Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or turn a routine workout into an emotional burst of energy. 



Scientists have long wondered how a string of notes pushes the brain from one emotional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-doesnt-just-hear-music-it-becomes-the-rhythm/">feeling</a> to the next, and why the experience changes when the previous feeling was different. <a href="https://psychology.columbia.edu/content/matthew-sachs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matthew Sachs</a> of Columbia University and colleagues set out to <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">answer</a> that puzzle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-wordless-path-to-emotion">A wordless path to emotion</h2>



Music reliably raises specific <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32898679/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a> across cultures, making it a useful tool for lab work. Because melodies lack words, researchers can study pure feeling without the baggage of stories or language.



In recent <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1910704117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surveys</a>, listeners reported at least thirteen distinct emotional colors from songs, ranging from awe to tenderness. Those varied reactions let scientists choreograph controlled “emotional journeys” by arranging passages that lean happy, tense, calm, or sad.



The brain also treats music as a social signal, recruiting regions tied to empathy and perspective‑taking. That overlap makes findings with music relevant to understanding everyday interactions. 



Music’s precise timing helps investigators lock brain activity to exact seconds in a tune. Such temporal precision is important when studying transitions, which can unfold in a blink.



Finally, unlike pictures or movies, songs can be replayed in multiple orders without breaking logic. That flexibility allowed the team to test how a given passage feels when it follows joy versus when it follows anxiety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-changes-emotion-fast">Music changes emotion fast</h2>



Sachs’s group asked professional composers to craft two fifteen‑minute pieces split into thirty‑two “emotion events,” each one lasting about 30‑70 seconds. The passages covered calm, joy, sadness, anxiety, and a mixed nostalgic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/live-music-connects-people-emotionally-and-physically/">feeling</a>.



Two versions of each piece shuffled the same events so that a joyful segment might follow calm in one version but chase sadness in the other. 



This context swap let the researchers isolate the effect of prior mood. Thirty‑nine volunteers lay in an <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/25034-functional-mri-fmri" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fMRI scanner</a>, a technique that tracks blood flow as a stand‑in for neural activity. The scanner’s pulses were timed to the beat so listeners heard smooth audio through special headphones.



After scanning, the volunteers replayed short clips of music online and rated how strongly each clip made them feel the target emotion. Those ratings confirmed that the music hit its emotional marks at the intended moments.



To align brains that never look identical, the team used a <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/slp3/A.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hidden Markov model</a>, a statistical tool that spots stable patterns and the moments they shift. The model does not assume equal event lengths, matching how real feelings vary.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-mapped-onto-brain-activity">Music mapped onto brain activity</h2>



Activity patterns in auditory cortex and the adjoining superior temporal gyrus stayed steady within an event but flipped sharply at composer‑defined boundaries. Those flips still appeared after factoring out pitch, volume, and harmony, meaning the brain was tracking emotion rather than mere <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-and-repeated-sounds-reorganize-your-brain-networks-in-real-time/">acoustics</a>.



The same temporal‑parietal strip has been linked to social meaning in speech and laughter. Current <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627317305937" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> add music‑evoked emotion dynamics to its résumé. 



Elsewhere, frontal regions associated with self‑reflection lit up when feelings changed. That response supports prior work showing prefrontal roles in labeling and regulating emotion.



Importantly, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2768874/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subcortical reward hubs</a> showed general arousal but did not map fine‑grained transitions. Those areas may mark intensity rather than shifts in category. 



Together the data sketch a layered system: auditory regions sense change, temporal‑parietal regions label the new state, and frontal areas integrate the experience. That hierarchy resembles proposed models for narrative comprehension.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-past-emotions-change-how-you-hear-music">Past emotions change how you hear music</h2>



When a happy passage followed another positive passage, listeners’ brains switched to the new state about six seconds sooner than when the same passage followed a tense one. The volunteers also pressed the “happy” button nine seconds earlier in the same‑valence condition.



Context even changed the spatial pattern of activity during an event. Pairs of participants who heard a clip in the same order showed more similar neural signatures than pairs who heard it in opposite orders.



Such carry‑over echoes psychological <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31628982/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> that earlier feelings bias how we perceive later stimuli. The study quantifies that bias down to single‑second resolution. 



Researchers call the stickiness of mood <a href="https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/0269-8803.23.1.7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">valence</a> persistence, and extreme persistence can tip into emotional rigidity. Depression is often marked by this rigidity, trapping individuals in negative states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treating-emotion-with-playlists">Treating emotion with playlists</h2>



“We know that people who suffer from mood disorders or depression often demonstrate emotional rigidity, where they basically get stuck in an emotional state" said Sachs. 



"Maybe we could take someone with depression, for instance, and use the approach we developed to identify neural markers for the emotional rigidity that keeps them in a very negative state.”



His comment matches growing interest in music‑based interventions. Unlike medications, playlists can be tailored rapidly and have few side effects. 



If clinicians can spot delayed transition signatures in vulnerable patients, they might train quicker shifts through neurofeedback. Past <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19646532/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> shows that people can learn to nudge targeted brain regions with real‑time feedback.



Therapists already use mood‑tracking apps; adding objective brain markers could improve accuracy. Personalized “emotion workouts” might teach flexible switching, similar to cognitive training for attention.



 Beyond clinics, the findings could improve soundtracks in virtual reality or adaptive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/video-games-can-rewind-the-clock-on-cognitive-performance/">games</a>. Systems might adjust musical cues to help users linger in, or exit from, certain feelings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-science-hasn-t-tested-yet">What science hasn’t tested yet</h2>



The study focused on adults in a scanner; children, musicians, or people with disorders may show different timelines. Future projects could compare those groups directly.&nbsp;



Only five emotion labels were used. Real life holds many blended states such as awe or envy that might map differently. Subcortical areas did not show clear transition patterns here, but that may reflect scanner noise or event length.&nbsp;



Higher‑resolution recordings could reveal subtler dynamics. Music is just one trigger; spoken stories, movement, or smell might drive other networks. 



Combining modalities could pinpoint common versus unique pathways. Finally, the team manipulated valence but not arousal. Experiments that cross calm‑excited levels might tease apart the role of energy versus positivity.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eNeuro</a>.



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Music rewires the brain to quickly navigate emotion

Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or turn a routine workout into an emotional burst of energy. Scientists have long wondered how a string of notes pushes the brain from one emotional feeling to the next, and why the experience changes when the previous feeling was different. Matthew Sachs of Columbia University and colleagues set out to answer that puzzle. A wordless path to emotion Music reliably raises specific emotions across cultures, making it a useful tool for lab work. Because melodies lack words,...

Your body’s natural clock can have a major impact on work and health. Award-winning British journalist Linda Geddes reports that people who are <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/night-owls-disadvantage-daytime-performance/">night owls</a> may be misperceived as incompetent by a boss who is an early bird, according to a piece from the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>. She warns that if your body's natural circadian clock is not in sync with your boss, it may cause issues for you. 

"Our mental abilities vary over the course of the day," Geddes told an audience. "In the late morning our logical reasoning peaks, and we find that our problem-solving peaks in the early afternoon. Then we experience this post-lunch dip in alertness."

"So if you are a lark, someone who wakes up early, all these things are going to happen earlier. If you're an owl, it will happen a bit later. And that's kind of a problem, because research suggests that if your manager is a lark and you're a night owl, they're going to judge your performance more poorly."

"They judge them as less competent, essentially. But it's not just the owls. You'll find that the larks behave more unethically in the evening, and the owls in the morning. So, ideally, you want to introduce flexible working."

In her book Chasing The Sun, Geddes emphasizes the importance of natural light for our sleep, health, and for maintaining our body's circadian rhythm. She argues that the disruption of this natural rhythm is tied to a wide range of serious illnesses, including depression, cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. 

"The circadian clock is far more than a biological curiosity," writes Geddes. She says that, in the last two decades, "it has been implicated in pretty much every biological process looked at. There is strong daily rhythm in body temperature, blood pressure and the hormone cortisol...Circadian rhythms govern the release of chemicals that regulate mood; the activity of immune cells that fight off disease, and our body’s response to food.”

--

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

Your body’s natural clock can have a major impact on work and health

Your body’s natural clock can have a major impact on...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/">Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health</a>, the Clean Air Taxi legislation that was passed in 2006 in New York City has been successful in reducing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/boys-air-pollution-poorer-thinking-skills/">air pollution</a>. The fuel efficiency of 13,500 yellow taxis nearly doubled between 2009 and 2015 as a result of the new regulations. 

"The past decade has seen steady improvements in the quality of air in New York City, and clean-air taxis appear to be one contributing factor," said study co-author Dustin Fry, MPH. "This is good news for New Yorkers' health since we know air pollution raises the risks of low birth weight and asthma in children."

The Clean Air Taxi laws made it a requirement to set aside at least nine percent of the city's new medallions for hybrid vehicles or for those that use compressed natural gas. The legislation also gave cab companies some incentive to buy low-emission taxis by extending the amount of time these models are allowed to be used. 

The researchers mapped the intensity of taxi traffic across the city and estimated cab-related exhaust emissions of nitric oxide and particulate matter using inspection and trip data. The team also looked at New York City Community Air Survey data from more than 100 monitoring sites across the city to calculate the changes in air quality. 

The study revealed that the fuel efficiency of the medallion taxi fleet climbed from 15.7 to 33.1 MPG, while nitrous oxide emissions declined by 82 percent and particulate exhaust declined by 49 percent. The greatest benefits were found in Manhattan neighborhoods with a high density of yellow taxis.

"This study provides evidence that air pollution legislation can have real impact," said study co-author Dr. Frederica Perera. "Even though overall, yellow taxis account for a small proportion of vehicular miles traveled on New York City's streets, in midtown they account for almost half. Similar regulations targeting other vehicles could make an even bigger difference."

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/jes">Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology</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

NYC Clean Air Taxi legislation has reduced air pollution over the last decade

According to a new study led by the Columbia University...

A closer look at the harmful effects of air pollution exposure. Many studies have linked air pollution to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-shortens-life-spans/">early death</a>, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, and an increased risk of cancer. 

Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University of Buffalo </a>takes these investigations even further by revealing what happens at the metabolite level when a person is exposed to different levels of air pollution. 

The research, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is based on data from a 2008 air pollution study where 201 adults were monitored before, during, and after the Beijing Olympics in China. 

At that time, air quality drastically improved during the games due to temporary controls that were put in place for the games, but air pollution soon returned to dangerously unhealthy levels after the Olympics were over. 

Metabolites are small molecules that are the end result of certain systems and processes. 

“Think of our body as a society. These metabolites fulfill different positions, such as teacher, farmer, worker, soldier. We need each one functioning properly in order to maintain a healthy system,” said Lina Mu, the leader of the study. 

The researchers recorded changes in 69 metabolites after air pollution levels changed, and two metabolic signatures were identified.A closer look at the harmful effects of air pollution exposure 

“Our study found that the human body had systemic changes at the metabolite level before, during and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when ambient air pollution changed drastically,” said Zhongzheng Niu, a fellow co-author of the study. 

Many of the metabolites that were affected by air pollution play a role in stress and inflammation and are involved in the nervous system. 

The researchers measured all detectable metabolites using a platform called “omics” which can filter through groups of metabolites simultaneously rather than individually examining metabolites on a molecule by molecule basis. 

“We found that these metabolites together depicted a relatively comprehensive picture of human body responses to air pollution,” said Rachael Hageman Blair, a co-author of the study. 

Having a better way to measure and monitor how the body responds to air pollution could help future studies target the pathways that air pollution uses to enter the body to create a more detailed picture of the relationship between human health and air pollution. 

The study could also help pave the way for new methods to treat pollution-related health problems and limit exposure. 

“Capturing these molecules tells us what is going on when people are exposed to air pollution,” said Mu.

--

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

A closer look at the harmful effects of air pollution exposure

A closer look at the harmful effects of air pollution...

Crowdsourcing has become an incredibly popular tool. Books, movies, medical procedures have all been paid for by people donating small amounts online combined into a ‘crowd’ of people donating a large amount. It isn’t just direct monetary donations either, as data is harvested by millions of people worldwide to benefit businesses and political campaigns. Increasingly, little bits of money, data or time from large groups of people are being funneled through the internet to create real world results. This is now true even in conservation biology. 

<a href="https://www.zooniverse.org">Zooniverse</a> is a research platform that utilizes volunteers on the internet to collect data for scientific projects. The types of projects vary and are created by a number of different researchers. For instance, <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/sandiegozooglobal/wildwatch-burrowing-owl/about/research">Wildwatch Burrowing Owl</a> asks on its homepage, ‘Will you help us save burrowing owls?’ The question refers to the iconic burrowing owl that takes over <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prairie-dogs-true-underdog/">prairie dog</a> and other burrowing mammal dens as its home, an increasingly rare icon of the western deserts and prairie. It’s estimated that there are only 10,000 breeding pairs of the special owl left, according to <a href="https://defenders.org/burrowing-owl/basic-facts">Defenders of Wildlife</a>. 

Western burrowing owls (Athene cunciularia hypugaea) in California are especially in decline. To stop this decline, <a href="https://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/">San Diego Zoo Global</a> has set up artificial dens for the owls as well as reintroduction of ground squirrels. The ground squirrels dig their own burrows that are eventually taken over by burrowing owls.

The burrowing owl project has motion cameras set up at the borrows to monitor who is coming and going from the burrows. Cameras like these collect hundreds if not thousands of photos in a short amount of time. Many photos from cameras like these inevitably aren’t even of the animals being studied, and sometimes a camera takes a shot of another animal, a person or even grass moving in the wind. Because of the amount of photos to sort through, the platform on Zooniverse allows untrained volunteers working at home on their computer to donate whatever time they’d like to sorting through the owl photos. The goal is to note how many owls are in each photo, allowing researchers to sort through the data faster than if they did the work themselves. 

Other projects on zooniverse include similar projects with large mammals in <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/pangorilla/wild-gabon">Gabon</a>, Africa, <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/penguintom79/penguin-watch/about/research">penguins</a> in Antarctica and even <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/lawildlife/wildlife-of-los-angeles/about/research">urban wildlife</a> in Los Angeles. The penguin project once was even gave away a free trip to Antarctica to a lucky volunteer. Some of these projects like Wildwatch Burrowing Owl are directly related to conservation, others less so, but they all potentially contribute data that can be used by wildlife managers. Zooniverse isn’t the only way you can contribute to science or conservation from home, though.

Of course if you have specific skill sets, you can be more valuable to organizations or causes as a volunteer, and this is as true with volunteering time online as it is volunteering in person. If you have knowledge of law, computer programming or writing skills for example, you may be able to contribute real assistance to non-profits without ever leaving home. 

Like Zooniverse, <a href="https://taprootfoundation.org/nonprofits/?utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=">Taproot Foundation</a> is an online platform allowing non-profit organizations to seek volunteers. Unlike Zooniverse, most of these organizations are seeking one or two skilled volunteers to help on a limited time project. The focus is also much broader than Zooniverse and virtually any sort of non-profit can be involved in Taproot. You can do work such as consulting, writing, web design or even phone work for a non-profit from home.

Because of the nature of the volunteer positions listed on Taproot, projects you can become involved with are always changing. A nice feature is that you can sign up for an account with Taproot, listing your skills and interests and when a project that seems like a good match comes up, you get emailed a link to see if you’re interested. Of course, if you’re interested in a serious internship in conservation to build your skills or want to be involved in a long term project, most of these shorter projects might be less satisfying. 

Occasionally, online jobs in wildlife biology or conservation come along that actually pay. For example, <a href="https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/jobs/acoustic-recording-bird-song-identifier-various-locations/">some academic institutions</a> seek out a person with exceptional birding skills to identify birds by the sound of their calls from home for a short contract period. Others may be lucky enough to find longer term employment in the same vein. There are also plenty of nature and science publications that might take you on as a writer or intern if you have writing abilities and a story to tell. Other online volunteer positions are to help people access natural history interpretive material.

The <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a> is taking on volunteers for <a href="https://projectdescribe.amnh.org/#/">Project Describe</a>. The project involves describing items in the museum’s collection of images on their website so that these images are more accessible to those with disabilities. The Smithsonian Institute also takes <a href="https://transcription.si.edu">online volunteers</a> for many of its museums. The work for the Smithsonian involves transcribing photos of labels in an attempt to make more material available online. For those interested in biodiversity, volunteer positions are available in entomology, invertebrate zoology, botany at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (which includes a famous research station in Panama). 

Projects that still need assistance can be found in the <a href="https://transcription.si.edu/browse?filter=collection%3A2&amp;sort=">Biodiverse Planet</a> category. Helping museum work may or may not contribute directly to the environment, but it least is helping to educate the public about the environments we live in and the wildlife we share them with. 

In the end, volunteering online can help you learn a bit about animals or science and help organization or researchers out, but it can also feel a bit isolating. For some experiences, there’s no substitute for getting outside into the actual environment and interacting with it. After all, there is no wildlife living online, there are no outdoor places in your computer. Often there is no mystery or surprise in sorting through images or labels on a home computer. Much like reading a book, volunteering online can be a part of learning about the world... but it shouldn’t be the only part.           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Mauricio S Ferreira

Conservation projects you can participate in from home

Crowdsourcing has become an incredibly popular tool. Books, movies, medical...

Workplace burnout has been officially classified as a disease this week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. According to the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), burnout is "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed."

The condition was added to the WHO's catalog, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), one year after it was recommended by health experts. 

"Job burnout is a special type of work-related stress - a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity," explains the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/">Mayo Clinic</a>.

In 2022, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/physicians-suffer-burnout/">workplace burnout</a> will be recognized as a disease worldwide. Insurance providers will then formally acknowledge the condition, and healthcare providers will be able to diagnose and treat the symptoms. 

According to the WHO, the three primary symptoms associated with burnout are feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, reduced professional efficacy, and feelings of negativity or cynicism toward the job. It is noted in the ICD that "burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life."

Signs of burnout may also include insomnia, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and getting sick more often. According to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/">ABC News</a> chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, burnout can cause physical issues that range from respiratory to gastrointestinal problems. 

The Mayo Clinic reports that work burnout can be caused by many different factors including work-life imbalance, lack of social support, or unclear job expectations. 

--

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

Workplace burnout has been officially designated as a disease

Workplace burnout has been officially classified as a disease this...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/">University of Munich</a> has revealed that ancient Egyptians had domesticated varieties of watermelons. The researchers determined that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/eight-egyptian-mummies-discovered/">Egyptian</a> version of the fruit would have tasted much like our watermelon today with sweet, red flesh. 

Wild watermelons are small and white and have bitter-tasting compounds called cucurbitacins. It is not known exactly when and where they were domesticated, but some research suggests it was in west or south Africa.

However, several pictures on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs represent what appears to be watermelons, and in 1876 the leaves of the fruit were recovered from inside of a tomb that dated back 3,500 years.

For the current study, lead author Susanne Renner managed to obtain a fragment of one of the leaves that had been buried with the mummy. The leaves, which were once in the possession of the famous botanist Joseph Hooker in the 19th century, were being held at London's Kew Gardens.

To test the DNA of the leaf sample, Renner teamed up with study co-author Guillaume Chomicki. Although the experts were unable to sequence the entire genome, the partial sequence contained two genes that were critical to their investigation. 

According to <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>, one of these genes controlled the production of cucurbitacins. However, there was a gene mutation in the ancient fruit which would have allowed it to have a sweet taste. Another gene mutation was present that would have allowed the red pigment lycopene to be expressed.

The DNA test results also revealed that the Egyptian watermelon was related to a sweet variety that is still grown in Sudan. The study authors theorize that it was first domesticated in this region before spreading north to Egypt along the Nile River.  

The research is pre-published in <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/">Biorxiv</a>.   

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ancient Egyptians enjoyed watermelon as far back as 3,500 years ago

A new study from the University of Munich has revealed...

A supernova in the galaxy NGC 1260, about 238 million light years away.

How exploding stars may have led to humans walking upright. Scientists are describing a celestial phenomenon that may have ultimately caused humans to walk upright. According to a study from the <a href="https://ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a>, the Earth was bombarded by cosmic energy from supernovae over millions of years. At its peak 2.6 million years ago, this influx of energy initiated an avalanche of electrons in the lower atmosphere and triggered a series of events that led to bipedal movement. 

The researchers theorize that atmospheric ionization instigated a large increase in cloud-to-ground lightning strikes that lit forests on fire all over the world. This likely means that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/diverse-climates-homo-sapiens-thrive/">homo sapiens</a> mastered the ability to walk upright in response to the transformation of forests into savannas.

"It is thought there was already some tendency for hominins to walk on two legs, even before this event," said study lead author Professor Adrian Melott. "But they were mainly adapted for climbing around in trees. After this conversion to savanna, they would much more often have to walk from one tree to another across the grassland, and so they become better at walking upright. They could see over the tops of grass and watch for predators. It's thought this conversion to savanna contributed to bipedalism as it became more and more dominant in human ancestors."

The researchers have found evidence in seafloor deposits that supernovae exploded around 163 light years away from the Earth during the transition from the Pliocene Epoch to the Ice Age.

"We calculated the ionization of the atmosphere from cosmic rays which would come from a supernova about as far away as the iron-60 deposits indicate," said Professor Melott. "It appears that this was the closest one in a much longer series. We contend it would increase the ionization of the lower atmosphere by 50-fold. Usually, you don't get lower-atmosphere ionization because cosmic rays don't penetrate that far, but the more energetic ones from supernovae come right down to the surface - so there would be a lot of electrons being knocked out of the atmosphere."

Professor Melott and study co-author Brian Thomas explained that ionization in the lower atmosphere meant an abundance of electrons would form more pathways for lightning strikes.

"The bottom mile or so of atmosphere gets affected in ways it normally never does," said Professor Melott. "When high-energy cosmic rays hit atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they knock electrons out of them - so these electrons are running around loose instead of bound to atoms. Ordinarily, in the lightning process, there's a buildup of voltage between clouds or the clouds and the ground - but current can't flow because not enough electrons are around to carry it. So, it has to build up high voltage before electrons start moving. Once they're moving, electrons knock more electrons out of more atoms, and it builds to a lightning bolt. But with this ionization, that process can get started a lot more easily, so there would be a lot more lightning bolts."

According to Professor Melott, ancient carbon deposits support the idea of widespread fires because they correspond with the timing of the Earth's bombardment.

"The observation is that there's a lot more charcoal and soot in the world starting a few million years ago," said Professor Melott. "It's all over the place, and nobody has any explanation for why it would have happened all over the world in different climate zones. This could be an explanation. That increase in fires is thought to have stimulated the transition from woodland to savanna in a lot of places - where you had forests, now you had mostly open grassland with shrubby things here and there. That's thought to be related to human evolution in northeast Africa. Specifically, in the Great Rift Valley where you get all these hominin fossils."How exploding stars may have led to humans walking upright

Professor Melott pointed out that there will not be a cosmic event like this anytime soon. In the next million years, the nearest star capable of exploding is 652 light years away. 

"Betelgeuse is too far away to have effects anywhere near this strong," said Professor Melott. "So, don't worry about this. Worry about solar proton events. That's the danger for us with our technology - a solar flare that knocks out electrical power. Just imagine months without electricity."

The study is published in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/journal/jgeology">The Journal of Geology</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: NASA

How exploding stars may have led to humans walking upright

How exploding stars may have led to humans walking upright....

Childhood obesity rates have drastically increased in recent years, but it’s children from lower income families and ethnic minority backgrounds that face the highest risks. 

The racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities that impact childhood obesity are only growing wider in the United States and the UK. 

In the UK, by age 11, a child from a disadvantaged family is three times more likely to be obese than a child from a more advantaged family. 

These risks are even higher among children from Black African, Black Caribbean, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi backgrounds.

Many studies have shown that childhood obesity negatively impacts health and wellbeing and can <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/obesity-related-cancers-young-adults/">increase the risk of cancer</a>, other diseases, and early death as an adult. 

In a new study published in the journal BMJ Open, researchers from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less physically active, which corresponds to similar inequalities found in childhood obesity rates.

Vigorous physical activity like running or swimming has been shown to decrease waist size and body fat much more effectively than moderate physical activity, and it’s recommended that children are physically active at least 60 minutes per day. 

“When we look at overall physical activity we don’t see clear differences between children from different backgrounds despite clear inequalities in obesity,” says Rebecca Love, the lead author of the study. “To investigate this further, we looked at whether overall physical activity was hiding inequalities in the intensity with which that activity is performed that might explain these patterns.”

The researchers reviewed data from 5,200 children who are 7 years old and had worn accelerometers for ten hours a day for three days to measure activity levels as part of the <a href="https://www.millenniumcohort.org/">Millennium Cohort Study</a>.

Higher levels of education achieved by parents were linked to more minutes of intense exercise among children, and higher income households also had children who were more active than children from lower income families.

The researchers found that white children were intensely active three minutes more than to children from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, and overall children from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds completed 2.2 minutes fewer of vigorous exercise compared to other children in the Cohort study.

Even though the differences in physical activity averaged out to mere minutes, the researchers say that on a population level, these differences could have a much larger impact.

“There are clear differences in the amount of vigorous physical activity a child does depending on their socioeconomic and ethnic background,” said Dr. Esther van Sluijs, a senior author of the study. “Although individually, these differences are small, at a population level they are likely to make a difference. Changes to reduce existing gaps in vigorous intensity activity could help reduce existing inequalities in levels of obesity in children.”

Besides further emphasizing the widening racial and economic disparities of childhood obesity, the study also calls for finding ways to provide ample opportunities and access for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to engage in more vigorous physical activity.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sharomka

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have a higher risk of obesity

Childhood obesity rates have drastically increased in recent years, but...

A recent study led by the <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/">University of Tasmania</a> has revealed that the global fishing fleet grew from 1.7 million vessels in 1950 to 3.7 million in 2015. However, the total catch dropped by more than 80 percent in the same time frame.

According to study lead author Yannick Rousseau, the findings reflect growing pressure on marine resources and a fall in the abundance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tiny-fish-coral-reefs-thrive/">fish</a>.

"What we have seen over the last 65 years is more and more fishing vessels chasing fewer fish," said Rousseau. "Since 1950, a dramatic increase in the size of the fishing fleet in Asia has more than offset small declines in North America and Western Europe."

"Most of the increase in vessel numbers has been in motorized fishing boats, a change from the unpowered 'artisanal' fishing vessels that once characterized Asian and African fishing fleets. But, despite its advanced technology and increased numbers, the modern motorized fleet is having to work much harder to catch fewer fish."

Rousseau explained that scientists use a measure of catch per unit of effort (CPUE) to evaluate fisheries management and the well-being of fish stocks.

"CPUE reflects how many fish are caught for the amount of effort expended, such as during a day's fishing, and this measure paints a dark picture of the state of the ocean's resources," said Rousseau.

"In recent years, a sharp drop in CPUE in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Southern Mediterranean indicates their fisheries expanded at a much faster rate than fish stocks could support."

In developed countries such as Australia, the researchers found that CPUE has recently stabilized due to more effective fisheries management and a sharp fall in the size of the fishing fleet over the last decade.

"However, on current worldwide trends we can expect to see a further one-million vessels on the water by mid-century and the average engine power of the global fleet continues to increase," said Rousseau. "These changes will further challenge the sustainable use of fisheries resources in coming years."

"This is a particular concern for populations in regions such as Southeast Asia, where a high proportion of people rely on fish for sustenance. Our findings suggest that additional management measures are urgently warranted to ensure the future sustainability of global marine resources."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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/Irina Bg

Fishing vessels have doubled since 1950, but catch has dropped by 80 percent

A recent study led by the University of Tasmania has...

A recent study led by researchers at the <a href="http://med.stanford.edu/">Stanford University School of Medicine</a> has revealed that inhaling the liquid flavoring used in electronic cigarettes may increase the risk of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleep-reduces-cardiovascular-disease/">cardiovascular disease</a>. 

The study was focused on cells that line the interior of blood vessels called endothelial cells. When these cells were exposed to e-liquids in the lab, they became less viable with increased levels of molecules that are associated with DNA damage and cell death. 

The researchers found that some aspects of the damage were present even in the absence of nicotine. The extent of the damage varied among flavors, with cinnamon and menthol found to be the most harmful.

"Until now, we had no data about how these e-liquids affect human endothelial cells," said study senior author Dr. Joseph Wu. "This study clearly shows that e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. When we exposed the cells to six different flavors of e-liquid with varying levels of nicotine, we saw significant damage. The cells were less viable in culture, and they began to exhibit multiple symptoms of dysfunction."

Despite the fact that the demand for e-cigarettes has exploded over the last decade, their effects on vascular health are not yet clear. The Food and Drug Administration estimated that more than 3.5 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2018. 

"One in five high school students have tried e-cigarettes, perhaps because they feel they are relatively safe," said study co-lead author Dr. Won Hee. "But we found the e-liquids caused changes in the endothelial cells that are closely related to those seen during the development of cardiovascular disease."

The researchers also tested the blood serum of people after that had either vaped e-cigarettes or smoked traditional cigarettes to compare the levels of nicotine. After ten minutes of smoking at a constant rate, the amounts of nicotine in the blood were similar between the two groups.

"When you're smoking a traditional cigarette, you have a sense of how many cigarettes you're smoking," said Dr. Wu. "But e-cigarettes can be deceptive. It's much easier to expose yourself to a much higher level of nicotine over a shorter time period. And now we know that e-cigarettes are likely to have other significantly toxic effects on vascular function as well. It's important for e-cigarette users to realize that these chemicals are circulating within their bodies and affecting their vascular health."

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.onlinejacc.org/">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</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

E-cigarettes found to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

A recent study led by researchers at the Stanford University...

In a new study — the first of its kind to functionally link DNA mutations to autism — researchers used artificial intelligence to demonstrate how mutations in “junk” DNA can cause <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-autism/">autism</a>. 

Their findings are published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-019-0420-0">Nature Genetics</a>.

Via machine learning, the research team analyzed complete genomes of 1,790 individuals with autism and their unaffected parents and siblings. Those participating in the study did not have a family history of autism, which meant that their autism was caused by a spontaneous mutation.

The machine learning system predicted that mutations that cause autism are located in parts of the genome that do not encode proteins — regions often called “junk” DNA. The number of autism cases linked to the noncoding mutations was similar to that of cases linked to protein-coding mutations that disable gene function, meaning this discovery goes beyond autism.

"This is the first clear demonstration of non-inherited, noncoding mutations causing any complex human disease or disorder,” said study leader Olga Troyanskaya, the deputy director for genomics at the <a href="https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computational-biology/">Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Biology (CCB)</a> and a professor of computer science at <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>.

"This [discovery] enables a new perspective on the cause of not just autism, but many human diseases,” added co-author Jian Zhou of CCB and Princeton.

Mutations in protein-coding regions of the genome (which only make up about 1-2% of the entire genome) account for at most 30% of autism cases that aren’t linked to a family history of autism. The research team also found evidence to suggest that autism-causing mutations must happen elsewhere in the genome as well.

To figure out which noncoding mutations may cause autism, the team used machine learning to predict how any given sequence would affect gene expression. They applied the machine learning technique to a collection of genetic data called the <a href="https://www.sfari.org/resource/simons-simplex-collection/">Simons Simplex Collection</a>, which contains the whole genomes of about 2,000 “quartets,” meaning a child with autism, an unaffected sibling, and two unaffected parents.

"This is a shift in thinking about genetic studies that we're introducing with this analysis," said Chandra Theesfeld, a research scientist in Troyanskaya's lab at Princeton. "In addition to scientists studying shared genetic mutations across large groups of individuals, here we're applying a set of smart, sophisticated tools that tell us what any specific mutation is going to do, even those that are rare or never observed before."

"The design of the Simons Simplex Collection is what allowed us to do this study," said Zhou. "The unaffected siblings are a built-in control."

The analysis showed that noncoding mutations in many of the children with autism altered their gene regulation, and these mutations also affected gene expression in the brain and genes linked to autism.

 "This is consistent with how autism most likely manifests in the brain," said study co-author Christopher Park, a research scientist at CCB. "It's not just the number of mutations occurring, but what kind of mutations are occurring."

Troyanskaya hopes to expand their methods and use them to improve how genetic data is used for diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders outside of autism.

"Right now, 98 percent of the genome is usually being thrown away," Troyanskaya said. "Our work allows you to think about what we can do with the 98 percent."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Mutations in ‘junk’ DNA can cause autism

In a new study — the first of its kind...

One of the best ways to live with wildlife is to leave as much of the natural habitat around your home as undisturbed as possible. Unfortunately for many of us, we live in an already very disturbed environment with little of the complex ecological interactions found in undisturbed areas left intact. Because of this, it often falls on people to restore or reconstruct what they can of a habitat if they want to have the pleasure of wildlife encounters or simply wish to help non-humans. 

Water is often an incredibly important resource for animals. Living in the desert as I do, it’s easy to see birds bathing in any small puddle of water. I recently watched a hummingbird cleaning herself and splashing in a thin stream of water coming from the top of a small fountain in my neighborhood. It’s also important to realize that using large amounts of water for pools, artificial streams, or fountains can also fly in the face of common sense water conservation methods. 

One option is to collect rainwater, using some of it in pools for wildlife and perhaps even watering a garden, trees or other plants with it. Of course, water collection can go too far. Theoretically someone with hundreds of acres could create a massive personal reservoir that would in turn disrupt the local ecology. Because of this, there are some states with restrictions on how you can collect rainwater. In other areas, the government gives subsidies, encouraging the harvest of precious rainwater. <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/community/2018/01/09/in-tucson-subsidies-for-rainwater-harvesting-produce-big-payoff">NewsDeeply</a> reported that the city of Tucson, Arizona had given out more than $2 million in rebates to those collecting rain water.

Of course, water isn’t the only resource useful for wildlife or the only factor that creates a habitat. Plants are also very important to most animals. Flowers attract pollinators from bees and butterflies to hummingbirds and even bats. Plants with fruits or tasty leaves also attract a new suite of animals that want to munch in your yard. If you’re not willing to share plants or their fruit with animals, it’s important to protect them in a way that doesn’t hurt wildlife. 

Nets over fruit trees or fences around gardens can often accomplish the task. If you’re ok with rabbits, birds, deer or other wildlife eating plants in your garden, it’s helpful to plant native plants that will attract native wildlife. In a <a href="https://zachofjungle.com/2019/05/11/plant-rescue/">recent interview</a>, Denise Gehring of Wild Ones, a non-profit that promotes natural gardening, highlighted the importance of native plants. Native trees support native insects, which in turn can support native birds and other wildlife. This is why it’s also important to not use pesticides in areas you want to attractive wildlife to – it’s not just about birds and larger animals but also about the insects they eat. Besides eating and drinking, animals also find shelter in their natural habitats. 

Leaving some sticks fallen from trees and rocks in an area is a start, which provide habitat for invertebrates and other small animals like lizards and snakes. Depending on where you live and your attitude, snakes may be a bigger problem than the benefit of providing habitat to other animals. Small amounts of grass, sticks and other debris may also be used by nesting birds besides being used as habitat in situ. According to <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/wildlife-habitat-relationships">Penn State Extension</a>, live trees such as pines provide nesting sites in summer as well as thermal cover in winter. 

It’s also possible to directly build homes for many animals. Nest boxes and bird houses are probably the most obvious examples of building homes for animals and that’s a good start. <a href="https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/w66343824">Oregon State University</a> offers instructions on how to do so. It’s surprising how many other animals are willing to live near humans, bats sometimes live in caves but certain species or populations prefer other habitats in which to roost. You can even provide bat houses in your yard, and <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Cover/Build-a-Bat-House">The National Wildlife Federation</a> has detailed instructions on how to build them. 

If you’re concerned about native pollinators such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/save-native-bees/">bees</a>, you can also provide space for them to live. Many native bees are not colonial in the same way that honey bees are, so instead living alone in small holes, they sometimes live in holes inside of human structures. Because of this, you can provide places for mainly harmless native bees to live without attracting something that will swarm and harm humans. Attracting native pollinators has the added benefit of helping plants in your garden and perhaps providing more food for birds or other animals. <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2017/02/build-native-bee-hotel/">Modern Farmer</a> has instructions for building a native ‘bee hotel’. Besides the needs for shelter, food and water, <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/wildlife-habitat-relationships">Penn State Extension</a> points out that wildlife needs one more thing to thrive – space.

It would be very easy to fill a yard with a clutter of bird houses and man-made ponds surrounded by dense thickets of trees. In the wild though, different animals require different landscapes and the same animal may rely on more than one environment for different things. A forest landscape isn’t simply a collection of old trees and shrubs or bushes that live beneath them combined with animals. Instead, a forest is a patchwork of old trees, barren areas that may have recently been burned turning slowly into meadows. Fallen trees rot and the sunny areas they leave open are filled in with an eruption of different plant life. Newer patches of forest are full of dense clumps of young trees, while older patches are more widely spaced. 

The conversion of one eco type to another and another until reaching a mature forest is called ecological succession. Instead of everything in a large forest reaching the mature stage, everything is constantly changing. It is the patchwork of different forest types that provides for an abundance of biodiversity in a healthy forest. Because of this, it’s important to space things out a bit, leave open space and see what happens to It, what grows in the bare patch of dirt will probably be better than anything you could plant. Remember, you’re trying to leave space for other things to come close, the rest is up to the animals themselves.   

--

By<a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com"> Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Gualberto Becerra

How to turn your backyard into a healthy habitat for animals

One of the best ways to live with wildlife is...

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 



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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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



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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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