A large new study followed 407,618 adults in six European countries for about 11 years and tracked the incidence of cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. 



The researchers examined how closely people stuck to a healthful, plant-based diet and how that related to developing more than one of the health conditions.



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



The project was led by Reynalda Córdova, a nutritional epidemiologist at the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vienna</a>, working with colleagues across Europe. 



Their team centered the analysis on real-world eating patterns and combined two major datasets to see long term effects.



Chronic diseases often show up in pairs or more. When someone has two or more at the same time, clinicians call it <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5556462/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multimorbidity</a>. Reducing the odds of multiple serious conditions can ease pressure on families and health systems.



In public health, preventing even a modest share of new cases matters because risk compounds when illnesses cluster. 



The analysis used the term “cardiometabolic” to group heart and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-extracts-may-help-treat-metabolic-syndrome/">metabolic</a> problems that often intersect with cancer risk. 



By treating the co-occurrence of conditions as the outcome, the study focused on how disease accumulates over time rather than on single diagnoses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-based-diets-were-rewarded">Plant-based diets were rewarded</h2>



Participants came from the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12639222/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EPIC</a> study, and the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001779" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.K. Biobank</a> (a national research resource that invites adults to share health data for science). These two large cohort projects collect data that connects lifestyle and health records.&nbsp;



Diet quality was scored using a healthful, plant-based diet <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">index</a> that rewards vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and coffee. 



Dietary intake of refined grains, sweets, and animal products, on the other hand, reversed the points.



A companion unhealthful, plant-based diet index scores higher for refined plant foods and sugary drinks, reflecting differences in plant food quality.



The models estimated <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/hazard-ratio" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hazard ratio</a>, which expresses how much risk changes with each 10-point rise in the score. This was calculated after accounting for age, sex, smoking, activity, and alcohol use. 



Events were counted and sequenced to see whether a first diagnosis was followed by another, which mirrors how disease accumulates in life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-based-diet-and-multimorbitity">Plant-based diet and multimorbitity</h2>



Across the combined cohorts, 6,604 people developed two of the three illnesses during follow up. 



A 10-point increase on the healthy <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666756825000613" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant diet score</a> was linked to 11 percent lower risk in EPIC and 19 percent lower risk in UK Biobank data.



In adults younger than 60, the hazard ratio was 0.71, and in those of 60 or older it was 0.86. This shows a stronger association in midlife. 



The pattern for the unhealthful plant score was positive in UK Biobank data, and null in EPIC, underscoring that not all plant-rich eating is the same.



“A healthy plant-based diet might <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-diet-shifts-the-hidden-costs-of-what-we-eat/">reduce</a> the burden of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases among middle-aged and older adults,” concluded Córdova.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-healthful-plant-based-diet-defined">Healthful plant-based diet defined</h2>



Scores for the healthy pattern rise with vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and coffee. Less reliance on refined carbs, sweets, and red or processed meat helps keep the score high.



The unhealthful score climbs with sodas, sweets, white bread, and other refined items. Those choices can crowd out fiber-rich foods that support steady energy and metabolic health.



Separating the healthful and unhealthful versions explains why a plant-based diet can help or harm, depending on the mix. Quality matters more than labels, and the scale captures that difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-diet-quality-might-matter">Why diet quality might matter</h2>



A Lancet <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2931809-9/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> linked higher fiber intake with lower risk of several noncommunicable diseases and better glycemic control. 



Fiber also feeds gut microbes that produce short chain fatty acids. These organic substances support metabolic and immune balance.



Other prospective evidence ties plant-based eating patterns to lower type 2 diabetes risk across populations. 



A comprehensive <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2738784" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meta-analysis</a> reported that greater adherence to plant-based diets, especially those rich in healthful plant foods, was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.



These mechanisms align with the new results, where lower weight, lower inflammation, and better insulin sensitivity likely explain part of the link. Diet is not a cure, but quality changes can tilt the odds toward healthier aging.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-interpret-this-safely">How to interpret this safely</h2>



Self-reported diet is imperfect, and people may change how they eat after a diagnosis, which can blunt associations. 



Differences that are not measured can also shift estimates, so the authors tested many scenarios to check robustness.



The inconsistency for the unhealthful score between EPIC and UK Biobank suggests that context and measurement matter. Food culture, recall frequency, and how outcomes are captured can all influence results.



Even with caveats, the direction and size of the associations fit prior <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-humans-thrived-on-plant-based-diets-not-meat-alone-780000-years-ago/">literature</a> on plant-rich patterns and long term health. That consistency adds confidence without assuming what a single study proves in every setting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-shifts-in-everyday-choices">Small shifts in everyday choices</h2>



The findings do not require strict rules or total exclusion of animal products. They point to a pattern where plants take the lead while animal products and refined items take a back seat.



Small shifts that raise the healthful plant score are realistic and sustainable. Those shifts also track with widely recommended approaches to lifelong health.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(25)00061-3/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Lancet Healthy Longevity</a>.



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Big health study shows how a plant-based diet protects against disease

A large new study followed 407,618 adults in six European countries for about 11 years and tracked the incidence of cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. The researchers examined how closely people stuck to a healthful, plant-based diet and how that related to developing more than one of the health conditions. Why this study matters The project was led by Reynalda Córdova, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Vienna, working with colleagues across Europe. Their team centered the analysis on real-world eating patterns and combined...

The vast majority of humans on this planet <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meat-consumption-climate-change-2/">consume meat</a> in one form or another, and it’s no secret that our omnivorous ways can have a negative impact on the environment. 

Now, a new study published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1755263x">Conservation Letters</a> has found that at least 200 species of large animals (known as megafauna) are decreasing in number. Over 150 of these species are under threat of extinction due in part to our meat consumption habits. 

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> College of Forestry took part in an international collaboration that built a list of megafauna based on body size and taxonomy. The animals studied were considered unusually large in comparison to other species within their class. 

Analysis of these species’ populations found that 70 percent were in decline. Also, almost 60 percent were threatened with disappearing all together.

“Direct harvest for human consumption of meat or body parts is the biggest danger to nearly all of the large species with threat data available,” says William Ripple, distinguished professor of ecology in the College of Forestry at OSU. 

“Thus, minimizing the direct killing of these vertebrate animals is an important conservation tactic that might save many of these iconic species as well as all of the contributions they make to their ecosystems.”

As hunting and fishing strategies have become more coordinated and refined in the last few centuries, our proficiency in killing wildlife has only increased. As a result, 2 percent of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-giants-study-reveals-shocking-decline-of-large-mammals-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">megafauna</a> species are now extinct. “Our results suggest we’re in the process of eating megafauna to extinction,” Ripple says. 

“Through the consumption of various body parts, users of Asian traditional medicine also exert heavy tolls on the largest species. In the future, 70 percent will experience further population declines and 60 percent of the species could become extinct or very rare.”

Besides the intentional harvesting of megafauna species, many become accidentally caught in traps, snares, trawls, and nets – a consequence of our more efficient hunting methods. 

“And there's also habitat degradation to contend with,” Ripple explains. “When taken together, these threats can have major negative cumulative effects on vertebrate species.”

Preserving many of these species will likely be challenging as the human population continues to grow, creating more mouths to feed. 

“There will be economic arguments against it, as well as cultural and social obstacles,” says Ripple. “But if we don’t consider, critique and adjust our behaviors, our heightened abilities as hunters may lead us to consume much of the last of the Earth's megafauna.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Our meat-eating is pushing Earth’s largest animals towards extinction

The vast majority of humans on this planet consume meat...

A team of experts recently investigated how working in male-dominated industries may affect <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/traumatic-injuries-mental-health-issues/">mental health</a> and job satisfaction among female employees. The researchers found that sexism on the job site was linked to a lower sense of belonging at work, poorer mental health, and lower job satisfaction.

The analysis was focused on nearly 200 women from a large Australian trade union which mostly represented male-dominated jobs. 

The study revealed that organizational sexism and interpersonal sexism were both associated with a poorer sense of belonging in the industry, which was found to have a negative impact on mental health. A lack of belonging and feelings of inferiority also explained the negative effect of organizational sexism on job satisfaction.

The study findings lend support to a theoretical model in which workplace sexism leads to a reduced sense of belonging because it represents a form of bullying, rejection, and ostracism by men against their female co-workers. A lack of belonging, in turn, has a negative influence on women's mental health and job satisfaction because it causes feelings of alienation and loneliness.

Study co-author Dr. Mark Rubin is a social psychologist and an associate professor at the <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/">University of Newcastle</a> in Australia.

“Strategies that integrate women more thoroughly into male-dominated industries and give them a better sense of belonging may help to increase their mental health and job satisfaction,” said Dr. Rubin. “However, we also need better strategies to reduce sexism in the workplace if we are to tackle this problem at its root.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15591816">Journal of Applied Social Psychology</a>.
--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Workplace sexism impacts mental health, job satisfaction for women

A team of experts recently investigated how working in male-dominated...

Awareness and acceptance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/transgender-brains-match-gender/">transgenderism</a> have grown exponentially in the last decade. <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/how-many-adults-identify-as-transgender-in-the-united-states/">Perhaps .6%</a> of the population in the United States is believed to be transgender, per recent estimates. Organizations vary in their preferred terminology for this phenomenon. The feeling that one really belongs to the opposite gender is also called gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. 

Many, if not most, people have a passing familiarity with gender affirmation surgeries designed to more closely align the anatomy of trans people with their asserted gender—vaginoplasty, breast implants, and facial feminization in male to female (MTF) transsexuals, phalloplasty and mastectomy in female to male (FTM) transsexuals. Less widely understood are the hormone regimens used to modify the physiology of patients presenting with dysphoria. These drug protocols, endorsed for adults by such organizations as the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/ama-takes-several-actions-supporting-transgender-patients">American Medical Association</a>, the <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/...and.../rd2012_GID.pdf">American Psychiatric Association</a>, and the <a href="https://www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/transgender.pdf">American Psychological Association</a>, vary between patients due to a range of factors, including age and desired results. What follows is a general primer on what these drugs are and how they affect the human body.

Treatment protocols have evolved significantly since the first synthetic sex hormones became available in the 1930s. Current regimens are aimed at safely altering both primary sex characteristics, specifically the genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics, such as the presence of hair, breast tissue, muscle tone, and the distribution of body fat. Regimens designed for men wishing to transition to women are modified from those used in menopausal and post-menopausal natal women. Regimens designed for women wishing to transition to men are adapted from those used in natal men who present with hypogonadism—the failure of the testes to produce sufficient amounts of sex hormones. 

These drugs modify the amount of the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen in the body, either by directly introducing hormones of the opposite sex or blocking or suppressing the production of native hormones. Both natal women and natal men produce both hormones, though estrogen is dominant in females and testosterone is dominant in males. Estrogen is produced by the ovaries and testosterone is produced by the testes, as well as by the adrenal glands. These hormones are responsible for the development of secondary sex characteristics. Because cross-sex hormones, when taken medically to alter these characteristics, have serious effects, they must be administered by a knowledgeable medical professional. Drugs obtained on the black market may be contaminated or improperly formulated and thus pose substantial risks to those taking them.

Transgender women who undergo cross-sex hormone therapy typically take drugs from one of three groups. Many are prescribed “off-label”—that is, they are usually prescribed for other conditions. Nearly all trans women who undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) take some form of estrogen. Estradiol may be administered orally, as a gel, or through a transdermal patch. Parenteral estradiol valerate is injected. These are the hormones that facilitate breast growth, redistribute fat, lessen the growth of body hair, sometimes reverse alopecia (pattern baldness) to an extent, reduce muscle tone, and soften skin texture. They also shrink the penis and testicles. One study showed that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24165564">libido was decreased in 62.4%</a> of trans women studied. Most trans women also have fewer erections and reduced ejaculate. 

While these hormones do suppress androgen—male hormone—production to an extent, unless the patient has had an orchidectomy—removal of the testicles—testosterone is still produced at appreciable levels and so testosterone blockers, or antiandrogens, are frequently administered as well. Spironolactone is the strongest of these; it simply blocks the action of testosterone. Dutasteride and finasteride stop the production of dihydro-testosterone. Other drugs used to suppress the production of testosterone include goserelin and leuprorelin. These belong to a class of drugs known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which stop the release of the hormones that initiate sex hormone production by acting on the pituitary gland. 

The third group of drugs, progestogens, in the form of natural progesterone or synthetic progestin, is taken by some trans women because it occurs naturally in natal women and is thought by some to enhance breast development and a general sense of well-being. This is contentious and many doctors advise against it; it is typically converted into testosterone in the body. The changes effected by all of these drugs are slow, and maximum effect is observed after 2-3 years and sometimes longer. Larger doses are not more effective and may in fact be dangerous. Most trans women will be on hormones for life, though some later choose to reduce their dosage, especially after surgery that removes the gonads.

Trans men usually take testosterone by injection, either subcutaneously or intramuscularly. Testosterone enanthate, testosterone cypionate, and testosterone undecanoate are common forms. There are also pellets that can be inserted under the skin, where they slowly release testosterone into the body. And gels and oral formulations are also available. Some trans men also take GnRH agonists to suppress the effects of estrogen if they have not undergone a hysterectomy. After three months, a number of changes are facilitated by administration of these drugs. Menstruation usually ceases, body hair begins to sprout in typically male places such as the face and chest, fat distribution may change to some extent, muscle mass increases, and the voice deepens. Some trans men develop acne. The clitoris enlarges and many report substantial increases in libido. Trans men are usually on hormones for life as well.

A number of recent studies (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5226129/">2015</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5182227/">2016</a>, and <a href="https://www.maturitas.org/article/S0378-5122(17)30705-3/fulltext">2018</a>) have found that, by and large, when administered by a properly trained doctor, hormones are safe and effective methods of alleviating gender dysphoria and providing an improved quality of life to patients. There are nonetheless a number of well-established side effects. Sterility is all but a certainty in trans women and is not uncommon in trans men. And relatively mild side effects such as headaches and hot flashes are often reported. However, more-significant and life-threatening medical problems have been noted in at least some patients as well. While studies have typically focused on relatively small sample groups and more research is needed to fully establish their prevalence, these consequences of HRT are nonetheless noteworthy. 

Perhaps the most commonly noted adverse effects have been cardiovascular and appear to be largely restricted to trans women. They may be on the decline, however, as one drug known to cause them, ethinyl estradiol, is no longer prescribed. Further, these instances have to some extent been correlated to other factors, such as smoking and long periods of immobility, as when a trans woman is recovering from gender confirmation surgery. Studies from <a href="http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/2645553/cardiovascular-disease-among-transgender-adults-receiving-hormone-therapy-narrative-review?doi=10.7326%2fM17-0577">2017</a> and <a href="http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/2687653/cross-sex-hormones-acute-cardiovascular-events-transgender-persons-cohort-study">2018</a> did find evidence that venous thromboembolism (VTE), a blood clot that forms in the extremities, was more common in trans women on estrogen. The 2018 study also found evidence of increased risk of ischemic stroke. <a href="http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/65/1/57">A 2019 study</a>, though it noted some incidence of VTE in trans women, was less conclusive. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11154-018-9454-3">Another 2018 study</a> found increased risk of heart attack in trans women. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3029513/">Several cases</a> of pituitary prolactinomas, a benign tumor of the pituitary gland, have been reported in trans women on estrogen. Patients with a family history of estrogen-sensitive cancer are advised to inform their doctors. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28945851">Osteopenia</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23369987">osteoporosis</a>, both conditions marked by loss of bone density, have also been noted in some trans women.

Cardiovascular symptoms do not appear to be as pronounced in trans men, though some studies have found fluctuations in cholesterol and triglyceride levels that might negatively impact cardiovascular health. Though <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/22/4/1011/696190">some studies</a> have suggested that exposure to testosterone may induce polycystic ovary syndrome, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/28/2/453/596664">more recent ones</a> have found that not to be the case. Trans men have also developed <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796953/">polycythemia</a>, or the overproduction of red blood cells.

More controversial has been the administration of puberty blockers in the form of GnRH agonists, as well as hormone therapy, to children presenting with gender dysphoria. Because the long-term effects of puberty blockers are unknown, and the best-studied patient populations are restricted to children who receive them due to undergoing early puberty, the ethics of this practice are the subject of intense debate. Proponents claim that the benefits of stopping puberty allow children time to explore their identity, and if they do affirm that they are transgender, their transition will be easier. However, opponents cite the fact that <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2016/07/whats-missing-from-the-conversation-about-transgender-kids.html">most studies</a> of gender dysphoria in children have shown high rates of desistance, or a return to comfort with their assigned gender. It is known that puberty blockers do reduce bone density, though this is typically reversed when they are stopped. And the effect of blocking sex hormones on neurological development is not understood. Further, the administration of cross-sex hormones over the majority of a person’s lifespan is completely unprecedented, leaving the possibility of unknown complications down the line. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4807860/">large-scale study</a> by the National Institute of Health initiated in 2016 aims to resolve some of these questions.

Much remains to be learned about HRT and its consequences. What is certain is that, at least in adults, it has proven to have undeniably positive effects on the lives of members of a vulnerable and poorly-understood population.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How hormone replacement affects the bodies of transgender individuals

Awareness and acceptance of transgenderism have grown exponentially in the...

Prolonged time sitting and watching television has been linked to an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer in young Americans, according to new research published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jncics">JNCI Cancer Spectrum</a>.

Colorectal cancer, diagnosed in patients under the age of 50, is becoming more widespread within the United States and around the world. Researchers believe young-onset colorectal cancer has a different molecular build compared to late-onset colorectal cancer, which is less widespread due to cancer screenings in older adults.

Young-onset colorectal cancer is seemingly more aggressive and is diagnosed in later stages thus causing greater loss of life.

This recent study looked at sedentary behaviors, including TV-watching time, in 89,278 American women in the Nurses' Health Study II. Researchers saw that of the 118 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer within the study’s two decade span, more than one hour of daily TV watching increased the likelihood of a colorectal cancer diagnosis by 12%. More than two hours of TV time resulted in a massive 70% increased risk.

The link was separate from BMI and exercise and was observed in women with no familial history of colorectal cancer.

"This study may help identify those at high risk and who might benefit more from early screening," said co-senior author Yin Cao, Assistant Professor of Surgery at <a href="https://medicine.wustl.edu/">Washington University School of Medicine</a>. "The fact that these results were independent of BMI and physical activity suggests that being sedentary may be an altogether distinct risk factor for young-onset colorectal cancer."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sitting, watching TV for long periods linked with colorectal cancer

Prolonged time sitting and watching television has been linked to...

More than 1 in 4 deaths of children under five are due to living in or being exposed to an unhealthy environment, according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/06-03-2017-the-cost-of-a-polluted-environment-1-7-million-child-deaths-a-year-says-who">World Health Organization</a> (WHO). 

Studying the impacts of early exposure to pollution and chemicals is challenging because we are continually exposed to a wide array of pollutants from CO2 emissions to the chemicals in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/skin-hair-products-air-pollution/">makeup and cleaning products</a>. 

But now, new research from the <a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en">Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)</a>, the <a href="https://www.inserm.fr/en">French Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (INSERM)</a> shows that early exposure to certain chemicals can impede lung function for children. 

The study, published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, is the first of its kind to examine the impacts of the total sum of chemicals, climate, and pollution that humans are exposed to on a daily basis, called the exposome. 

Rather than examining a single chemical or substance, the study helps isolate the most harmful environmental factors that impact health and wellbeing. 

“This is the first study that applies an exposome approach to identify associations between pre- and childhood exposure to a range of important environmental factors and impairment of lung function, thereby representing a new paradigm in environmental health research,” said Martine Vrijheid, the co-coordinator of the study.

The researchers reviewed and analyzed data from the <a href="https://www.projecthelix.eu/">European HELIX</a> project and were able to study how 85 exposures during pregnancy and 125 exposures to different substances during childhood impacted 1,033 mother and child pairs from Spain, France, Greece, England, Lithuania, and Norway. 

Lung function of the children aged 6 to 12 was measured using spirometry. Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances, aka PFAS, - PFOA and PNFA had the biggest impact on lung function for children later. 

During early childhood, the researchers found that Five phthalate metabolites including DEHP and DINP strongly influenced lung health.  

The chemicals identified by the researchers are commonly found in water repellents, food packaging, and even drinking water. 

“These findings have important implications for public health,” said Vrijheid. “Preventive measures to reduce exposure to the chemical substances identified, including a stricter regulation and the labelling of consumer products to better inform the public, could help prevent lung function impairment in childhood and benefit health in the long-term.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Early exposure to chemicals can harm lung function for children

More than 1 in 4 deaths of children under five...

Stress and negative relationships impact sleep quality later in life. Having a supportive partner and a healthy relationship can help improve wellbeing, reduce stress and as recent research revealed, even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/happy-marriage-extend-lifespan/">increase longevity</a>.

Negative relationships have the opposite effect, and a new study found that positive relationships in early adulthood can predict sleep quality down the road.

Researchers from the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> conducted a study examining the relationship between sleep, stress, and a person’s past dating experiences to see if there were any links to sleep quality and quantity in middle adulthood (around age 37). 

The researchers focused on two critical points in early adulthood, age 23 and 32 and examined stress, relationship and sleep during these points. Stress and negative relationships impact sleep quality later in life 

A positive relationship during early adulthood correlated with less stress at age 32 and better sleep at age 37. 

The researchers say that because sleep is often a shared behavior, examining sleep and relationship quality can shed insight into long-term health predictors. The results also show that relationships help reduce stress. 

“Although a large body of evidence shows that relationships are important for health, we are just beginning to understand how the characteristics of people's close relationships affect health behaviors, such as sleep,” said Chloe Huelsnitz, the lead author of the study. “The findings of our study suggest that one way that relationships affect health behavior is through their effects on individuals' stress.”

The study was published in the journal Personal Relationships.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stress and negative relationships impact sleep quality later in life

Stress and negative relationships impact sleep quality later in life....

As marijuana continues to become decriminalized and recreationally legalized in many states across the US, research into cannabinoids aims to explore their many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-treats-migraines-better/">benefits and adverse side effects</a>. 

A new study found that surprisingly, cannabis use in men did not harm sperm counts and that men who are moderate cannabis smokers may actually have higher sperm counts compared to men who never smoked the drug before. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health</a> conducted the study which was published in the journal Human Reproduction, and the results were contrary to their original hypothesis and previous studies. 

The researchers predicted that moderate cannabis use would have the opposite impact on testicular function and that heavy and moderate use decreases sperm counts. 

“These unexpected findings from our study highlight that we know too little about the reproductive health effects of cannabis and, in fact, of the health effects in general, to make strong statements about the impact of cannabis on health, with the possible exception of mental health. We know a lot less than we think we know,” said Jorge Chavarro, the lead investigator of the study. 

For the study, the researchers examined the impact of smoking around two joints a week on the sperm counts of 662 men between 2000 and 2017. 

The male participants were asked to answer questionnaires about their past cannabis use, if they currently smoked it, and how often they smoked cannabis a week if they did.

The questionnaires were self-administered and also included questions about medical history, lifestyle, and other drug use like cocaine. Blood and semen samples were also analyzed for the study.

365 of the 662 men that had smoked marijuana at some point in their lives had higher sperm counts than those who reported never using cannabis. The difference was 63 million sperm per milliliter of semen versus 45 million in non-users. 

The researchers were sure to adjust for different factors that could impact sperm counts like cocaine use and lifestyle factors. 

While the results show a correlation between cannabis use and higher sperm count, the researchers note that there are several interpretations to the findings and that the results are limited due to the challenging nature of accurately reporting cannabis use in regions where it is still illegal. 

“First, these findings are consistent with a U-shaped relation whereby low levels of cannabis use could benefit sperm production due to the well-known role played by the endocannabinoid system, but potential beneficial effects reverse at higher levels of use,” said Feiby Nassan, the first author of the study. “An equally plausible interpretation is that our findings could reflect the fact that men with higher testosterone levels are more likely to engage in risk-seeking behaviours - including drug use.”

The researchers also say that sperm count has little to do with fertility so even though cannabis use may increase sperm count, it doesn’t necessarily mean that weed use improves fertility. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Men who smoke marijuana found to have higher sperm counts

As marijuana continues to become decriminalized and recreationally legalized in...

The human gastrointestinal tract is host to a vast colony of bacteria called the gut microbiome. This garden of microbes is not only key to digestive health, but studies have also found links between <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425030/">gut flora imbalances and cancer</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-fungi-obesity/"> obesity</a>, diabetes, and most recently, depression. 

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers from Belgium are working to investigate the gut-brain connection by studying the gut flora of over 5,000 Flemish individuals from Flanders in Belgium. 

According to the researchers leading the Flemish <a href="http://www.vib.be/en/research/Pages/The%20Flemisch%20Gut%20Flora%20project.aspx">Gut Flora Project</a> and a recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology, gut flora imbalances are linked to depression. 

For this specific study, researchers from <a href="http://www.vib.be/Pages/default.aspx">VIB</a>, a research institute in Belgium, compared stool microbiome data and diagnoses of depression in 1,054 Flemish Flora Gut Project participants. 

After analyzing the microbiomes of the individuals, the researchers found that people with depression had consistently lower levels of two types of bacteria, Coprococcus and Dialister, even if the patients were being treated with antidepressants. 

These surprising results were later confirmed when the researchers conducted an independent analysis of 1,063 participants from the <a href="https://www.lifelines.nl/researcher/biobank-lifelines/additional-studies/lifelines-deep">Dutch LifeLinesDEEP</a> study of depression patients in Belgium.

The results strongly suggest that gut health and mental health are linked, but the researchers say this is a controversial and little-studied hypothesis. 

“The notion that microbial metabolites can interact with our brain -- and thus behaviour and feelings -- is intriguing, but gut microbiome-brain communication has mostly been explored in animal models, with human research lagging behind,” said Jeroen Raes, an author of the study. “In our population-level study we identified several groups of bacteria that co-varied with human depression and quality of life across populations.”

A potential explanation for why Coprococcus and Dialister depletion is linked to depression could be that both microbes have anti-inflammatory properties and nervous system inflammation has been linked to depression. 

The researchers also examined the genomes of more than 500 bacteria to test their ability to produce neuroactive compounds which could impact activity in the brain and created the first list of neuroactivity in gut flora. 

The study lays important groundwork for future research into how gut bacteria impacts mental health. 

“Our toolbox not only allows to identify the different bacteria that could play a role in mental health conditions, but also the mechanisms potentially involved in this interaction with the host,” said Mireia Valles-Colomer, the lead author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New study finds link between gut health and depression

The human gastrointestinal tract is host to a vast colony...

Pokémon GO, also known as an augmented reality game, is a very popular app in which a real-time camera feed is integrated with images and data to provide interactive experiences. Researchers at the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> have discovered that the game has had a positive impact on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/physical-activity-prevent-depression/">physical activity</a> among players over 40. 

In November of 2014, the Yokohama Walking Point Program was launched in an effort to make people more active. For the program, 2,580 participants over the age of 18 were given pedometers to count the total steps they took in a day. The individuals were also surveyed through the use of location-based augmented reality games.

Using data from this program, a research team led by Kimihiro Hino selected a total of 230 participants who had as much in common as possible. Overall, 46 of the participants played Pokémon GO, while the other 184 participants did not. The experts compared the walking program outcomes of both groups and found more physical activity among those who engaged in the Pokémon game.

“Game-makers and urban planners could factor what we've learned into their respective activities,” said Hino. “I think Pokémon GO succeeds where physical activity games do not because it's a game first with potential added health benefits. It's possible such games could serve as a gateway to further people's enthusiasm for physical activity.”


The experts also hope their findings may inspire urban planners to incorporate more pedestrian areas into urban centers. Hino plans to further explore the connections between augmented reality games and their impact on physical activity, and would like to examine how these games may affect an individual's attitude toward exercise.

“Many middle-aged people grew up with computer games, but the older generation might feel shy about playing them,” said Hino. “With exercise as an excuse they may play more, thus exercise more. It's a virtuous circle. Maybe we'll see people use cars less and walk or cycle more. There's a lot of Pokémon out there to catch.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jmir.org/">Journal of Medical Internet Research</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Flickr/sethtate under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Interactive games can help older adults become more physically active

Pokémon GO, also known as an augmented reality game, is...

Recently, I read an <a href="https://medium.com/on-madagascar/island-mentality-138045bb2d19">opinion piece</a> by a Malagasy man now living in the United States.  The man was frustrated by the widespread ignorance of Americans about his homeland – Madagascar.  His complaints are familiar to me. Other people from many other countries have said much the same to me before.  ‘How do Americans know nothing of my country?’ ‘We learn so much about the US in school.’

It’s almost a trope – the American who is severely geographically illiterate.  You see it with talk show hosts on camera with average American people who think Mt. Rushmore is in Russia.  You see it in US politicians fumbling over foreign policy questions. If you know people from Europe, Australia or other places in the world, you’ve probably heard about it yourself.  It is claimed that Americans know very little about the world. I, myself, have taken this idea in uncritically, but is it really true? How much do and don’t Americans know about the world they live in?  More importantly, why should we know about the world beyond our borders?

A <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/10/16/us-students-are-terrible-at-geography">US News</a> report from 2015 paints a pretty grim picture.  The headlines read, ‘US Students are Terrible at Geography’.  Citing the 2014 National Assessment of Education, the report finds that almost 75% of American students fall short of proficiency in geography, almost the exact same results as those from 1994.  Actually, from 1994 to 2014 there were few changes, advanced proficiency in geography dropped from 4% to 3%, proficiency stayed exactly the same at 24% and basic (partial mastery) jumped 5% to 48%.  

The overall picture is the same for geography knowledge among 8th graders in the US – they are in fact terrible at geography as a whole.  A 2016 article from <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/survey-geography-foreign-relations-americans-students/">National Geographic</a> echoes the same sentiments, this time showing young college educated Americans as geographically ignorant.  The piece says that of Americans who took a survey, two-thirds couldn’t identify Indonesia as a majority Muslim nation.  Of Americans 18 to 26 years old with some college education who tool a geographic literacy test, the average was just a score of 55%.  

Many of the survey questions have relevance for US policy; questions like where US troops are stationed in the world and what countries the US is bound to protect.  The <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-literacy-survey">survey</a> by the Council on Foreign Relations showed that only 29% of participants scored 66% or better on the test.  An early <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/geography-survey-illiteracy/">National Geographic</a> article from 2002 proclaimed that only 17% of young Americans could find Afghanistan on a map.  Of course, that was important because even though most Americans were extremely ignorant of Afghanistan, our military was at war there.  

An article in <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/geographic-illiteracy-and-the-rise-of-trump_us_587fef14e4b0aa1c47ac280c">Huffington Post</a> from 2017 by an AP geography teacher points out that geographic illiteracy is perpetuated in the US by the education system.  History seems to be a much bigger focus in American education than current events. We learn more about World War II than any current US military engagement.  In fact, the closer we get to current events, the less the focus. We learn more about the founding of our nation than the last few decades. The former teacher wrote in Huffington Post that his class was the only one focused on current events in the entire school and this seems to be the norm.       

The real question is, are Americans unique in their geographic ignorance or are these surveys showing only a part of the picture?  A 2014 article from the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10640690/Americans-surveyed-misunderstood-misrepresented-or-ignorant.html">Telegraph</a> points to 2009 study that compared survey results on international affairs in current news from the US and Europeans.  In the survey, only 58% of Americans could describe the Taliban compared to 75% of Britons. Overall, Americans scored more poorly than citizens of Denmark, Finland and England.  The Telegraph article ends by citing a 2003 US Strategic Task Force of Education Abroad report that concluded US geographic ignorance is so deep and widespread that it may constitute a national security threat.

It’s easy to see a danger in the broad ignorance of the rest of the world engendered by many Americans.  After the US had been in the Iraq war for two years, 70% of Americans surveyed still thought Saddam Hussein was directly involved in the September 11 attacks, according to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/data082303.htm">Washington Post</a> survey.  This disconcerting fact leads to many questions about our country’s collective ignorance on current world events. 

An opinion piece in the <a href="http://news.aag.org/2018/02/time-for-a-radical-geographic-literacy-in-trump-america/">American Association of Geographers</a> newsletter highlights the vulgar disdain which entire regions of the planet are written off by President Trump, marked as ‘shit hole countries’.  With little broad geographic familiarity, Americans are easily manipulated by such violently emotional remarks. We’ve become accustomed to a more politically divided America, we may also be moving towards a more divided world.  The cost of our ignorance is high, as now the US is heavily involved in world affairs just like always. 

Immigrants wait on the US border in Mexico, while Americans are split on what the immigrant caravan means to the US.  A <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/11/19/migrant-caravan-donald-trump-border-security-immigration-poll-threat-central-america-honduras/2055361002/">USA Today</a> report says that 54% of Americans think the immigrant caravan is some sort of threat to the US.  29% of Americans see the immigrant caravan as a major threat. A full 25% of Americans believe that the immigrant caravan does contain terrorists, despite there being no evidence to support this opinion.  

According to another survey from 2016 by the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-americans-see-mexico">Council on Foreign Relations</a>, less than 25% of Americans have a positive image of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tunnels-us-mexico-border/">Mexico</a>.  Despite declines in immigration that continue today, a majority of Americans believed illegal immigration was increasing.  Less people still believe Mexico is safe to travel in. A newer <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_111918/">survey</a> from Monmouth University carried out in 2018 found that 49% of Americans feel illegal immigration is a very serious problem.  This is despite the fact that <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/11/28/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/">PEW Research Center</a> shows that illegal immigrants from Mexico have declined since 2007 while immigrants from other countries have remained about the same.  

We enter a period where the US president routinely villainizes much of Latin America and refuses to take military intervention off the table in Venezuela.  President Trump constantly contradicts official opinions on North Korea, Russia, China and other nations. It seems that now more than ever, the only thing that can save us from becoming one of the masses terrorized by its own federal government is knowledge.  Knowing about the world is important, it’s where we all live. 

--

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>

Is American geographic illiteracy a security threat?

Recently, I read an opinion piece by a Malagasy man...

As social media dominates more and more of our everyday lives, studies have shown that an increase in social media use and screen time can have a negative impact on health and wellbeing, particularly among adolescents. 

As we’ve reported, previous research has found links between social media use and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-use-depression/">depression, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness</a>. 

However, a new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://brocku.ca/">Brock University</a> and published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science offers evidence to the contrary.

The new research shows that social media use does not predict later symptoms of depression as previous studies have found, but instead depression may predict social media use.

Higher depression symptoms predicted social media use among teen girls which indicates that unhealthy social media use may be a symptom depression, not a catalyst for it.

The researchers point out that previous studies that found links between depression and social media use among tweens are limited in their results because they only captured a snapshot of teen social media use.

“You have to follow the same people over time in order to draw the conclusion that social media use predicts greater depressive symptoms,” said Taylor Heffer, the lead author of the study. “By using two large longitudinal samples, we were able to empirically test that assumption.”

For this study, the researchers conducted a two-year longitudinal study surveying 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Canada. The team also surveyed a series of undergraduate students once a year for six years as they progressed through college.

The participants reported how much time they spent on social media, watching TV, exercising and doing homework. Then, the data was organized and analyzed accounting for gender and age group.

Surprisingly, the researchers found no link between social media use as a teen and depression in college.

“This finding contrasts with the idea that people who use a lot of social media become more depressed over time. Instead, adolescent girls who are feeling down may turn to social media to try and make themselves feel better,” said Heffer.

Heffer emphasizes that people turn to social media for different reasons and that social media can serve different purposes for different age groups. When all social media use is linked to depression in teens, it can lead to problematic assumptions and make parents fearful of their children’s screen time.

“There may be different groups of people who use social media for different reasons,” said Heffer. “For example, there may be a group of people who use social media to make social comparisons or turn to it when they are feeling down, while another group of people may use it for more positive reasons, such as keeping in contact with friends.”

The researchers add that it’s important to consider all these aspects of social media use to better understand how social media impacts mental health and wellbeing. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Social media use may not lead to depression, but could be a symptom

As social media dominates more and more of our everyday...

Hundreds of millions of people suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) worldwide and the condition can increase the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snoring-cardiac-issues-women/">cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack</a>, and high blood pressure. 

OSA occurs when your throat and tongue relax during sleep, obstructing the flow of oxygen. Not only can this produce loud and disruptive snoring, but the flow of oxygen can actually stop altogether.

A person with OSA can stop breathing up to 30 times an hour, according to the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obstructive-sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20352090">Mayo Clinic</a>. Now, a new study shows that the impact of sleep apnea on blood and oxygen flow to the brain can cause people to become forgetful over time. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/">RMIT University</a> in Australia recently led a sleep study to examine how OSA impacts memory, specifically autobiographical memory which involves recollections of past events. 

The results, published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, show that people with OSA are more likely to have difficulty remembering the specifics of a past event than those who don’t have a problem with obstructed airflow at night. 

“Our study suggests sleep apnea may impair the brain's capacity to either encode or consolidate certain types of life memories, which makes it hard for people to recall details from the past,” said Melinda Jackson, the lead researcher of the study. “Sleep apnea is also a significant risk factor for depression, so if we can better understand the neurobiological mechanisms at work, we have a chance to improve the mental health of millions of people.”

For the study, the researchers compared memory recall between 44 adults, aged 20 to 69, diagnosed with OSA and 44 adults who didn’t have sleep apnea. 

The participants were asked to recall three memories from their childhood, early adult life, and recent events, and researchers assessed how well the participants had recalled the specific details of each memory. 

The memories from early adulthood were the most impacted by OSA and the 44 participants with sleep apnea had trouble remembering names and specific locations. 

When this occurred, the researchers called this an “overgeneral” memory, and a little over 50 percent of the participants with OSA recalled generalized memories.  

OSA also had a more significant impact on semantic memory rather than episodic memory. Semantic memory deals with specifics, but episodic involves events from your past. 

The researchers think that because OSA disrupts airflow to the brain, memory formation is hindered.

“Brain scans of people with sleep apnea show they have a significant loss of grey matter from regions that overlap with the autobiographic memory network,” said Jackson. “We need to look at whether there's a shared neurobiological mechanism at work -- that is, does the dysfunction of that network lead to both depression and memory problems in people with sleep apnea?”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Sleep apnea linked to difficulty recalling memories

Hundreds of millions of people suffer from obstructive sleep apnea...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-astrobiology">Implications for astrobiology</h2>



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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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