet, from ads on social media sites to Amazon.

The fast fashion industry is believed to be propelled largely by young consumers who are conscientious of their style and wallets at the same time. Today, consumers can buy fashionable clothing for as cheap as $5 with the intention of simply discarding it when the item is no longer in style. The industry has even been referred to as “McFashion” because of the speed at which consumers can purchase styles that were just featured on the catwalk.

Every year, consumers around the world buy around 80 billion new pieces of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/microfibers-clothing-polluting-oceans/">clothing</a>, up 400% from just two decades ago, according to <a href="https://truecostmovie.com/learn-more/environmental-impact/">The Trust Cost</a>, a documentary on the fashion industry. 

“It is estimated that more than half of fast fashion production is disposed of in under a year, and one garbage truck full of textiles is landfilled or burnt every second. This factor combined with a very low rate of recycling - less than 1% of material used - leads to an ever-expanding pressure on resources,” states a<a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/A-New-Textiles-Economy_Full-Report_Updated_1-12-17.pdf"> report</a> by the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

In addition to concerns about the rate of disposal of fast fashion products, environmentalists and politicians have expressed concern over the production of these clothes. For factories to keep up with the high demand for new clothing, they require a large supply of resources such as water, chemicals, raw fabrics and oil. The report by the Ellen McArthur Foundation found that textile production produced 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

Once bought by the consumer, fibers from synthetic clothing can enter waterways through our washing machines exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis. These microfibers can accumulate in our oceans where they release dangerous chemicals or be consumed by fish species that humans eat.

Many environmentalists believe this model of production and consumption is unsustainable and are calling for a change to the industry. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, a committee in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, has responded by investigating the effects of fast fashion on the environment and workers. In November 2018, the committee reached out to leading retailers to ask questions about their current practices.

The committee believes change is urgently needed for this industry. Chairwoman Mary Creagh told<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45745242"> BBC News</a>, “They [the fashion industry] will account for more than a quarter of our total impact on climate change by 2050.”

The fashion industry itself is starting to shift. A new<a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/make-fashion-circular"> initiative</a>, called Make Fashion Circular, brings together industry leaders, NGOs and innovators to ensure that products are made using environmentally friendly practices.

While legislators and industry leaders work towards a solution, consumers can create change. But the solution to fast fashion may not be that simple. There is clearly demand for fast fashion among consumers who may not be willing to replace their purchases with expensive, sustainably sourced products. 

A<a href="http://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/STD/FileManager/OsamaArticle/FastFashionSustainability.pdf"> study</a> of young, fast fashion consumers found that participants were not concerned about their fashion purchasing decisions, even though they generally cared about the environment. Educating consumers about an issue is often not enough to cause wide-scale change.

For now, the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/">Environmental Audit Committee</a> will be publishing their recommendations in February.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How fast fashion is taking a toll on our environment

Fast fashion has risen in popularity in recent years by...

Europe is phasing out coal faster than ever before. A new report from the nonprofit organization <a href="https://sandbag.org.uk/">Sandbag</a> suggests that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/phasing-out-coal-gas/">coal</a> era may have finally reached its peak in Europe. In the sharpest decline ever recorded, electricity generation from coal power plants dropped by nearly 20 percent across European countries during the first half of 2019.

According to the experts, the decrease in coal-generated power can be attributed to the use of renewables such as solar and wind, as well as a recent increase in the use of gas-based power. 

Although Europe's use of coal has been in a long-term state of decline, lower gas prices combined with a higher EU carbon price have now accelerated this decline. 

The study revealed that countries with the most wind and solar capacity experienced the largest declines, with coal consumption dropping by 79 percent in Ireland and 44 percent in Spain. In the UK, coal power generation dropped by 65 percent and the nation has committed to completely getting rid of coal by 2025. 

Dave Jones is a carbon &amp; power analyst at Sandbag who is leading the organization's efforts to phase out coal in Europe. Based on data from EU energy network operators, the researchers determined that Europe's dirtiest coal plants are no longer profitable due to carbon prices, power prices, and running costs. 

"People have been slow to pick up on how big and aggressive this (switch) is,” Jones told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>. He said the transition to renewables will continue year after year, but that the substitution of gas for coal will be more of a short-lived event because new gas plants are no longer being built.

"Europe has a coal problem. Even as clean energy sources grow, many countries are still reliant on generating power from coal. It has huge impacts – on climate change and on health," Sandbag states on its website.

"Our research shows that in 2017, coal produced 15% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and 38% of the EU ETS CO2 emissions. In 2015, the latest year for which health figures are available, coal was responsible for at least 19,500 premature deaths across Europe."

Sandbag reports that eliminating coal is the "simplest and quickest way to achieve substantial reductions in CO2 emissions," and the organization has a goal of phasing out coal in European countries by 2030.

--

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/Rudmer Zwerver

Europe is phasing out coal faster than ever before

Europe is phasing out coal faster than ever before. A...

A new study funded by <a href="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/">Cancer Research UK</a> has revealed that consumers are now smoking around 1.4 billion fewer cigarettes every year. Average monthly <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cigarette-butts-killing-plants/">cigarette</a> use dropped by nearly 25 percent between 2011 and 2018, which is the equivalent of 118 million less cigarettes per month. 

The findings suggest that initiatives to discourage smoking, such as stricter tobacco regulations, are working. 

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> analyzed data on cigarette sales in England compared to the monthly self-reported cigarette use of over 135,000 participants from the Smoking Toolkit Study. 

The experts found that two different investigative approaches produced very similar estimates. During the seven-year study period, the average number of cigarettes declined by 24.4 percent each month based on survey data, while sales data showed that this number fell by 24.1 percent from 3.4 billion to 2.57 billion.

"It's brilliant that over a billion fewer cigarettes are being sold and smoked in England every year," said study lead author Dr. Sarah Jackson. "The decline in national cigarette consumption has been dramatic and exceeded the decline in smoking prevalence, which, over the same time period, was around 15%. This means that not only are fewer people smoking, but those who continue to smoke are smoking less."

"Studies like this help to give us an accurate picture of cigarette consumption so we know where we're at and what more needs to be done."

Around 16 percent of adults in England and 14 percent of American adults currently use tobacco. George Butterworth is the senior policy manager at Cancer Research UK.

"It's great news that fewer cigarettes are being sold and smoked. Big tobacco said that introducing stricter regulation wouldn't work and campaigned against it, but this is proof that smoking trends are heading in the right direction. But smoking is still the biggest preventable cause of cancer, and certain groups have much higher rates of smoking, such as routine and manual workers, so we can't stop here and think job done," said Butterworth. 

"Last month the government committed to making the UK smoke-free by 2030. But stop smoking services, which give smokers the best chance of quitting, have been subject to repeated cuts in recent years. We need the government to fix the funding crisis in local stop smoking services. The tobacco industry could be made to pay for these services to clean up the mess their products have created."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2656148">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/Kenishirotie

People are now smoking 1.4 billion fewer cigarettes each year

A new study funded by Cancer Research UK has revealed...

The updated <a href="https://www.escardio.org/">European Society of Cardiology</a> (ESC) Guidelines advise the reduction of pollution and noise to benefit those with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/preventable-heart-disease-deaths/">chronic coronary syndromes</a>.

"Air pollution and environmental noise increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, so policies and regulations are needed to minimise both,” said Professor Juhani Knuuti, Chairperson of the guidelines Task Force and director of the <a href="http://turkupetcentre.fi/">Turku PET Centre, Finland.</a> “Patients with chronic coronary syndromes should avoid areas with heavy traffic congestion and may consider wearing a respirator face mask. Air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air filters can be used to reduce indoor pollution."

These new guidelines are an update to previously published stable coronary artery disease (CAD) ESC guidelines.

"This reflects the fact that CAD can be acute (covered in separate guidelines) or chronic and both are dynamic conditions," said Professor William Wijns, Chairperson of the guidelines Task Force and professor in interventional cardiology at the <a href="https://www.nuigalway.ie/clinicaltranslationalresearch/">Lambe Institute for Translational Medicine</a>. "Therapy is lifelong and aimed at preventing progression of the disease and cardiac events such as heart attacks."

Furthermore, this new set of guidelines, published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj">European Heart Journal</a>, put more emphasis on lifestyle changes necessary to make in order to thwart and/or prevent the development of a chronic coronary syndrome. 

Examples of these lifestyle changes include refraining from smoking and drinking alcohol, eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, and engaging in 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

Counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy is also advised for CAD patients who experience anxiety, depression or stress, and may also benefit those who are having a hard time transitioning into a healthier lifestyle or maintaining a healthy weight, as is taking appropriate medications.

The updated guidelines also outline the six most frequently encountered clinical scenarios that result in the diagnosis of chronic coronary syndromes. These scenarios involve patients with suspected CAD and stable chest pain (angina) or shortness of breath, patients without symptoms or with stable symptoms less than one year after an acute coronary syndrome or with recent revascularisation, patients with and without symptoms more than one year after initial diagnosis or revascularisation, patients with new onset of heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction and suspected CAD, patients with angina and suspected vasospastic or microvascular disease, and asymptomatic patients in whom CAD is detected at screening.

"Each of these scenarios requires different diagnostic and therapeutic approaches,” Prof Wijns said. “But in general, treatment of a chronic coronary syndrome demands long-lasting healthy habits, medication adherence, and interventions in selected patients."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/pixelheadphoto digitalskillet

Pollution and noise put those with chronic coronary syndromes at risk

The updated European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines advise the...

Ancient civilizations across the globe had an impact on the environment dating back as far as 10,000 years ago, a new study has found. 

As climate change continues to rev its engines, fueled by human activities and greenhouse gas emissions, we tend to limit our scope of how humans have impacted the planet to recent centuries.

A team of 250 researchers, led by Lucas Stephens from the <a href="https://home.www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a>, studied <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-land-use-tropical-mountain/">land use</a> long before the Industrial Revolution to understand how humans have been changing and affecting the environment through the years. 

The study, published in the journal Science, is part of the <a href="https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/ArchaeoGLOBE">ArchaeoGLOBE</a> project which uses surveys to collect data on regional land use worldwide. 

By looking at land use in ancient civilizations, we may be able to gain a better hold on our current climate crisis the authors say. 

“Through this crowdsourced data, we can see that there was global environmental impact by land use at least 3,000 years ago,” said Gary Feinman, an author of the study. “And that means that the idea of seeing human impact on the environment as a newer phenomenon is too focused on the recent past.”

As hunting and gathering societies transitioned into farming, people started to clear out forests for grazing pastures and to plant food. 

“About 12,000 years ago, humans were mainly foraging, meaning they didn’t interact with their environments as intensively as farmers generally do,” says Feinman. “And now we see that 3,000 years ago, we have people doing really invasive farming in many parts of the globe.”

The researchers note that the rate of environmental changes due to human activities is much more drastic now compared to past societies, but ancient civilizations still had an impact. 

An essential aspect of the study is having a timeline of when humans started significantly reshaping and impacting the environment. The ability to pinpoint the beginnings of environmental impact can help with creating new solutions to land degradation and overuse today. 

“There’s such a focus on how the present is different from the past in contemporary science,’ said Feinman. “I think this study provides a check, a counter-weight to that, by showing that yes, there have been more accelerated changes in land use recently, but humans have been doing this for a long time. And the patterns start 3,000 years ago. It shows that the problems we face today are very deep-rooted, and they are going to take more than simple solutions to solve.” 

--

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: Ryan Williams, Field Museum

Even ancient civilizations were already altering the environment

Ancient civilizations across the globe had an impact on the...

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/">Bangor University</a> School of Natural Sciences has investigated the potential for fermenting alcohol with starch from peas instead of wheat. The study revealed that producing gin with pea starch could have a substantially positive impact on the environment.

"Allocation of system burdens across gin and animal feed co-products indicated that gin produced from peas had a smaller environmental footprint than gin produced from wheat across 12 of 14 environmental impact categories considered, including 12%, 48% and 68% smaller global warming, acidification and eutrophication burdens, respectively," wrote the study authors. 

Growing wheat requires the use of nitrogen fertilizers, but legumes such as peas can take nitrogen directly from the atmosphere. The widespread use of legumes in alcoholic beverages has the potential to reduce global <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meat-dairy-production-emissions/">greenhouse gas emissions</a> by 439 million metric tons.

The environmental impact of gin production could be even further reduced through the use of byproducts as animal feed. This would lower the demand for imported soybeans, which largely contributes to deforestation in Latin America.

"Boundary expansion in life cycle assessment to account for animal feed substitution by co-products further increased the environmental advantage of pea gin overall, owing to larger amounts of protein contained in co-products from pea fermentation," explained the researchers.  

"The potential for enhanced soybean meal substitution from use of peas in alcohol production could reduce Europe's protein deficit whilst potentially avoiding deforestation in Latin America."

The research team collaborated with Scotland’s Arbikie Distillery, where experimentation has already begun to make gin from pea starch and to collect byproducts for animal feed. According to study co-author David Styles, the gin is expected to taste exactly the same as the more familiar type made with wheat. 

The researchers also pointed out that if the new gin production is successful, pea starch may ultimately be used to make other alcoholic beverages such as vodka and beer.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environment-international">Environmental International</a>.

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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

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Javier Somoza

Making gin from pea starch could have some major environmental benefits

A team of researchers from the Bangor University School of...

Harvesting energy from coastal saltwater where ocean and freshwater mingle, also known as blue energy, could be the next big thing in renewables, according to a new study.  

Researchers from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> have developed a new technology in the form of a battery that could be used to harness blue energy and provide another source of renewable energy. 

“Blue energy is an immense and untapped source of renewable energy,” said Kristian Dubrawski, a co-author of the study. “Our battery is a major step toward practically capturing that energy without membranes, moving parts or energy input.”

The new technology builds on an earlier concept for a battery that uses salt gradients, and the researchers applied the concepts to coastal wastewater treatment plants.  

It’s the first blue energy battery that uses electrochemistry instead of pressure or membranes to work. 

The technology works by releasing sodium and chloride ions from electrodes in the battery into a special solution. The ions create a flow of current from one electrode to the other, and wastewater and saltwater are then flushed through the system which forces the ions to reverse the flow of the current. 

A prototype battery was developed, and the researchers tested potential energy production with the battery by flushing it with wastewater and seawater, alternating between the two every hour.

The prototype was extremely successful and was able to effectively capture energy from saltwater over 180 cycles.  

Freshwater and saltwater in coastal wastewater treatment plants could generate enough energy to power more than 1,7000 homes for a year. 

Using the battery in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/converting-wastewater-renewable-energy/">wastewater treatment plans</a> could make plants energy independent and reduce electricity use and emissions. 

The battery could provide an affordable, sustainable, and durable alternative for harnessing blue energy. 

“It is a scientifically elegant solution to a complex problem,” said Dubrawski. “It needs to be tested at scale, and it doesn’t address the challenge of tapping blue energy at the global scale - rivers running into the ocean - but it is a good starting point that could spur these advances.”

The researchers next plan to test the battery to scale in wastewater treatment plants. 

A paper detailing the battery and new technology was published in the American Chemical Society’s journal ACS Omega.

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Doc Searls / Flickr

Saltwater could provide another source of renewable energy

Harvesting energy from coastal saltwater where ocean and freshwater mingle,...

Low in calories and high in nutrients, blueberries are tied to a number of powerful effects including protection against aging and cancer prevention. A collection of research published by the <a href="https://www.geron.org/">Gerontological Society of America</a> is now placing new emphasis on the health benefits that can be achieved simply by adding <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/blueberries-grown-grass/">blueberries</a> to your diet. 

In an opening editorial, Dr. Donald K. Ingram explained that studies focused on the health effects of blueberries have grown "exponentially" since the 1990s.

"Studies have documented that this fruit ranks highest in antioxidant activity compared to many other popular fruits. Moreover, other mechanisms for the health benefits of blueberries, such as their anti-inflammatory properties, have been identified," noted Dr. Ingram.

Among the four articles collected, one study found that consuming about a cup of blueberries a day can improve blood vessel function and decrease systolic blood pressure. The researchers found that these remarkable results can be attributed to anthocyanins, which are phytochemicals that give blueberries their dark color.

Other studies highlighted the cognitive benefits of eating blueberries. For example, the fruit's high polyphenol count has been linked to improved performance on memory tests among older adults. 

For one investigation, researchers used a rodent model to demonstrate the cognitive influence of blueberry consumption among aging rats. The trial revealed that the animals who regularly ate blueberries had significantly improved memory performance compared to rats who were fed a diet that was not supplemented. 

In another article, the researchers reviewed several clinical tests that focused on the potential advantages of blueberry supplementation. The team identified specific memory gains in children as well as older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

The studies are published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology">The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences</a>.

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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

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Subbotina Anna

Blueberries offer a wide variety of remarkable health benefits

Low in calories and high in nutrients, blueberries are tied...

The <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) is reporting that microplastics in drinking water do not appear to pose a threat to human health at the current levels. However, the organization is also emphasizing that this finding is based on limited data, and further research is needed.

"We urgently need to know more about the health impact of microplastics because they are everywhere - including in our drinking water," said Dr. Maria Neira.

Recent studies have raised concerns about the abundance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/microplastic-contamination-groundwater-sources/">plastic particles</a> in drinking water, and the potential health risks associated with ingestion have been largely unknown. 

According to the WHO, microplastics infiltrate drinking water sources primarily through run-off and wastewater. Bottled water may be contaminated during the bottling process or from the plastic packaging itself.

On Thursday, the WHO delivered the results of its first investigation into the potential health hazards linked to microplastic contamination in drinking water. The researchers analyzed the physical particles, chemicals, and microorganisms that may attach themselves to microplastics.

Based on the available evidence, the experts determined that these chemicals and microbial pathogens pose a low threat to human health.

Microplastics that are larger than 150 micrometers cannot likely be absorbed by the body. Health concerns have centered around the uptake of smaller particles, explained Jennifer De France. 

"For these smallest size particles, where there is really limited evidence, we need to know more about what is being absorbed, the distribution and their impacts."

"To date there are no data available to show that microplastics pose a hazard to human health, however this does not necessarily mean that they are harmless," said Alice Horton of the National Oceanography Centre.

“It is important to put concerns about exposure to microplastics from drinking water into context: we are widely exposed to microplastics in our daily lives via a wide number of sources, of which drinking water is just one."

The WHO report said the biggest overall health threat in water is from microbial pathogens that cause deadly diarrheal disease, especially in poor countries lacking water treatment systems.

--

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/Antonio Guillem

Microplastics in water do not appear to pose a threat to human health… for now

The World Health Organization (WHO) is reporting that microplastics in...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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

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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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