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...

Warm weather in the Yukon has led to the melting of many ice patches, and while this may seem like a bad thing due to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/social-media-polarization-climate-change/">climate change,</a> there has been a tiny silver lining. The melting of these ice patches has led to the discovery of numerous ancient tools in these areas, with the most important discovery occurring recently.

A perfectly preserved spear dart (or atlatl) dating back roughly 1,000 years ago was found completely intact – so much so that the feather and sap used as glue are still visible. 

“I’d never seen anything like that before, it was amazing,” says Jennifer Herkes, heritage manager for the Carcross/Tagish First Nation in Yukon. “The feathers, the sinew, the sap they would have used as, like, a glue to attach the stone point to the wood shaft – all of it is completely intact.”

Herkes found the spear dart on the Yukon ice patches near Carcross. Initially, she didn’t believe she had found anything too special, as she figured it was just a small part of a dart. 

“I thought, 'Oh yeah, that's neat,'” she told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/">CBC</a>. But then she saw it was more than just a piece – it was the whole spear. “My heart rate started increasing, and I got goose bumps all over.”

The spear dart is about five feet long, and would have been launched using a throwing tool to increase its velocity. The area it was found in used to be a popular hunting ground, where woodland caribou would gather on ice patches in the summer to escape the heat and bugs.

Tools are now regularly being found in these areas as the ice patches melt. The Carcross/Tagish First Nation Citizens organization is attempting to have these areas designated as world heritage sites, given their importance and the history they may have to offer. If the ice patches continue to melt, it’s likely that even more exciting discoveries could be made.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Carcross Tagish First Nation/Facebook

1,000 year-old spear dart found completely intact in the Yukon

Warm weather in the Yukon has led to the melting...

New research from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> has revealed that a widely-used treatment for behavioral problems may not be effective in helping troubled young people and their families. 

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a short-term intervention that is provided at over 270 sites worldwide, primarily in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-western-united-states/">United States</a>, but also in Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.

FFT is designed to treat juvenile delinquency and the associated behaviors  that take a toll on youth, families, and communities. FFT is also sometimes used as a re-entry program for young people who are at risk of being removed from their homes or who are being released from institutions.


After analyzing 31 existing reviews of FFT, the researchers are questioning the effectiveness of this treatment for 10- to 18-year-olds. The evidence that the experts found in support of the therapy was not the best quality and may have been biased.

Paul Montgomery is a professor of Social Intervention in the University of Birmingham's School of Social Policy.

“Our overview of FFT illuminates some real areas of concern around this treatment,” said Professor Montgomery.  “It appears that in nearly 40 years of existence, there remain a number of unanswered questions about the effectiveness and implementation of FFT.”

“FFT is intensive and costly. It may not be advisable to continue using the therapy without re-examining and testing its effects. Many reviews currently available are written by people developing and delivering FFT, demonstrating the need for independent and robust trials.”


Juvenile delinquency costs many countries a great deal of money. For example, the United States spends over $5.7 billion annually on incarcerating minors. In the UK, over 42 percent of minors are repeat offenders, which is up from ten years ago.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/loi/rsw">Research on Social Work Practice</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Widespread behavioral therapy for young people may be ineffective

New research from the University of Birmingham has revealed that...

If you can speak multiple languages, is it more difficult for the brain to switch back to the native language or start with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/best-ages-learn-language/">a different language</a>? 

In other words, how does the brain know to “turn off” a language and jump into another?

This question was answered by researchers from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> in a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers were able to discover the computations that happen in the brain when someone switches between languages. 

“A remarkable feature of multilingual individuals is their ability to quickly and accurately switch back and forth between their different languages,” said Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, the lead author of the study. “Our findings help pinpoint what occurs in the brain in this process--specifically, what neural activity is exclusively associated with disengaging from one language and then engaging with a new one.”

Blanco-Elorrieta also notes that the study shows that turning a language off requires more effort than turning a language on in the brain. In fact, the researchers discovered that switching to a different language was “cost-free” in terms of the brain’s processing activity. 

Studying language switching in people who are multilingual is difficult because turning one language off and another on happens simultaneously. 

Previous studies connected language switching with an increase in activity in the cognitive control regions of the brain but until now, it was not well understood if the act of turning one off or switching to another required the most effort. 

The researchers asked bilingual individuals who were fluent in both English and American Sign Language (ASL) to participate in the study in hopes that it would help distinguish language switching better. 

“The fact that they can do both at the same time offers a unique opportunity to disentangle engagement and disengagement processes--that is, how they turn languages ‘on’ and ‘off',’” said  Blanco-Elorrieta.

Participants in the study could switch from using both ASL and English to just one of the languages which would show how the brain responds to turning on and off a specific language. 

The researchers asked the participants to view pictures and name/sign what they saw. Magnetoencephalography was used to map the neural activity in the brain when the participants named the images. 

When the participants switched between speaking and signing, the researchers found that turning off a language required more effort and increased neural activity. However, turning a language on didn’t increase activity in the brain. 

The researchers also found that speaking and singing at the same time was not any more taxing than just speaking. They also noticed that it was actually easier to sign and speak than just sign 

“In all, these results suggest that the burden of language-switching lies in disengagement from the previous language as opposed to engaging a new language,” said Blanco-Elorrieta.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

How the brain can switch between different languages

If you can speak multiple languages, is it more difficult...

Transfusing the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/depression-diagnosed-blood-test/">blood</a> of younger individuals into older adults may seem like a bizarre, dystopian idea on the surface, but many companies have recently been testing these blood transfusions as a way to treat age-related diseases – and it’s less scary than you may think.

Linda Partridge, a leading geneticist at <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> reports that blood transfusions are being seriously considered as one of the most promising developments in modern medicine. In her publication of an analysis of data in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>, Partridge states that research shows young blood may allow humans to avoid diseases such as heart disease, dementia, and even cancer.

In her study, Partridge transfused blood from young mice into older mice, and found that the older mice did not develop age-related diseases, and were able to maintain sharp cognitive function. She also transfused older mouse blood into young mice, which resulted in the opposite effect.

There are currently numerous studies and trials that are testing similar effects, one of which is from a start-up called Ambrosia, which rolled out a study involving 70 participants – each of whom were at least 35 and had paid $8,000 to be part of the experiment. Participants were given plasma from volunteers aged 16 to 25, and results showed improvements in biomarkers of numerous major diseases, including a 10 percent reduction in blood cholesterol.

Scientists also found a 20 percent reduction in carcinoembryonic antigens, which are proteins found in high levels in people with various forms of cancer. Amyloid protein levels dropped as well, which is promising, given that these proteins form toxic clumps in the brains of dementia patients. One particular 55-year-old patient with early onset Alzheimer’s actually began to show improvements in his condition after just one transfusion.

Despite these intriguing results, the benefits of blood transfusion are far from confirmed. Partridge states that blood must be more closely studied in animals in order to identify the molecules that have an effect on our own physical health. 

“Identification of these is a high priority for research,” her study says. “The practical accessibility of both the human microbiome and blood system makes therapeutic manipulation a particularly attractive approach, but research in animals is needed to establish the long-term consequences and possible side effects.”

So, before you go around looking for a younger person to voluntary give up blood for transfusion, you should maybe wait a few years for research to catch up to these bold claims.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Transfusions of young blood may help reduce disease in old age

Transfusing the blood of younger individuals into older adults may...

Our internal clock is integral to the way our body functions, and when the clock is out of sync or “misaligned” with the outside world, it can create a wide range of problems and increase susceptibility to disease. 

Jet lag is perhaps the most famous example of what can happen when the body’s natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/proteins-circadian-clock-ticks/">circadian rhythms</a> are disrupted through travel across different time zones. Jet lag can cause fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, and make adjusting to new timezones difficult. 

But now, researchers from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> have successfully developed one of the most precise tests to measure an individual's internal clock compared to external time. 

The researcher's methods and results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

It’s a simple blood test called TimeSignature that only requires two blood draws but can accurately identify a person's internal clock within an hour and a half. 

For example, it could tell researchers that a person’s internal clock says it’s 6 am whereas it’s actually 8 am in that particular timezone. 

“This is a much more precise and sophisticated measurement than identifying whether you are a morning lark or a night owl,” said Rosemary Braun, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study.  “We can assess a person's biological clock to within 1.5 hours.”

Previous tests that measured internal clocks were time-consuming and took a great deal of effort. Individuals had to have blood drawn every hour and the results were not nearly as accurate as TimeSignature. 

The test measures 40 different gene expression markers and blood can be drawn at any time of the day regardless of the individual’s sleep patterns. Gene data and an algorithm developed by Braun were used in the development of the test. 

The researchers also created a machine-learning method that was able to train a computer to predict the time of day based on the patterns within the 40 gene expression markers. 

Because so much of our body’s natural functions and processes are driven by our internal clock and circadian rhythms, the new test could help provide better treatments for people with misaligned internal clocks. 

It will also make studying the effects of an out of sync internal clock on heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases much easier.

“Timing is everything," said Ravi Allada, a co-author of the work. “We know if you have disruption of your internal clock, it can predispose you to a range of diseases. Before we didn't have a clinically feasible way of assessing the clock in healthy people and people with disease. Now we can see if a disrupted clock correlates with various diseases and, more importantly, if it can predict who is going to get sick.”

Crucially, the test will also be able dictate the optimal times for patients to take certain medications to ensure they are the most effective.

“This is really an integral part of personalized medicine,” said Phyllis Zee, another co-author of the study. “So many drugs have optimal times for dosing. Knowing what time it is in your body is critical to getting the most effective benefits. The best time for you to take the blood pressure drug or the chemotherapy or radiation may be different from somebody else.”
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New test tells you what time it is in your internal clock

Our internal clock is integral to the way our body...

A new study has found that having an optimistic outlook and staying positive can actually help improve your heart health.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> found that intervention programs focused on psychological well being helped reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

People who are able to maintain a positive attitude are better equipped to stay healthy, exercise more, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unsaturated-fats-protect-cardiovascular-disease/">eat well</a>. 

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

“We addressed how social environment, psychological well-being and the effectiveness of intervention strategies can help strengthen a patient's outlook,” said Darwin R. Labarthe, the lead author of the review. “We focused on whether psychological well-being can be consistently related with a reduced risk of heart disease.”

Labarthe and colleagues reviewed past research that associated psychological well being with a reduced risk of heart disease. There have been studies that found that optimism has a significant impact on heart health. 

For example, one 2017 study found that older women who were more optimistic had a 38 percent reduced risk of mortality from heart disease. There has also been a growing body of evidence suggesting that someone who feels they have a higher purpose is less likely to have a stroke. 

After reviewing past research and studies, the researchers found that optimism correlated with a decreased likelihood of smoking, a higher chance of engaging in regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy diet by eating more fruits and vegetables. 

In this way, psychological well-being did have an impact on heart health through behavioral changes, having crucial psychological resources like a support system, and improved overall physical health. 

“Optimists persevere by using problem-solving and planning strategies to manage stressors,” said Labarthe. “If others are faced with factors out of their control, they begin to shift their goals and use potentially maladaptive coping strategies, which would ultimately result in raising inflammation levels and less favorable overall heart health.” 

Intervention programs that target the different lifestyle, behavioral and health aspects of a person’s life may be a worthwhile investment for reducing the risk of heart disease, according to the researchers. 

The team discussed the success of mindfulness programs, yoga, and tai-chi which studies have found help reduce anxiety and improve mental well-being. 

“It may seem challenging to help patients modify psychological well-being in the face of a new medical diagnosis, but these events can represent a ‘teachable moment,” said Labarthe. “Just having patient-centered discussions surrounding sources of psychological well-being and information about specific activities to promote well-being are a small, but meaningful, part of a patient's care.”

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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

An optimistic outlook can actually improve heart health

A new study has found that having an optimistic outlook...

According to a recent study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a>, people often trust their gut instincts over logic because they view intuitive decisions as a reflection of their true selves. For this reason, individuals may hold these beliefs with more conviction. 

Study lead author Dr. Sam Maglio is an associate professor of Marketing at the <a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/home/">University of Toronto Scarborough</a>.

“We offer what we believe to be a novel and unique approach to the question of why people come to hold certain attitudes,” said Dr. Maglio. “Focusing on feelings as opposed to logic in the decision-making process led participants to hold more certain attitudes toward and advocate more strongly for their choices.”


The research was focused on a series of four experiments involving a total of more than 450 participants, including local residents, undergraduate students, and online survey takers. In each experiment, participants were asked to choose from a selection of similar items, such as different DVD players, mugs, restaurants, or apartments. 

The individuals were instructed to make their decision either with deliberation and logic or based on gut instincts. Next, the volunteers were asked a series of questions about their choice.

The study revealed that participants who made an intuitive, gut-based <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-overlook-biases-decision/">decision</a> were more likely to report that their decision reflected their true selves. The researchers also found that participants who made intuitive, gut-based decisions were more steadfast in their decisions and more likely to advocate for them.

In one experiment, the participants were instructed to choose between two different restaurants, again based either on logic or intuition, and were then told to publicize their choice by emailing their decision to their friends. The people who picked a restaurant intuitively shared their choice with more people.

“This suggests that focusing on feelings doesn't just change attitudes - it can change behavior, too,” said Dr. Maglio.


The researchers were surprised at how willing people were to make intuitive, gut-based decisions when instructed. 

“So much folk wisdom says that we should eschew intuition because careful deliberation is thought to be the surest path to good choices, but we can't escape our gut feelings.”

“In making decisions, people must decide not only what to choose, but how to choose it,” said Dr. Maglio. “Our research suggests that individuals focusing on their feelings in decision-making do indeed come to see their chosen options as more consistent with what is essential, true and unwavering about themselves.”


The certainty of making a gut-based choice can be a double-edged sword, according to Dr. Maglio.

“When digging our heels in is a good thing, like making sure we hop on the bike every day, there's little downside and a lot of benefit. But dug-in heels give way to stubbornness and isolationism in the blink of an eye.” 

“When our political attitudes are made intuitively and make us certain that we're right, we shut ourselves off from the possibility that we might be even a little bit wrong. For this reason, perhaps a bit of the openness facilitated by deliberation isn't a bad thing after all.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/emo/">Emotion</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People tend to defend decisions based in intuition over logic

According to a recent study published by the American Psychological...

Musicians perceive sounds differently than the average person – a fact that likely doesn’t shock you in the least. But would you be surprised to hear that perception of sound varies between different types of musicians? A new study published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cercor">Cerebral Cortex</a> has found that there are noticeable differences between how the brains of guitarists and beatboxers respond to music.

“Most research in this area has focused on classically trained musicians, who have had extensive tuition from a very young age, but we found that professional beatboxers and guitarists also display neural patterns typical of these expert classical musicians,” says Dr. Saloni Krishnan, the study’s lead author who completed the research while at <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>.

The study involved 60 participants who listened to recordings of beatbox and guitar tunes. Half of the people were non-musicians, while the other half were professional beatboxers and guitarists with an average of 8-9 years of experience. Results showed that the sensorimotor brain areas – which control movement – were activated in the musicians’ brains, but this effect was not seen in non-musicians.

But an interesting distinction was found between the two musician groups. The activation of the sensorimotor brain areas was only seen when participants were listening to tracks from their own fields of interest. According to the researchers, this may mean that the brain is connecting movements associated with making that form of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/listening-music-exercise-fight-fatigue/">music</a> while the musician is listening.

For beatboxers, listening to beatboxing sparked activity in the region of the brain that controls mouth movement. For the guitarist group, listening to a guitar track increased activity in the area of the brain responsible for hand movement.

“We are excited by these findings because they indicate that experience of producing music changes the way we perceive it – perhaps explaining why professional musicians can hone in on technical expertise so easily to play complex pieces without having to think about each note,” explains Krishnan.

Additionally, the MRIs showed a spike in brain activity in a region connected to language tasks, such as reading or picture naming. 

“We’ve identified a perceptual network which is engaged when you hear an instrument you can play, and which shows how acquiring this expertise has shaped your brain responses,” says senior author, Professor Sophie Scott. “There’s already a lot of evidence that music education is good for you – here’s an example of what it does to the brain.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Musicians’ brains respond differently to music depending on genre

Musicians perceive sounds differently than the average person – a...

An international study led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has found that jet-air hand dryers should not be used in hospitals because they spread germs. The researchers pointed out that the guidelines used in hospitals to prevent bacterial contamination should be changed. 


Currently, the Department of Health allows air dryers to be used in public restrooms but not in clinical areas because of the noise they generate. 

Study supervisor Mark Wilcox is a professor of Medical Microbiology. He said that the findings of this research suggest that hospital guidelines must be strengthened to avoid infection risks. 

The investigation was focused on the spread of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-plastic-pollution-bacteria/">bacteria</a> in public toilets at three different hospitals in the UK, France, and Italy. Each of the restrooms had both paper towel dispensers and jet-air dryers, but only one option was made available at a time. 

“The problem starts because some people do not wash their hands properly,” explained Professor Wilcox. “When people use a jet-air dryer, the microbes get blown off and spread around the toilet room.”

“In effect, the dryer creates an aerosol that contaminates the toilet room, including the dryer itself and potentially the sinks, floor and other surfaces, depending on the dryer design and where it is sited. If people touch those surfaces, they risk becoming contaminated by bacteria or viruses.”

“Jet-air dryers often rely on no-touch technology to initiate hand drying. However, paper towels absorb the water and microbes left on the hands and if they are disposed of properly, there is less potential for cross-contamination.”

Over 12 weeks, levels of bacteria in the restrooms were measured each day, which allowed the experts to compare the use of paper towels to the use of jet-air dryers. Samples were taken from the air, floors, and other surfaces to test for Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococci, and Enterobacteria. 


In two of the hospitals, five times more bacteria was removed from the floors when jet-air dryers were in use compared to when paper towels were used.

“We found multiple examples of greater bacterial contamination on surfaces, including by faecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, when jet-air dryers rather than paper towels were in use,” said Professor Wilcox. “Choice of hand drying method affects how likely microbes can spread, and so possibly the risk of infection.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/">Journal of Hospital Infection</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

Air dryers spread five times more germs than paper towels

An international study led by the University of Leeds has...

Team sports and mock battles may have trained young hunter-gatherers to fight for their lives, in hunting and warfare, a new study says.

The skills children learned by kicking balls or hitting them with sticks, play fighting, running and other games may have once trained skills they would use when tracking animals or raiding neighboring communities. These games improved hand-eye coordination and stamina, both skills needed in battle and providing meat for their own people.

A team of researchers examined records of hunter-gatherer societies in 100 different regions, and found that in 46 of those regions, team sports and other contact games that mimicked hunting and battle skills were common.

“Interestingly, mock warfare was found in 39 percent of culture clusters and boys’ mock warfare in 26 percent,” Dr. Michelle Scalise Sugiyama of the <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu/">University of Oregon</a> told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>. “This suggests that motivation to engage in coalitional play fighting emerges in childhood.”

The researchers studied records of hunter-gatherers collected in Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas, looking for cultures that played team sports and other games that included running, throwing and grappling. The games may have taught children skills like kicking and punching, dodging blows and throwing projectiles, and allowed adults to practice those skills.

This kind of play also built teamwork and strategy among the groups that practiced them. Individual members increased their stamina and learned skills that would aid in their own survival and the survival of their group in the future.

Regularly playing team sports let communities evaluate their own people’s combat skills. When played against or with neighboring groups, these sports also let communities build alliances while learning about others’ skills as well, researchers said.

“The widespread evidence for such games among hunter-gatherer societies suggests that the motivation to engage in them is a universal feature of human psychology, generating behaviour that develops, rehearses, and reines the coalitional combat skills used in lethal raiding,” Scalise Sugiyama told the Mail.

The new study has been published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-018-9322-6">Human Nature</a>.

Do team sports have roots in hunter-gatherer education?

Team sports and mock battles may have trained young hunter-gatherers...

Coastal recreation is still big business in America, and people are happy to pay if it means they can surf, collect seashells and photograph the mighty ocean waves.

At least, those are among the findings of a new survey conducted in 2012 and 2013 by the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. The National Ocean Recreation Expenditure Survey, the first such study conducted by NOAA, found that more than 48 million Americans 18 and older spent about 1.2 billion days along the country’s coastlines in 2012. 

"Nothing of this magnitude had been attempted before, so it took a long time to collect the data, analyze it, and pull it together into a comprehensive report," said economist Scott Steinback in a press release. Steinback, who co-authored the newly released report, works at NOAA’s <a href="https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/">Northeast Fisheries Science Center</a> laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

NOAA employees found that Americans spent more than $141 billion in coastal recreation and related industries in 2012, supporting 3.1 million full-time and part-time jobs. That money supported another $409 billion in business income and $135 billion in household incomes in areas visited by these ocean tourists.

The online survey, sent out every two months over the course of a year, asked participants to share their ocean-related activities over the past two months. That allowed researchers to get a better picture of coastal recreation spending over a full year, correcting for weather-related falls and spikes.

The survey was developed with the help of focus groups and one-on-one interviews, and questioned participants in six regions, five coastal and one inland. It included questions covering eight categories: viewing or photographing the ocean; beachcombing, tidepooling or collecting items; recreational fishing; recreational shellfishing; hunting; water-based contact sports; boating; and other outdoor activities that didn’t include contact with the water. The questionnaire was sent to people who participated on a research panel run by <a href="https://www.gfk.com/">GfK Group</a>.

"In addition to baseline information on participation and eort, or the time spent in that activity, we collected data on spending related to each category,” Steinback said. “That included the cost of boats and their maintenance, insurance, shing rods, binoculars, and other items to purchases of food, beverages, lodging, paying visitor fees, and other costs of ocean recreation trips."

The study shows how coastal recreation contributes to local economies along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, he said. 

"It is the first study to estimate participation and effort levels, and the economic contribution of these activities, using data collected from ocean recreation participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia – not just coastal states,” Steinback said. “If someone in Ohio made a trip to the Jersey shore to hang out at the beach and they participated in our survey, their activities would be included in our estimates.”

Coastal recreation is big business in the U.S., survey says

Coastal recreation is still big business in America, and people...

Diet, exercise reduce the need for blood pressure medicine. Making simple diet and exercise changes could be enough to lower blood pressure and keep patients with hypertension off of medication, according to a new study. 

Around 75 million adults in America suffer from high blood pressure, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_bloodpressure.htm">Centers for Disease Control (CDC). </a>

High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and in 2013 the CDC reported that more than 360,000 deaths attributed high blood pressure as the primary or contributing cause. 

High blood pressure is damaging to a person’s cardiovascular health and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/overweight-heart-disease-risk/">obesity can greatly increase the risk of hypertension</a>. However, diet and exercise may be enough to make blood pressure medication unnecessary. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina</a> recently presented a new study at the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association’s</a> Joint Hypertension 2018 Scientific Sessions showing the benefit of lifestyle changes in combating high blood pressure. 

The study found that within 16 weeks, patients with hypertension reduced the need for antihypertensive medications after changing their diet and participating in regular exercise. 

“Lifestyle modifications, including healthier eating and regular exercise, can greatly decrease the number of patients who need blood pressure-lowering medicine. That's particularly the case in folks who have blood pressures in the range of 130 to 160 mmHg systolic and between 80 and 99 mmHg diastolic,” said Alan Hinderliter, an author of the study. 

For the study, 129 overweight or obese men and women, ages 40 to 80, with high blood pressure took part in one of three 16-week intervention programs. 

More than half of the participants were candidates for blood pressure medication at the start of the study. 

In one group, participants took part in a weight management program that included counseling and exercise three times a week. 

The first group also changed their diet to the DASH plan that stresses eating more fruits and vegetables and reducing salt, red meat, and sugar consumption. 

Participants in the second group only changed their diet to meet the DASH guidelines while the third group made no lifestyle changes. 

The first group had the most success in terms of weight loss and lowering blood pressure. At the end of the 16 weeks, participants in the first group lost 19 pounds on average. 

The second group showed lowered blood pressure but not quite as much as those in the first group while the third group only had subtle improvements to blood pressure. 

At the end of the study, 15 percent of participants in the first group still met the requirements for blood pressure medication, 23 percent still needed medication from the second group, and in the third group, 50 percent still had high blood pressure levels that merited medication. 

The researchers say that making lifestyle changes may be enough to help reduce the need for blood pressure medication and could also help patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Diet, exercise reduce the need for blood pressure medicine

Diet, exercise reduce the need for blood pressure medicine. Making...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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