Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define.



A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of <a href="https://www.uai.cl/">Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez</a> and Caleb Warren of the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems.



Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-type-can-accurately-predict-your-relationship-status/">personality</a> traits when describing a cool person. 



The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool people tend to become catalysts of social change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-cool-across-12-nations">Mapping cool across 12 nations</h2>



Between 2018 and 2022, the research team collected online responses from adults in the United States, Australia, Chile, mainland China, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.



Participants first confirmed that they understood the slang meaning of the word “cool,” then spent a few minutes imagining someone who embodied one of four labels: cool, uncool, good, or not good.



Afterward, volunteers evaluated that imagined person on a battery of personality dimensions drawn from psychology’s “Big Five” model and Schwartz’s theory of universal values.



Because all responses came from internet users in relatively urban settings, the sample leans toward technologically connected citizens. 



Still, it is one of the most culturally diverse datasets ever assembled to study reputational judgments. The result is a uniquely global snapshot of how people assign social prestige.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-cool-and-good-part-ways"><a></a>Where cool and good part ways</h2>



When the investigators compared ratings, they found considerable overlap: both cool and good people scored high on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-with-many-facial-expressions-seem-more-social-and-likeable/">likability</a>. Yet important divergences emerged.



In all the places they studied, people consistently perceived cool individuals as more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. 



Good people, by contrast, ranked as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-people-aren-t-always-good">Cool people aren't always "good"</h2>



In Pezzuti’s view, the cool profile evokes a kind of charismatic boundary-pusher: energetic, novelty seeking, and unapologetically self-directed.



That explains why cool individuals can inspire fashion trends or launch creative movements - roles that sometimes require bending social rules rather than following them.



“To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people," said Warren. "However, cool people often have other traits that aren’t necessarily considered ‘good’ in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.”



The cool persona therefore straddles acceptance and transgression: admired enough to influence peers, rebellious enough to feel fresh.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-traits-go-global">Cool traits go global</h2>



In the mid-20th century, “cool” circulated in small countercultures - from Black jazz clubs to Beatnik cafés. Over the decades, fashion labels, record companies and Hollywood studios harnessed the aura of cool, broadcasting certain looks and attitudes to a worldwide audience.



The new study suggests that process may have standardized the meaning of the term. Even participants who live 10,000 miles apart now recognize the same signature <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-linked-to-willingness-to-volunteer-or-donate/">traits</a>. As the authors note, the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of traits and values around the world.



Pezzuti does not see commercialization as a death knell. “Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don’t think it has lost its edge. It’s just become more functional,” he said.



“The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, including Black jazz musicians in the 1940s and the beatniks in the 1950s. As society moves faster and puts more value on creativity and change, cool people are more essential than ever.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-coolness-matters">Why coolness matters</h2>



Because cool people display power and autonomy while earning admiration, the researchers argue that coolness helps establish informal hierarchies. Instead of relying solely on wealth or institutional authority, communities also elevate figures who embody daring and originality.



These individuals, in turn, shape cultural norms by modeling alternative ways to dress, speak, or live. As Pezzuti puts it, “everyone wants to be cool, or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool, and society needs cool people because they challenge norms, inspire change, and advance culture.”



That dual role - both aspirational and disruptive - makes the cool persona uniquely influential. Marketers know this instinctively when they cast charismatic musicians in sneaker ads. Activists harness it when they infuse protest art with edgy style.



The study provides empirical backing for those intuitions: people from Lagos to Los Angeles consistently associate coolness with adventurous independence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coolness-in-the-digital-age">Coolness in the digital age</h2>



The team notes their study excludes rural and offline groups, whose ideas of cool may differ significantly. They also restricted the study to cultures already familiar with the English slang term, potentially narrowing linguistic nuance.



Future projects could test whether the six-trait profile - extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous - holds in additional societies or emerges in other languages.



Researchers are likewise curious about how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-pressure-is-straining-teen-friendships/">social media</a> platforms, which accelerate the spread of trends, might further synchronize or fragment global standards of cool. Does TikTok broaden identity through niche subcultures or reinforce the six-trait mold by favoring charismatic risk-takers?



For now, the evidence is striking: when people across five continents imagine someone undeniably cool, they picture remarkably similar qualities. 



Coolness, it turns out, may be one of the few cross-cultural constants - an unwritten code that transcends borders even as it keeps pushing boundaries.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0001799">Journal of Experimental Psychology: General</a>.



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What makes people cool? Scientists tracked down the traits

Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define. A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Caleb Warren of the University of Arizona argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems. Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of personality traits when describing a cool person. The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool...

Most students suffer from major anxiety when tackling statistics. A study from the <a href="https://ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a> has revealed that up to 80 percent of college students experience “statistics anxiety” in some form. A team of researchers including Professor Michael Vitevitch set out to investigate what may specifically cause this <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lavender-calming-treat-anxiety/">anxiety</a> among students majoring in psychology.

“We teach a statistics class in the psychology department and see many students put it off until senior year because they're scared of this class,” said Professor Vitevitch. “We’re interested in seeing if we could help students out of the statistics anxiety. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to get them to overcome their fears. You need to find out what their fear is and focus on that. For people who don’t think statistics are useful, you need to convince them it’s not just useful for psychology but for other things as well.” 

“For people fearful of math and statistics in general, you need to help lower their anxiety so they can focus on learning. We hope this gives us some understanding of our own students and statistical anxiety in general.”

The team used a questionnaire called the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) to classify the students as being either high or low anxiety when it came to statistics. The participants were asked about their math ability, fear of statistics teachers, test and class anxiety, and their fear of asking for help. They were also asked about the value of statistics. 

“People would answer and rate questions like, ‘Do you think this is a useless topic? Do you think you’ll never use statistics in your life? Do you think statistics professors aren’t human because they’re more like robots?’” said Professor Vitevitch. “Hopefully something like ‘my statistics teacher isn’t human’ is something we can focus on - and I’m saying that as a former statistics teacher who is human.”


Using a new analysis technique called network science, the responses from 228 students were mapped visually with the most important contributors and symptoms of statistical anxiety in the center of a diagram.

The analysis revealed that high- and low-anxiety have different network structures. Students high in statistics anxiety were found to strongly agree with statements like “I can't even understand seventh- and eighth-grade math; how can I possibly do statistics?” For students with low anxiety, the primary symptoms included fear of “asking a fellow student for help in understanding a printout” or anxiety “interpreting the meaning of a table in a journal article.”

Professor Vitevitch hopes that the study findings will be used by instructors to develop interventions to ease statistics anxiety among students.

“This paper is targeted at people who teach psychology. Hopefully we’ll turn our science on ourselves and find a better way to make sure we’re getting our points across to our students and helping those who need a little help. It might not be a matter of teaching remedial math, but more like helping them overcome fears or discomfort they have with this topic.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_of_Teaching_and_Learning_in_Psychology">Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most students suffer from major anxiety when tackling statistics

Most students suffer from major anxiety when tackling statistics. A...

Most people know <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-colonized-madagascar-later/">Madagascar</a> from the popular series of cartoons, portraying a wild island inhabited by a hard partying, singing, dancing lemur kingdom.  A few more people might have a more realistic view of the island nation from David Attenborough’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1842793/">mini-series</a> on Madagascar.  It’s hard to explain to someone who’s never actually visited Madagascar, the tragic beauty of the place, its people and its wildlife.

According to the <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2017/03/21/poverty-in-madagascar-recent-findings">World Bank</a>, 70.7% of Madagascar’s population was living in poverty in 2012 and little has changed since.  The poverty of Madagascar is stark, too. Even in relatively wealthy parts of the country, young children dressed in rags can be seen collecting pennies from drivers by filling potholes in the road by hand.  If a tourist is eating next to a window at a restaurant, it’s common for local Malagasy people to stand outside and watch sadly until given some small piece of food. 

While I was volunteering coordinating tree planting in Madagascar, I saw men lined up daily vying for day work that paid $5.00 for up to eight hours of manual labor.  <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/madagascar-drought-hunger_us_580dbb32e4b0a03911ed7540">The Huffington Post</a> reported in 2016 that almost 850,000 people in Madagascar were facing ‘alarming’ levels of hunger.  The hunger and poverty in Madagascar is caused by deep political problems, drought, and a history of outside exploitation.  With stark realities like these, it isn’t surprising that wise use of natural resources is low on the list of priorities for many. 

According to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, approximately 94% of Madagascar has been affected by deforestation.  This includes the 90% of forest that Madagascar has lost. Logging for money, especially of valuable hardwoods like rosewood, is part of Madagascar’s deforestation problem, but more forest is lost to slash and burn agriculture.  

Slash and burn ‘tavy’ is a common practice for clearing agricultural land for rice paddies and other crops but it’s a very short lived solution.  Quickly soils are ruined and the tavy farmer must move onto a new piece of land and repeat the slashing and burning of trees, thus pushing a quickened pace of deforestation.  Destruction of forest for short term gain is just one problem for Madagascar.

Madagascar is a unique and special place.  3.2% of the world’s plant species live in Madagascar as well as 2.8% of land vertebrates, which is pretty impressive for such a small place physically.  Most of the world’s chameleon species live only in Madagascar and all the world’s lemurs are native only to the island. Even as the forests have been going up in flames, scientists have discovered amazing, tiny chameleons that fit on the head of a match and other species new to science.  The island is bordered by reef systems already damaged by bleaching caused by a <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/7261/coral-reefs-of-southwest-madagascar">rise in temperatures</a>.  Now desperation, greed or simple necessity is driving Madagascar’s government to further threaten their oceans.  

<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/madagascar-auctioning-a-large-swath-of-virgin-waters-for-oil-exploration/">Mongabay</a> reported in December 2018 that Madagascar’s government is opening a large area of ocean to oil exploration by the highest bidder.  In September, representatives of Madagascar’s government attended an oil industry event in Houston, to advertise the newly opened area.  <a href="https://madagascarlicensinground2018.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Flyer.pdf">A flier</a> from the Malagasy government proclaims, ‘Explore Madagascar’s Open Acreage…Let the Bidding Commence!’ 

<a href="https://madagascarlicensinground2018.com/available-data/">44 concessions</a> are now open for exploration, none of which have been explored before.  The area now open represents some 24,440 square miles in the Mozambique Channel to the west, between Madagascar and mainland Africa.  

This is exciting news for the hydrocarbon industry, <a href="https://psmag.com/environment/madagascar-opens-its-oceans-to-oil-and-gas">The Pacific Standard</a> reports.  Environmental and social groups are less pleased about the opening for oil exploration.  The environmental and economic impact of such a move hasn’t been thoroughly evaluated they argue.  

<a href="https://www.equaltimes.org/madagascar-fisheries-ravaged-by?lang=en#.XBQ46NtKj3g">Equal Times</a> reports that Madagascar’s local fishermen are already outcompeted and the fish populations devastated by foreign fishing fleets.  In 2008, an estimated 130,000 tons of fish were caught in Madagascar’s waters but illegal fishing from foreign boats threatens the livelihood of approximately 100,000 local Malagasy.  An oil spill could completely destroy a vital industry already on the verge of collapse, to say nothing of the loss of biodiversity. Four different civil society groups, led by the Antananarivo-based Research and Support Center for Development Alternatives–Indian Ocean (CRAAD-OI), drove the point home, writing in a statement last month:

“The offshore exploration and production of oil and gas on this scale goes directly against the objectives of protecting fisheries resources and preserving the marine ecosystems on which the livelihoods and food security of a large part of the Malagasy population depend.”

So far, there have been no major oil discoveries in Madagascar and the only oil development has been onshore drilling operations in the west.  The reason for excitement by the hydrocarbon industry comes from the concessions proximities to Mozambique where large reserves of natural gas were discovered offshore in 2010.

In February, representatives of the Malagasy government will continue to promote the exploration concessions in Houston and London, hoping to bolster more interest.  Any deals reached would probably take the form of profit sharing, with the Malagasy government receiving a percent of profits after a certain threshold is reached. Even if there is nothing found during exploration, conservationists worry that the exploration itself could cause problems.  

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/15/stranded-whales-sonar-underwater">The Guardian</a> reported in 2008 that 100 melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra) were mysteriously beached in a shallow lagoon in Northern Madagascar.  75 of the beleaguered whales died. An independent review panel by the International Whaling Commission found that the most likely cause of the whale stranding came from a multi-beam echosounder system.  This system was being used by an Exxon Mobil survey vessel to map the area seafloor. Some of the exploration concessions also overlap with marine protected areas as well as areas managed by local fishing communities.  

The government of Madagascar argues that the exploration concessions won’t negatively impact the marine protected areas or fisheries but this seems like an untenable promise to make.  

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Madagascar opens up waters to oil exploration, endangering wildlife

Most people know Madagascar from the popular series of cartoons,...

A new study from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> has identified a link between poor sense of smell and pesticide exposure among older farmers. The investigation was focused on more than 11,000 farmers over a period of 20 years. 

At the beginning of the study, around 16 percent of the participants had experienced a high pesticide exposure event (HPEE), such as a large amount of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-bees-productive-efficient/">pesticide</a> being spilled on their body. Two decades later, the individuals were asked if they had any olfactory impairment, which involves a partial to complete loss of sense of smell.


The researchers discovered that farmers who had reported an HPEE were 50 percent more likely to suffer from olfactory impairment. The study also revealed that immediately washing with soap and water could lower the risk of harm. 

Among individuals who experienced an HPEE, those who washed within three hours had about a 40 percent higher risk of having problems with smell, while those who waited at least four hours had double this amount of risk. 

“Studying farmers gives us more reliable data on pesticide exposures than if we had studied the general population,” said study lead author Professor Honglei Chen. “Because they use pesticides more and it's part of their job, they're more likely to remember what pesticides they used and in cases of high exposures, report the specific events.”

Professor Chen identified two insecticides, DDT and lindane, that were associated with poor sense of smell. The researchers also linked the weed killers alachlor, metolachlor, 2,4-D, and pendimethalin to a higher risk of olfactory impairment. 

“Farmers reporting incidents, involving unusually high exposures to certain organochlorine insecticides such as DDT and herbicides including 2,4-D, were more likely to have a poor sense of smell. More research needs to be done, but some studies have linked these chemicals to Parkinson's and possibly dementia too.”

Professor Chen pointed out that olfactory impairment affects up to 25 percent of the older population, and we are still not fully aware of the potential consequences. “Studies have also suggested that older adults with a poor sense of smell are more likely to die earlier, so understanding the factors involved is very important.”

The research, which is published in the journal <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/">Environmental Health Perspectives</a>, included researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pesticides are causing older farmers to lose their sense of smell

A new study from Michigan State University has identified a...

Hispanic Americans who live in the western and midwestern United States may be exposed to drinking water with unsafe concentrations of nitrate, according to a new study. 

The study, conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://silentspring.org/">Silent Spring Institute</a> and published in the journal <a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-018-0442-6">Environmental Health</a>, is the first ever nationwide investigation into socioeconomic disparities in nitrate concentrations in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tap-water-contaminants/">drinking water</a> in the United States. 

Even though the majority of water systems analyzed in the study did not have levels of nitrate concentrations over the maximums put in place by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA), over 1,000 community water systems had nitrate concentrations of over five milligrams per liter. 

The EPA maximum contamination level is ten milligrams per liter. 

Exposure to higher levels of nitrate concentrations could be linked to cancer, birth defects, and other developmental problems which is why it’s critical to identify any disparities in nitrate concentrations in drinking water systems to help reduce exposure to unsafe levels of contaminants. 

The researchers collected and analyzed data on 616,591 samples from 39,366 community water systems (CWSs)  all over the United States. 

Next, the team compared the data with demographic information such as race and incomes from the communities serviced by the CWSs.

1,647 of the CWSs, which combined provide water to 5.6 million Americans, had nitrate concentrations at five milligrams per liter. 

Hispanic Americans in the midwestern and western United States had the strongest likelihood of living near CWSs with higher nitrate concentrations. 

“We hypothesized that Hispanic Americans might have higher nitrate in their drinking water because many US farmworkers are Hispanic, and agriculture is a major source of nitrate pollution,” said Laurel Schaider, the lead author of the study. “However, we saw these associations even after we adjusted our statistical model to take into account agricultural land use. These results suggest that there may be additional reasons why Hispanic residents in the US have higher nitrate in their drinking water.”

The researchers also found that CWSs that had a higher proportion of residents with incomes below the poverty line correlated with a decreased risk of exposure to high concentrations. 


CWSs that drew from sources of groundwater had higher concentrations of nitrate compared to CWSs that used surface water. 

The researchers say that federal nitrate maximums may need to be re-evaluated and that further research is needed to see if nitrate concentrations are consistent all year round in the regions studied. 

“Our findings suggest that programs intended to help low-income and small public water supplies may not be adequately assisting communities with higher proportions of Hispanic residents, who are more likely to live in areas with high nitrate and thus may be at greater risk of the associated harmful health effects,” said Schaider. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Certain socioeconomic groups more at risk of unsafe drinking water

Hispanic Americans who live in the western and midwestern United...

Researchers from <a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a>, part of <a href="https://www.montefiore.org/">Montefiore</a>, have discovered that the brain’s cerebellum partially controls the brain’s reward circuitry. The cerebellum has been previously thought to mainly control movement, however, this new discovery, published January 17th in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, connects the cerebellum to reward processing and social behavior, which could offer new ways of treating <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/alcohol-addiction-memories/">addiction</a>.

MRI brain scans of individuals recovering from addiction revealed action in the cerebella when participants were shown images of objects associated with their addiction, like a syringe. The cerebella glowed more on the scan in patients who had a higher risk of relapse. 

"The notion that the cerebellum did much beyond controlling movement was met with a lot of skepticism — and no one had any real clues as to how the cerebellum might affect dopamine release," study leader <a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/faculty/8472/Kamran-Khodakhah/">Kamran Khodakhah, Ph.D.</a>, professor and chair of the <a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/departments/neuroscience/">Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience</a> and the Florence and Irving Rubenstein Chair in Neuroscience. 

Dr. Khodakhah hypothesized that the cerebellum, located just above the brainstem, directly connected with and activated the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an area of the brain associated with addiction. He and his team conducted studies that showed stimulating cerebellar neurons activates the VTA, therefore encouraging “addictive” behaviors in mice.

To do this, Dr. Khodakhah used optogenetics, the process of inserting genes that produce light-sensitive proteins into specific neurons. The team is then able to activate or deactivate neurons via light exposure. They first used this method to insert the genes into some cerebellar neurons connected to the VTA via axon fibers. When the genes in the cerebellar axons were activated, a third of the VTA’s neurons fired more, thus proving that cerebellar neurons form synapses, or connections, with VTA neurons. 

The team then tested the cerebellum reward processing factor in mice via the same process of stimulating the cerebellar neurons connected to the VTA within an open-chamber study. Mice repeatedly returned to the same area in the chamber where these neurons were stimulated after the neurons were not being stimulated, showing that they remembered processing a reward for doing so during stimulation. Dr. Khodakhah says that this proves the cerebellum does play a role in addictive behaviors.

Furthermore, an interactive mice study also showed that socialization requires a working cerebellum-VTA pathway. A disconnect in this pathway could be a determinant of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Dr. Khodakhah now wants to know whether the cerebellum-VTA pathway can be manipulated with drugs or optogenetics as a way of treating addiction. He also hopes to discover connections between the VTA and other parts of the brain that could play into other addictive behaviors and mental disorders.

"Cerebellar abnormalities are also linked to a number of other mental disorders such as schizophrenia," Dr. Khodakhah said, "so we want to find out whether this pathway also plays a role in those disorders."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The brain’s cerebellum is linked to addictive behavior

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of Montefiore,...

A new study has revealed that practicing mindfulness may lead to fewer menopausal symptoms for women. The researchers found that the positive effects are the strongest among menopausal women struggling with depression, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/depression-anxiety-harm-health/">anxiety</a>, and irritability.

Study lead author Dr. Richa Sood is a general internist and women's health specialist at the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/">Mayo Clinic</a>. 

“In this study, we found that midlife women with higher mindfulness scores experienced fewer menopausal symptoms," said Dr. Sood. “These findings suggest that mindfulness may be a promising tool to help women reduce menopausal symptoms and overall stress.”

Mindfulness involves the acknowledgement of emotions, thoughts, and feelings in the present without any judgment. Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness can reduce stress and improve quality of life.

On a daily basis, around 6,000 women in the United States reach menopause. The most common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and mood changes.

The study was focused on more than 1,700 women between the ages of 40 and 65 who received care at the Women's Health Clinic in Rochester from 2015 - 2016. The participants completed questionnaires that rated their menopausal symptoms, perceived level of stress, and mindfulness. 

The study results showed that women with higher mindfulness scores were less affected by menopause. In addition, the link between higher mindfulness and reduced menopausal symptoms was found to be stronger among women with the most perceived stress.

Dr. Sood explained, “Essentially, the first step in being mindful is to become aware that our minds are on autopilot most of the time.”

“The goal during mindful moments is not to empty the mind, but to become an observer of the mind's activity while being kind to oneself. The second step is to create a pause. Take a deep breath, and observe one's own space, thoughts and emotions nonjudgmentally. The resulting calm helps lower stress.”

The study is published in <a href="https://www.imsociety.org/about_the_journal.php">Climacteric: The Journal of the International Menopause Society</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Women who practice mindfulness are less affected by menopause

A new study has revealed that practicing mindfulness may lead...

The human face is comprised of muscles, tissue, and some of our biggest sensory organs, the eyes, nose, and mouth. We can twist, pull and move our facial muscles to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/emotions-revealed-facial-color/">help convey emotion</a> and arrange our faces to form thousands of expressions. 

But now, a new study has found that there is one emotion that has more facial expressions than any other and only 35 expressions translate cross-culturally. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> conducted the study which was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing.

The researchers wanted to better understand how facial expressions are used to efficiently convey emotions and how these expressions translate in other cultures and countries. 

To do this, the team put together a list of 821 English words used to describe feelings. The list of words was translated into a number of different languages including Spanish, Russian, Farsi, and Mandarin Chinese. 

Once they had a list of feelings, the researchers used popular internet search engines to search for pictures of faces conveying those specific feelings and amassed a collection of 7.2 million images of facial expressions. 

Happiness had more facial expressions compared to other emotions, as the researchers identified 17 different potential facial configurations that convey the feeling. 

Disgust only had one major facial expression, fear had three, and sadness and anger each had five different possible facial expressions to help convey meaning. 

“This was delightful to discover,” Aleix Martinez, the co-author of the study told Ohio State News. “Because it speaks to the complex nature of happiness. Happiness acts as a social glue and needs the complexity of different facial expressions; disgust is just that: disgust.” 

Interestingly, only 35 of the expressions translated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/collecting-dna-from-rivers-uncovers-biodiversity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">across multiple cultures</a> and conveyed the same meaning, even though computer algorithms calculated that the human face can construct a little over 16,000 unique expressions. 

The researchers then used the 7.2 million images to see if there were any duplicate facial expressions used in different cultures and only eight emotions were used in some, but not all of the cultures to convey the same meanings. 

The researchers suggest that while most emotions are universal, there are fewer facial expressions that convey those emotions than previously realized and many of them show happiness. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Humans have 17 different faces to express happiness

The human face is comprised of muscles, tissue, and some...

Nearly 25 percent of antibiotic prescriptions might be unneeded. As the opioid epidemic rages on, it’s easy to forget about another pharmaceutical crisis on the sidelines. Growing concern over <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-environment/">antibiotic resistance</a> stems largely from the overprescription and overuse of antibiotics. 

Even though antibiotic misuse is a major global problem, a new study has found that patients are still being prescribed antibiotics that they don’t need.Nearly 25 percent of antibiotic prescriptions might be unneeded

Researchers from <a href="https://med.umich.edu/">Michigan Medicine</a>, part of the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>, conducted one of the most comprehensive recent assessments of outpatient antibiotic use among privately insured patients. 

The results, published in the British Medical Journal, show that in 2016, one in seven patients were prescribed antibiotics they didn’t need. 

“Antibiotic overuse is still rampant and affects an enormous number of patients,” said Kao-Ping Chua, the lead author of the study. “Despite decades of quality improvement and educational initiatives, providers are still writing antibiotic prescriptions for illnesses that would get better on their own.”


Chua and colleagues analyzed the insurance claims of 19.2 million privately insured adults aged 18 to 64 and children from 2016. 

Of those 19.2 million, 7.6 million filled an outpatient antibiotic prescription, and 2.7 million filled at least one unnecessary antibiotic prescription. 

The researchers used a classification system to analyze the claims by focusing on the new medical coding system (ICD-10). Diagnoses their accompanying prescription were labeled according to their appropriateness. Either the diagnosis “always,” “sometimes,” or “never” justified an antibiotic prescription according to the researchers. This is the first time the medical coding system has been used to study antibiotic misuse among outpatients. 

One in ten children and one in six adults received an unnecessary antibiotic prescription, and only 36 percent of those could be justified.

Antibiotics were commonly overprescribed to treat bronchitis or cold symptoms. 

Antibiotic overuse is a problem for both doctors and patients. Doctors want to treat their patients and may think that antibiotics are necessary, and patients who were inappropriately prescribed antibiotics in the past may think that antibiotics are the only way to help treat their systems. 

The results of the study are a major cause for concern because they illustrate how widespread antibiotic overuse is, even as antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise. 

Once easily treated problems are now becoming potentially life-threatening and dangerous, and around two million people develop an antibiotic-resistant infection every year, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control.</a>

“Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to public health in the world, and the large number of antibiotics that providers prescribe to patients are a major driver of resistance,” said Chua. “Providers urgently need to eliminate prescribing that isn't needed, both for the sake of their patients and society.”

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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

Nearly 25 percent of antibiotic prescriptions might be unneeded

Nearly 25 percent of antibiotic prescriptions might be unneeded. As...

Daily exercise or routine physical activity could help <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sexual-activity-older-adults/">older adults</a> preserve their memory, according to a new study published January 16th in the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>’s (AAN) journal, <a href="http://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>.

The study analyzed 454 older adults — 191 of whom had dementia and 263 did not — over a 20-year period. Participants were given physical exams and thinking and memory tests every year spanning the two decades, and also agreed to donate their brain to the study post death.

“Our research team measured levels of physical activity in study participants an average of two years prior to death, and then examined their brain tissue after death, and found that moving more may have a protective effect on the brain," said study author and member of the AAN, Aron S. Buchman, MD, of the <a href="https://www.rush.edu/">Rush University Medical Center in Chicago</a>. 

"People who moved more had better thinking and memory skills compared to those who didn't move much at all,” he continued. “We found movement may essentially provide a reserve to help maintain thinking and memory skills when there are signs of dementia present in the brain."

Two years prior to death, which, on average, occurred at age 91, participants were given an activity monitor called an accelerometer that was worn on the wrist and measured physical activity 24/7. Researchers recorded activity and calculated a daily activity score for each group of participants. Those with dementia had an average activity score of 130,000 counts per day, and those without had an average 180,000 counts per day.

Once researchers had the opportunity to study the brains of the participants after death, they found that higher levels of daily activity showed signs of better thinking and memory skills. Furthermore, those with better motor skills showed the same.

Researchers saw that by increasing physical activity by one single deviation, a participant was 31% less likely to develop dementia. And for every increase in motor ability by one standard deviation, participants were 55% less likely to develop dementia. 

"Exercise is an inexpensive way to improve health, and our study shows it may have a protective effect on the brain," Buchman said. "But it is important to note that our study does not show cause and effect. It may also be possible that as people lose memory and thinking skills, they reduce their physical activity. More studies are needed to determine if moving more is truly beneficial to the brain."

The study also did not take into account whether or not participants were active in their younger lives, so physical activity impact in early life is currently an unknown factor in the results. 

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Moving more may help older adults preserve memory, thinking skills

Daily exercise or routine physical activity could help older adults preserve...

The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/climate/government-shutdown-climate-change.html">New York Times</a> reports that the current U.S. government shutdown, which has just rolled into its fourth week, has halted <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> and the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)</a> from releasing their annual temperature analysis — a crucial set of data to show how global warming had progressed in 2018.

And because NASA and NOAA data is so widely used around the world, other world governments, like Britain’s national weather and climate monitoring service, the <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/">Met Office</a>, have also been held back from releasing their yearly <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change reports</a>.

“Usually, we would have received [the NOAA data] by now,” John Kennedy, a scientist at the Met Office Hadley Centre, which specializes in climate research, told the New York Times. “But this month, we haven’t.” 

However, temperatures aren’t the only numbers Americans are currently in the dark about because of the government shutdown. The publishing of NOAA’s annual natural-disaster cost estimate, a report that has been published yearly since 1980, has also been delayed. 

2017’s natural-disaster cost estimate ranked as the highest on record due to the climate changed-induced, tag-teaming storms, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, plus the severe drought in the Great Plains. But the cost of 2018’s Hurricane Michael and Florence, paired with the sweeping California wildfires, will remain offline until the shutdown as ended.

Researchers and scientists say that the withholding of this data, plus the lack of government funding and support, is putting their current research at risk. The longer the shutdown is dragged on, the more time is wasted, money lost, and potentially life-saving discoveries are pushed back even further.

“You just can’t turn the lights off and close the door and then when the government reopens, come back and turn on the lights and open the door and the turn the computer on and, O.K., now everything’s fine and we’re going again,” Dr. Bob Peterson, president of the <a href="https://www.entsoc.org/">Entomological Society of America</a> and a professor at <a href="http://www.montana.edu/">Montana State University</a>, told the new York Times Times.

Furthermore, early-career researchers cannot do their jobs because of the lack of government funding. Chris Horvat, a polar oceanographer based at <a href="https://www.brown.edu/">Brown University</a> told the New York TImes, “We’re supposed to be the future of climate science and we can’t do our jobs” — a sentiment that is echoing throughout the U.S. research and science sector. 

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate data is waiting in the wings due to government shutdown

The New York Times reports that the current U.S. government...

An international research team has identified 124 genetic variants that are linked to risky behavior. The altered <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/compassion-animals-dna/">DNA</a> sequences found in the study may ultimately be used to reveal the biological mechanisms that regulate risk taking. 

The experts emphasized that non-genetic factors are still a better predictor of risk tolerance, and that no gene variation is responsible for a certain behavior on its own. 

Study co-author Dr. Abraham Palmer is a professor of Psychiatry at the <a href="https://medschool.ucsd.edu/Pages/default.aspx">University of California San Diego School of Medicine</a>.


“Being willing to take risks is essential to success in the modern world,” said Dr. Palmer. “But we also know that taking too many risks, or not giving enough weight to the consequences of risky decisions, confers vulnerability to smoking, alcoholism and other forms of drug addiction.”

Researchers in Dr. Palmer’s lab are investigating the role that genetics play in different risky decision-making styles. A better understanding of the molecular processes that drive human behavior could inform experts on how to prevent and treat drug abuse as well as some mental illnesses.

“Risk-taking is thought to play a role in many psychiatric disorders,” said study co-author Dr. Murray Stein. “For example, patients with anxiety disorders may perceive increased risk in certain situations and therefore avoid them unnecessarily. Understanding the genetic basis for risk tolerance is critical to understanding these disorders and developing better treatments.”

Based on self-reports by participants in the study, the researchers found that genetic variants associated with overall risk tolerance were also usually associated with more impulsive behavior, such as speeding, drinking, or risky sex.

While the effects of each of the 124 genetic variants are all very small by themselves, the effect of combined variants was found to be much more significant. These variants are spread out across 99 separate regions of the genome.

“Our results point to the role of specific brain regions - notably the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and midbrain - that have previously been identified in neuroscientific studies on decision-making,” said senior author Dr. Jonathan Beauchamp. “They conform with the expectation that variation in risk tolerance is influenced by thousands, if not millions, of genetic variants.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/">Nature Genetics</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

Risky behavior may actually be in your DNA

An international research team has identified 124 genetic variants that...

According to a new study from researchers at the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, at most, only 0.4% of adolescent wellbeing is linked to technology and screen time. This study, published January 14th in <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behavior</a>, is the most conclusive study thus far that has looked into adolescent relationships with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/teens-losing-sleep-smartphones/">technology</a>.

"Our findings demonstrate that screen use itself has at most a tiny association with youth mental health," said lead researcher Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the <a href="https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford Internet Institute</a>, University of Oxford. "The 0.4% contribution of screen use on young people's mental health needs to be put in context for parents and policymakers. 

“Within the same dataset,” Przybylski continued, “we were able to demonstrate that including potatoes in your diet showed a similar association with adolescent wellbeing. Wearing corrective lenses had an even worse association."

The data pulled from 300,000 teens and parents throughout the U.K. and U.S.A. showed that smoking marijuana and getting bullied had, on average, 2.7% times and 4.3% times more impact on wellbeing than technology use, as did lack of sleep and not eating breakfast.

Researchers used a method called Specification Curve Analysis to reach their conclusion and avoid bias, as has been previously included in similar studies.

"Even when using the same datasets, each researcher brings different biases with them and analyses the data slightly differently," study author Amy Orben, College Lecturer at the <a href="https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/">Queen's College, University of Oxford</a>, said. "Of the three datasets we analysed for this study, we found over 600 million possible ways to analyse the data. We calculated a large sample of these and found that - if you wanted - you could come up with a large range of positive or negative associations between technology and wellbeing, or no effect at all."

"We needed to take the topic beyond cherry-picked results, so we developed an approach that helped us harvest the whole orchard," Przybylski added.

The Specification Curve Analysis explored the entire range of correlations between adolescent wellbeing and technology use within the full dataset. Furthermore, researchers examined practical significance rather than statistical significance by using information gathered by questions within the existing dataset. 

"Research's reliance on statistical significance can yield bizarre 'results,’” Orben said. "We need to look at the size of the association to make a judgement on practical significance. If you told me the amount of time a teenager spends on digital devices, I could not do very well predicting their overall wellbeing, as only 0.4% is associated with technology use."

"Bias and selective reporting of results is endemic to social and biological research influencing the screen time debate," Przybylski explained. "We need to put scientific findings in context for parents, policymakers and the general public. Our approach provides an excellent template for data scientists wanting to make the most of the excellent cohort data available in the UK and beyond."

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Screen time has little impact on adolescent wellbeing, research finds

According to a new study from researchers at the University...

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"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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