Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define.



A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of <a href="https://www.uai.cl/">Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez</a> and Caleb Warren of the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems.



Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-type-can-accurately-predict-your-relationship-status/">personality</a> traits when describing a cool person. 



The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool people tend to become catalysts of social change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-cool-across-12-nations">Mapping cool across 12 nations</h2>



Between 2018 and 2022, the research team collected online responses from adults in the United States, Australia, Chile, mainland China, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.



Participants first confirmed that they understood the slang meaning of the word “cool,” then spent a few minutes imagining someone who embodied one of four labels: cool, uncool, good, or not good.



Afterward, volunteers evaluated that imagined person on a battery of personality dimensions drawn from psychology’s “Big Five” model and Schwartz’s theory of universal values.



Because all responses came from internet users in relatively urban settings, the sample leans toward technologically connected citizens. 



Still, it is one of the most culturally diverse datasets ever assembled to study reputational judgments. The result is a uniquely global snapshot of how people assign social prestige.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-cool-and-good-part-ways"><a></a>Where cool and good part ways</h2>



When the investigators compared ratings, they found considerable overlap: both cool and good people scored high on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-with-many-facial-expressions-seem-more-social-and-likeable/">likability</a>. Yet important divergences emerged.



In all the places they studied, people consistently perceived cool individuals as more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. 



Good people, by contrast, ranked as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-people-aren-t-always-good">Cool people aren't always "good"</h2>



In Pezzuti’s view, the cool profile evokes a kind of charismatic boundary-pusher: energetic, novelty seeking, and unapologetically self-directed.



That explains why cool individuals can inspire fashion trends or launch creative movements - roles that sometimes require bending social rules rather than following them.



“To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people," said Warren. "However, cool people often have other traits that aren’t necessarily considered ‘good’ in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.”



The cool persona therefore straddles acceptance and transgression: admired enough to influence peers, rebellious enough to feel fresh.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-traits-go-global">Cool traits go global</h2>



In the mid-20th century, “cool” circulated in small countercultures - from Black jazz clubs to Beatnik cafés. Over the decades, fashion labels, record companies and Hollywood studios harnessed the aura of cool, broadcasting certain looks and attitudes to a worldwide audience.



The new study suggests that process may have standardized the meaning of the term. Even participants who live 10,000 miles apart now recognize the same signature <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-linked-to-willingness-to-volunteer-or-donate/">traits</a>. As the authors note, the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of traits and values around the world.



Pezzuti does not see commercialization as a death knell. “Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don’t think it has lost its edge. It’s just become more functional,” he said.



“The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, including Black jazz musicians in the 1940s and the beatniks in the 1950s. As society moves faster and puts more value on creativity and change, cool people are more essential than ever.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-coolness-matters">Why coolness matters</h2>



Because cool people display power and autonomy while earning admiration, the researchers argue that coolness helps establish informal hierarchies. Instead of relying solely on wealth or institutional authority, communities also elevate figures who embody daring and originality.



These individuals, in turn, shape cultural norms by modeling alternative ways to dress, speak, or live. As Pezzuti puts it, “everyone wants to be cool, or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool, and society needs cool people because they challenge norms, inspire change, and advance culture.”



That dual role - both aspirational and disruptive - makes the cool persona uniquely influential. Marketers know this instinctively when they cast charismatic musicians in sneaker ads. Activists harness it when they infuse protest art with edgy style.



The study provides empirical backing for those intuitions: people from Lagos to Los Angeles consistently associate coolness with adventurous independence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coolness-in-the-digital-age">Coolness in the digital age</h2>



The team notes their study excludes rural and offline groups, whose ideas of cool may differ significantly. They also restricted the study to cultures already familiar with the English slang term, potentially narrowing linguistic nuance.



Future projects could test whether the six-trait profile - extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous - holds in additional societies or emerges in other languages.



Researchers are likewise curious about how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-pressure-is-straining-teen-friendships/">social media</a> platforms, which accelerate the spread of trends, might further synchronize or fragment global standards of cool. Does TikTok broaden identity through niche subcultures or reinforce the six-trait mold by favoring charismatic risk-takers?



For now, the evidence is striking: when people across five continents imagine someone undeniably cool, they picture remarkably similar qualities. 



Coolness, it turns out, may be one of the few cross-cultural constants - an unwritten code that transcends borders even as it keeps pushing boundaries.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0001799">Journal of Experimental Psychology: General</a>.



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What makes people cool? Scientists tracked down the traits

Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define. A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Caleb Warren of the University of Arizona argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems. Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of personality traits when describing a cool person. The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/legalized-medical-marijuana-teens/">teenage</a> years can be tough for anybody while they’re growing up. Hormones and puberty create a mixed bag of bizarre and unfamiliar feelings and experiences, and teens may often take out their frustrations on those around them – especially their parents. Now, a top neuroscientist is asking parents to be more sympathetic towards the grouchy behavior of teenagers, as it may be a result of changes going on in their brain as they grow.

Sara-Jayne Blakemore is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>. She states that the teenage brain loses 17% of its grey matter in the pre-frontal cortex between childhood and adulthood. The pre-frontal cortex is often referred to as the brain’s “control center,” and the impact of this change is something scientists are only now beginning to understand.

“The teenage brain is not broken, it is not dysfunctional, it is not a defective adult brain,” she told an audience at the Hay Festival, after recently publishing a book on the subject called “The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain.”

Blakemore points out that typical teenage characteristics like moodiness, risk-taking, sleeping late, and feelings of embarrassment towards their parents could be a result of the maturing teenage brain. “'It is a formative period in life where the brain is changing in really important ways where neural pathways are malleable and passion and creativity run high,” Blakemore explains. “We should not demonize this period of life we should understand it, nurture it, and celebrate it.”

She also states that our new understanding of the teenage brain should be incorporated into how the education system is run in the United Kingdom. Blakemore says that children are experiencing “social jetlag” at school because their bodies are naturally producing melatonin – a sleep hormone – for longer periods than adults. With early starts to school days, their body’s natural sleep cycles are being cut short. “'They are constantly shifting their body clock from one time zone to another, which must be very disorienting,” says Blakemore.

Blakemore believes these changes should be extend to school systems in the United States, where school days begin as early as 7:30 in the morning. Although few people are at their best in the early morning, maybe it’s time we cut teenagers some slack on their grouchiness and penchant for sleeping in.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Teenagers are moody due to drastic changes in their brains

The teenage years can be tough for anybody while they’re...

Constantly putting conversations and meetings on hold to check smartphone notifications, emails, and answer calls is actually changing your brain chemistry. 

<a href="http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/05/29/scientists-constant-interruptions-smartphone-impact-brain-chemistry/">CBS Philadelphia</a> recently reported on the increased risk of smartphone addiction and a concept known as the “switch cost.”

The switch cost is the pattern that arises in the brain while constantly being diverted by phone notifications and calls. As we continue to let our lives be interrupted by these notifications, it's actually changing the way our brain works. 

“There’s this phenomenon they call switch cost that when there’s an interruption we switch away from the task that we were at and then we have to come on back. We think it interrupts our efficiency with our brains, by about 40 percent. Our nose is always getting off the grindstone, then we have to reorient ourselves,” Scott Bea, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, told CBS Philly. 

It’s been found that notifications from phones actually release cortisol which is the bodies stress hormone, phones are keeping our brains on “high alert.”  

“These constant alerts jolt our stress hormones into action, igniting our fight or flight response; our heartbeats quicken, our breathing tightens, our sweat glands burst open, and our muscles contract. That response is intended to help us outrun danger, not answer a call or text from a colleague.” journalist Hilary Brueck wrote in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/">Business Insider</a>.

If people aren’t allowed access to their phones, these symptoms can increase and even cause anxiety until someone has the phone back in their hands. 

Besides Cortisol, smartphone apps have also been found <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/12/584389201/smartphone-detox-how-to-power-down-in-a-wired-world">to release</a> reward chemical dopamine because we associate Twitter, Facebook and Instagram notifications with a reward. The activation of the reward center just makes phones all the more addictive. 

Researchers have found that having constant access to social media platforms like Facebook on smartphones can also increase the risk of depression in young adults. 

Even with all the documented health risks of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/addiction-smartphones-imbalances-brain/">smartphone addiction</a>, creating new healthy habits to break the interrupting cycle is not easy and takes time. 

“Initially, when you start trying to stay away from the technology, or confine it, you’ll be a little uncomfortable, you’ll have that fear of missing out, or a little anxiety that something is getting past you, but with practice, your brain can get used to it,” Scott Bea told CBS Philly.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Smartphone notifications are changing the way our brains work

Constantly putting conversations and meetings on hold to check smartphone...

After <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-maria-slams-puerto-rico/">Hurricane Maria</a> devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, nearly a year later residents are still struggling with the aftermath. 

It was first reported that the death toll from the hurricane was just 64 lives, but now a new <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard</a> led study shows that number was a gross underestimation. 

Instead, the results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, estimate that over 4,000 lives were lost because of the hurricane. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a>, <a href="http://www.albizu.edu/">Carlos Albizu University</a> in Puerto Rico and the <a href="http://medschool.ucdenver.edu/">University of Colorado School of Medicine</a> out to more accurately assess the death toll caused by Hurricane Maria. 

Recording mortality rates after the hurricane hit the island was difficult because any disaster-related deaths had to be confirmed by a licensed medical examiner. 

However, what was largely unaccounted for was the number of lives lost due to delayed or prevented access to proper medical care. 

After Hurricane Maria made landfall, it caused 90 billion dollars worth of damage. Thousands of residents were displaced from their homes and people were without power, water, cell phone coverage and proper medical care.

In order to better understand how Hurricane Maria had impacted Puerto Rico and accurately determine the death toll, the researchers surveyed 3,299 households in Puerto Rico.

Those chosen for the study were asked about deaths, infrastructure damage, and displacement. 

After analyzing the responses, the researchers found that instead of a rate of 8.8 deaths per 1,000 people, Hurricane Maria’s rate of lives lost was around 14.3 deaths per 1,000 people. 

The results estimate that around 4,645 people died during the three-month period following the hurricane, and nearly one-third of households surveyed said that reported deaths were caused by a delay in access to medical care. 

Hurricane Maria also left the average household without cell phone service for 41 days, without water for 68 days, and without power for 84 days, according to the study. 

The results show that reported death tolls were drastically underestimated and that the mortality rate in Puerto Rico rose by 62 percent because of Hurricane Maria.

Now, Puerto Rico is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/01/puerto-rico-sues-to-obtain-data-on-deaths-from-hurricane-maria">suing</a> the U.S. Health Department to obtain official data on the number of lives lost. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What was the real death toll from Hurricane Maria?

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, nearly...

Groundbreaking research funded by the <a href="https://www.bhf.org.uk/">British Heart Foundation</a> has found that green tea may be able to prevent fatal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diesel-fuel-pollution-heart-damage/">heart attacks</a> and strokes caused by the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, or atherosclerosis. 

Scientists from <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/">Lancaster University</a> and the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> have identified a compound in green tea that breaks up and dissolves threatening plaque buildup in the blood vessels.

This compound is also being analyzed for its ability to reduce amyloid plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Atherosclerosis is the build-up of fatty material inside the arteries that can dangerously limit the flow of blood to the heart and brain. Once the condition progresses, a protein called apolipoprotein A-1 (apoA) can form amyloid deposits which build up within atherosclerotic plaques and make them larger. This further restricts blood flow, and increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

The compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is most commonly found in green tea, was discovered to bind to the amyloid fibers of apoA. This process converts the fibers to soluble molecules that are smaller and less likely to cause damage to blood vessels.

“Our bodies are very good at breaking down EGCG so swapping your cuppa for green tea is unlikely to make a big difference with respect to your heart health,” explained study co-author Professor Jeremy Pearson. “But by engineering the molecule slightly, we might be able to make new medicines to treat heart attack and stroke.”

The team is working to develop a method of introducing EGCG directly into the bloodstream.

“The health benefits of green tea have been widely promoted and it has been known for some time that EGCG can alter the structures of amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease,” said study co-author David Middleton.

“Our results show that this intriguing compound might also be effective against the types of plaques which can cause heart attacks and strokes.”

“The findings of this round of studies are very encouraging,” said study co-author Professor Sheena Radford. “We now need to apply the best scientific techniques to find how we can take the molecular EGCG element from green tea, and turn it into a functioning tool to combat life-limiting health issues.”

The research is published in the <a href="http://www.jbc.org/">Journal of Biological Chemistry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Green tea can reverse cardiovascular damage, prevent heart attack

Groundbreaking research funded by the British Heart Foundation has found...

After new research, the <a href="http://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) has changed the status of styrene, a common chemical used in plastic packaging and containers, from “possibly carcinogenic” to “probably carcinogenic.”

It took 40 years for researchers to confirm that exposure to styrene can cause some cancers and now, the new study also reveals that people who work with plastic and rubber are the most at risk. 

The study, which was the largest of its kind, was conducted by a team of international researchers and commissioned by the<a href="https://www.iarc.fr/"> International Agency for Research on Cancer</a>, 

The results were published in the journal Epidemiology. 

Styrene is common in plastic packagings like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/san-francisco-enacts-a-broad-ban-on-foam/">disposable coffee cups</a> and to-go containers. The chemical is used to make latex and synthetic rubber and most people have had at least some exposure to styrene during their lives. 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer asked 23 researchers to evaluate styrene’s risk using recent human epidemiological research, animal studies, and data from a registry of more than 70,000 Danish workers from the plastic industry. 

In the 1970s, scientists noticed an alarming rise in leukemia cases among workers in the American synthetic rubber industry. 

However, it was unclear if this rise in cancer was caused by styrene exposure or another chemical component in the rubber making process. 

In response, Danish workers in the plastics industry were asked to be part of a research project spanning from 1968 to 2011. 

After reviewing all the data, the researchers found that people who work with styrene are two times more likely to get leukemia and five times more likely to contract sinonasal adenocarcinoma which is a type of nasal cancer. 

“The most recent styrene study shows the risk of acute myeloid leukemia, a rare form of leukemia, is doubled. Out of the more than 70,000 people included in the research project, we found 25 cases of acute myeloid leukemia, where you would statistically expect to find 10,” said Henrik Kolstad, a professor at <a href="http://www.au.dk/en/">Aarhus University</a> in Denmark in an <a href="http://newsroom.au.dk/en/#news-13222">Arhaus University news release. </a>

Aarhus was part of the team of 23 researchers involved in the study. 

Today, conditions have improved for employees in the plastic industry, but the study still shows there’s an increased risk of contracting some cancers associated with exposure to styrene. 

Now, thanks to this recent research and the styrene’s new classification, policies can be made to reflect the risks of styrene and educate people to avoid exposure. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chemical found in plastic packaging likely causes cancer

After new research, the World Health Organization (WHO) has changed...

A study led by <a href="http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/">St. Michael's Hospital</a> in Toronto has found that one out of every five deaths among young adults in the United States can be attributed to opioids. According to the research, there was nearly a 300-percent increase in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marijuana-battle-opioid-crisis/">opioid-related</a> deaths between 2001 and 2016 in America.

By 2016, one in every 65 deaths was related to opioid use. Men represented around 70 percent of all opioid deaths, and the highest occurrence was among young adults between 24 and 35 years old. 

Study lead author Dr. Tara Gomes is a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario.


“Despite the amount of attention that has been placed on this public health issue, we are increasingly seeing the devastating impact that early loss of life from opioids is having across the United States,” said Dr. Gomes. 

“In the absence of a multidisciplinary approach to this issue that combines access to treatment, harm reduction and education, this crisis will impact the U.S. for generations.”

The research team used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER Multiple Cause of Death Online Database to analyze all deaths in the United States over the study period. 

The investigation revealed that the most dramatic increase in illicit and prescribed opioid-related deaths was among young adults. The percentage of deaths related to opioid use in this age group jumped from four percent in 2001 to 20 percent by 2016.

The team found that a total of 1,681,359 years of life were lost prematurely to opioid-related causes in 2016, which outnumbers the years of life lost from hypertension, HIV/AIDS, and pneumonia in the United States each year.

“These numbers show us the dramatic impact of opioid-related harms across all demographics in the U.S.,” said Dr. Gomes. “We know this is not an isolated public health issue - it is one that spans across North America.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/">JAMA Network Open</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

1 in 5 young adult deaths in the U.S. is related to opioid use

A study led by St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has...

An aggressive “Day Zero” campaign may have helped prevent the complete depletion of Cape Town’s water supply, but after three years of persistent drought, the city still suffers major water shortages. 

In 2016, Cape Town launched a huge initiative to call attention to the city’s water crisis. It was predicted that in April 2018, all taps in one of South Africa’s most populated cities would be turned off. 

It was referred to as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cape-town-water/">Day Zero</a>, and it scarred many into action. Thanks to tight water restrictions, allowing residents only 50 liters of water per day, Day Zero has been pushed back until 2019.

However, Cape Town still faces a water crisis, and a new report conducted by the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/joint-research-centre_en">European Commission Joint Research Centre</a> (JRC) found that this drought could just be one in a long line of persistent, serious droughts caused by climate change. 

Researchers from the JRC used data from the Global Drought Observatory (GDO) to create a series of analytical reports that could help provide insight into the water crisis, including projecting recovery times and how climate change would influence future water availability. 

The current shortage is indicative of a change in long-term weather patterns due to climate change and an increase in global temperatures. 

For the report, JRC researchers examined recorded precipitation amounts in Southern Africa over the past 36 years. 

Measuring rainfall during the wettest periods of the year in South Africa can help predict how long it will take for reservoirs to replenish and if there’s a potential for future shortages. 

The researchers found that there’s a high probability of a deficit in precipitation every five years and that deficit could reach as high as 70 to 80 percent every ten years. A precipitation deficit occurs when the moisture lost through evaporation outweighs what is gained through rainfall. 

There has also been an increase in the number of the extreme heat waves in Southern Africa which only aggravates drought and water shortages. 

All of these factors, changes in climate, an increase in heat waves, and the precipitations deficit along with a projected five percent increase in population over the next five years foreshadows even more water shortages in Cape Town’s future. 


However, thanks to the efforts of the JRC, Cape Town is now better equipped to prepare for future water shortages due to drought and managing its current crisis. 

Policymakers can use the five and ten-year timelines to make strategic moves to conserve water. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandett</a>e, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Cape Town water crisis may be a sign of things to come

An aggressive “Day Zero” campaign may have helped prevent the...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.oist.jp/">Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University</a> (OIST) have investigated the relationship between serotonin levels and behavior in mice, with a particular focus on how serotonin may affect patience.

Serotonin is a chemical produced in nerve cells that influences how neurons function. Serotonin has been linked to a range of behaviors, such as mood, sleep, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-cravings-sweet-foods/">cravings</a>, and spontaneity. 

The chemical’s influence on human behavior has made it a focal point in the development of ways to treat mental health disorders. For example, selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most common antidepressants, which are used to block the reabsorption of serotonin and make it more available in the brain.


Study co-author Dr. Katsuhiko Miyazaki explained: “Serotonin has had a lot of study in pharmacology, and serotonergic drugs are commonly prescribed, but the role that serotonin has over behavior isn't clear.”

The mice were trained to perform a task to receive a food reward, which involved placing their noses into a small hole and waiting. The team wanted to determine whether mice would wait for the reward regardless of the probability of it turning up or the length of time they had to wait.

The study revealed that an increase of serotonin did not always boost patience. When the mice had a 75 percent chance of a reward, they were willing to wait beyond the typical three-second period to receive a reward.

However, when the probability of reward delivery was cut down to 50 or 25 percent, an increase in serotonin had no effect on the amount of time the mice were willing to wait. “The patience effect only works when the mouse thinks there is a high probability of reward,” said Dr Miyazaki.

A boost of serotonin was also found to influence the mice to wait longer when the timing of a reward was harder to predict.

To better understand the results of the analysis, the team constructed a computational model to interpret the experimental data. 

The model showed that serotonin influenced how confident the mice felt that they would receive food when the reward was perceived as being more likely. For example, serotonin made the mice behave as if there was a 95 percent chance of reward in trials that had a 75 percent reward probability. 

According to the model, serotonin stimulation also increased the mice's confidence that they were in a reward trial versus a no-reward trial when the probability of receiving food was harder to predict, which delayed their decision to stop waiting.

The results show that the relationship between the activation of serotonin and subsequent behavior is highly dependent on the animals' perception of the circumstances, which may have implications for understanding how serotonin-boosting drugs affect humans.

 “This could help explain why combined treatment of depression with SSRIs and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is more effective than just SSRIs alone,” said Dr. Miyazaki. “The psychological boost of the therapy is enhanced by raised serotonin levels.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Serotonin helps the brain stay patient, new study finds

Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate...

Walking faster can actually increase the length of your life. Researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have found that walking faster comes along with some potentially life-saving benefits. The risk of all-cause mortality was reduced by 20 percent in people who reported walking at an average pace, while the risk was lowered by 24 percent among those who kept a fast pace.

The researchers also investigated the effect of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-humans-walking-upright/">walking</a> speeds on heart health, and found that the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality can be reduced by up to 24 percent as well - simply by walking faster.


The health advantages of picking up the pace while walking were found to be the most pronounced in older adults aged 60 and over. Older individuals who walked at an average pace had a 46 percent reduction in the risk of fatal cardiovascular causes. Among fast walkers, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was reduced by 53 percent.

“A fast pace is generally five to seven kilometers per hour, but it really depends on a walker's fitness levels; an alternative indicator is to walk at a pace that makes you slightly out of breath or sweaty when sustained,” explained study lead author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis.

The research team used data from 11 surveys in England and Scotland conducted between 1994 and 2008, in which participants self-reported their walking pace. They linked mortality records with these results, while adjusting for factors such as age, sex, and body mass index.

“Walking pace is associated with all-cause mortality risk, but its specific role - independent from the total physical activity a person undertakes - has received little attention until now,” said Professor Stamatakis.

“While sex and body mass index did not appear to influence outcomes, walking at an average or fast pace was associated with a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. There was no evidence to suggest pace had a significant influence on cancer mortality however.”


According to the researchers, the study findings highlight a need for emphasis on walking pace in public health messages.

“Separating the effect of one specific aspect of physical activity and understanding its potentially causal association with risk of premature death is complex,” said Professor Stamatakis.

“Assuming our results reflect cause and effect, these analyses suggest that increasing walking pace may be a straightforward way for people to improve heart health and risk for premature mortality - providing a simple message for public health campaigns to promote.”

“Especially in situations when walking more isn't possible due to time pressures or a less walking-friendly environment, walking faster may be a good option to get the heart rate up - one that most people can easily incorporate into their lives.”

The research is published in the <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/">British Journal of Sports Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Walking faster can actually increase the length of your life

Walking faster can actually increase the length of your life....

It has previously been thought that the first people to enter the Americas divided into two ancestral branches, one northern and one southern. The northern branch were the direct ancestors to many Native communities now living in the Canadian east. The southern branch is thought to have given rise to all the populations in Central and South America. However, for the first time, a new study has found that the majority – and potentially all – of the Indigenous peoples of the southern continent retain at least some DNA from the northern branch deep in their genetic history.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, and shows that – while the two branches may have remained separate for thousands of years – they actually came back together either before or during the expansion of people into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-south-american-forests/">South America</a>. Researchers analyzed 91 ancient genomes from sites in California and Canada, which show that after the first peoples separated into two populations between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago, the northern branch migrated east to the great lakes region. The researchers believe this population may have been following the retreating glacial edges of the thawing Ice Age. The southern branch is believed to have continued down the Pacific coast, inhabiting islands along the way.

But analysis of Central and South American genomes reveals that the two branches “reconverged” despite being separated for millennia. The study’s authors say that there must have been one or more “admixture” events between the two populations roughly 13,000 years ago. This blending of lineages occurred either in North America before they expanded south, or as people migrated even deeper into the southern continent.

“It was previously thought that South Americans, and indeed most Native Americans, derived from one ancestry related to the Clovis people,” says Dr. Toomas Kivisild, co-senior author of the study from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>. The Clovis culture – named for the 13,000-year-old stone tools found near Clovis, New Mexico – were a prehistoric people once believed to be ancestral to all Native Americans. “We now find that all native populations in North, Central and South America also draw genetic ancestry from a northern branch most closely related to Indigenous peoples of eastern Canada. This cannot be explained by activity in the last few thousand years. It is something altogether more ancient,” Kivisild says.

Interestingly, when present day Central and South American populations were analyzed in this study, the highest proportion of northern branch genetics in South America was found very far south in southern Chile. “It’s certainly an intriguing finding, although currently circumstantial – we don’t have ancient DNA to corroborate how early this northern ancestral branch arrived,” explains Dr. Christiana Scheib, who conducted the work while at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> and is first author of the study. “It could be evidence for a vanguard population from the northern branch deep in the southern continent that became isolated for a long time – preserving a genetic continuity.”

The researchers believe that more should be done to include Indigenous communities in ancient DNA studies in the Americas. Genetic analysis of ancient people may have an adverse effect for linked Indigenous communities, but engagement work can help mitigate harm to the community and give Indigenous peoples a voice in the research.

“The lab-based science should only be a part of the research. We need to work with Indigenous communities in a more holistic way," says Schieb. “From the analysis of a single tooth, paleogenomics research can now offer information on ancient diet and disease as well as migration. By developing partnerships that incorporate ideas from Native communities, we can potentially generate results that are of direct interest and use to the Indigenous peoples involved.”

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The first Americans separated in two groups before reconverging

It has previously been thought that the first people to...

Experts led by <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a> are reporting that politics have become an unwelcome guest to Thanksgiving dinner. The researchers found that Thanksgiving visits were around 50 minutes shorter following the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/public-health-2016-election/">2016 presidential election</a>.

The study also revealed that travelers from media markets with intense political advertising spent even less time visiting on the holiday.

“Politics actually affects how long we spend at Thanksgiving dinner,” said study co-author Ryne Rohla. “Also, these partisan differences are inflamed by political advertising.”

Rohla and co-author Keith Chen had both experienced uncomfortable, politically alienating Thanksgiving dinners just after the 2016 election. After the fact, they read reports of other Americans who had canceled or cut short Thanksgiving visits “with their most politically problematic relatives.”

“The fact that political polarization is increasingly degrading our close connections with friends and family didn't have much empirical study and attention from social scientists,” said Chen. “That's where we leapt off with this project.”

The team used anonymous cell phone data from the locations of over 10 million users, distinguishing between home locations in the weeks before Thanksgiving and the locations of the users on Thanksgiving afternoon. This information was combined with voting data, and the proportion of Democratic and Republican votes in the home precincts was used to classify the individuals.

When users visited precincts that had different voting tendencies than their own, they stayed 30 to 50 minutes less than the average Thanksgiving visit of 4.2 hours in 2015. Those traveling from Republican precincts to Democratic ones tended to shorten their visits by 50 to 70 minutes, while those going from Democratic regions to Republican ones tended to shorten their visits by 20 to 40 minutes.

“That really sealed it for us, that this was definitely a political effect,” said Chen. “It's not just because families that have members that cut across political boundaries are different somehow. In 2016, those are the families that were hurt the most and they were hurt especially in places where there was a lot of political advertising. That same thing is not true in 2015, before these ads were run.”

“Altogether, an estimated 33.9 million person-hours of cross-partisan discourse were eliminated, perhaps creating a feedback mechanism by which partisan segregation reduces opportunities for close cross-party conversations,” wrote the researchers.

The experts view the study findings as a signal that values such as trust and cooperation are weakened with less civic engagement. Chen described civic institutions as being experiences like “close family ties and conversation over Thanksgiving dinner,” which he said are supposed to help preserve our social networks and relationships.


“Some people don't see losing dinner with relatives as a particularly large cost,” said Rohla. “I've talked to people who are, ‘Well, so what?’ Personally I think it is concerning. To me it's a symptom of a broader decline in the social fabric of the United States.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Thanksgiving dinners became much shorter after the 2016 election

Experts led by Washington State University are reporting that politics...

The idea of eating “farm to table” has become popular in recent years, spurred by the fact that the production and transportation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fit-people-physical-responses-food/">food</a> has a major impact on the environment. Thus, the closer your food sources are to your table, the smaller your impact on the environment. But how does the production of certain foods affect the environment more than others? This is the question researchers at <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a> and the Swiss Agricultural Research Institute, <a href="https://www.agroscope.admin.ch/agroscope/en/home.html">Agroscope</a>, set out to answer.

The researchers have recently created the most comprehensive database ever for the environmental impacts of almost 40,000 and 1,600 processors, packaging types, and retailers. These assessments help to determine how certain production practices and geographies impact the environment for 40 major foods.

In their assessment, they found significant differences in environmental impact between producers of the same product. High-impact beef producers create 105kg of CO2 equivalents and use 370m2 of land per 100 grams of protein. This is between 12 and 50 times more than low-impact beef producers. Yet low-impact beef producers still use 36 times more land and create 6 times more emissions than pea producers.

While aquaculture is assumed to result in relatively little emissions, it can actually emit more methane and create more greenhouse gases than cows per kilogram of live weight. For example, one pint of beer can create three times more emissions and use four times more land than another. The researchers observed this variation of impacts across all five indicators they analyzed, including water use, eutrophication, and acidification.

“Two things that look the same in the shops can have very different impacts on the planet,” explains Joseph Poore from the Department of Zoology and the School of Geography and Environment at <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a>. “We currently don’t know this when we make choices about what to eat. Further, this variability isn’t fully recognized in strategies and policy aimed at reducing the impacts of farmers.”

Shockingly, just a small number of producers create the brunt of the environmental impact. About 15% of beef production is responsible for roughly 1.3 billion tons of CO2 equivalents and uses about 950 million hectares of land. Across all products assessed, 25% of producers contributed an average of 53% of each product’s environmental impacts.

[caption id="attachment_1214980" align="aligncenter" width="996"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/food-production.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-1214980" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/food-production-1024x810.jpg" alt="" width="996" height="788" /></a> Image Credit: Joseph Poore[/caption]

“One of the key challenges is finding solutions that are effective across the millions of diverse producers unique to agriculture,” says Poore. “An approach to reduce environmental impacts or enhance productivity that is effective for one producer can be ineffective or create trade-offs for another. This is a sector where we require many different solutions delivered to many millions of different producers.”

The study’s authors believe that utilizing new technology could help producers limit their impact. Current technology even works on mobile devices, taking information on inputs, outputs, climate, and soil – quantifying environmental impacts. This technology then provides recommendations on how to reduce these impacts and increase productivity.

Ultimately, even with technological advances, diet change is still the easiest and most dramatic way we can mitigate the effect of food production on our environment. Animal product-free diets are likely to deliver more environmental benefits than changing production practices. Plant-based diets reduce food’s emissions by as much as 73%, depending on where you live. 

If you’re able to make small behavioral changes in your diet, they can create a multiplier effect and result in a significant reduction in environmental impact. This includes eating fewer animal-based products, avoiding the highest impact producers, and lowering consumption of discretionary products, such as oils, alcohol, and sugar. It would also be helpful for producers to be required to communicate their environmental impacts to consumers.

“We need to find ways to slightly change the conditions so it’s better for producers and consumers to act in favor of the environment,” says Poore. “Environmental labels and financial incentives would support more sustainable consumption, while creating a positive loop: Farmers would need to monitor their impacts, encouraging better decision making; and communicate their impacts to suppliers, encouraging better sourcing.”

The research was published in the journal <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Science</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Production of the same foods impacts the Earth in different ways

The idea of eating “farm to table” has become popular...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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