Falling asleep and waking up refreshed is something most of us crave. Yet some people appear to thrive on fewer hours, leaving everyone else wondering how they manage it. A new study involving a healthy older adult suggests that a rare gene mutation might be a key to needing fewer hours of sleep.



The research was led by Dr. Hao Chen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), whose team investigated a "natural short sleeper" <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-night-of-lost-sleep-can-trigger-hidden-health-issues/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trait</a> linked to a genetic variant in the SIK3 gene.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-genetics-influence-sleep-duration">How genetics influence sleep duration</h2>



Scientists who explore patterns of rest have long recognized that people’s genetic makeup can influence how much <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-prepares-the-brain-for-the-future-while-protecting-memories-of-the-past/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep</a> they need. This latest finding highlights how even a slight genetic tweak might reduce the time required for the brain and body to recover.



Those who qualify as short sleepers function at a normal or high level despite clocking fewer hours in bed. Researchers classify them separately from individuals suffering from insomnia, because these short sleepers typically wake up rested and show no health problems tied to exhaustion.



One older participant reported sleeping around 6.3 hours per night yet displayed sharp cognition and good health. Her genetic profile pointed to a single mutation as the possible reason for her efficient slumber.



These individuals, referred to as natural short sleepers, seem wired to operate on less rest. Specialists are intrigued by how they sail through daily life with no visible drawbacks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gene-mutation-and-sleep-patterns">Gene mutation and sleep patterns</h2>



The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/protein-kinases" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kinase protein</a> produced by the SIK3 gene relays signals that influence various cellular processes. Scientists suspect that changes in kinase function might play a role in controlling how much time the body devotes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-can-boost-memory-in-a-surprising-way/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep</a>.



When Dr. Chen’s team transferred this mutation to lab mice, the animals spent slightly less time resting each day. This observation hinted at a biological mechanism that could be significant across different species.



“Studying human sleep genes not only expands our knowledge regarding the sleep regulatory network, but also may bring the basic research from mouse models to clinical relevance,” noted the researchers.



Brain scans in the test mice revealed that their <a href="https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/protein-biology/protein-biology-learning-center/protein-biology-resource-library/pierce-protein-methods/phosphorylation.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phosphorylation</a> patterns changed, especially around the areas that oversee rest and wake cycles. This shift aligns with the idea that sleep is coordinated by a web of signals in the brain that might be influenced by tiny chemical tweaks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetic-mutations-in-short-sleepers">Genetic mutations in short sleepers</h2>



Scientists have now identified at least five distinct genetic mutations linked to the natural short sleep trait. Each one affects different proteins involved in the brain’s signaling and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-quality-could-be-the-key-to-better-metabolic-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep</a>-wake rhythms, hinting at multiple pathways that might influence rest duration.



The SIK3 variant joins others such as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1801693115" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DEC2</a>, <a href="https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-rare-gene-mutation-is-associated-with-requiring-less-sleep-researchers-say" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ADRB1</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/387129" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NPSR1</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/14816" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GRM1</a>, each contributing a piece to the sleep efficiency puzzle. Researchers believe that mapping these variants could eventually lead to a full blueprint of how the body regulates its need for sleep.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treatments-for-sleep-disorders">Treatments for sleep disorders</h2>



Researchers think there could be important applications for people who struggle with sleep disorders. Adjusting the pathways linked to this genetic variant might shorten the time needed to feel rested, although practical therapies will likely take time to refine.



Still, scientists caution that these insights do not give an excuse to slash nightly rest. They emphasize that ordinary individuals without the mutation may not reap any benefits from copying a short sleeper’s schedule.



Experts see promise in pursuing treatments that enhance the body’s own efficiency. They hope new knowledge of genetic influences will guide strategies to help those who find it difficult to get restorative rest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-on-short-sleep-genes">Future research on short-sleep genes </h2>



Short-sleep genes have captured the imagination of specialists for years. There is strong interest in mapping out exactly how the human brain resets itself, and why some people get the same benefits in a compressed timeframe.



“These [NSS] people, all these functions our bodies are doing while we are sleeping, they can just perform at a higher level than we can,” said neuroscientist and geneticist Ying-Hui Fu, from the University of California, San Francisco (<a href="https://www.ucsf.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCSF</a>). 



Scientists aim to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37398097/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uncover</a> the precise factors that grant this group their resilience. Many research teams intend to investigate how broader networks of genes might interact to influence rest. 



The SIK3 discovery raises big questions about what else might affect daily energy levels and long-term health.



Fascination with short sleepers is unlikely to fade soon. Unlocking the secrets of their genetics could reshape how we view rest, opening a path to solutions for chronic sleep troubles.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500356122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PNAS</a>.



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Rare gene explains why some people can thrive on less sleep

Falling asleep and waking up refreshed is something most of us crave. Yet some people appear to thrive on fewer hours, leaving everyone else wondering how they manage it. A new study involving a healthy older adult suggests that a rare gene mutation might be a key to needing fewer hours of sleep. The research was led by Dr. Hao Chen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), whose team investigated a "natural short sleeper" trait linked to a genetic variant in the SIK3 gene. How genetics...

A new study has shed insight into how the brain processes and filters out certain sounds and stimuli, like how we can hear someone’s footsteps coming down the hall but ignore our own. 

The findings could help scientists better understand the neural pathways responsible for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/learning-instruments-languages-brain/">learning music</a> and speech. 

For the study, researchers from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> examined how mice can easily pick out sounds around them (a key instinct for survival) but are unphased by their own footsteps. 

“The capacity to anticipate and discriminate these movement-related sounds from environmental sounds is critical to normal hearing,” said David Schneider, a lead author of the study which was published in the journal Nature. “But how the brain learns to anticipate the sounds resulting from our movements remains largely unknown.”

The research delved into the neural processes that allow people and mice to intuitively recognize and remember the sound of their own movements in relation to the sounds of a larger environment. 

“The ability to ignore one's own footsteps requires the brain to store and recall memories and to make some pretty stellar computations,” said Schneider. “These are the building blocks for other, more important sound-generating behaviors, like recognizing the sounds you make when learning how to speak or to play a musical instrument.”

For the study mice were placed on a treadmill that was designed as an “acoustic virtual reality system.” The researchers were able to control the sounds the mice made while walking on the treadmill and monitored neural activity in the mice while they moved around. 

The team discovered that mice develop a sensory filter that ignores certain sounds and heightens others. 

By monitoring the neural activity of the mice while they walked on the treadmill, the researchers were able to identify the neural circuitry that was responsible for suppressing an individual’s footsteps. 

The ability to filter out sounds is also an important adaptive measure for humans, but the researchers say that anticipating our own sounds is also key for learning to speak or play music. 

“When we learn to speak or to play music, we predict what sounds we're going to hear--such as when we prepare to strike keys on a piano--and we compare this to what we actually hear,” said Schneider. “We use mismatches between expectation and experience to change how we play--and we get better over time because our brain is trying to minimize these errors.”

Future studies on the neural processes responsible for making these predictions could help researchers understand certain spectrum disorders and diseases according to the researchers. 

“Overactive prediction circuits in the brain are thought to lead to the voice-like hallucinations associated with schizophrenia while an inability to learn the consequences of one's actions could lead to debilitating social paralysis, as in autism,” said Schneider. “By figuring out how the brain normally makes predictions about self-generated sounds, we open the opportunity for understanding a fascinating ability--predicting the future--and for deepening our understanding of how the brain breaks during disease.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why we can hear footsteps… but ignore our own

A new study has shed insight into how the brain...

Researchers have uncovered the earliest drawing ever created by a human, predating other artistic endeavors by 30,000 years or more. 

The discovery is remarkable for several reasons, as it shows how challenging analyzing early art and drawings can be, and that symbols were used by Homo sapiens much earlier than previously realized all over the world. 

If you were to come across a rock fragment with a few lines or scratches in it, you might think it means nothing or that the patterns aren’t man-made. An archaeologist may find an ancient drawing and misinterpret it as having much more meaning than it does.

These are just a few of the challenges that come with analyzing and studying symbols, paintings, and art produced by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-first-cave-art/">some of our earliest ancestors.</a>

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-bordeaux.com/">University of Bordeaux</a>, <a href="http://www.univ-tlse2.fr/home/welcome-to-ut2j-/welcome-to-the-university-toulouse-jean-jaures--257874.kjsp">the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès</a> and the <a href="http://www.culture.gouv.fr/">French Ministry of Culture</a> recently published a paper in the journal Nature outlining the discovery of the oldest known abstract drawing. 

The drawing was made on a piece of siliceous rock with colored clay pigment called ocher that was used as a pencil. The rock was unearthed during an excavation at the Blombos Cave in South Africa. Ocher was used to create a crosshatched pattern of lines on a surface of the rock. 

It was previously thought that early symbols were first drawn or painted by humans in Europe 40,000 years ago. However, this new discovery proves that drawings were being created much earlier. 

First, however, the researchers had to prove that the drawing was deliberately made. To do this, the researchers analyzed the chemical makeup of the pigments and reproduced the lines with various techniques. 

After several different analysis, the researchers were able to confirm that the lines were deliberate and made with ocher that had been formed into a point. 

The results point to the earliest known drawing created by humans and the researchers say that it’s very likely the drawing was meant to be used as some sort of symbol. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: D'Errico/Henshilwood/Nature

Researchers unearth the earliest human drawing

Researchers have uncovered the earliest drawing ever created by a...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> have found that employees with criminal records may stick with certain jobs longer. An investigation into the possible connection between criminal charges and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nba-teams-are-more-likely-to-lose-when-playing-for-survival/">job performance</a> showed that employees with a record stayed in their jobs an average of 19 days longer compared to individuals with no criminal background. 

The study was focused on data from 58,977 employees in sales or customer service jobs in call centers across the United States. The information was collected by a hiring agency from May 2008 to January 2014.

“In sales and customer service positions, turnover is a major labor cost,” explained co-author Deborah Weiss. “Our study found that employees with criminal records had a longer tenure and were less likely to quit their jobs voluntarily than other workers. This finding suggests that individuals with a criminal record represent an untapped productivity pool.”

The research indicates that employees with criminal records may have fewer job prospects, which keeps them in the same jobs longer. 

“Job applicants with criminal records are much less likely than others to receive an offer of employment,” said Weiss. “Six months after release from prison, 50 to 80 percent of the formerly incarcerated remain unemployed. Some of those who are offered employment may stay longer because they have no other options and others may feel a sense of loyalty or gratitude to an employer who has given them a second chance.”

The study also found that former criminals were 34 percent more likely to demonstrate unacceptable or improper behavior in sales jobs but not in customer service positions, which implies that employees with a criminal record may perform better in customer service roles.

Despite the higher misconduct rate, however, sales employees with a criminal record may be still a good investment. While employees with criminal records were found to increase theft-related costs in sales positions by about $43, the same employees saved their employers around $746 in turnover.

“Finding gainful employment for individuals with a criminal background is an important public priority: without such employment, reoffending is almost inevitable,” said Weiss. “While our study may not entirely dispel employers' fears that hiring applicants with a criminal record may carry risks, our findings suggest that there are unexploited opportunities to hiring applicants with a record in a way that makes sense both on efficiency and on moral grounds.”

The study authors pointed out that the study only accounted for data on individuals working in sales and customer service jobs, which limits how the results can be applied to other positions. 

The research is published in the <a href="https://izajolp.springeropen.com/">IZA Journal of Labor Policy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Employees with criminal records hold jobs longer than others

Researchers at Northwestern University have found that employees with criminal...

Contrary to the recommendations of 800 scientists, Europe has decided to treat wood as a renewable source of energy. The authors of a new study are warning that this mandate will not only cause serious damage to the world's forests, but will also increase greenhouse gas emissions across <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/europe-coastal-overhaul-flooding/">Europe</a>.

According the researchers, the new bioenergy provision in the Renewable Energy Directive will lead to dramatic clearing of forests. Treating wood as a low-carbon fuel means that entire trees or portions of trees can be cut down deliberately to burn. 

“The directive reverses the global strategy of trying to subsidize countries to protect their forests and their carbon,” said study co-author Tim Beringer. 

“Instead of rewarding countries and landowners to preserve forests and the carbon they store, this directive encourages companies to pay them for the carbon in their forests, but only on the condition that they cut the trees down and ship them to Europe to be burned.”


The team has estimated that, just to supply five percent of the energy used in Europe, additional wood equal to all of the country's existing wood harvests would be needed.

Study lead author Tim Searchinger is a researcher scholar at Princeton University's <a href="http://wws.princeton.edu/">Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs</a>.

“Globally, if the world were to supply only an additional 2 percent of its energy from wood, it would need to double commercial wood harvests around the world with harsh effects on forests,” explained Searchinger.

The study has also revealed that using wood as a biofuel will likely contribute 10 to 15 percent of Europe's emissions from energy use by 2050.

“Compared with the vast majority of what counts as ‘bioenergy by harvesting wood,’ solar and wind have large advantages in land use efficiency and lower costs. The focus on wood is not only counter-productive for climate change but unnecessary,” said co-author Dan Kammen of the University of California, Berkeley.

Even though wood is renewable, cutting down and burning wood for energy increases carbon in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years. This form of bioenergy use removes carbon that is stored in forests and releases it into the atmosphere. 

“It makes no sense at all to save trees through recycling and then turn around to burn them for energy. There is nothing green, renewable, or environmentally friendly about that. Global forests are not disposable,” said study co-author Wolfgang Lucht of the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a>. “The European Union should wake up and limit the role of bioenergy in the transition to renewable energies.”

The study authors pointed out that, due to inefficiencies in the burning process, far more carbon will be generated by burning wood for electricity production compared to burning fossil fuels.

“Treating wood as a carbon-neutral fuel is a simple policy decision with complex cascading effects on forest use, energy systems, wood trade, and biodiversity worldwide,” explained study co-author Eric Lambin of <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>. “Clearly, many of these effects have not received due attention.”

Bjart Holtsmark of <a href="https://www.ssb.no/en">Statistics Norway</a> added: “Although the directive encourages countries to harvest wood to burn, it does not require that they do. Countries should follow alternative strategies, focusing on solar in meeting European requirements for more renewable energy.”

The study authors warn that the use of wood as a biofuel will ultimately increase global warming for decades to centuries. 

“European citizens once more experienced the harsh effects of global warming this summer,” said study co-author Jean-Pascal van Ypersele. “In the name of reversing climate change, this counterproductive policy will increase deforestation and carbon emissions rather than contribute to decreasing them. More emissions will only make the summers even hotter for decades to centuries.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Europe using wood as biofuel will increase deforestation, warming

Contrary to the recommendations of 800 scientists, Europe has decided...

Although the vast majority of us are no longer living in a place that puts us at risk of being hunted or considered “prey” by other species, we still carry many of the characteristics of a wild animal. Specifically, our brains will often trigger the “fight or flight” response when we feel in danger. 

“Just like any other animal in nature, our reaction to a threat is invariably one of the following three: escape, fight, or freeze in place with the hope of remaining unnoticed,” says Marta Moita, a co-author of a recent study on this behavior in fruit flies, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

Moita, along with Maria Luisa Vasconcelos, conducted the study at the <a href="http://first.fchampalimaud.org/en/the-foundation/champalimaud-centre-unknown/">Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown</a> in Lisbon, Portugal. Their goal was to determine how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brains-spectrum-links/">brain</a> decides which of the three strategies to implement, and how it makes sure that the body carries out these actions. 

“When we started working on these issues most people believed that flies only escape, but we wondered if that was really true,” say Moita. “Even though it’s an insect, the fruit fly is an incredibly powerful model organism that has helped shed light on many difficult problems in biology. So when we decided to delve into the neural basis of defensive behavior, we asked, what will happen if we expose flies to a threat in a situation where they couldn’t just fly away?”

The researchers placed fruit flies in a covered dish, and exposed them to an expanding dark circle – an experimental representation of how a fly perceives a threat. In doing this, they witness something surprising: many flies froze in place. Just like some mammals would, flies remained perfectly still for minutes on end – often in awkward positions such as half crouching, or with legs suspended in the air. The flies that didn’t freeze were ones that flew away from the threat. 

“This was very exciting,” says Vasconcelos, “because it meant that similarly to humans, the flies were choosing between alternative strategies.”

Further research determined that the flies’ response was related to their walking speed at the time the threat appeared. If a fly was moving slowly, it would freeze in place, but if it was walking quickly, it would take off and get away from the threat.

“This result is very important: it is the first report showing how the behavioral state of the animal can influence its choice of defensive strategy,” Vasconcelos explains.

Through use of advanced genetic tools, the researchers found that a single pair of neurons is imperative for the flies’ defensive behaviors. 

“It was quite incredible. There are hundreds of thousands of neurons in the brain of the fly, and among all of those, we found that freezing was controlled by two identical neurons, one on each side of the brain,” says Vasconcelos.

If the researchers turned these neurons off, the flies no longer froze when they felt a threat – instead, they would attempt to escape. But when the neurons were turned on, the flies would freeze in place dependent on their walking speed… without the presence of a threat. 

“If we turned the neurons on when the fly was walking slowly, it would freeze, but not if it was walking quickly. This result places these neurons directly at the gateway of the circuit of choice!” says Ricardo Zacarias, the first author of the study.

“This is exactly what we were looking for: how the brain decides between competing strategies,” explains Moita. “And moreover, these neurons are of the type that sends motor commands from the brain to the ‘spinal cord’ of the fly. This means that they may be involved not only in the choice, but also in the execution.”

The study’s authors believe their findings will lead to an entirely new field of research in flies. 

“We can now study directly how the brain makes choices between very different defensive behaviors,” says Moita. “And because defensive behaviors are common to all animals, our discoveries provide a good starting point towards identifying the ‘rules of the game’ that define how all animals choose to defend themselves.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Gil Costa, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown

How the brain decides between a fight or flight response

Although the vast majority of us are no longer living...

A new project funded by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation (NSF)</a> could soon help track air pollution and let farmers know when is the best time for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bee-friendly-pesticides/">applying pesticides</a>.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.sc.edu/">University of South Carolina</a> and the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois </a>will soon launch a two-month experiment that will measure air movement at night over specific landscapes. 

“Airflow near mountains, hills and valleys often has complicated patterns, even though the atmosphere appears quiet,” said Chungu Lu, a program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funds SAVANT to <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=296438&amp;WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&amp;WT.mc_ev=click">the NSF.</a> “Understanding these flow patterns is important for predicting air quality, enhancing crop yields and mitigating the impacts of hazardous materials releases, for example.”

The experiment is called Stable Atmospheric Variability and Transport (SAVANT) and the goal, according to the researchers, is to better understand airflow in stable boundary layers. 

Stable boundary layers are a type of atmospheric boundary that forms near the surface overnight, but they are difficult to observe and so are not well understood. 

“In recent years, we've learned about stable boundary layers in flat terrain,” said April Hiscox, a SAVANT principal investigator. “There's also been a lot of work done in mountainous regions, but if you look at the United States and much of the world, there's a lot of space that is neither mountainous nor flat.”

In order to better understand airflow in stable boundary layers, the researchers selected four gullies or areas with slight dips in the landscape in Illinois to monitor for the duration of the experiment. 

For two months, SAVANT will use light detection and ranging systems to track air movement and dispersal. The researchers will release smoke over a gully and SAVANT will record how the smoke moves and track its patterns. 

The researchers will also measure climate conditions including wind speed and turbulence to see what conditions influence the formation of stable boundary layers. 

At the end of the two months, the researchers should have a much better understanding of stable boundary layers which could improve meteorological predictions about airflow. The more accurate predictions could in turn help agricultural operations. 

“The project can assist environmental management and agricultural operations, for example, by knowing when and where to set up anti-frost fans and pesticide applications, as well as in weather forecasting,” said Junming Wang, a fellow SAVANT project leader.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Air quality predictions can improve agricultural output

A new project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)...

In a historic moment on Monday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Senate Bill 100 (SB100) which pledges that California will be powered by 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. 

The enterprising move would put the Golden State steadily in the lead in the race against climate change, but the governor says it’s not going to be an easy road. 

“It’s not going to be easy and it will not be immediate, but it must be done,” Brown said at a ceremony celebrating the bill signing. 

The state of California had already planned to try and use renewable energy to produce 50 percent of the state’s energy needs, according to <a href="http://time.com/5391881/brown-signs-bill-100-percent-clean-energy-california/?utm_source=time.com&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=social-button-sharing">Time</a>. California has long been a pioneer or clean energy through the years, but this new bill is bolder, bigger, and will require an overhaul in the state’s energy resources. 

Now, California will have to work on meeting its energy demands with solar, wind and hydropower and more and more investments will need to be made in renewable energy. 

The governor hopes that the bill will inspire other world leaders to amp up their climate change mitigation efforts even amidst the obvious opposition to climate policies that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trump-admin-methane-emissions/">Trump administration</a> has exhibited recently. 

“Regardless of who occupies the White House, California will always lead on climate change,” state Senator Kevin de León who introduced SB100 told Time. “Climate change is real. It’s here, it’s deadly and it’s extraordinarily expensive.”

The bill does not address any clear outline for how California will reach its lofty clean energy goal by 2045, but the governor made a point to say that simply singing the bill was a way to get started. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

California set to be 100 percent run on renewable energy by 2045

In a historic moment on Monday, California Governor Jerry Brown...

Teens say they prefer texting friends rather than talking in person. Teenagers today prefer texting on their cell phone rather than talking face to face, according to a new study. 

Social media, smartphones, and the internet have dramatically changed the way we communicate, and we’ve begun to see how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smartphone-addiction-social-connection/">smartphone addiction and social media use</a> affect our day-to-day interpersonal interactions. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a>, a non-profit organization committed to providing information for parents and children about media and technology, recently conducted a survey on texting use among teenagers. 

The survey was a follow up to a previous study conducted by the organization in 2012, and the results show how much technology has influenced communication in just a few short years. 

More than 1,000 teens ages 13 to 17 were included in the survey, and the researchers asked about texting and talking preferences, according to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6153239/Most-teenagers-prefer-text-friends-chat-online-person.html">Daily Mail</a> which reported on the findings. 

Today, 35 percent of teenagers prefer texting, with the study participants saying that it was their most preferred method of communication with friends. 

32 percent of the participants said they preferred face to face conversations over texting. 

In 2012, 49 percent of the survey participants said talking in person was better than texting which goes to show how much texting use has increased over the years. 

The most recent survey also found 70 percent of the participants frequently visit social media sites. 

57 percent of the teens surveyed said that social media is distracting and a large majority reported that they think companies specifically try and keep users online through different marketing and engagement tactics. 

What the researchers conclude is that although the results seem to troublingly point to an increase in social media use and a decrease in authentic face to face connections, the truth is actually a little more complicated.

“Like teenagers themselves, this research presents a complex picture that defies simplistic judgments,” James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense told the Daily Mail. “Indeed, many of the insights are likely to challenge our notions of whether social media is “good” or “bad” for teens. We hope that the data presented in this report offer new insights to help inform the work of all those who care about the healthy development of young people in our society.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Teens say they prefer texting friends rather than talking in person

Teens say they prefer texting friends rather than talking in...

Wildfire smoke greatly impacts air quality and its effects on human health can be far-reaching. Smoke from wildfires negatively impacts cardiovascular health, can cause eye and lung irritation, and increase the risk of early death from particulate exposure.

Particulate matter refers to the microscopic burned particles carried along with the gasses and other debris from fires and other air pollution.

It’s been reported that from 2000 to 2010, 17,000 of the 140,00 deaths per year attributed to particulate exposure were due to wildfire smoke exposure.

Now, a new study has found that the number of deaths from wildfire smoke exposure could more than double in the coming years.

An international collaboration of researchers conducted the study which was published in the journal Geohealth. It’s the first research of its kind to estimate future smoke and health impacts.

The team simulated wildfire smoke levels by the end of the 21st century and found that the number of deaths from smoke exposure could increase to 40,000 per year.

Particulate matter emissions are declining as more and more efforts are made to combat climate change and reduce the burning of fossil fuels. However, the number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/summer-weather-wildfires-flooding/">wildfires are increasing across the world</a> due to climate change and fires are only projected to get more severe.

The researchers used global climate model simulations to estimate how much particulate matter exposure impacted air quality in the early and mid 21st century, and were also able to predict particular matter increases towards the latter end of the century.

Different climate scenarios were modeled for the study in order to analyze how wildfire smoke would impact air quality given different atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

If climate change reaches a worst case scenario, the number of deaths from smoke exposure could double according to the researchers.

“We know from our own research and many, many other groups that smoke has negative impacts on human health,” said Jeff Pierce, a co-author of the study and associate professor of atmospheric science at <a href="https://www.colostate.edu/">Colorado State University</a>. “With the knowledge that fires have been increasing in parts of the U.S., we wanted to look at how bad this might get.”

Even with declines in particulate matter exposure from vehicles and power plants, the increase in wildfires will still create hazardous air quality problems.

“People could use this information as sort of a first estimate of what to prepare for in terms of future air quality,” said Pierce. “We need more simulations to be able to assess the different probabilities of what the future might be.”

The researchers call for more awareness of the health risks of smoke exposure using campaigns along with better modeling and climate change mitigation to decrease the number of deaths due to smoke exposure. 

“I think that we need to act now,” said Sheryl Magzamen, associate professor of epidemiology at Colorado State University, who was not involved in the new study. “Our exposure to wildfire smoke is only going to get worse going into the next century, so we need to plan and be prepared in terms of acting to protect population health.”

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Deaths from wildfire smoke exposure could double by 2100

Wildfire smoke greatly impacts air quality and its effects on...

Women who live in more gender-equal countries do not only have better health, but they are also getting better sleep, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/">University of Melbourne</a>. The research has revealed that the men are also getting better rest in countries that promote <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gender-equality-support/">gender equality</a>.

The investigation was focused on data from the European Social Survey. The experts measured sleep quality across 23 different European countries from the responses of 14,143 individuals.

Men and women reported different types of sleep disruptions. Women were more likely to lose sleep over the children waking up, while men more likely to lose sleep over worrying about finances.

Regardless, study co-author Leah Ruppanner explained that partners in more gender-equal countries such as Norway were found to have better sleep overall compared to men and women in countries with less equality such as the Ukraine. 

“Sleep, like housework and child care, is another way women’s time is stretched, interrupted, and undervalued,” Ruppanner wrote in an article for <a href="https://slate.com/">Slate</a>. “Women have to advocate for their own right to sleep and other forms of self-care. And second, we have to acknowledge gender inequality is bad for men too.”

“Like child care, the financial pressures of work are detrimental to sleep. In countries with high gender equality, men aren’t carrying the burden alone. This means, when it comes to sleep, dismantling traditional gender norms is something men would benefit from nearly as much as women.”

The researchers emphasized that the study findings highlight the importance of promoting gender equality on a national level, and not just in the home. 

“Men experience countless benefits from gender equality, reporting better physical health, greater happiness, and - as our study shows - better sleep,” said Ruppanner. 

“Women in more gender-equal countries also report better health as well as more equal divisions of child care and housework with their partners. Doing unpaid domestic work often comes at the expense of free time and self-care, so this more equitable division of labor is critical to women’s sleep.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17413737">Journal of Marriage and Family</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Both men and women get better sleep in gender-equal countries

Women who live in more gender-equal countries do not only...

You may notice that almost every single <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-immunity-common-cold/">cold season</a>, one of your friends or family members always falls ill – or maybe you’re the one who is a victim of the common cold every winter. Why is it that some people are more susceptible to getting colds than others? A new study, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>, may have found the answer to this question.

Rhinovirus is the fancy name for the leading cause of the common cold, as well as asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. When a cold virus enters the nose, the cells that line the nose – called epithelial cells – are usually able to respond and get rid of the virus before it can replicate and cause symptoms. But in some cases, certain individuals exposed to the virus can fall ill.

A <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> research team, led by Ellen Foxman, exposed lung and nasal passage epithelial cells from healthy human donors to rhinovirus, and found the nasal cells have the more significant antiviral response – a finding that surprised the researchers. Investigating further, they triggered the RIG-I pathway, the virus surveillance pathway in both lung and nasal cells. Results showed that both cell types generated an antiviral response and defense response against oxidative stress, which is a type of cell damage caused by viruses and inhaled irritants like smoke or pollen. While antiviral response was stronger in the nasal cells, defense against oxidative stress was stronger in the bronchial cells. 

Further experiments revealed evidence of a tradeoff, where the defense response against oxidative stress turned off antiviral defenses. The research team exposed nasal cells to oxidative stress caused by cigarette smoke, then to stress from a cold virus, and determined that the nasal cells were more susceptible to the virus.

“They survive the cigarette smoke but can’t fight the virus as well,” says Foxman. “And the virus grows better.”

Their findings are indicative of a balance between the body’s defense mechanisms. 

“Your airway lining protects against viruses but also other harmful substances that enter airways,” Foxman explains. “The airway does pretty well if it encounters one stressor at a time. But when there are two different stressors, there’s a tradeoff. What we found is that when your airway is trying to deal with another stress type, it can adapt but the cost is susceptibility to rhinovirus infection.”

Foxman states that the study shows a mechanistic link between environmental exposures and susceptibility to the common cold. This makes sense in practice, as smokers tend to be more at risk of rhinovirus infections. These findings could help lead to new strategies to prevent and treat respiratory viruses, which result in half a billion colds and 2 million hospitalizations per year in the U.S. alone.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why certain people are more susceptible to the common cold

You may notice that almost every single cold season, one...

A new study from the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> has discovered risky, long-term benzodiazepine use among one in every four older adults with a prescription. These sedatives, which include valium and xanax, are primarily used to treat anxiety but are also used for treating <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/depression-anxiety-heart-attack/">depression</a> and insomnia. 

It is known that benzodiazepine drugs are habit forming and can lead to addiction. There are also warnings against long-term use, particularly among older people, due to certain side effects that can increase the risk of dangerous falls and car crashes. 

The research team, which also included experts from the University of Pennsylvania and Veterans Affairs (VA), analyzed the use of benzodiazepine among low-income older adults in a Pennsylvania program that helps with drug costs.


According to the researchers, the study results suggest that there is an urgent need for awareness among the public as well as healthcare providers regarding the risks associated with benzodiazepines.

The investigation was focused on 576 adults who received their first benzodiazepine prescription in 2008 to 2016. The experts found that 152 of these individuals still had a current or recent prescription a year later. 

It was determined that patients whose initial prescriptions were written for the largest amounts were more likely to become long-term benzodiazepine users. For every 10 additional days of medication prescribed, an individual's risk of long-term use nearly doubled over the next year.


The study also revealed that white patients were four times more likely to use the sedatives in the long term. Study lead author and geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Lauren Gerlach said that the rate of long-term use is concerning enough in itself.

“This shows that we need to help providers start with the end in mind when prescribing a benzodiazepine, by beginning with a short-duration prescription and engage patients in discussions of when to reevaluate their symptoms and begin tapering the patient off,” said Dr. Gerlach. “We also need to educate providers about effective non-pharmaceutical treatment alternatives, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, for these patients.”

In addition, the analysis showed that long-term benzodiazepine users were more likely to report sleep problems. However, benzodiazepines are not recommended for long-term use as sleep aids and may even worsen sleep with prolonged use.

“This study provides strong evidence that the expectations set out by a provider when they first write a new prescription carry forward over time,” explained study senior author Dr. David Oslin. “When a physician writes for 30 days of a benzodiazepine, the message to the patient is to take the medication daily and for a long time. This expectancy translates into chronic use which in the long run translates into greater risks like falls, cognitive impairment and worse sleep.”


“Since mental health providers see only a very small minority of older adults who have mental health issues, we need to support primary care providers better as they manage these patients' care,” said Dr. Gerlach. “We must help them think critically about how certain prescriptions they write could increase the chance of long-term use.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/">JAMA Internal Medicine</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Older adults taking sedatives often engage in risky long term use

A new study from the University of Michigan has discovered...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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