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...

The recent string of massive wildfires in the western United States might have made people more hesitant to buy homes in high-risk areas, but a new study has found that this is not the case.

Wildfires across the US have been increasingly devastating due to a combination of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/summer-weather-wildfires-flooding/">climate change</a> and an increase in urban expansion into more wildfire-prone areas, prompting more evacuations and rescues than in previous years. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.unlv.edu/">University of Las Vegas Nevada</a> set out to see how much wildfire risk impacts housing development and the real estate market. 

The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, shows that housing prices drop immediately after a wildfire but soon increase over the following years. 

It’s both a blessing and a curse, according to the lead author Shawn McCoy. The research shows that people are more and more motivated these days to settle into high-risk fire areas, finding the benefits that come with beautiful views and isolation worth the risk. 

Residential growth into previously isolated forested areas known at Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) increased from 30 million housing units in 1990 to 43.4 by 2010. 

"To the extent that homeowners value the environmental amenities in these high-risk areas," McCoy said, "if the market participants systematically underestimate the likelihood of a fire, we may observe inefficiently increased rates of housing development in forested areas, as well as a potential decrease in the willingness among existing homeowners to take the steps needed to prevent fire from impacting their homes."

McCoy along with Randy Walsh, a co-author of the study from the <a href="https://www.pitt.edu/">University of Pittsburgh</a>, reviewed real estate data collected from 360,00 properties in Colorado that had been impacted by wildfires between 2000 and 2012. 

The two then used statistical techniques to compare real estate prices before and after wildfires in homes that were located either outside or within high-risk wildfire zones. 

Using 3D modeling, the researchers were able to model their findings and show exactly how wildfire-risk influences real-estate and housing development in high-risk areas. 

“This modeling strategy allows us to use real estate markets as a lens to draw inferences regarding the underlying linkages between fire and fire risk perception at a very fine geographic and temporal scale,” said McCoy. “If a recent fire has the effect of inducing a significant change in the salience of fire risk, this will ultimately be reflected by a decrease in the demand for homes in fire risk areas.”

No matter how much damage wildfires cause, no amount of media coverage or facts about wildfire risk will sway homeowners in WUI areas. 

What’s more, the rise and fall pattern in real estate prices after a fire shows that any initial concerns about fire risks fade over time. 

“Despite an initial drop in real estate prices in risk-prone areas, the results of our study suggest that homebuyers' initial fears about fire risk will fade, and development in risk areas may continue to increase,” said McCoy. 

The researchers say the results of this study could help inform policymakers, insurance companies and homeowners fund better solutions to expanding housing development into high-risk wildlife areas. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wildfires haven’t impacted housing demand in high-risk areas

The recent string of massive wildfires in the western United...

With yet another mass shooting this week during a video game conference in Florida, many in the United States cry yet again for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stricter-gun-laws-firearm-injuries/">stricter gun control policies.</a>

According to a new study, half of all deaths attributed to firearms in the world occur in just six countries in the America, which further emphasizes how rampant the gun violence problem is in the United States and parts of Central and South America. 

<a href="http://www.healthdata.org/">The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation </a>recently reviewed firearm-related mortality between 1990 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories. 

Half of the more than the quarter of a million firearm deaths in 2016 occurred in Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala, according to the study’s findings published in the journal JAMA. 

“Our findings provide a comprehensive analysis of firearm-related deaths - by homicide, suicide, and accidental injury,” said Ali Mokdad, a senior author on the paper. “The study also reinforces the message that it is imperative to expand gun safety and education.” 

The study is one of the most extensive ever conducted on global firearm deaths, and shows that firearm homicides make up the majority of firearm deaths in the world. 

While homicides account for 64 percent of all global firearm-related deaths, the researchers found that firearm-related deaths varied by country. 27 percent of firearm deaths in 2016 were suicides and in 67 of the 195 countries, and suicides by firearms made up the majority of all firearm deaths. 

In Greenland, for example, the research shows that there were on average 22 suicides by firearm per 100,000 people, the highest age-adjusted rate of suicide by firearms in the world followed second by the United States with 6.4 deaths per 100,000 people. 

Greenland’s history of suicide prevalence is long and complex and for more than 30 years, Greenland has had some of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/21/474847921/the-arctic-suicides-its-not-the-dark-that-kills-you">National Public Radio. </a>

The research also found that 87 percent of the deaths in 2016 were of males. 

“These findings show the disproportionately high mortality among men," said Christopher Murray, a fellow senior author. "This study is important for policymakers at the national and global levels."

Singapore had the lowest firearm related deaths, and for the six countries where half of all firearm deaths in 2016 occurred, Brazil had the highest number followed by the US, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala. 

Overall the number of firearm deaths across the world increased from 209,000 in 1990 to 251,000 in 2016. 

“This study confirms what many have been claiming for years - that gun violence is one of the greatest public health crises of our time,” said Mohsen Naghavi, the first author of the study. “There are no simple antidotes to address this health problem. The tragedy of each firearm-related death will continue until reasonable and reasoned leaders come together to address the issue.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Half of all firearm deaths occur in just six countries

With yet another mass shooting this week during a video...

Research presented at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/">European Society of Cardiology</a> is reporting that people who vacation longer also tend to live longer.

Professor Timo Strandberg of the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> is one of the study’s co-authors.

“Don't think having an otherwise healthy lifestyle will compensate for working too hard and not taking holidays,” said Professor Stranberg. “Vacations can be a good way to relieve stress.”

The study was focused on 1,222 middle-aged male executives born between 1919 and 1934 that participated in the Helsinki Businessmen Study, which was conducted from 1974 to 1975. 

The men all had at least one risk factor for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wood-coal-cooking-cardiovascular/">cardiovascular disease</a>, such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and elevated triglycerides.

Participants were randomly placed in either a control group or an intervention group for five years. The men in the intervention group received advice every four months to do aerobic physical activity, eat a healthy diet, achieve a healthy weight, and stop smoking. The men in the control group received usual healthcare and were not advised by the investigators.

By the end of the five years, the risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by 46 percent in the intervention group compared to the control group. After 15 years, however, there had been more deaths in the intervention group than in the control group.

The current investigation has extended the mortality follow-up on the study to 40 years. The researchers used national death registers and examined data on amounts of work, sleep, and vacation among the participants. 

While the death rate was found to be consistently higher in the intervention group compared to the control group until 2004, death rates were the same in both groups between 2004 and 2014.

Among individuals in the intervention group, shorter vacations were associated with excess deaths. Men in this group who took three weeks or less of vacation each year had a 37 percent greater chance of dying in 1974 to 2004 than those who took more than three weeks of vacation. On the other hand, vacation time had no impact on risk of death in the control group. 

“The harm caused by the intensive lifestyle regime was concentrated in a subgroup of men with shorter yearly vacation time,” said Professor Strandberg. “In our study, men with shorter vacations worked more and slept less than those who took longer vacations. This stressful lifestyle may have overruled any benefit of the intervention. We think the intervention itself may also have had an adverse psychological effect on these men by adding stress to their lives."

The research is published in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/12603">Journal of Nutrition, Health &amp; Aging</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who vacation more also live longer, study reveals

Research presented at the annual meeting of the European Society...

The beauty aisles in department stores have grown to a massive, and frankly, overwhelming size. These aisles are crammed with bright bottles printed with buzz words such as “moisturizing”, “revitalizing” and “nourishment”. 

As awareness spreads about the plight of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-testing-method-saves/">research animals</a>, more and more people are reading the bottles for words such as “cruelty-free” and “not tested on animals” as well. Unfortunately, there is a lack of clarity about what these words mean and if animals were actually tested on.

Consumers might assume that “cruelty-free” and “not tested on animals” are straight-forward terms that make it clear that no animals were used to test the product. However, as the<a href="https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/labeling/claims/ucm2005202.htm"> U.S. Food &amp; Drug Administration</a> (FDA) website points out, “Some cosmetic companies promote their products with claims of this kind in their labeling or advertising. The unrestricted use of these phrases by cosmetic companies is possible because there are no legal definitions for these terms.”

Cosmetic companies may use the phrases “cruelty-free” and “not tested on animals” to describe their finished cosmetic products. This means that the cosmetic a consumer buys at the store was not tested on animals but separate ingredients used to make the product were. While technically the finished product is cruelty free, animals still suffered in a laboratory for the product to be made.

Manufacturers may also use a “cruelty-free” label if they themselves did not perform the animal testing but outsourced the testing to a third party.

Complicating matters even further is a Chinese law that requires foreign cosmetic products to be tested on animals in order to be sold in the country. The incentive of a huge market in China is often too much for manufacturers to turn down.

While many large companies sell their products in China, some are also working to advance the field of non-animal cosmetic testing. L’Oreal has been creating human skin cell models as an alternative since 1979 and is currently researching other alternatives such as molecular modeling and imaging techniques.

As our society advances, so does our science. Cosmetic animal testing is seen by many scientists and researchers as an outdated and inaccurate model. The European Union even banned the use and sale of cosmetic products tested on animals.

Technical phrasing and global politics may be headache inducing for the average consumer, especially one who is trying to pick up some quick groceries. Thankfully, people trying to take a stand with how they spend their dollar can download apps which will tell them if their products are truly cruelty free. 

They can also keep their eye out for the Leaping Bunny logo, which guarantees that neither the manufacturer nor any of their ingredient suppliers tested on animals at any stage of the process. As for companies that sell in China the website says, “At this time, any company that markets or sells their products in China may be removed from the Leaping Bunny Program unless a company can provide proof that they are exempt from animal testing now and anytime in the future.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

“Cruelty-free” doesn’t always mean what it implies

The beauty aisles in department stores have grown to a...

A diet that is low in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-breakfast-exercise-burns-carbs/">carbohydrates</a> and high in fat and protein is commonly used for weight loss, yet the potential health effects of this type of diet have been the subject of much debate. A new study from the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/">European Society of Cardiology</a> (ESC) has revealed that low-carb diets are unsafe and can even be life-threatening.

“We found that people who consumed a low carbohydrate diet were at greater risk of premature death,” said study co-author Professor Maciej Banach. “Risks were also increased for individual causes of death including coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer. These diets should be avoided.”

Obesity is an increasing problem across the globe, and is associated with a higher risk of serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Diets low in carbohydrates are often suggested as a way to combat obesity.

The study was focused on data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted from 1999 to 2010, which involved 24,825 participants.

The study revealed that individuals with the lowest carbohydrate intake had a 32 percent higher risk of all-cause death over an average of 6.4 years compared to participants with the highest carbohydrate consumption. In addition, risks of death from coronary heart disease increased by 51 percent, while the risk of death from cancer increased by 35 percent.

These findings were confirmed by a meta-analysis of seven cohort studies with a total of 447,506 participants. The studies had an average follow-up 15.6 years.

“Low carbohydrate diets might be useful in the short term to lose weight, lower blood pressure, and improve blood glucose control, but our study suggests that in the long-term they are linked with an increased risk of death from any cause, and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cancer,” said Professor Banach.

The researchers also investigated the link between all-cause mortality and low carbohydrate diets among obese and non-obese participants in two age groups: 55 years and older versus under 55 years old. The correlation was found to be the strongest among non-obese older individuals.

Professor Banach speculated that a higher intake of red and processed meat may be the mechanism that drives this relationship.

“The reduced intake of fibre and fruits and increased intake of animal protein, cholesterol, and saturated fat with these diets may play a role. Differences in minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals might also be involved.”

“Our study highlights an unfavourable association between low carbohydrate diets and total and cause-specific death, based on individual data and pooled results of previous studies. The findings suggest that low carbohydrate diets are unsafe and should not be recommended.”

The research was presented at the meeting <a href="https://www.escardio.org/portal/site/Escardio/menuitem.c9f480f01a3ca18798f54de7202031ca/?vgnextoid=3f7fec3be124d410VgnVCM1000004e03a8c0RCRD&amp;vgnextchannel=34d1d0ce97cbc410VgnVCM1000004e03a8c0RCRD&amp;vgnextfmt=default&amp;vgnextlocale=EN">ESC Congress 2018</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Low-carb diets linked to higher risk of premature death

A diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in...

On again-off again relationships may make for good television, but new research shows that partners should really consider the pros and cons before engaging in these often unhealthy relationship patterns.

A new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://missouri.edu/">the University of Missouri </a>and<a href="https://illinois.edu/"> the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a> shows that on-off relationship patterns are actually damaging to mental health and well-being and typically don’t <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/modern-relationships-asking-much/">benefit the relationship</a>. 

Published in the journal Family Relations, the study offers several tips for re-evaluating a relationship and communication effectively in order to either stabilize the relationship or safely end it.

Previous research has found that over 60 percent of adults have been involved in an on again-off again relationship at one point in their lives, with one of third of couples who lived together reporting that they broke up and got back together at least once in their relationship. 

Even though these relationship patterns are common, on-off relationships are more heavily associated with high rates of abuse and lower levels of commitment between couples. 

“Breaking up and getting back together is not always a bad omen for a couple,” said Kale Monk who led the study. “In fact, for some couples, breaking up can help partners realize the importance of their relationship, contributing to a healthier, more committed unions. On the other hand, partners who are routinely breaking up and getting back together could be negatively impacted by the pattern.”

For the study, the researchers reviewed data from more than 500 individuals in relationships. The couples in the study who reported breaking off their relationships and getting back together also had poorer quality relationships overall. 

The researchers found that on-off relationships correlated with an increase in depression and anxiety.

“The findings suggest that people who find themselves regularly breaking up and getting back together with their partners need to 'look under the hood' of their relationships to determine what's going on,” said Monk. “If partners are honest about the pattern, they can take the necessary steps to maintain their relationships or safely end them. This is vital for preserving their well-being.”

The researchers suggest that couples should be direct in their communication if they find themselves facing another on-off situation. In order to avoid future breakups or safely end the relationship, it's important to talk about the underlying issues that could be the cause for why couples break up. 

If the relationship is abusive or there was a pattern of violence, the researchers say that seeking outside support could help remove someone safely from a dangerous situation. 

For other couples who just find themselves continually breaking up and getting back together, the research shows that thinking about why getting back together is appealing could get couples to reassess the situation and find the best solution for both parties. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kyvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

On and off-again relationships can harm your mental health

On again-off again relationships may make for good television, but...

Adobe recently published their <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/2018-adobe-consumer-email-survey">fourth annual consumer email survey</a> and found what email phrases are the most irritating to office employees. 

Email use has only increased over the years with Adobe researchers finding that in the US, people check their inboxes for around two and half hours every day. 

It would seem we are hooked on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blue-light-smartphones-damages-eyes/">electronic communication</a> as it can be a quick and convenient way to share information with co-workers and get tasks done. 

However, the survey of over 1,000 white-collar workers found that there are some email subject headlines and phrases to avoid if you want to keep harmony in the office. 

The results include a list of the most hated email phrases with the number one most irritating being “not sure if you saw my last email.” 

25 percent of the survey respondents said that phrase was annoying followed by 13 percent who didn’t like seeing “Per my last email” pop up in their inbox. 

If you’re constantly checking your inbox and working to follow up on emails, that last thing you need is someone who constantly sends emails following up on emails previously sent. 

45 percent of the survey participants said that one of the worst email faux pas was sending too many emails. Another big agitator was seeing a name spelled incorrectly in the email.

The “annoying” list also included “please advise,” “as previously stated, and “any update on this?”

Like texting and other non-face to face forms of communication, tone in email is incredibly hard to convey and easy to misconstrue. 

If an email comes across as passive-aggressive, judgemental, or redundant, it can have a major impact on workplace productivity and morale. 

“Emotion and intent are sometimes hard to convey via email, so [some phrases] can negatively impact productivity and culture,” Kristin Naragon, Adobe's director of email solutions, told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/23/adobe-survey-these-are-the-9-most-annoying-email-phrases-of-2018.html">CNBC Make It</a>. “Your colleagues could choose not to respond out of frustration. This can damage relationships and ultimately, morale.”

Email is one of the most preferred forms of office communication and so surveys like this can help people improve communication and respond to the most pressing issues as they arise. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study reveals which email phrases annoy everyone

Adobe recently published their fourth annual consumer email survey and...

Hundreds of millions of years before the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-extinction-event-darkness/">K-T or K-Pg extinction</a> wiped out the dinosaurs, another massive extinction event, the largest in the history of the world, took place. 

The End-Permian Extinction occurred around 250 million years ago, jump-started by a volcanic eruption in Siberia. 

Nearly 90 percent of all life on Earth was destroyed in the aftermath leaving just a little less than five percent of the sea’s species and little vegetation, according to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/permian-extinction/">National Geographic.</a>

All life on Earth evolved from the few remaining species after the End-Permian which is also aptly called the Great Dying. 

While researchers know that a huge volcanic eruption was behind the extinction, a new study has provided insight into just how the eruption effectively wiped out most of life on Earth. Geologists call the eruption the Siberian Flood Basalts and it went on for nearly one million years. 

The new study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://ensg.univ-lorraine.fr/english/research/crpg/">Centre for Petrographic and Geochemical Research in Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy,</a> France and <a href="https://www.utk.edu/">University of Tennessee</a> professor Lawrence Taylor. 

The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Geoscience and help to explain what made the End-Permian Extinction so deadly. 

“The scale of this extinction was so incredible that scientists have often wondered what made the Siberian Flood Basalts so much more deadly than other similar eruptions,” said Michael Broadley, the lead author of the paper.

The researchers analyzed samples of mantle xenoliths provided by Taylor (who passed away in September). Mantle xenoliths are rock sections of the layers between the crust and mantle. During a volcanic explosion, the components of the lithosphere are brought to the surface. 

After examining the rock sections the researchers found that the lithosphere’s composition changed after the eruption. Before the Siberian Flood Basalts, the lithosphere below was packed with chlorine, bromine, and iodine. 

However, after the eruption, these elements were no longer present in the lithosphere. 

The researchers theorize that the elements, all part the of the halogen group, were expelled into the atmosphere during the eruption.

“We concluded that the large reservoir of halogens that was stored in the Siberian lithosphere was sent into the earth's atmosphere during the volcanic explosion, effectively destroying the ozone layer at the time and contributing to the mass extinction,” said Broadley. 

The study shows that the End-Permian extinction was so catastrophic because ozone eroding elements destroyed Earth’s protective defense against harmful UV radiation after the massive volcanic eruption. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Michael W. Broadley

The driving forces behind the largest extinction event ever

Hundreds of millions of years before the K-T or K-Pg...

A recent investigation has found that human-caused carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for the degradation of staple crops such as rice and wheat, which are becoming less nutritious. Over the next three decades, 175 million people could become zinc deficient and 122 million people could become protein deficient as a direct result of human activities. 

In addition, more than one billion women and children are at risk of losing a large amount of their dietary iron intake, increasing the threat of anemia and other diseases.

Study lead author Sam Myers is the principal research scientist at <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health</a>.

“Our research makes it clear that decisions we are making every day - how we heat our homes, what we eat, how we move around, what we choose to purchase--are making our food less nutritious and imperiling the health of other populations and future generations,” said Myers.

Currently, there are more than two billion members of the global population that are deficient in one or more nutrients. The majority of our key nutrients come from plants, including 63 percent of dietary protein, 81 percent of iron, and 68 percent of zinc.

It has been shown in previous research that higher levels of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-thawing-release-co2/">atmospheric CO2</a> lead to crop yields that are less nutritious, with concentrations of iron and protein that are up to 17 percent lower when crops are exposed to CO2 concentrations of 550 parts per million (ppm) during growth.

For the current study, the team set out to develop the most accurate analysis of the global health burden that could be caused by CO2-related nutrient shifts in crops across 151 countries.

The study showed that by the middle of this century, when atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected to reach around 550 ppm, roughly 175 million people could become deficient in zinc and 122 million people could become protein deficient. An additional 1.4 billion women and young children will be at risk of iron deficiency.

The researchers pointed out that billions of people that already live with nutritional deficiencies would experience worse conditions if crops became less nutritious.

“One thing this research illustrates is a core principle of the emerging field of planetary health,” said Myers. “We cannot disrupt most of the biophysical conditions to which we have adapted over millions of years without unanticipated impacts on our own health and wellbeing.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</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

Human activity could cause crops to become less nutritious

A recent investigation has found that human-caused carbon dioxide emissions...

A recent study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> reports that toddlers are aware that they are being judged much earlier than what was previously realized. The researchers discovered that, by the time toddlers are forming two-word sentences, they already care what others think of them.

“Our research suggests that by 24 months old, children understand that their behavior can be positively or negatively evaluated by others,” said lead author Sara Valencia Botto of <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a>.

In the past, researchers have documented this behavior among four and five-year-olds, but the results of the current investigation indicate that this level of awareness occurs much earlier.

The study was focused on 144 children between the ages of 14 and 24 months. In one experiment, the researchers showed a toddler how to use the buttons on a remote to operate a toy robot. The experts either watched the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kids-playing-indoors-outdoors/">child</a> with a neutral expression or turned away and pretended to read a magazine.

The children showed much more inhibition and embarrassment when hitting the buttons on the remote while they were being watched.

In a second experiment, the team added positive and negative feedback. This time, two remotes were used during the demonstration to the child. While using the first remote, the researcher smiled and said, “Wow! Isn't that great?” but when using the second remote frowned and said, “Uh-oh! Oops, oh no!” When the child took over the remote, the researcher either watched the child or looked down at the magazine.

“The children pressed the positive remote significantly more while being watched and used the negative remote more when not being watched,” said Botto. “This behavior is like older children who behave well and do good things while others are watching and misbehave when no one is paying attention.”

In a third experiment that was used as a control, the researcher reacted the same way to both remotes during the demonstration and alternated between observing the child or looking away. During this trial, the children no longer chose one remote over the other depending on the attention they were receiving.

“This shows us that in experiment two, the children were paying very close attention to the positive and negative reactions of the researcher before making a decision of which remote to use,” said Botto.

“Our concern for reputation is something that defines us as human. We spend resources on make-up and designer brands, are terrified to talk in front of an audience and conform to many of society's standards because we are concerned with how others will evaluate us.” 

“We believe our findings get us closer to comprehending when and how we become less or more sensitive to other people's evaluation, and it reinforces the idea that children are usually smarter than we might think.”

This study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/developmental-psychology.html">Developmental Psychology</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

Toddlers become self conscious by the age of 2

A recent study published by the American Psychological Association reports...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/">European Society of Cardiology</a> has investigated the health impact of listening to yoga music, which is a type of soothing or meditative music. The analysis revealed that exposure to yoga music at bedtime is good for the heart.


The study was conducted by Dr. Naresh Sen, who is a consultant cardiologist at HG SMS Hospital in Jaipur, India.

“We use music therapy in our hospital and in this study we showed that yoga music has a beneficial impact on heart rate variability before sleeping,” explained Dr. Sen.


Although previous studies have demonstrated that music can reduce anxiety among patients with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-moderation-heart-disease/">heart disease</a>, the impacts of music on healthy individuals have remained unclear. Research has produced inconsistent results, which is likely due to the fact that the type of music used was not a major focus.

Low heart rate variability is associated with a 32 to 45 percent higher risk of an individual's first cardiovascular event. Following an incident, people with low heart rate variability have an elevated risk of subsequent heart events and fatality. 

In the current study, heart rate variability was measured while participants listened to yoga music. The study involved 149 healthy individuals who engaged in three phases of the trial on different nights just before bedtime, including yoga music, pop music with steady beats, and no music.

Heart rate variability was measured for five minutes before the session, ten minutes during the session, and for five minutes after the music or silence session ended. In addition, anxiety levels were evaluated before and after each session based on the Goldberg Anxiety Scale.

The researchers found that heart rate variability increased during the yoga music, decreased during the pop music, and did not significantly change during the silence.

The study also revealed that anxiety levels dropped significantly after the yoga music, rose significantly after the pop music, and increased after the session with no music. Furthermore, the participants felt notably more positive after the yoga music than they felt after the pop music.

According to Dr. Sen, this type of therapy is not a replacement for evidence-based drugs and interventions, but could be used as a supplemental treatment.

“Science may have not always agreed, but Indians have long believed in the power of various therapies other than medicines as a mode of treatment for ailments,” said Dr. Sen. “This is a small study, and more research is needed on the cardiovascular effects of music interventions offered by a trained music therapist. But listening to soothing music before bedtime is a cheap and easy to implement therapy that cannot cause harm.”

The research was presented at the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/portal/site/Escardio/menuitem.c9f480f01a3ca18798f54de7202031ca/?vgnextoid=3f7fec3be124d410VgnVCM1000004e03a8c0RCRD&amp;vgnextchannel=34d1d0ce97cbc410VgnVCM1000004e03a8c0RCRD&amp;vgnextfmt=default&amp;vgnextlocale=EN">ESC Congress 2018</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

Yoga music at bedtime relieves anxiety and helps the heart

A new study from the European Society of Cardiology has...

As more states are legalizing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marijuana-industry-impacts-environment/">cannabis</a>, a rise in marijuana use among pregnant and breastfeeding women has been documented. Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics advise against marijuana use while breastfeeding, but data to detail the specific health concerns for infants is lacking.

Researchers at <a href="http://som.ucsd.edu/">University of California San Diego School of Medicine</a> set out to determine just how much marijuana can make its way into breast milk and how long it persists. The team found that traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound, remained in breast milk for up to six days after marijuana use.

The study was focused on 50 breast milk samples from women who had either used marijuana daily, weekly, or sporadically leading up to the trial. Overall, THC was detected in 63 percent of the breast milk samples for up to six days after the mother's last reported use.

“Pediatricians are often put into a challenging situation when a breastfeeding mother asks about the safety of marijuana use,” said study lead author Dr. Christina Chambers. “We don't have strong, published data to support advising against use of marijuana while breastfeeding, and if women feel they have to choose, we run the risk of them deciding to stop breastfeeding -- something we know is hugely beneficial for both mom and baby.”

The active compounds in marijuana such as THC bind to fat molecules, which are found abundantly in breast milk.

“We found that the amount of THC that the infant could potentially ingest from breast milk was relatively low, but we still don't know enough about the drug to say whether or not there is a concern for the infant at any dose, or if there is a safe dosing level,” said Dr. Chambers. “The ingredients in marijuana products that are available today are thought to be much more potent than products available 20 or 30 years ago.”

Dr. Chambers said that future research is needed to determine the long-term health effects associated with marijuana compounds in breast milk.

“Are there any differences in effects of marijuana in breast milk for a two-month-old versus a 12-month-old, and is it different if the mother smokes versus eats the cannabis? These are critical areas where we need answers as we continue to promote breast milk as the premium in nutrition for infants.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/">Pediatrics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

THC lingers in breast milk up to 6 days after marijuana use

As more states are legalizing cannabis, a rise in marijuana...

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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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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