Music often does more than entertain. It paints images in our minds, builds worlds, and stirs emotions we can’t always explain. A new study shows how even the tiniest human touches in sound can influence this inner world.



The findings from the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/music/our-research/cross-disciplinary-research/sydney-music-mind-and-body-lab.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sydney Music, Mind and Body Lab</a>, reveal how subtle shifts in rhythm and tone may fuel imagination in ways technology alone cannot replicate. 



These delicate imperfections - tiny fluctuations in timing or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-and-the-mind-new-clues-about-how-we-experience-pleasure/">volume</a> - can transform repetitive beats into living experiences, sparking imagery that feels real and immersive.



Rather than simply hearing structured sounds, listeners create journeys filled with color, movement, and narrative. The study suggests that the human quality of music holds unique power to trigger creativity and emotional depth. 



The research also shows why live performances, with all their small variations, can feel more moving than flawless recordings, and why imagination often thrives when music carries traces of human touch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-musical-shifts-big-mental-impact">Small musical shifts, big mental impact</h2>



Researchers asked 100 participants to imagine a journey while listening to repetitive drumming. Some heard <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-use-rhythmic-drumming-to-communicate-in-forests/">drumming</a> with random micro-variations in loudness and timing, while others heard perfectly uniform beats or silence.



Those who listened to music with micro-variations reported richer imagery, longer imagined journeys, and more lifelike scenes. 



They often described environments filled with movement, color, or emotion that felt authentic and dynamic, which suggests these subtle rhythmic details significantly influence how the brain constructs vivid inner experiences.



"What excites me is that these little details in music are something we can all feel, even if we don't always notice them consciously," said lead researcher Ceren Ayyildiz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-touch-makes-rhythm-alive">Human touch makes rhythm alive</h2>



The study, published in Scientific Reports, relied on computer simulations of drum <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-music-tunes-the-emotions-in-our-memories/">sounds</a>. Researchers created two versions: one with flawless uniformity and another with tiny, natural shifts mimicking human performance.



They then analyzed participants’ mental imagery responses with Bayesian multilevel modeling. The results showed that small fluctuations, often unconsciously introduced by performers, significantly enhance imagination.



These subtle imperfections did not distract listeners; instead, they added depth and texture to the soundscape, making the music feel more organic. Participants reported that the variations encouraged richer narratives, longer journeys, and greater immersion in imagined experiences.



This demonstrates that even the smallest rhythmic nuances can transform sound from a mechanical sequence into something that resonates with the human mind, shaping how people visualize and emotionally respond to music.



"It's not just technical perfection but the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-touch-molecular-basis-elkin1-discovery/">human touch</a> that makes music feel more alive and sparks the imagination," Ayyildiz said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-musical-skills-amplify-imagination">Musical skills amplify imagination</h2>



Listeners with musical training or strong immersion ability experienced even more vivid mental imagery. For them, micro-variations brought authenticity and richness missing from machine-perfect sounds.



"One possible explanation for this finding is that listeners may perceive drumming with tiny random changes - a core component of human music performance - as more natural and organic," said Ayyildiz.



The study highlights how human imperfections in rhythm bring authenticity and create a sense of connection.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-and-sound-variations-aid-therapy">Music and sound variations aid therapy</h2>



The insights also suggest therapeutic and practical applications. "Mental imagery already plays an important role in many cognitive therapies," said senior author Dr. Steffen Herff.



"Deliberately tailoring background music - for example through subtle changes in timing and loudness - could be used to either stimulate or dampen imagination depending on the specific therapeutic target," 



For audio engineers and producers, the study provides a new perspective. Micro-variations are already used in studio production as key aesthetic drivers in many forms of music including electronic dance music and hip-hop.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-expression-drives-connection">Human expression drives connection</h2>



For musicians, especially drummers, the findings emphasize the creative weight of subtle timing shifts. 



"This study demonstrates how the tiny details in rhythmic timing and expression can greatly alter our perceptions of music," said researcher Dr. Simon Barker.



"The relationship between micro-rhythmic variations and imagination, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/physicists-make-bold-claims-that-time-is-an-illusion-question-its-existence/">illusion</a>, and connection are at the core of the art of drumming, and this study is a lovely example of this central aspect of rhythmic expression and communication."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-s-power-comes-from-touch">Music’s power comes from touch</h2>



The study adds to a growing body of work exploring music’s role in imagination, connection, and even loneliness. 



Its message is clear: even in a world of machine-perfect precision, the smallest human variations breathe life into sound, reminding us of music’s timeless power to shape emotion, enrich creativity, strengthen bonds, and nurture a uniquely human sense of presence and belonging.



"Even tiny fluctuations can make music more meaningful," said Ayyildiz. "It's a reminder that the human feel still matters."



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/FEh_WfGeCTo?si=4ftg3JG20m5vyTxE
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Here, tiny fluctuations in timing and loudness introduce a human touch that breathes life into the rhythm - the kind of nuance shown to spark richer mental imagery. Credit: University of Sydney </figcaption></figure>



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-12604-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.&nbsp;



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Tiny human touches can make music sound more powerful

Music often does more than entertain. It paints images in our minds, builds worlds, and stirs emotions we can’t always explain. A new study shows how even the tiniest human touches in sound can influence this inner world. The findings from the Sydney Music, Mind and Body Lab, reveal how subtle shifts in rhythm and tone may fuel imagination in ways technology alone cannot replicate. These delicate imperfections - tiny fluctuations in timing or volume - can transform repetitive beats into living experiences, sparking imagery that feels...

Last-chance tourism just might be the gloomiest travel trend on the rise. This travel experience takes visitors to endangered and diminishing destinations to experience them firsthand before they might be gone forever. While last-chance tourists travel to these destinations to appreciate their beauty and value, they are, paradoxically, contributing to their demise.

Last-chance tourism, previously believed to be a small segment of the travel industry, was recently<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandratalty/2017/12/28/for-second-year-last-chance-tourism-named-top-travel-trend-for-2018/#b9b69c664bef"> voted</a> the top travel trend in 2018. With its increased popularity comes more travelers flying, driving and walking through these imperiled habitats.

Climate change is a major motivation for last-chance tourists and the most popular travel destinations are those that are at the highest risk, such as the Arctic and the Great Barrier Reef.

These fragile ecosystems are already in a precarious state. A<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0041-2"> paper</a> published in Nature this year found that almost one-third of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral was killed as a result of ocean temperature spikes in 2016. The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)</a><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/"> predicts</a> that Greenland has lost an average of 281 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016.

So why are tourists visiting these vulnerable habitats? A<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160922085356.htm"> 2016 study</a> set out to explore travelers’ motivations for visiting the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/great-barrier-reef-bounce-back/">Great Barrier Reef</a>. They found that just under 70% of respondents were “strongly motivated” to see the reef before it was gone. While the travelers displayed a high level of concern about climate change and coral bleaching, they expressed little concern on the impacts of tourism on the reef health.

"This finding was of interest, as it emphasises the paradox involved in LCT [last-chance tourism], in that tourists are travelling greater distances to view the destination that is in danger, contributing higher levels of emissions and thus exacerbating the impacts of climate change,” the authors note.

A similar sentiment<a href="http://www.livablecitiesforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Groulx_LCF-2016_Loving-a-place-to-death.compressed.pdf"> was found</a> in last-chance tourists traveling to Canada to visit the Arctic. Tourists visited the destination because of a desire to “capture a disappearing experience in a ‘pristine’ environment.”

A<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669580903215147"> 2010 study</a> that examined the carbon costs of polar bear viewing tourism in Churchill, Canada found that the industry contributed an estimated 20,892 t/CO2 each six-week season. The carbon costs can be even higher when many tourists are traveling from far distances. According to<a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/heres-how-much-co2-will-make-the-arctic-ice-free-20844"> Climate Central</a>, every round-trip transatlantic flight causes the planet to lose 30 square feet of Arctic sea ice. Polar bears are dependent on sea ice for a variety of activities such as hunting, traveling, searching for mates and raising their cubs. The IUCN Red List, which currently <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22823/14871490#threats">lists</a> the polar bear as Vulnerable, states that climate change is the single most important threat to the long-term persistence of the species.

While last-chance tourists generally seem concerned about climate change, there is a disconnect between their concerns and actions. Only 46% of the last-chance tourists studied in Churchill stated that they would be willing to pay a carbon travel tax to offset the environmental damage they have caused. Seven percent of the tourists had purchased carbon offsets when interviewed.

As climate change continues to accelerate, last-chance tourism will likely become more controversial. Critics of last-chance tourism claim that tourists visit the endangered destinations for self-serving reasons. Others may argue that tourism is justified if the damage is irreversible and the habitat will be lost regardless of tourist activity.

Either way, the grim idea of visiting parts of our world that may destroyed by climate change should help us grasp the gravity of the situation.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

"Last-chance tourism” lets visitors see endangered habitats at a cost

Last-chance tourism just might be the gloomiest travel trend on...

According to a new study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a>, positive childhood memories lead to better health later in life. Individuals who can look back on their early life with fondness, particularly those who had close bonds with their parents, have fewer chronic illnesses and less <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/unlimited-screen-time-depression/">depression</a> in older adulthood.

Dr. William J. Chopik from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> is the study's lead author.

“We know that memory plays a huge part in how we make sense of the world - how we organize our past experiences and how we judge how we should act in the future. As a result, there are a lot of different ways that our memories of the past can guide us,” said Dr. Chopik. “We found that good memories seem to have a positive effect on health and well-being, possibly through the ways that they reduce stress or help us maintain healthy choices in life.”


Dr. Chopin explained that an association was previously established between positive memories and good health in young adults, including a higher quality of personal relationships, lower incidence of substance abuse, less depression, and fewer health problems. The researchers wanted to investigate this relationship among older adults.

The team used data from two nationally representative surveys, with a total of more than 22,000 participants. The surveys included questions about perceptions of parental affection, overall health, chronic conditions, and symptoms of depression.

Participants in both groups who received higher levels of affection from their mothers in early childhood were found to have better physical health and fewer depressive symptoms later in life. Those who reported that they received more support from their fathers also experienced fewer depressive symptoms.

“The most surprising finding was that we thought the effects would fade over time because participants were trying to recall things that happened sometimes over 50 years ago,” said Dr. Chopin. “One might expect childhood memories to matter less and less over time, but these memories still predicted better physical and mental health when people were in middle age and older adulthood.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/hea/">Health Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A happy childhood leads to better health in adulthood, study finds

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

A new study from the <a href="https://med.uth.edu/">McGovern Medical School at UTHealth</a> in Houston, Texas found that consuming a single <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/energy-drinks-harmful-young-people/">energy drink</a> causes a notable weakening of blood vessel function in young, healthy adults.

To gather their findings, McGovern’s John Higgins, M.D., M.B.A., and colleagues, observed 44 healthy, non-smoking medical students in their 20s. The team monitored the students’ endothelial function, the endothelial being the thin membrane that lines the inside of the heart and blood vessels, before and after drinking a 24-ounce energy drink.

Ninety minutes after the energy drinks had been consumed, Higgins and his team looked at the students’ artery flow-mediated dilation, which is the process of checking blood vessel health via ultrasound. They noted that vessel dilation had dropped to 2.8% in diameter post-energy drink from about 5.1%. This suggests that the energy drink caused massive blood vessel impairment. 

“As energy drinks are becoming more and more popular, it is important to study the effects of these drinks on those who frequently drink them and better determine what, if any, is a safe consumption pattern,” Higgins and his colleagues stated. They believe the drink had such a major negative impact due to its contents — caffeine, taurine, and sugar.

This study dives deeper into the investigation of energy drinks’ impact on the cardiovascular system as a whole. The evidence proving energy drinks directly affect blood vessel function puts researchers one step closer to pinpointing exactly where and how energy drinks affect a person’s heart.

These findings will be presented at the <a href="https://professional.heart.org/professional/EducationMeetings/MeetingsLiveCME/ScientificSessions/UCM_316900_Scientific-Sessions.jsp">American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2018</a> in Chicago, which kicks off on November 10th.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A single energy drink can harm blood vessel function

A new study from the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth...

Cigarette <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/genetic-mutation-quit-smoking/">smoking</a> is on the decline in the United States, and researchers have been quantifying the health benefits of quitting. However, new research from the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a> has revealed that it takes more than 15 years for former smokers to reduce their cardiovascular disease risk to the level of those who never smoked.

Previous studies have concluded that the increased risk for cardiovascular disease among smokers diminishes just a few years after quitting. However, those studies did not account as accurately for the history of the smokers, including variations in the number of cigarettes smoked per day, or quitting followed by a relapse.

For the current investigation, the researchers obtained detailed information from 8,700 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, including lifetime smoking history. The individuals were all free of cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. 

The participants were followed up on an average of 27 years later, when cardiovascular disease risk was compared among current, former, and non-smokers. 

The study revealed that former smokers who had quit within the last five years reduced their cardiovascular disease risk by 38 percent compared to those who continued to smoke. In addition, the experts found that the risk of cardiovascular disease among former smokers did not return to the level of non-smokers for 16 years.


The researchers also determined that more than 70 percent of cardiovascular disease events in current or former smokers occurred among those who smoked at least one pack a day for 20 years.


Study co-author Meredith Duncan is a Ph.D. student at <a href="https://ww2.mc.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University Medical Center</a> in Nashville, Tennessee.

“These findings underscore the benefits of quitting smoking within five years, which is 38 percent lower risk of a heart attack, stroke, or other forms of cardiovascular disease risk compared to people who continue to smoke,” said Duncan. “We also found that cardiovascular disease risk remains elevated for up to 16 years for former smokers compared to people who have never smoked. The bottom line is if you smoke, now is a very good time to quit.”

The research will be presented in Chicago at the <a href="https://professional.heart.org/professional/EducationMeetings/MeetingsLiveCME/ScientificSessions/UCM_316900_Scientific-Sessions.jsp">American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2018</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Smokers must quit for 16 years to level out cardiovascular risk

Cigarette smoking is on the decline in the United States,...

Have you ever heard new parents gushing over their smiling babies, only for someone to point out that babies don’t really smile?

That’s not quite true, according expert Dr. Emese Nagy, a psychology reader at the <a href="https://www.dundee.ac.uk/">University of Dundee</a>. 

“There have long been signs that newborn smiles could signal positive emotions to some extent,” Nagy wrote for <a href="http://theconversation.com/au">The Conversation</a>. “Smiles have been noted in the first few days of life as a response to stroking of the cheek or the belly. Newborns also smile in response to sweet tastes and smells.”

Until the second half of the 20th century, scientists thought of babies as mainly “reflexive” beings, she explained. They believed babies didn’t feel or express emotions the same way they would as they aged, and that infants didn’t really have the social experience to interact with their parents or other adults. 

Some doctors even thought babies didn’t feel or process pain the same way older humans did. Smiling babies were just responding to muscle twitches or a dirty diaper.

But data collected over the past couple of decades is showing how mistaken those beliefs were.

As early as 1872, Nagy said, Charles Darwin described his own children offering what seemed to be “real” smiles at only 45 days old. 

“My own research has replicated these observations,” she said. “When we asked 957 parents to observe and record smiling in their children for a study, they reported the first 'social smiles' of their babies just after four weeks on average.”

How to tell socially smiling babies from those making random expressions? A social smile follows eye contact from the baby in question. A 1959 study Nagy cited found that few babies social smiled in the first two weeks.

“About 60 percent had socially smiled by three weeks, and almost all of them had socially smiled within the first month,” she said.

Part of the reason smiling babies were believed to simply be reacting rather and actually smiling is because it was difficult to observe cheek and eye movement when they grinned. “Real” smiles affect the eyes as well.

“However, when scientists micro-analysed facial movements, frame by frame, using a dedicated coding system, smiles from as early as one day of age were more often than not accompanied by cheek and eye movements,” Nagy said.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Smiling babies are responding to their parents, expert says

Have you ever heard new parents gushing over their smiling...

No need to feel guilty when you snack on "junk food" like fish sticks – at least, not on the environmental front. They’re surprisingly sustainable, according to a new study by the <a href="https://www.mcsuk.org/">Marine Conservation Society</a>.

The society has released a “Good Fish Finger Guide” on its website to help people choose snacks with the lowest negative impact on marine life.

“Consumers may not be aware that the majority of fish in retail own brand and branded fish fingers actually comes from sustainable sources,” said Rajina Gurung, a sustainable seafood advocate with MCS. “Some saver brands even turned out to be the most sustainable, showing that you do not have to pay a fortune for sustainability.”

Gurung and colleagues analyzed 48 different brands of fish sticks – called fish fingers in the UK – to determine what kinds of fish they use and where they get their supplies. 

They found that the fish sticks contained one or more of just four species: Atlantic cod, Pacific cod, haddock and Alaska pollock. The majority got their fish ingredients from sustainable sources, the study found.

So why don’t more customers know that? The problem is one of labeling, Gurung said.

Forty percent of the fish sticks brands didn’t have a credible eco-label, and only 19 percent included enough details for buyers to know where and how their fish ingredients were caught. But with a little digging, it wasn’t hard for Gurung and her team to find out more about their fish supplies.

“By and large most of the supermarkets and brands we were in contact with were forthcoming with providing the information regarding the origins of the fish within their fish fingers. We’re now considering focusing on other processed products that are available through retail or food service outlets,” she said. 

To find out more, visit the <a href="https://www.mcsuk.org/responsible-seafood/fish-finger-guide">Good Fish Finger Guide</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Save the oceans – eat more fish sticks

No need to feel guilty when you snack on "junk...

Instant soups and noodle cups may seem like a convenient, easy and quick meal option. However, a new study shows that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/limited-screen-cognitive-ability-kids/">children</a> are highly susceptible to painful scald burns while preparing or eating instant microwaveable soup products. 

Researchers from <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> conducted a study examining severe scald burns in children and found that instant soups and noodle products cause at least 2 out of every 10 scald burns that require emergency treatment. 

The researchers will present their work at the <a href="https://www.aap.org/">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> 2019 national Conference and Exhibition. 

“Scald burns are a major cause of preventable injury among children, and our research found that instant soup spills are responsible for a large number of these painful burns,” said Courtney Allen, the lead author of the study. 

Previous studies have found that 100,000 children sustain scald burns from spilled food and beverages in the US every year, and the researchers wanted to find out exactly how many of those scald burns were the result of microwavable soups. 

Allen and colleagues reviewed scald burn cases in patients ages four to twelve between 2006 and 2016 using data from the <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Research--Statistics/NEISS-Injury-Data">National Electronic Injury Surveillance System Database</a>. 

The researchers filtered out scalding burns caused by spills from instant soup which was defined as any instant soup product such as instant noodles, a cup of soup, or water for making soups. 

The researches also grouped together burn locations based on regions like the face, trunk, or lower extremity. 

Over 9,500 children every year sustain scald burns from instant soup products. 

The torso was the most common area of the body for burns, and the average age for soup spill injuries was seven during the years included in the study. 

These results call for better packaging from instant soup manufacturers to help decrease the risk of spills and products tipping over. 

“Instant soups and noodles in prepackaged cups and bowls may seem simple to prepare just by adding water and microwaving them,” said Allen. “But once they're heated up they become a dangerous burn risk. Caregivers need to closely supervise younger children who might otherwise get hurt if cooking for themselves.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A concerning number of kids get scald burns from microwavable soups

Instant soups and noodle cups may seem like a convenient,...

According to new research, children who are exposed to emotional or physical violence early in life age faster compared to their peers. On the other hand, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/children-breathe-toxic-air/">children</a> exposed to adversity involving deprivation such as neglect and food insecurity age more slowly.

Study senior author Dr. Katie McLaughlin completed the study while at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>.

“The findings demonstrate that different types of early-life adversity can have different consequences for children's development,” said Dr. McLaughlin.

Prior studies have linked poor physical and mental health outcomes from early life adversity to accelerated development. The current study, however, demonstrates that violence and deprivation have different effects on childhood development.

Among children who experienced violence in early life, accelerated epigenetic aging was associated with increased symptoms of depression. This indicates that faster biological aging may be one way that early life adversity “gets under the skin” to contribute to later health problems, according to the study authors.

The investigation was focused on 247 children and adolescents between 8 and 16 years old. Dr. McLaughlin explained that accelerated aging following exposure to violence was already detectable in children as young as 8 years old.

“With each new study, it seems that our appreciation grows of the enormous and persisting impact of early life exposure to violence,” said Dr. John Krystal. “This new knowledge calls for increased societal investment in reducing the exposure of children to violence and for biomedical and psychological research to reduce the impact of these experiences throughout the lives of these vulnerable individuals.”

While it is not yet known if accelerated epigenetic aging can be reversed, the association between aging and symptoms of depression may offer a way for doctors to identify children who need help. 

“Accelerated epigenetic age and pubertal stage could be used to identify youth who are developing faster than expected given their chronological age and who might benefit from intervention,” said Dr. McLaughlin. “Pubertal stage is an especially useful marker because it is easy and inexpensive to assess by healthcare providers, and could be used to identify youth who may need more intensive health services.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/">Biological Psychiatry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Kids exposed to violence literally grow up faster, study shows

According to new research, children who are exposed to emotional...

It’s that time of year again when we “fall backward” and set the clocks back one hour in observance of Daylight Saving Time. But it once again prompts the ongoing debate of whether Daylight Saving Time is still necessary or if it is a dated, archaic experiment.

In the spring of 2014, a friend and I ambitiously packed up her Hyundai Elantra to the gills and headed out on the road trip of a lifetime to Skagway, Alaska. 

We had been hired to work in Skagway for the summer, and it seemed like a good idea to drive through Canada via the Alaska Canada highway. The drive was a harrowing one, as I can tell you that little Hyundais are no match for the wild, winding, snow-covered mountain roads of the Yukon. 

And yet, that’s the not the only ordeal that comes to mind when I think about that long trek through the Canadian provinces. The trip also reminded me what a nuisance daylight saving time truly is. 

Crossing multiple time zones in a day is hard enough, but the final straw was constantly trying to remember if the area we were in adhered to daylight saving time or not.  Both the United States and Canada have regions without daylight saving, and it begs the question, is it time to do away with the practice altogether? 

As much as my trip across Canada may have been rife with time checking confusion, this was nothing compared to the utter madness before the Uniform Time Act of 1966 when states had more freedom in deciding their own rules when it came to daylight saving. 

The Uniform Time Act quickly put a stop to the chaos and implemented the time zones as we know them today, Atlantic, Eastern, Central, mountain, Pacific, Hawaii–Aleutian, Samoa, and Chamorro, according to the <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/time-act">US Department of Transportation.</a>

Time zones themselves have a fascinating history, but this article is about daylight saving which was first introduced as a concept by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. 

His comments on the idea that people could save time and money by getting up earlier are thought to be largely a jest, but Franklin was a frugal mann and there was more than a kernel of truth to his words. 

Franklin holds the honor of first introducing the notion of daylight saving time, but it was <a href="https://www.livescience.com/11069-started-daylight-saving-time.html">William Willett</a> who is credited with first inventing the idea of moving the clocks forward and back to “save” daylight. 

Willet published a brochure in 1907 called the “The Waste of Daylight,” but it still wasn’t practiced by any country until Germany first implemented daylight saving time to save electricity during World War I.

It was World War I that spurred many countries, the US included, to make daylight saving time a reality. 

Today, daylight saving time has few friends, while many are vehemently opposed and some who suggest we do away with it altogether. 

It may be worthwhile to take a minute to consider the pros and cons of daylight saving time and see how a practice first introduced as an energy saving war effort actually impacts health and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/green-energy-create-jobs-coal/">energy</a> consumption today. 

From a public health standpoint, daylight saving has been shown to have many adverse effects during the first few days that the clocks change. 

Research has shown that workplace productivity decreases on the days following daylight saving time. Studies have also reported an increase in traffic accidents, heart attacks, and workplace injuries. 

Daylight saving time, particularly when people have to “spring forward” and lose an hour of sleep, can leave people feeling groggy and even jet-lagged. 

<a href="https://www.sleep-journal.com/article/S1389-9457%2808%2900318-3/abstract">One study</a> found that daylight saving time is particularly hard for adolescents who are more active in the evenings and the schedule change impacts school performance. In fact, the researchers of the study suggest that teachers avoid giving tests during the first week after the time change. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.uab.edu/news/health/item/2141-heart-attacks-rise-following-daylight-saving-time">University of Alabama at Birmingham</a> discovered that turning the clocks ahead in March correlated with a ten percent increase in heart attacks. 

A <a href="https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1440">2016 study</a> found that that there was an eight percent increase in the rate of ischemic strokes during the first two days following daylight saving time. 

“Previous studies have shown that disruptions in a person’s circadian rhythm, also called an internal body clock, increase the risk of ischemic stroke, so we wanted to find out if daylight saving time was putting people at risk,” said Jori Ruuskanen, an author of the 2016 study. 

The stress that daylight saving time puts on our internal clock can also leave people feeling jet-lagged and out of sorts because circadian rhythms so finely tune our sleep and wake schedules. 

If you physically shift time, that’s going to disrupt a person’s internal clock which is what causes many of the adverse health effects associated with daylight saving time. 

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457503000150">One study</a> found that traffic fatalities and pedestrian traffic accidents would decrease by three percent if daylight saving time was all year long and some advocates that argue that daylight saving time should be continuous or done away with altogether. 

It’s important to remember when looking at these studies that the negative effects of daylight saving time are not permanent and only last while people adjust to the change. There also may be underlying factors not considered by the researchers. 

So let’s set the health effects aside for a minute and talk about the main event, the driving force behind daylight saving time: saving energy. 

In theory, daylight saving has a lot of merits. By adjusting the clocks to maximize natural sunlight and allow people to take advantage of as much natural light in the evenings as possible, not only could it be beneficial to well being, but also save energy. 

More natural light in the early evenings equals less demand for electricity, or at least that was the general gist of why daylight saving was even suggested in the first place. 

But do we actually save energy today?

<a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/REST_a_00131">One study</a> saw a unique opportunity in examining energy consumption in Indiana. Many counties in Indiana didn’t observe daylight saving before 2006, and so researchers from Yale and the University of California, Santa Barbara were able to compare energy consumption before and after daylight saving was implemented in Indiana. 

The study shows that electricity demand actually increased after 2006 for much of Indiana, translating to an estimated nine million per year in increased electricity bills as well as an increase in pollution. 

Even if there is little proof that daylight saving helps conserve energy there, are still people who are adamantly for the practice. 

Fans of daylight saving time will quickly point out that what we lose in a few days is nothing compared to the gains that daylight saving time provides over an eight-month period. 

Dan Falk wrote <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/77000/defense-daylight-saving-time">an article</a> for Mental Floss discussing the merits of daylight saving time and why it deserves more credit than we give it. 

One of the points Falk makes is that if we do away with daylight saving time, we must either switch to a Universal Standard Time or have daylight saving all year round. 

“If we stay on Standard Time year round, much of that extra summer daylight, divided equally between morning and evening, goes to waste,” Falk writes. “Do we really need four and a half hours of daylight before most of us start the work day, in June? Surely that light is more valuable to us in the evenings, when we’re finished work or school and (in theory, at least) can do as we please.”

However, daylight saving all year round would make winter mornings miserable Falk also argues. 

I belong to the “get rid of it altogether” camp when it comes to daylight saving time, as much as I enjoy getting an extra hour of sleep in November. 

While myself and many others would love to see daylight saving abolished, I admit that I don’t have a good solution for what to do instead. 

Our time zones are so intricately woven into everyday life from international travel to determining online bank transactions that “doing away with it” can’t be an option without fully considering how either Universal Standard Time or constant daylight saving time would affect our biological clocks, the world’s time zones, and the economy. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Is daylight saving time really still necessary?

It’s that time of year again when we “fall backward”...

Most kids can’t tell the difference between real guns and toy guns. A recent survey of parents and caregivers, some of whom were firearm owners, found that most were confident their children could distinguish between a real gun and a toy gun. The majority of children surveyed were certain they could recognize the difference as well. However, when shown side-by-side photographs, only 41 percent of children between the ages of 7 and 17 correctly identified real and fake <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gun-owners-store-guns/">firearms</a>.


Dr. Kiesha Fraser Doh is an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at <a href="http://med.emory.edu/">Emory University School of Medicine</a>.

“One of the most dramatic findings was how easily caregivers and children can confuse real guns with today's realistic-looking toy guns,” said Dr. Doh. “Especially considering gun owners surveyed were nearly twice as likely as non-gun owners to let their children play with toy guns, safe storage of firearms in homes where children play is critical.”

The investigation was focused on 297 caregiver-child pairs visiting one of three pediatric emergency departments in the southeastern United States. 

Overall, 25 percent of respondents were gun owners. These participants were more likely to be white, have an annual income of greater than $50,000, and to have some college education compared with non-gun owners. Furthermore, gun owners were more likely to let their children play with toy guns.

The caregivers were also asked how easily they thought their child could access a real gun, and only five percent believed their child could obtain a gun within 24 hours. By contrast, 14 percent of the children whose caregivers owned guns and four percent of the children whose caregivers did not own guns said they could access a gun within one day.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that guns should be locked up, unloaded, and stored separately from ammunition, yet less than 34 percent of firearms owners were found to comply with these recommendations. In addition, among children who reported having a gun in the home, 53 percent knew where the firearm was stored and 45 percent knew where ammunition was stored.

Dr. Doh will present the research on Monday, November 5, at the <a href="https://aapexperience.org/">American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2018 National Conference &amp; Exhibition</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most kids can’t tell the difference between real guns and toy guns

Most kids can’t tell the difference between real guns and...

When we think of important resources, especially natural resources, we usually think of things like oil and natural gas. Less likely to garner as much attention are plants like sugar beets or the rubber tree but these indeed are resources, agricultural and natural.  

These resources are important ones too.  Imagine a world without rubber. No tires, no rubber bands.  What would we use to make gaskets or hair bands? Imagine likewise a diet without <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/that-sugar-film-sugar-consumption/">sugar</a>.  No soda, no desert. No sweet and sour pork. Both rubber trees and sugar whether from cane or beets make up important parts of modern life.  Latex rubber especially ties us to the tropical regions of the world. 

In his book One River, Wade Davis discusses the importance of latex, especially around the time of World War II.  Rubber was absolutely essential to the Allies’ war effort. Rubber made up tires on trucks and planes.  

Rubber is more important than commonly thought to everyday life as well as war.  Consider that the US created <a href="https://www.explainthatstuff.com/rubber.html">270 million tons</a> of rubber waste from tires in 2011.  Rain gear, insulation for wires and the soles of boots all use rubber.  One River explores the omnipresence in rubber on vehicles used during World War II:

“Each one of the battleships sunk at Pearl had more than twenty thousand rubber parts, more than one hundred sixty thousand pounds all told.  Every hose on every ship, every valve and seal, every tire on every truck and plane we ship to the Russians…”

The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) has a unique natural history, making it difficult to grow in plantations.  The Olmec used rubber to make things like balls as long as 3,600 years ago, but it was the discovery of vulcanization, a process which makes rubber more durable, that kicked off a rubber boom in South America.  

The rubber tree is native only to the tropics of the Americas and succumbs to blight if too many trees are grown in close proximity of each other in Latin America.  This quirk dictated the realities of much of the early rubber industry. Rubber tappers took to the rainforest, hiking trails to each tree in succession to tap several in turn.  Because the trees were spaced far apart in the forest, long hours were required to obtain raw latex. 

Labor costs cut into the profit margins of rubber businesses and many of the so called ‘rubber barons’ turned to the natives for slave labor, creating a hell that left scars to this day on the cultural landscape of South America.  Places like Manaus Brazil and Iquitos Peru became extravagantly wealthy with many luxuries contrasting their place as remote jungle towns. Soon, agents of the British empire illegally smuggled rubber tree seeds out of South America and plantations were started in British India, breaking South America’s rubber monopoly.  

For a time rubber plantations in Asia out-competed wild rubber tapping in South America and the rubber businesses died, leaving behind the ghosts of their horrible practice.  With the start of World War II, Japan made rubber supplies from Asia increasingly unreliable to the Allies. Rubber was once again taken from South America for a short time. The US started experimental rubber plantations in Costa Rica with blight resistant tree stock.  Eventually the plantations were shut down largely due to political bickering. 

Today, the vast majority of the world’s rubber still comes from southeast Asia.  The top four rubber producing countries in the world are Thailand, Indonesia, China and India.  Rubber is not the only plant to play an important role in international relationships and war, though.  Sugar is more important than it first seems as well. 

Until relatively recently, Cuba dominated the international sugar industry.  According to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba/Sugarcane-and-the-growth-of-slavery">Britannica</a>, by 1850, sugar made up four-fifths of Cuba’s global exports, and in 1860 the island produced almost one third of the world’s sugar.  As with the rubber trade in South America and the cotton plantations of the US south, sugar in Cuba fueled the slave trade and huge amounts of inequality among Cubans.  Cuba’s economy also became increasingly dependent upon sugar and tied to its global market. 

In his book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XPFzV9VRFuEC&amp;q=sugar#v=snippet&amp;q=Cuba%20sugar&amp;f=false">Open Veins of Latin America</a>, Eduardo Galeano tells how the US utilized the weakness of Cuba and its dependence on one crop for wealth.  In 1921, the price of sugar dropped radically from $.22 per pound to $.04 a pound. The drop in prices was a tragedy for Cuba but the US came to their aid with credit of $50 million, though the economy of Cuba has never quite recovered.  

The place of the US in Cuba was cemented for a time with this loan but interference stretched back to the US involvement in Cuba’s fight for independence and the following US military occupation of the newly independent Cuba.  In essence, the sugar industry of Cuba was created to fuel Spain and by being allied with the US, Cuba became entrapped in a sort of dependence on the US, a nation addicted to sugar. Galeano goes on to note that by 1948, Cuba supplied one third of the US’ sugar but received much lower prices than US sugar growers.  Sugar grown outside the tropics was only possible through new technology.

The development of another type of sugar has allowed the United States (and other countries) to dictate the terms of trade with Cuba, leaving the island nation mired in poverty.  Traditionally sugar comes from sugar cane, a large grass in the genus Saccharum; a treat that many who’ve visited the tropics may have bought on the street to munch raw and sticky making the eater look like a panda with bamboo.  In 2009, sugar from beets accounted for 20% of the world’s sugar, with United States, Europe and Turkey being the top global producers of sugar, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet">Wikipedia</a>.  In 1747, Andreas Marggraf, a German chemist demonstrated that sugar could be extracted from beets, a discovery coming after sugar cane plantations were already established in Cuba.

<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/191975/sugarcane-production-in-the-us-by-state/">Statista</a> reports that between 2016 and 2017, the US produced 8.5 million metric tons of sugar.  The USDA reports that sugar cane accounts for 40 to 45% of US sugar production and sugar beets supply 55 to 60% of US sugar production.  Clearly beets are important. 

Beets and US sugar cane allowed the US to treat Cuba as their plantation colony and then cast them off when they became politically hard to deal with.  The wealth produced by sugar growers in Cuba also ended up in US pockets often enough. Open Veins of Latin America reports that at one point, 13 US sugar producers owned as much as 47% of the land planted with Cuban sugar cane.  Plantations of rubber in Asia allowed Europe and North America to accumulate their own wealth at the cost of rubber barons in South America.  

The story is the same as with any resource, controlling the resource means gathering the wealth.  The chemistry of sugar from beets, the clandestine planting of rubber trees in Asia and the eventual invention of synthetic rubber are all tied to the wealth of nations.  There’s talk about wealth from oil and the empires built on it but plants can be the basis of wealth just as easily. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Plants and power: The importance of rubber and sugar

When we think of important resources, especially natural resources, we...

According to a new study from researchers at <a href="https://scottishritehospital.org/">Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children</a>, young athletes who have poor sleep quality after sustaining a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/youth-football-head-impacts/">concussion</a> may need more than 30 days to heal their brain injury, whereas athletes with good sleep quality may only need two weeks to make a full recovery.

To obtain their findings, researchers analyzed 356 young athlete concussions cases from four different outpatient concussion treatment clinics in the north Texas area between October 2015 and June 2017. In all 356 cases, concussed patients were under the age of 19 and involved in sports.

Researchers asked each concussed young athlete to fill out a questionnaire pertaining to their sleep habits and quality. The questionnaire results clearly showed that those who had better sleep quality often healed much quicker than their counterparts.

Jane S. Chung, MD, FAAP, the primary author of the abstract and a sports medicine physician at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, said, "The importance of good sleep quality is often underestimated in young athletes. Sleep is not only important for physical, mental, and cognitive well-being, but also seems to play a pivotal role in the recovery of the brain following a sport-related concussion."

Furthermore, Chung and her team found that 73% of the athletes surveyed had good sleep quality whereas 27% had poor sleep quality. They also found that girls exhibited worse sleep quality post-concussion more often than boys.

Overall, those with poor sleep quality reported two times greater symptom severity at their first clinic appointment and three times greater symptom severity at their 3-month-follow up appointment.

“Pediatricians and health care providers involved in the care of young athletes should educate and emphasize the importance of good sleep quality and sleep hygiene for optimal overall health, performance, and recovery," Dr. Chung continued. "Parents can take small steps to help improve their child's sleep quality by establishing a regular sleep schedule, avoiding electronics at least one hour prior to bedtime, and encouraging them to get at least 8-10 hours of sleep each night."

The hope is that these findings will encourage clinicians to emphasize the importance of a good night’s sleep to their concussion patients. Better sleep means faster recovery.

The study abstract, “Association Between Sleep Quality and Recovery Following a Sport-Related Concussion in the Pediatric Population," will be presented on November 3rd at Orlando, Florida’s <a href="https://aapexperience.org/">American Academy of Pediatrics 2018 National Conference &amp; Exhibition</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Poor sleep can prolong recovery after sports-related concussions

According to a new study from researchers at Texas Scottish...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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 



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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

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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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