What’s the secret to aging well? It might be curiosity. If you're the kind of person who enjoys learning new things, you're already on the right path.



Recent research shows that some types of curiosity not only persist into old age - they can actually grow stronger. This is important because it could help protect your brain.



Older adults who stay curious and actively seek knowledge - especially about things they care about - may lower their risk for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alzheimers-may-not-be-a-brain-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alzheimer’s disease</a>. On the other hand, losing interest in learning and becoming mentally disengaged could be a warning sign of future cognitive issues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-does-curiosity-decline-with-age">Does curiosity decline with age?</h2>



The insights come from a team of psychologists at <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCLA</a>, Western Carolina University, the University of Tübingen, and Kochi University of Technology. Their work challenges earlier studies that claimed curiosity steadily fades as we grow older.



“The psychology literature shows that oftentimes what's known as trait curiosity, or a person’s general level of curiosity, tends to decline with age,” said UCLA psychologist Alan Castel. 



“But we thought that was a little bit strange and went against some of the things we saw in some of the older adult participants in our experiments, who would often be very engaged and interested in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/secrets-of-learning-how-the-brain-stores-new-information/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">learning</a> about memory, specifically, but even other forms of trivia.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-kinds-of-curiosity">Two kinds of curiosity</h2>



To better understand how interest in learning changes across the lifespan, the researchers looked at two specific types: trait curiosity and state curiosity.



Trait curiosity is your overall tendency to be curious. It’s more like a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-linked-to-willingness-to-volunteer-or-donate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">personality trait</a> - something that stays relatively stable over time. Some people are naturally inquisitive about many things, while others are more content to take life as it comes.



State curiosity, by contrast, is the moment-to-moment interest you feel when something grabs your attention. It’s often tied to specific topics, hobbies, or experiences. 



Even people who don’t consider themselves naturally curious might light up when asked a question in their favorite area of interest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-curiosity-across-ages">Testing curiosity across ages</h2>



To test how curiosity works, the team asked over 1,000 participants aged 20 to 84 to complete an online questionnaire. This measured their level of trait curiosity. 



Then came the fun part. Participants were asked to guess answers to obscure trivia questions, like “What was the first country to give women the right to vote?” (It’s New Zealand, if you're wondering).



Before revealing the correct answers, participants rated how interested they were in learning the truth. This rated their state curiosity in the moment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-findings-about-curiosity">Surprising findings about curiosity</h2>



People with high trait curiosity usually showed high state curiosity, and vice versa. But when the researchers looked at how these two types of curiosity changed with age, an interesting pattern emerged.



Trait curiosity did tend to drop off as people got older. But state curiosity followed a different curve. It declined in early adulthood, hit a low around middle age, and then rose again steadily in older adults.



That might sound familiar. The researchers noted that this pattern mirrors other life trends - like how happiness tends to dip during middle age before climbing back up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-middle-age-slows-us-down">Why middle age slows us down</h2>



The drop in curiosity during midlife may not be a mystery. That phase of life is packed with responsibilities: raising children, building careers, paying mortgages. 



People focus their energy on achieving goals, which might leave less time for exploring new ideas. Once those obligations ease - after retirement, for example - people may feel freer to pursue personal interests and hobbies again.



“Our findings fit with some of my work on selectivity theory, which is that as we get older, we don’t want to stop learning, we’re just more selective about what we want to learn,” Castel said. 



“You see this in the context of lifelong learning: A lot of older adults will go back to take classes or pick up hobbies or engage in bird watching. I think it shows that this level of curiosity, if maintained, can really keep us sharp as we age.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-curiosity-keeps-the-brain-engaged">Curiosity keeps the brain engaged</h2>



There’s another reason curiosity matters as we age: It helps with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/memory-isnt-only-stored-in-our-brains-other-cells-can-remember-too/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">memory</a>. "As we get older, maybe we want to be focused on the things that are important, and we forget the things that are less relevant,” Castel said.



“Anecdotally, a lot of older adults I speak to say that it's important to stay curious. That fits with some of the research that shows that people who have early stages of dementia might show disinterest in things that they once enjoyed.”



In other words, curiosity may act like a filter, helping us pay more attention to meaningful information - and ignore what doesn’t matter. That selective focus could be a key strategy for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-reveal-how-much-sleep-you-need-for-successful-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">aging successfully</a>.



So if you’re always chasing answers, digging into facts, or asking questions, keep it up. Staying curious might just be one of the smartest things you can do for your brain.



The full study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0320600" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLOS One</a>.



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Curiosity might help you stay sharp as you age

What’s the secret to aging well? It might be curiosity. If you're the kind of person who enjoys learning new things, you're already on the right path. Recent research shows that some types of curiosity not only persist into old age - they can actually grow stronger. This is important because it could help protect your brain. Older adults who stay curious and actively seek knowledge - especially about things they care about - may lower their risk for Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, losing interest...

The digital age has gifted the world with life-changing technological advancements, allowing connectivity and communication on a global scale like never before. 

However, as much as our lives revolve around our online activity, a new study has found that being constantly “plugged in” to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/teens-phones-less-happy/">digital media</a> increases the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in teenagers. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.usc.edu/">University of Southern California</a> (USC) examined the mental health consequences of using social media, music and movie streaming, gaming, and other entertainment-related apps. 

The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and show that heavy digital media users are twice as likely to develop ADHD than teenagers who spend less time on their phones and tablets. 

Previous related research focused on TV or video games, and the researchers discovered that there was a lack of current studies that looked at digital media use. 

“What's new is that previous studies on this topic were done many years ago, when social media, mobile phones, tablets and mobile apps didn't exist,” said Adam Leventhal, an author of the study. “New, mobile technologies can provide fast, high-intensity stimulation accessible all day, which has increased digital media exposure far beyond what's been studied before.” 

4,100 students from 10 public high schools in Los Angeles County ages 15 and 16 were asked to participate in the study. Adolescents were chosen for the research because those are the ages that correspond both with the appearance of ADHD symptoms and more access to digital media. 

The researchers then removed those students who had been diagnosed with ADHD leaving 2,857 who were followed for a period of two years. 

The participants were asked how frequently they used 14 popular digital media platforms and the researchers sorted the students into no use, medium use, and high-use categories. 

After that, the researchers checked back with the students every six months between 2014 and 2016, specifically looking for developing ADHD symptoms. 

When the two years were up, the results showed that high users were more likely to develop ADHD. 

“We can't confirm causation from the study, but this was a statistically significant association,” said Leventhal. “We can say with confidence that teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future.”

According to a recent survey, teens spend almost nine hours a day online and the concerning results show that increased media use increases the risk of ADHD, a disorder that can impede development and ability to focus. 

“This study raises concern whether the proliferation of high-performance digital media technologies may be putting a new generation of youth at risk for ADHD,” said Leventhal. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Digital media use may increase risk of ADHD in teens

The digital age has gifted the world with life-changing technological...

In 2017, only 5.4 percent of Fortune 500 companies had female CEOs. Obviously, that is a disproportionately low number, but it also happens to be an all-time high in the United States. Now, a new study from <a href="https://www.fsu.edu/">Florida State University</a> has also found that women CEOs in America are paid less, have shorter tenures, and their companies are discriminated against in the stock market – even when the company is as profitable as those run by men. 

FSU professors Michael Holmes and Gang Wang – both business management experts – put together a massive study, spanning over two years, to assess the influence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gender-bias-lawyers-courtroom/">gender</a> on CEOs’ careers. They conducted a meta-analysis to examine the entire body of research on this topic over the last few decades, including 158 previous studies analyzing gender, companies’ hiring choices, and the impact of those decisions. 

The research project, published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/organizational-behavior-and-human-decision-processes">Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes</a>, identifies a variety of factors that hinder female CEOs and CEO candidates among corporate boards, managers, stock market investors, and across American culture. The study’s authors grouped these factors into two basic marketplace forces: demand-side and supply-side influences that combine to detract from a woman’s ability to land a CEO job.

Demand-side factors reduce demand for female CEOs by limiting the willingness of companies to hire women for the job. The hiring process for CEOs can be influenced by gender-role stereotypes, as the perceived traits of a good leader – like aggressiveness and risk-taking – are often seen as masculine traits. “Because of that bias, men have advantages obtaining and succeeding in leadership positions, while women leaders are more likely to be disliked and viewed as socially inept, due to the perceived role incongruity,” the authors note.

On the supply side, more women choose to leave the workplace for a number of reasons, including family changes, lack of career advancement, or even outright discrimination. The study also reports a bigger societal influence on hiring CEOs, where males are taught from childhood to display traits associated with leadership that are usually less common for women. “Females are more likely socialized to care for the home or be nurturing,” says Holmes. “Men start to develop characteristics that might help them become a CEO early in childhood, whereas fewer women do. That reduces the supply of female candidates for CEO jobs.”

The researchers also found a significant bias in the stock market against women CEOs. Using accounting metrics to compare companies with similar financial results, they found that firms run by women CEOs had worse stock performance than those run by men. 

“Women have come a long way in the workforce in terms of their overall numbers and acceptance, but when it comes to stock market investors evaluating a CEO and a company that they don’t know, I think investors may subconsciously discount that firm because the leader is female versus male,” Holmes says. “It seems when investors take an overall look at firms, biases creep in, and people may not even be aware of them.”

With these findings, the researchers believe the next step is for studies to find ways to reduce biases from both demand and supply-side influences. They currently suggest that young women pursue promotions early and often, as research shows that women who become CEOs are usually younger with fewer years of experience than men. 

“These women have earned their place at the top,” says Holmes. “But the data shows things are different for women – the workforce does not offer a level playing field. I hope when people read the research, they have some ‘aha’ moments with the findings, as well as the explanations. By showing these firms perform the same as companies led by male CEOs, let’s get beyond the idea that women can’t be good leaders. Clearly, they are good leaders. They often just aren’t rewarded equally.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study reveals significant bias against women in business

In 2017, only 5.4 percent of Fortune 500 companies had...

A new study has found that older children who abuse animals are much more likely to have been abused in early childhood. The researchers determined that this behavior is far less common among girls, and is a stronger indicator of child abuse compared to boys.

“Reports of girls abusing animals are less prevalent than boys, and there is some suggestion that girls who do report that they abuse animals are more likely to be part of a wider abuse,” wrote the researchers.

As many as 44 percent of children abuse animals at some point during their childhood, and the study authors explained that this may be a low estimate considering a lot of this abuse is not acknowledged or reported.

Animal abuse among younger children can often be a way of exploring their surroundings, but abuse by children over the age of ten is much more concerning because it may be the result of abuse within the family.

Previous studies have found that children are three times as likely to have been physically abused themselves when they are physically aggressive at five years old, while abusive behavior among 12-year-olds is linked to five times the likelihood of a history of abuse.

According to the study, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kids-behavioral-issues-parents/">children</a> who witness violence between their parents are around three times as likely to abuse animals.

The study authors pointed out that the term “animal abuse” is associated with a wide variety of motivations and behaviors.

“Differences of opinion exist on what constitutes abuse to an animal, and which animals should be included inside the definition,” they wrote. “For example, should it be restricted to just large vertebrate companion animals, such as dogs and cats, or include smaller animals, such as rodents or birds, or even insects.”

The experts concluded that additional research is needed to identify which types of animal abuse are more indicative of abuse within the family.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://adc.bmj.com/pages/">Archives of Disease in Childhood</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Kids who abuse animals are likely to have been abused themselves

A new study has found that older children who abuse...

Researchers have discovered that long before the development of agriculture, ancient hunter-gatherers harvested cereals to bake bread. 

A new study examined charred remains found in fireplaces in a 14,400-year-old Natufian hunter-gatherer site, called Shubayqa 1, located in the Black Desert in northeastern Jordan. It makes the earliest evidence of flatbread and bread baking found to date.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>, <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London </a>and the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge </a>conducted the study and the results suggest that baking bread from gathered cereals led to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-environmental-impact/">agricultural revolution </a>of the Neolithic period. 

What’s most notable about the ancient fireplaces is that the flatbread remains predate agriculture by 4,000 years. 

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“The presence of hundreds of charred food remains in the fireplaces from Shubayqa 1 is an exceptional find, and it has given us the chance to characterize 14,000-year-old food practices,” said Amaia Arranz Otaegui, the first author of the study. “The remains are very similar to unleavened flatbreads identified at several Neolithic and Roman sites in Europe and Turkey. So we now know that bread-like products were produced long before the development of farming.” 

The researchers analyzed 24 charred remains and found that hunter-gatherers in the Jordan site ground, sifted, and kneaded cereals similar to barley, einkorn, and oat before baking them into bread. 

The team examined the remains using electron microscopy. In order to better identify the remains, the researchers created a new set of criteria to differentiate flatbread, dough, and porridge in the archaeological record. 

It’s possible that given the presence of bread before farming, the desire for bread could have influenced the cultivation of cereals to make bread production easier, and according to Arranz Otaegui, that’s what the researchers plan to delve into next. 

“Indeed, it may be that the early and extremely time-consuming production of bread based on wild cereals may have been one of the key driving forces behind the later agricultural revolution where wild cereals were cultivated to provide more convenient sources of food,” said Tobias Richter, an archeologist who led the excavations. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

When did humans first start baking bread?

Researchers have discovered that long before the development of agriculture,...

Leaving the toilet seat up isn’t just a common annoyance in households the world over, it’s also unsanitary as it allows a cloud of bacteria from flushing to settle on surfaces in the bathroom. 

Charles Gerba, a microbiologist from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona, </a>explained to <a href="https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/flushing-the-toilet-with-the-lid-up-what-happens/">realtor.com</a> that the problems with leaving the seat up have to do with something called the aerosol effect.

“You get a good spray out of the toilet area,” Gerba said. “When droplets come out of the toilet, it looks like the Fourth of July.” 

After flushing, the force of the water flooding the toilet bowl can create a spray that splashes out of the bowl and with it a cloud of bacteria that can spread throughout the bathroom. 

The spray of bacteria can go as high as 10 inches above the toilet and remain in the air for an hour or more. 

According to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5949973/Do-leave-toilet-seat-flush-warned.html">Daily Mail</a>, this bacteria can then settle over the sink, bathtub, and walls. 

On average, a person flushes around six times a day adding up to 2,190 flushes a year. Unfortunately, given how much bacteria is eliminated through human waste, no matter how much you flush many of those germs stay behind. 

Leaving the seat up not only provides an outlet for that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-plastic-pollution-bacteria/">bacteria</a> to escape but it also increases the risk of flu and norovirus spreading to others. 

“It is a good idea to lower the seat, especially if the bathroom is used by multiple people,” Philip Tierno, a microbiologist previously told <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sai">Tech Insider.</a>

<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666014/">One study</a> conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.ouhsc.edu/">University of Oklahoma Health Science Center </a>examined whether the aerosol effect differed based on the type of toilet involved. 

The researchers tested aerosol generation from high-efficiency toilets, pressure-assisted high-efficiency toilets and tankless toilets that use a flushometer. 

While the results showed that low flow toilets create less of a cloud of bacteria, the aerosol effect is still present. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What happens when you don’t put the seat down before you flush

Leaving the toilet seat up isn’t just a common annoyance...

Adidas is taking another step toward the production of sustainable products, pledging to use only recycled plastic by the year 2024. The company has announced plans to eliminate the use of new plastic, also known as virgin plastic, and the transition is set to begin this year.

Adidas will ditch the use of virgin plastic in nearly every aspect of operations such as in its warehouses, retail stores, and offices. Recycled polyester will be used in clothing, footwear, and accessories. 

“We aim to use 100% recycled polyester in every product and on every application where a solution exists by 2024,” Adidas spokeswoman Maria Culp told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/">Financial Times</a>.

According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>, the German company’s commitment to becoming more eco-friendly will save an estimated 40 tons of plastic every year.

Two years ago, Adidas launched a sustainable footwear and clothing line in collaboration with <a href="http://www.parley.tv/">Parley for the Oceans</a>. The products are manufactured in part by using plastic that was cleaned up off of beaches and from coastal communities.

Adidas sold one million pairs of Parley shoes in 2017, and predicts that this number will rise to five million by the end of the year.

In September, McDonald's will replace <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/starbucks-plastic-straws/">plastic straws</a> with paper ones in all of its stores across the UK and Ireland. According to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news">BBC News</a>, 1. 8 million plastic straws are distributed in McDonald's across the UK every single day.


The Four Seasons, Hilton, and the Hyatt are also getting on board with the idea of using more environmentally-friendly products, pledging to ditch all plastic straws by the end of this year.

“Hilton has committed to removing plastic straws from all of its 650 managed hotels globally, which will save an estimated 35 million straws per year from potentially ending up in the ocean,” said a spokesperson for the company.

In the retail industry, Adidas is one of just a few major companies that has made a commitment to becoming more sustainable.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Adidas has committed to only use recycled plastic by 2024

Adidas is taking another step toward the production of sustainable...

The art of pottery is thousands of years old. Functional pottery refers to the use of clay to make vessels for food and water and is thought to date back to <a href="http://ceramics.org/learn-about-ceramics/history-of-ceramics">9,000 or 10,000 BC. </a>

A recent study examined some of earliest known pottery remains originating in Japan and discovered that functional ceramics increased as fishing became a central part of daily life towards the end of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ice-mummys-last-meal/">last Ice Age</a>. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/postgraduate-study/taught-postgrads/masters-courses/msc-biological-archaeology/">BioArCh at the University of York</a> studied 800 pottery vessels over three years and found that the pots were used to store and process fish ranging from salmon to shellfish. 

The ceramic remains date back to the Late Pleistocene when our early ancestors were still living in glacial conditions up to a post-glacial period which saw an influx of pottery production.  

Pottery continued to be used for fish even after climate warming, which provided new hunting opportunities leading previous studies to conclude that fishing decreased. 

“Our results demonstrate that pottery had a strong association with the processing of fish, irrespective of the ecological setting,” said Oliver Craig, leader of the study. “Contrary to expectations, this association remained stable even after the onset of warming, including in more southerly areas, where expanding forests provided new opportunities for hunting and gathering.”

The researchers conducted a series of chemical analyses on the ceramic remains and were able to identify food compounds and animal fats even though the pots had been buried for thousands of years. 

Charred surface deposits from the pottery revealed that the vessels were used to process and store a large range of freshwater and marine organisms. 

Until this study, researchers could only guess at the role the pots played in early hunter-gatherer daily life. 

“Thanks to the exceptional preservation of traces of animal fat, we now know that pottery changed from a rare and special object to an everyday tool for preparing fish,” said Alex Lucquin, the study’s lead author. “I think that our study not only reveals the subsistence of the ancient Jomon people of Japan but also its resilience to a dramatic change in climate.”

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The results shed new light on how our hunter-gatherer ancestors prepared and stored food and show how the role of pottery changed from art to function.

“We suggest this marks a significant change in the role of pottery of hunter-gatherers, corresponding massively increased volume of production, greater variation in forms and sizes and the onset of shellfish exploitation,” said Craig. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties

Pottery was originally developed to be used for fishing

The art of pottery is thousands of years old. Functional...

In as little as 15 years, thousands of fiber optic cables buried beneath large coastal cities like Seattle could soon be submerged under rising sea levels, threatening the internet and global communication. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> and the <a href="https://www.uoregon.edu/">University of Oregon</a> recently conducted a study, the first of its kind, that assessed how the internet would be impacted by climate change. 

A complex network of fiber optic cables, the physical internet, carries data to and from your computer in the blink of an eye. 

While marine cables transport data between continents, the major coastal hubs where many of our communications converge contain buried but not waterproof cables. 

As the threat of rising sea levels increases, it could spell disaster for these crucial fiber optic cables built without consideration to climate change 20 to 25 years ago. 

What’s more, the researchers led by Paul Barford, a professor of computer science and physical internet expert, found that thousands of miles of cables will likely be submerged much sooner than previously thought. 

“Most of the damage that's going to be done in the next 100 years will be done sooner than later,” said Barford, “That surprised us. The expectation was that we'd have 50 years to plan for it. We don't have 50 years.”

For the study, the researchers combined data from the Internet Atlas which is a global map of the physical internet infrastructure with sea-level rise projections from the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA). 

The results show that by 2033, 4,000 miles of buried cables will be underwater and a little over a thousand traffic hubs could be surrounded by water. New York, Miami, and Seattle along with other major coastal cities are most at risk. 

Not only could rising sea levels cost millions of dollars in damage and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-levels-double-coastal-flooding/">displace hundreds of thousands of residents</a>, this new study shows that it could potentially disrupt global communications. 

Major networks like CenturyLink, Inteliquent and AT&amp;T have a higher risk of being affected by rising sea levels according to the researchers. 

The researchers also examined mitigation strategies to prevent cables from being submerged but the effectiveness of these strategies is difficult to predict because there are so many unknown factors that need to be considered. 

“The first instinct will be to harden the infrastructure,” said Barford. “But keeping the sea at bay is hard. We can probably buy a little time, but in the long run it's just not going to be effective. This is a wake-up call. We need to be thinking about how to address this issue.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Rising sea levels could disrupt global communications

In as little as 15 years, thousands of fiber optic...

Officials in Britain are warning that the country could end up with an ineffective system for enforcing environmental standards after exiting the European Union, or “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brexit-impact-uk-food-agriculture/">Brexit</a>.” According to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news">BBC News</a>, a group that includes 74 Members of Parliament (MPs) wants a new Clean Air Act established.

The MPs suggest that promises made by Environment Secretary Michael Gove are not good enough without new legislation. The collective concerns of the assembly have been highlighted in a letter organized by British politician Geraint Davies, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Air Pollution.

“Mr Gove talks the talk very impressively. But assurances are worth nothing until they are enacted,” Davies told BBC News. “If there’s no deal, then the UK will be on a cliff edge in March. The government failed to meet existing standards, but it will no longer be able to be taken to court. It could easily pass the buck to local councils to transfer responsibility to them for tackling illegal air pollution.”


Concern over air pollution, in particular, was emphasized by Davies as he spoke to BBC News.

“VW were fined heavily in the USA,” said Davies. “But here, Michael Gove is saying it's better for them to invest the money designing better engines. That doesn’t wash with us.”

Secretary Gove has not yet responded to the letter, but a spokesperson for his office said in a statement: “The government has launched a consultation on our proposals to establish a new, independent, statutory body to hold government to account on environmental standards once we have left the European Union, and on a new policy statement on environmental principles to apply following EU Exit.”

Erik Solheim is the executive director of the UN’s Environment Program. He told the<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/observer"> Observer</a> that it is “incredibly important that the UK keeps the environmental standards it has had under the European Union.”

John Sauven is the executive director of Greenpeace UK. 

“Michael Gove promised a green Brexit, but as things stand his toothless watchdog would leave us with a weaker enforcement agency than Trump’s America,” Sauven told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us">The Guardian</a>.

“This intervention from the UN environment chief is a sign of growing concern and shows the world is watching. Nobody voted for a dirty Brexit that leaves our beaches, water and air quality worse off.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

British officials call for new clean air act before Brexit

Officials in Britain are warning that the country could end...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ottawaheart.ca/">University of Ottawa Heart Institute</a> have found that women have higher rates of death from heart failure than men. The study also revealed that hospitalization rates are declining among men, while women are being hospitalized for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loneliness-is-literally-bad-for-the-heart-doubles-mortality-risk/">heart failure</a> more often.

 “This is the first of a series of studies to examine the sex differences in heart failure incidence, outcomes, care delivery and access in Ontario,” said study co-author Dr. Louise Sun.


While recent research has suggested that heart failure rates have declined overall, the differences among genders was unclear. To investigate these differences, the research team examined data on more than 90,000 patients who were diagnosed with heart failure in Ontario between 2009 and 2014.


The analysis showed that 47 percent of all cases were among women who tended to be older and frail, had multiple chronic illnesses, and had lower incomes.


As far as new heart failure cases, the numbers were the lowest in 2011 and 2012 and then began to rise the following year. Within one year after diagnosis, 16.8 percent of female patients died from heart failure compared with 14.9 percent of male patients.

Over the five-year study period, hospitalization rates for women with heart failure surpassed rates for men. In 2013, 98 women per 1000 were hospitalized compared with 91 per 1000 men.

“We found that mortality from heart failure remains high, especially in women; that hospital admissions for heart failure decreased in men but increased in women; and that women and men had different associated comorbidities,” wrote the study authors. 

“Further studies should focus on sex differences in health-seeking behavior, medical therapy and response to therapy to improve outcomes in women.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/">Canadian Medical Association Journal</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mortality rates from heart failure are higher among women

Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have found...

More millennial women are reporting feeling depressed during pregnancy, and new research shows it may be due to the pace of modern life.

Younger women are 51 percent more likely to experience mental health challenges while pregnancy than previous generations did, researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> found, especially depression and anxiety. 

The scientists believe the change may be linked to the increased pressures of modern life and new technologies like social media.

“First, as compared with the 1990s, the proportion of mothers working has increased substantially, and inflexible work arrangements and work pressure are associated with greater depressive symptoms in mothers,” the scientists wrote in their study, published in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</a>. “Difficulties balancing work and home may be increasing, and this may be reflected by the increase of women reporting ‘things are getting too much’ compared with their mother's generation.”

The number of women who work during and after pregnancy has risen substantially since the 1990s, they noted. Many Millennials report difficulty balancing their work and home lives, and that pressure may be harder on women preparing for a new child.

The study first tracked more than 2,300 women during their pregnancies from 1990 to 1992, recording their general mental health. Between 2012 and 2016, the researchers followed up with 180 of their daughters as they experienced pregnancies of their own.

They found that about 17 percent of the first group of women suffered from anxiety or feeling depressed during pregnancy, while a full quarter of their daughters did.

The change mirrored a similar rise in rates of depression and anxiety among women who aren’t pregnant.

“Chronic stress, sleep deprivation, eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, and the fast pace of modern life may be contributing to an increasing prevalence of depression among young people generally,” the researchers wrote. “The impact of such changes may be amplified when a woman becomes pregnant.”

Among the second generation of women studied, those whose own mothers had experienced depression during pregnancy were more than three times more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression themselves, the researchers found.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Millennial women more often feel depressed during pregnancy

More millennial women are reporting feeling depressed during pregnancy, and...

Cardiovascular disease is taking a growing toll on India, especially among young adults and rural populations, a new national study has found.

Ischemic heart disease, which develops as arteries in the heart grow narrow, has increased rapidly among Indians from 30 to 69, with rural areas outpacing cities between 2000 to 2015, the researchers discovered. In northeastern India, rates of premature stroke deaths also rose to about three times the national average – though much of the country saw a decrease.

Dr. Prabhat Jha, who runs the Centre for Global Health Research at <a href="http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/">St. Michael’s Hospital</a> in Toronto, led the first-of-its-kind study of Indian health.

"The finding that cardiac disease rose nationally in India and that stroke rose in some states was surprising," Jha said. "This study also unearthed an important fact for prevention of death due to cardiovascular disease. Most deaths were among people with previously known cardiac disease, and at least half were not taking any regular medications."

Up until this study, most scientific research into cardiovascular disease in India has taken the form of small, local studies or modeling based on imprecise research. But cardiovascular disease is one of the major causes of death globally, especially ischemic heart disease and stroke. 

The researchers launched the study of India’s cardiovascular disease and death rates as part of the <a href="http://www.cghr.org/projects/million-death-study-project/">Million Death Study</a>, a global effort to examine causes of premature death.

Census takers with special medical training traveled throughout India, asking people about family members’ deaths and conducting “verbal autopsies” to determine the most likely causes.

"Making progress in fighting the leading cause of death in India is necessary for making progress at the global level," Jha said. "We demonstrated the unexpected patterns of heart attack and stroke deaths. Both conditions need research and action if the world is going to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing cardiovascular mortality by 2030."

The study has been published in <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30242-0/fulltext">The Lancet Global Health</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Study finds spike in cardiovascular disease in India

Cardiovascular disease is taking a growing toll on India, especially...

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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[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"

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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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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