Coffee is prized for its taste and mental boost. A new study shows that caffeine may also fine‑tune the internal clock that makes cells grow old.



Researchers observed that yeast aged more slowly when caffeine altered the same energy pathways that help human cells <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/organ-aging-can-predict-diseases-decades-in-advance/">survive</a> under stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-caffeine-slows-aging-in-yeast-cells">Caffeine slows aging in yeast cells</h2>



Dr. Charalampos (Babis) Rallis of <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> focused on the yeast species Schizosaccharomyces pombe because its DNA repair and growth controls echo our own. 



The team logged changes in <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9139625/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chronological lifespan</a>, the length of time that non‑dividing cells stay viable, then mapped the molecular traffic that caffeine set in motion.



“This is our most exciting find to date,” said Dr. Rallis. The results point to a fuel‑sensing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthy-aging-how-some-people-live-past-100-years/">pathway</a> that kicks in when nutrients dip, mirroring how people burn stored energy between meals.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yeast-helps-us-understand-aging">Yeast helps us understand aging</h2>



Fission yeast may seem worlds apart from humans, but it shares many core <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772020/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regulatory pathways</a> found in our cells. Systems like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2779044/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMPK</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3241408/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TOR</a> have been conserved over hundreds of millions of years because they work so well.



This makes yeast an ideal testing ground for decoding how compounds like caffeine affect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-are-experimenting-with-new-approach-to-fight-and-stop-human-aging-necrosis/">lifespan</a> and stress response. What happens in a petri dish often sparks questions that ripple out to animal models and eventually to people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-caffeine-may-slow-aging">How caffeine may slow aging</h2>



The key player is AMPK, an enzyme that "notices" when the cell’s ATP (energy) balance tilts toward empty and then shifts metabolism to survival mode. 



“Caffeine helps flip that switch,” said <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=913OCBIAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. John‑Patrick Alao</a>, the postdoctoral scientist who ran the experiments.



Earlier <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23551936/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> suggested caffeine blocked <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23551936/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TOR</a>, a growth promoter, but new data reveal the compound reaches TOR indirectly by first waking up AMPK. 



Cells then slow growth, patch damaged DNA, and boost antioxidant defenses, the very responses that lengthen life in many lab organisms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-caffeine-and-metformin-use-same-pathway">Caffeine and metformin use same pathway</h2>



<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6779524/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metformin</a>, the common diabetes drug, also charges AMPK and is being tested as a geroprotector in humans. The overlap hints that coffee’s benefits may parallel those seen in metformin cohorts, though dosage and metabolism differ widely.



Both agents dial back inflammation, clear out faulty proteins through autophagy, and keep insulin signaling from running too hot. 



If future trials confirm safety, researchers may combine low‑dose caffeine with metformin analogs to see whether their effects stack without side effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-caffeine-helps-manage-cell-stress">Caffeine helps manage cell stress</h2>



The AMPK pathway doesn’t just manage fuel, it also guides how cells respond to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/222489" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">genotoxic stress</a>, such as radiation or chemicals that harm DNA. 



The yeast data showed caffeine increased sensitivity to DNA damage in some mutants, revealing AMPK's role in damage response.



This dual role, energy control and DNA repair, suggests that caffeine tunes both survival and quality control systems. 



It’s part of a wider stress adaptation strategy that has been conserved across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-protein-that-reverses-cellular-aging/">evolution</a>, and is now offering new angles for anti-aging research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-people-who-drink-coffee-may-live-longer">People who drink coffee may live longer</h2>



Observational work involving hundreds of thousands of adults links two to four cups of coffee daily with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31055709/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lower all‑cause mortality</a>. 



Separate <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34468722/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analyses</a> in Asian populations find similar protection against heart disease and several cancers.



Because these studies track behavior, not biology, confounding factors like diet, exercise, and income can cloud cause and effect. 



The yeast data now give those population numbers a plausible mechanism anchored in cell chemistry, without the noise of other factors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-on-caffeine-and-aging">Future research on caffeine and aging</h2>



Yeast tolerate caffeine levels far above a latte, so dose matters when translating findings to people. 



Human AMPK is embedded in tissues that react differently, so benefits in muscle may come at a cost elsewhere if DNA repair stalls during caffeine peaks.



High caffeine can raise blood pressure, trigger anxiety, and interfere with sleep - processes that can speed cell aging if left unchecked. 



Clinical trials that track AMPK activation, cardiovascular markers, and cognitive scores together will be needed before doctors advise specific amounts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-diet-and-exercise">The role of diet and exercise </h2>



Exercise is one of the most well-known ways to activate AMPK in humans. When muscles burn through energy during physical activity, this pathway turns on to help cells adapt and recover.



Certain foods, including those high in polyphenols like berries and green tea, may also give AMPK a nudge. 



Understanding how diet and lifestyle naturally influence this system could lead to everyday habits that support healthy aging.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-healthy-lifestyle-matters">A healthy lifestyle matters</h2>



For now, moderate coffee remains a safe pleasure that lines up with epidemiology and basic science. Sleepless nights and energy drinks loaded with sugar still pose risks that no enzyme tweak can erase.



Nutrient‑sensing pathways such as AMPK give researchers a roadmap for therapies, yet lifestyle, steady sleep, balanced diet, and movement, keep the road free of potholes. 



The next wave of studies may explore caffeine analogs that lock onto AMPK with precision, separating the perks from the jitters.



The study is published in <a href="https://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/2025a-alao-microbial-cell/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microbial Cell</a>.



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Scientists learn that caffeine could slow cellular aging under the right conditions

Coffee is prized for its taste and mental boost. A new study shows that caffeine may also fine‑tune the internal clock that makes cells grow old. Researchers observed that yeast aged more slowly when caffeine altered the same energy pathways that help human cells survive under stress. Caffeine slows aging in yeast cells Dr. Charalampos (Babis) Rallis of Queen Mary University of London focused on the yeast species Schizosaccharomyces pombe because its DNA repair and growth controls echo our own. The team logged changes in chronological lifespan,...

Researchers are still trying to explain the mysterious giant stone heads on Rapa Nui, also known  as Easter Island, off the coast of Chile. While there have been many hypotheses about the statues and the Rapa Nui people that erected them, the heads have created more questions than answers

Now, a new study published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0210409">PLOS ONE</a> suggests that the statues may have been used to mark important resources like sites where drinking water was available

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu/">University of Oregon</a> surveyed the eastern region of the island and reviewed data on the statues, agricultural plots, and marine and freshwater resource locations.

The statues of Rapa Nui are an anomaly and represent one of humanity’s greatest achievements of the prehistoric era. Over the course of 500 years from the 13th through the 18th century, Rapa Nui islanders built nearly 1000 anthropomorphic statues and 300 massive stone platforms. Some of the statues on Rapa Nui are 40 feet tall and weigh 75 tons.

The statues were built on an island with few resources including limited access to freshwater and irregular precipitation. The soils also lack nutrients, and the island is not surrounded by large patches of coral reefs.

All of these would have presented challenges for the Rapa Nui people, but historical evidence suggests the ancient civilization thrived until Europeans first came to Rapa Nui. 

In this recent study, the researchers argue that the Rapa Nui people were a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/easter-island-supportive-community/">peaceful civilization that shared resources</a> and that the statues, also called ahu, marked areas that had sources of valuable drinking water.

“The monuments and statues are located in places with access to a resource critical to islanders on a daily basis – fresh water,” Terry Hunt, a co-author of the study from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> (UA), said in a <a href="https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/solving-ancient-mysteries-easter-island">UA news article</a>. “In this way, the monuments and statues of the Islanders’ deified ancestors reflect generations of sharing, perhaps on a daily basis, centered on water, but also food, family and social ties, as well as cultural lore that reinforced knowledge of the island's precarious sustainability.”

Hunt along with the rest of the researchers used quantitative spatial modeling to examine any potential connection between the statue locations and important resources like fresh groundwater.

A pattern began to emerge, and the ahu were located in areas where people would have been able to access drinking water.

“Many researchers, ourselves included, have long speculated associations between ahu, moai and different kinds of resources –  water, agricultural land, areas with good marine resources, etc.,” said Robert DiNapoli, the lead author of the study. “Our study presents quantitative spatial modeling clearly showing that ahu are associated with freshwater sources in a way that they aren't associated with other resources.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Easter Island statues may have marked areas with drinking water

Researchers are still trying to explain the mysterious giant stone...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> have found that the human brain reconstructs experiences in reverse order. It first focuses on the core meaning of a visual object before recalling more specific details.

The study, published January 14th in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, was carried out at the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/centre-human-brain-health/index.aspx">Centre for Human Brain Health</a>, where researchers reconstructed the brain’s memory retrieval process via brain decoding techniques that track when a memory is being reactivated within the brain.

Finding that the brain remembers the “gist” of the object before its details is interesting because this directly opposes how the brain processes images when it first sees them. Our brains initially take in details like colors, patterns, and textures, before identifying it as a whole.

“We know that our memories are not exact replicas of the things we originally experienced," said lead author, Juan Linde Domingo. "Memory is a reconstructive process, biased by personal knowledge and world views — sometimes we even remember events that never actually happened. But exactly how memories are reconstructed in the brain, step by step, is currently not well understood."

To come to their conclusion, researchers asked study participants to remember a series of specific images of objects and associate each image with a word. They were then later presented with the reminder word and asked to recall the corresponding image. During this process, brain activity was monitored via electrodes and an algorithm designed to figure out which image a participant was retrieving.

"We were able to show that the participants were retrieving higher-level, abstract information, such as whether they were thinking of an animal or an inanimate object, shortly after they heard the reminder word," said Maria Wimber, senior author of the study. "It was only later that they retrieved the specific details, for example whether they had been looking at a colour object, or a black and white outline."

"If our memories prioritise conceptual information, this also has consequences for how our memories change when we repeatedly retrieve them," explained Linde Domingo. "It suggests they will become more abstract and gist-like with each retrieval. Although our memories seem to appear in our 'internal eye' as vivid images, they are not simple snapshots from the past, but reconstructed and biased representations."

Being able to better understand how the brain reconstructs memories is crucial for the justice system, where eyewitness testimony is so often relied on to sway jurors. More studies will have to be completed to ensure that the brain always works backwards to retrieve memories and how it reconstructs more complex memories.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Our brains work backwards to recall specific memories

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

Researchers have discovered that most people have some level of opposition to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-cacao-chocolate/">genetically modified</a> (GM) foods. The study also revealed that individuals who are the most extremely against these foods believe they know the most about GM food science, but actually know the least.

The investigation was focused on more than 2,000 adults in the United States and Europe, who were asked to share their opinions on GM foods. The survey respondents were asked how well they understood genetically modified foods, and were then tested on this knowledge with a series of true or false questions. 


Although scientific studies have confirmed that GM foods are safe for human consumption and have the potential to provide nutritional benefits, many people still do not trust them. The researchers found that more than 90 percent of the study participants were opposed to GM foods to some extent.


The individuals who reported the strongest feelings against GM foods also believed that they were the most knowledgeable. However, this particular group scored the lowest on the GM food science test.

Study lead author Phil Fernbach is a professor of Marketing in the Leeds School of Business at the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a>.

“This result is perverse, but is consistent with previous research on the psychology of extremism,” said Professor Fernbach. “Extreme views often stem from people feeling they understand complex topics better than they do.”


The study authors noted that people who know the least about important scientific issues are not likely to seek out new information or change their beliefs. 

“Our findings suggest that changing peoples' minds first requires them to appreciate what they don't know,” said study co-author Nicholas Light. “Without this first step, educational interventions might not work very well to bring people in line with the scientific consensus.”

The research team plans to explore how this phenomenon may impact other issues, such as vaccinations and homeopathic medicine.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behavior</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Those most opposed to GMO foods often don’t know much about them

Researchers have discovered that most people have some level of...

How happy memories can help young people fight off depression. A new study from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> has demonstrated that young people can help to protect themselves against depression by recollecting positive memories and experiences.  

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/social-media-depression-girls/">Depression</a> affects more than 300 million people worldwide, making it the leading cause of disability. The condition usually appears for the first time during adolescence, which is a critical period for brain development. Some major risk factors for depression include early life stress and adverse family circumstances.

“Mental health disorders that first occur in adolescence are more severe and more likely to recur in later life,” said study senior author Dr. Anne-Laura van Harmelen. “With child and adult mental health services underfunded and overstretched, it is critical that we identify new ways to build resilience, particularly in those adolescents who are most at risk for depression.”

The researchers theorized that reminiscing about past events during everyday life may help make young people more resilient to stress and depression. To investigate, the team examined data on hundreds of adolescents with an average age of 14 who were all at risk for depression. 

The experts conducted trials to analyze how recalling positive memories may influence negative self-related thoughts and high morning levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which are both known to be signs of vulnerability to depression. 

The study revealed that recalling specific positive memories was associated with fewer negative self-related thoughts and with lower levels of cortisol 12 months later. This means that, by recollecting happy memories, the youths reduced their susceptibility to depression over the course of one year. 

“Our work suggests that ‘remembering the good times’ may help build resilience to stress and reduce vulnerability to depression in young people,’ said study lead author Adrian Dahl Askelund. “This is important as we already know that it is possible to train people to come up with specific positive memories. This could be a beneficial way of helping support those young people at risk of depression.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behaviour</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How happy memories can help young people fight off depression

How happy memories can help young people fight off depression....

While the idea of using insects as a protein-rich food alternative is growing into a multi-million dollar industry, experts at the <a href="https://www.slu.se/en/">Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</a> are warning that there is “an overwhelming lack of knowledge” regarding the sustainability and safety of the production process.

The study authors are exploring many unknown aspects of insect rearing and the potential environmental impacts, yet they believe that suppliers can overcome these challenges. 

“As the global demand for protein grows, insect mass-rearing can play an important role in the future of food,” said study first author Åsa Berggren. “We know that we can't keep doing what we're doing in terms of producing food and utilizing the land.”

The concept of insects as food has great potential to become a renewable and environmentally friendly source of protein, but the researchers emphasize that there are many basic questions that must be answered to guarantee the sustainability of the industry before it grows further.

“Otherwise, we risk replacing one environmental issue with another,” said Berggren. “Though the industry is in its infancy, some companies are getting bigger, and doing well, and the risks will come along with that.”

One of the most urgent questions revolves around unwanted systems products. For example, the full impact of mass-rearing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/insects-eco-friendly-protein/">insects</a> in countries where these species do not occur naturally is not yet known. These insects could escape and cause major damage to the ecosystem, which Berggren described as a potential “climate catastrophe.”


According to the experts, the industry is still young enough that there should be plenty of time to conduct proper research and tackle these issues. 

“Insects have the potential to be a good, sustainable, useful food source, but it's not as simple as rearing them and then that's it,” said Berggren. “There is a lot of effort that needs to be put in to research.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Will insects become a safe and sustainable global food source?

While the idea of using insects as a protein-rich food...

Across the world, species are being pushed into the yawning void of extinction by humans.  We’re mowing down rainforests at alarming rates. According to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-deforestation-2621547166.html">ecowatch.org</a>, 3,050 square miles of the Amazon was cut down between August 2017 and July 2018, the worst year yet for Amazon deforestation.  Climate change is happening now, due to human pollutants. Snowpack in the western US is down, icebergs are melting. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-shortens-life-spans/">Air pollution</a> is taking years off of people’s lives and causing acid rain.   

<a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/global_extinction_rates_why_do_estimates_vary_so_wildly">Scientists disagree</a> over the rates of species extinction but they may be greater than we officially estimate.  It could be as much as between 24 and 150 species lost a day.   Politicians argue over agreements to slow climate change while nations like the US now simply ignore the problem.  In the meantime, little is being done and the economic machinery marches on consuming the planet for its own illusory growth.  More, better and different technology we’re told is the answer. 

Windmills are built that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/environmental-impacts-solar-wind-energy/">kill birds and bats</a> just the same as if they were caught in an oil spill.  Solar panels are hoisted up, blocking the bright sun warming the earth and divert it to the wall sockets of Youtube hungry consumers.  Plants are engineered and doctored to taste exactly like beef for the consumer who cares just not enough to forgo the taste of meat. National parks in the US pushed native peoples out of traditional homelands; parks in Africa and Asia have followed suit.  These, we are told, are the solutions. 

No one is told that they are the problem.  Instead, Trump is blamed for the climate, the Koch brothers are villainized for pollution.  The quickly approaching extinction of rhino species is clearly being driven by superstitious Chinese using horns, bones and fungi for quackery labelled as cures.  

I am the problem.  I drive a car. I am using electricity and the internet to transmit this article to you now.  I eat cheese and eggs and ice cream. I participate in a society that created the monster leading the United States now.  I am to blame. The only way forward is to completely rethink the systems that have driven us to the brink of collapse, the suicidal governments pushing us along.

An article in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/climate-change-what-you-can-do-campaigning-installing-insulation-solar-panels">The Guardian</a> lists less consumption of meat, especially beef, as one direct action and simply less consumption as another but this message is one that’s being all too often ignored.  Instead, we often look to global leaders to combat environmental problems despite the inconsistency of leadership inherit in democratic governments and the long term approach necessary for any real solution.  The article also says to vote, but how is this reasonable when the climate change-denying US president in power now didn’t win the popular vote? 

Beyond that, decisions with much longer follow through than term limits allow is necessary for environmental change to have any weight.  The Paris Climate Accords are a perfect example. Experts agree that the accords don’t do enough to solve the problem of global climate change and still, nations involved can’t meet the goals they set.  Goals are continually reset to pander to a complete lack of will or determination by any nation state involved. There’s very little binding power to the agreement and poorer nations are getting the raw end of the deal, as usual.  Despite the ill intention and malice, the US leaving the climate accords seems almost irrelevant.

A piece from <a href="https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-01-11/capricious-foes-big-sister-high-carbon-plutocrats-irreverent-musings-from-katowices-cop24/">resilience.org</a> written by a participant at COP24 revealed how despite an appearance of discussion, most members are barred from specific criticism, making the discussion toothless and pointless.  Instead in many ways COP24 and other climate discussions seem to be more about trade and profit than about the climate crisis. An article in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2018/12/13/ten-things-the-world-learned-at-the-cop24-climate-change-negotiations/#148367901cd2">Forbes</a> asserts that many countries involved in the COP24 talks, including host nation, Poland are reluctant to give up coal.  The article goes on to echo some concerns also raised by resilience.org, that many civil groups are physically barred from participating in the COP talks.  Only groups that can be counted on to ‘play nice’ are allowed to question government and business leaders at the climate talks. Many of those shut out of the conference were from poorer nations most threatened by climate change.  Even a scientific study by IPCC showing that we’re headed towards a catastrophic temperature rise of 3°C that was commissioned by COP21 wasn’t welcome at the COP24 talks. 

The study itself shoots to the heart of the issue stating, “…rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society…” are necessary to divert the coming tragedy.  

Climate change, deforestation and global extinctions on the rise are huge problems but they’re actually just symptoms of a deeper global sickness.  The problem is consumption.  The problem is that people continually turn away from the natural world they’re destroying by plugging into destructive ways to occupy their time.  Nature Deficit Disorder is usually not seen in the same light as a global destructive force in the same way climate change is. I would argue that in many ways Nature Deficit Disorder, coupled with good old fashioned greed and gluttony, are driving climate change, deforestation, even drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  

<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38094186">BBC</a> reports on the effect of Nature Deficit Disorder, quoting Dr. Ross Cameron:

“We're so clued into modern technology and things that we're less observant about the world around us and we're more likely to learn about wildlife ironically from a David Attenborough programme than maybe from a walk in the woods.”

A walk in the woods doesn’t have an environmental cost like watching a nature documentary. A trip into ‘nature’ also has the added benefit of making it personal.  There’s a magical joy of discovering in seeing a bird you’ve never noticed before without knowing what is that’s missing in nature film, articles or books.

The key to everything is we’re losing the world around us and we don’t even realize it because we’ve slipped so deeply into our own artificial worlds of computer screens and carefully climate controlled offices.  The root of the destruction of the natural world is that you’re reading this on a screen instead of being outside. From Central Park to the waterways of the northern Midwest to deserts, mountains, even roadsides, there is beauty in the world, seeing it for yourself is the first step towards protecting it.           

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer              

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

The real root of the current global environmental catastrophe

Across the world, species are being pushed into the yawning...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a> have discovered that men are more sensitive to pain than women. The study also revealed that men have a stronger memory of previous <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/expecting-pain-hurt/">pain</a>, and suffer more when a painful experience is repeated. 

The findings, which were confirmed in both mice and humans, could lead to the development of groundbreaking new ways to treat chronic pain. The research was conducted by Jeffrey Mogil, who is a professor of Pain Studies.

“We set out to do an experiment looking at pain hypersensitivity in mice and found these surprising differences in stress levels between male and female mice,” said Professor Mogil. “So we decided to extend the experiment to humans to see whether the results would be similar.” 

“We were blown away when we saw that there seemed to be the same differences between men and women as we had seen in mice.”

The investigation was focused on 41 men and 38 women between the ages of 18 and 40. The participants were placed in specific rooms and were inflicted with low levels of painful heat on their forearms. 

The volunteers were instructed to rate their level of pain on a scale of one to 100. Next, they were asked to complete 20 minutes of arm exercises while wearing a tight blood pressure cuff.

The following day, the individuals were taken to either the same room or a different room, and were subjected to more heat on their forearm.

Out of all the participants, just seven rated their pain less than 50, and pain was consistently rated higher by men compared to pain ratings by women. The researchers also found that the men only rated their second round of heat pain higher when they were taken to the same room as the previous day. 

“We believe that the mice and the men were anticipating the cuff, or the vinegar, and, for the males, the stress of that anticipation caused greater pain sensitivity,” said Dr. Mogil. “There was some reason to expect that we would see increased sensitivity to pain on the second day, but there was no reason to expect it would be specific to males.”

The study us published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Men are more sensitive to pain than women

Researchers at McGill University have discovered that men are more...

American parents aren’t doing enough to ensure that the U.S. population remains stable, according to a new report on the country’s total fertility rate from the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.

A figure known as replacement level fertility – a total fertility rate of 2,100 live births per 1,000 women – is needed to maintain the current U.S. population. Without that number of new babies per family, there’s no way to replace all the workers who currently support the country.

Only two states – South Dakota, with 2,227 live births per woman, and Utah, with 2,120 – met that goal, the CDC reported.

“It's certainly from Mormonism,” Dr. Kenneth Johnson of the University of New Hampshire told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">The Daily Mail</a> of Utah’s fertility rate. “The concentration for so many Mormons in a state is why the fertility tends to be higher.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages couples to have children, at members have some of the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/22/mormons-more-likely-to-marry-have-more-children-than-other-u-s-religious-groups/">highest birth rates</a> in the U.S.

In South Dakota, economics may be at play.

“My guess is South Dakota has had so much growth in the energy industry, it may be the influx of people to the state that affects fertility,” Johnson said.

Twenty-eight states had a total fertility rate of less than 1,800 live births per 1,000 women. The average was 1,765.5 births per 1,000 women. Washington, D.C., at 1,421, had the lowest rate.

But not every woman in the U.S. reflects that trend. It’s mainly white women who are pulling the average down. Black women had a birth rate higher than the replacement estimate in 12 states – with a whopping 4,003.5 live births per 1,000 black women in their highest state, Maine – and Hispanic women were outpacing the replacement rate in 29 states. (The report gave no statistics on Asian and Native American women.)

The U.S. isn’t in any danger yet, but if the country is unable to turn its total fertility rate around, it could begin to have an effect in a couple of generations, said Dr. Philip Cohen of the <a href="https://www.popcenter.umd.edu/">Maryland Population Research Center</a>.

“And there are pathways out of it,” he added. “The main way is through immigration. It may be difficult with culture and politics, but not with demography.”

Read the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_01-508.pdf">National Vital Statistics Report</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

CDC: U.S. total fertility rate too low to be sustainable

American parents aren’t doing enough to ensure that the U.S....

A new report has linked a deadly asthma attack that killed a 9-year-old schoolgirl to London air pollution. 

Thanks to the report, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, the mother of young Ella Kissi-Debrah, will be able to seek a new inquest into Ella’s death.

“Words cannot express how happy I am that the attorney general has taken this decision, and I would like to thank him for reaching his conclusion,” Rosamund Kissi-Debrah told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk">The Guardian</a> on Friday. “Nothing will bring my beautiful, bright, bubbly child back, but now at least I may get answers about how she died and whether it was air pollution which snatched her away from us.”

Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived in south London about 80 feet from a busy, smoggy road, died in February 2013 after struggling with breathing difficulties for three years. The deadly asthma attack led to the last of 27 separate hospital visits following a chest infection in 2010. Before the illness, she’d been active and healthy.

Dr. Stephen Holgate of the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a>, an expert on air quality and health, examined spikes in south London air pollution to see if they had an impact on Ella’s health. 

He found a “striking association” between Ella’s hospitalizations and illegally high spikes in air pollution in the neighborhood where she lived. The deadly asthma attack that took her life came in the midst of one of the worst south London air pollution spikes. 

“The dramatic worsening of her asthma in relation to air pollution episodes would go a long way to explain the timing of her exacerbations across her last four years,” Holgate told The Guardian last July. “There is a real prospect that without unlawful levels of air pollution Ella would not have died.”

Air pollution has been linked to deaths all over the world, from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-kills-infants/">infants</a> to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-premature-death-elderly/">elderly</a>. Pollution is linked to higher rates of pulmonary and cardiac diseases like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-shortens-life-spans/">asthma, high blood pressure and heart attacks</a>, as well as a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-diabetes/">higher risk of diabetes</a>.

On the flip side, cutting air pollution can also lead to a drop in the number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/decline-air-pollution-deaths/">pollution-related deaths</a>.

Human rights lawyer Jocelyn Cockburn of <a href="https://www.hja.net/">Hodge Jones &amp; Allen</a>, who is representing Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, supports the idea of moving ahead with an inquest into Ella’s deadly asthma attack.

“An inquest will provide a better understanding of why she died and whether her death was avoidable. It will force the government and other bodies to account for their actions and, in many regards, their inaction on air pollution over this period,” she told The Guardian.

To that end, Rosamund has started a crowdfunding effort at <a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/airpollution/">Crowd Justice</a> to pay for a legal inquiry into the London air pollution that may have killed her daughter.

“Now I hope a new inquest will make those in power realise that our children are dying as a result of the air that they breathe. This cannot go on,” she said. “Why is this not being taken more seriously by the government? What do we need to do to make them prioritise our children’s lives over convenience and the rights of people to pollute?”

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

London air pollution linked to girl's deadly asthma attack

A new report has linked a deadly asthma attack that...

New information from researchers at <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> enlightens the public to the negative effects of massive hydropower developments like dams. 

Deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and the displacement of thousands of citizens is happening in countries like <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/termite-mounds-brazil/">Brazil</a>, where hydropower is still being put into place, and on an enormous scale. What’s more is that countries where dams are still being built are ignoring the environmental impact and impending climate change, which will ultimately lead to less water being available for electricity storage and generation.

The Michigan State research team was led by Emilio Moran, a visiting professor at the <a href="https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp/english">University of Campinas (UNICAMP)</a> in São Paulo State, Brazil, and the principal investigator of a <a href="https://bv.fapesp.br/en/auxilios/82785/social-and-environmental-processes-that-accompany-the-construction-of-belo-monte-hydroelectric-dam/">São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) dam research project</a>, which pertains to the new Belo Monte dam in Altamira, Pará.

“We argue that if the construction of large dams in developing countries is to continue, it must always be preceded by a painstaking assessment of their real cost, including the environmental and social impact they have,” Moran stated via the study, published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/47/11891">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)</a>.

As of 2016, hydropower is the leading source of renewable energy worldwide, accounting for 71% of all renewable energy. However, many dams that were built in North America and Europe throughout the 20th century have since been dismantled — an incredibly costly endeavor. Dismantling should also be taken into account when new dams are being built, Moran argued.

These 20th century dams were also constructed for societal benefit — they provided water to rural areas. Modern dams are built to supply energy to large corporations like steel-making companies, and offer nothing for the community.

“The people affected by these projects reap no benefits, such as access to electricity or a cheaper power supply. In the case of Belo Monte, the transmission line passes over the heads of the people affected and takes the electricity generated straight to the south and southeast, two of Brazil's wealthiest regions," Moran said.

The development of these modern dams has actually increased electricity bills within the communities surrounding them, and construction jobs offered to locals disappeared within five years of the dams being built. According to Moran, “Belo Monte has been chaotic and has affected the lives of the inhabitants so profoundly that plans to build more large dams in the Amazon basin are being revisited."

Hydropower developments are also detrimental to native fish species. The decrease of fish populations in regions like the Amazon basin has impacted global fish diversity as well as fishing communities, where, in some areas like those around the Tucuruí dam, the fish catch fell 60% immediately after the dam was built. 

Furthermore, these modern dams are no match for impending climate change, Moran warned. They will end up only producing a fraction of the energy they were designed to generate as temperatures rise and Amazon rainfall decreases in the coming years. 

“Depending on water as the main source of power in a future when we'll have less of this natural resource looks like an unreliable strategy," Moran said. “To reduce its vulnerability with regard to energy in the context of global climate change, Brazil must diversify its energy mix. It's still too dependent on hydroelectricity. It needs to invest more in other renewable sources, such as solar, biomass and wind."

Rather than continue on the path of dams, the researchers suggest countries like Brazil look into submerged or in-stream turbine technology, also known as "zero head," for which no damming is required. This technology can better riverine communities and is much cheaper than building a dam.

"This technology could be used throughout Brazil wherever there are relatively small watercourses with discharge rates in excess of 1 cubic meter per second," Moran added. "Small turbines can also be installed near dams to supplement power generation and eliminate the need to build more dams."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hydropower may be doing more social and environmental harm than good

New information from researchers at Michigan State University enlightens the...

Although truffles and caviar have been traditional delicacies for wealthy people, a new study from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> has found that free-range and fair-trade foods are becoming more important to the upper class. 

“Our culture's understanding of what counts as elite taste has really overlooked this ethical element,” said study lead author Professor Emily Huddart Kennedy.

People of a high social status have traditionally enjoyed expensive foods, including French cuisine, and sophisticated events like the opera. But now, there seems to be a green revolution catching on, as people are willing to spend more money for products that are <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/environmentally-friendly-flame-retardants/">environmentally friendly</a>. 

The research team set out to investigate whether social elites are now signaling status through ethical foods. They surveyed more than 800 grocery shoppers in Toronto about their food choices, dividing them into four groups according to their preferences: foodies, ethical eaters, neither, or both. 

The experts compared this information to data on the income, education, and occupation of the shoppers. The study revealed that the individuals who were both foodies and ethical eaters had by far the highest socioeconomic status.


On the other hand, the shoppers who classified themselves as neither foodies nor ethical eaters were found to have the lowest socioeconomic status.

“If you're saying, 'Oh, I should go to this new hipster food truck or this new restaurant that opened up,' that's not even enough anymore to signal that you're high-status,” said Kennedy. “Now, it also has to have this additional layer of being good for people and good for the planet. Foie gras might be great, but if it's local, heritage-breed, pasture-raised foie gras from happy, free-range geese, then that's what high-status looks like now.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf">Social Forces</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Environmentally responsible foods have become the “classy” preference

Although truffles and caviar have been traditional delicacies for wealthy...

More and more couples are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sex-evolved-fight-pathogens/">having sex</a> before forming a deep emotional bond, and now new research shows that sex before emotional intimacy can help jumpstart romantic relationships and forge important connections between partners. 

A series of four studies were conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.idc.ac.il/en/pages/home.aspx">Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya </a>in Israel and the <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/">University of Rochester</a> who examined the roles sex and desire play in the early stages of relationships. 

According to the studies, sexual desire drives people to connect with the people they're attracted to in non-sexual ways. 

“Sex may set the stage for deepening the emotional connection between strangers,” said Gurit Birnbaum, the lead author of the study, in a <a href="http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/cut-to-the-chase-can-sex-help-start-a-relationship-355062/">University of Rochester news article</a>. “This holds true for both men and women. Sex motivates human beings to connect, regardless of gender.”

There are limitations to the studies as the researchers only focused on heterosexual couples, but the results showed that gender made no difference in the desire to initiate relationships when sexually aroused. 

The studies were published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407518811667?journalCode=spra">Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</a>, and the researchers found that sexual arousal creates opportunities for both men and women to form deeper connections. 

The first study had 36 women and 22 men face a partner of the opposite sex that they had never met. 

The participants didn’t realize that their partner was actually a researcher in the study. Once the participants were paired up, they were asked to lip sync to a song with their partner and later rate how desirable they thought their partner was. 

The more attracted a participant was to their partner, the more likely they were to use non-verbal clues showing their interest in a potential relationship like getting close to their partners, matching their partner’s movements and frequently making eye contact. 

For the second study, 38 women and 42 men slow danced with a partner. The more attracted the participants were, the more likely they were to sync up their movements with their dance partner. 

The third study had participants watch a screen on which non-pornographic but erotic images subliminally flashed for 30 milliseconds at a time. This activated the sexual system, according to the researchers. 

After watching the images, the researchers paired the participants up with members of the opposite sex and the participants were asked to share interpersonal dilemmas with their partner. 

These discussions were recorded and later judged based on how caring and responsive each participant was toward their partner. 

The fourth study asked 50 men and 50 women watch either an erotic movie scene or a video about rainforests in South America. 

After watching the videos, the participants were again paired up with an inside researcher and asked to help with a verbal reasoning task. 

The participants that had watched the erotic movie were more willing to help their partners with the task compared to the participants that watched the rainforest video. 

“Sexual desire may play a causally important role in the development of relationships,” said Birnbaum. “It’s the magnetism that holds partners together long enough for an attachment bond to form.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Having sex first can help couples form an emotional bond

More and more couples are having sex before forming a...

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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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