Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or turn a routine workout into an emotional burst of energy. 



Scientists have long wondered how a string of notes pushes the brain from one emotional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-doesnt-just-hear-music-it-becomes-the-rhythm/">feeling</a> to the next, and why the experience changes when the previous feeling was different. <a href="https://psychology.columbia.edu/content/matthew-sachs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matthew Sachs</a> of Columbia University and colleagues set out to <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">answer</a> that puzzle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-wordless-path-to-emotion">A wordless path to emotion</h2>



Music reliably raises specific <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32898679/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a> across cultures, making it a useful tool for lab work. Because melodies lack words, researchers can study pure feeling without the baggage of stories or language.



In recent <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1910704117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surveys</a>, listeners reported at least thirteen distinct emotional colors from songs, ranging from awe to tenderness. Those varied reactions let scientists choreograph controlled “emotional journeys” by arranging passages that lean happy, tense, calm, or sad.



The brain also treats music as a social signal, recruiting regions tied to empathy and perspective‑taking. That overlap makes findings with music relevant to understanding everyday interactions. 



Music’s precise timing helps investigators lock brain activity to exact seconds in a tune. Such temporal precision is important when studying transitions, which can unfold in a blink.



Finally, unlike pictures or movies, songs can be replayed in multiple orders without breaking logic. That flexibility allowed the team to test how a given passage feels when it follows joy versus when it follows anxiety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-changes-emotion-fast">Music changes emotion fast</h2>



Sachs’s group asked professional composers to craft two fifteen‑minute pieces split into thirty‑two “emotion events,” each one lasting about 30‑70 seconds. The passages covered calm, joy, sadness, anxiety, and a mixed nostalgic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/live-music-connects-people-emotionally-and-physically/">feeling</a>.



Two versions of each piece shuffled the same events so that a joyful segment might follow calm in one version but chase sadness in the other. 



This context swap let the researchers isolate the effect of prior mood. Thirty‑nine volunteers lay in an <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/25034-functional-mri-fmri" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fMRI scanner</a>, a technique that tracks blood flow as a stand‑in for neural activity. The scanner’s pulses were timed to the beat so listeners heard smooth audio through special headphones.



After scanning, the volunteers replayed short clips of music online and rated how strongly each clip made them feel the target emotion. Those ratings confirmed that the music hit its emotional marks at the intended moments.



To align brains that never look identical, the team used a <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/slp3/A.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hidden Markov model</a>, a statistical tool that spots stable patterns and the moments they shift. The model does not assume equal event lengths, matching how real feelings vary.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-mapped-onto-brain-activity">Music mapped onto brain activity</h2>



Activity patterns in auditory cortex and the adjoining superior temporal gyrus stayed steady within an event but flipped sharply at composer‑defined boundaries. Those flips still appeared after factoring out pitch, volume, and harmony, meaning the brain was tracking emotion rather than mere <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-and-repeated-sounds-reorganize-your-brain-networks-in-real-time/">acoustics</a>.



The same temporal‑parietal strip has been linked to social meaning in speech and laughter. Current <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627317305937" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> add music‑evoked emotion dynamics to its résumé. 



Elsewhere, frontal regions associated with self‑reflection lit up when feelings changed. That response supports prior work showing prefrontal roles in labeling and regulating emotion.



Importantly, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2768874/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subcortical reward hubs</a> showed general arousal but did not map fine‑grained transitions. Those areas may mark intensity rather than shifts in category. 



Together the data sketch a layered system: auditory regions sense change, temporal‑parietal regions label the new state, and frontal areas integrate the experience. That hierarchy resembles proposed models for narrative comprehension.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-past-emotions-change-how-you-hear-music">Past emotions change how you hear music</h2>



When a happy passage followed another positive passage, listeners’ brains switched to the new state about six seconds sooner than when the same passage followed a tense one. The volunteers also pressed the “happy” button nine seconds earlier in the same‑valence condition.



Context even changed the spatial pattern of activity during an event. Pairs of participants who heard a clip in the same order showed more similar neural signatures than pairs who heard it in opposite orders.



Such carry‑over echoes psychological <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31628982/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> that earlier feelings bias how we perceive later stimuli. The study quantifies that bias down to single‑second resolution. 



Researchers call the stickiness of mood <a href="https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/0269-8803.23.1.7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">valence</a> persistence, and extreme persistence can tip into emotional rigidity. Depression is often marked by this rigidity, trapping individuals in negative states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treating-emotion-with-playlists">Treating emotion with playlists</h2>



“We know that people who suffer from mood disorders or depression often demonstrate emotional rigidity, where they basically get stuck in an emotional state" said Sachs. 



"Maybe we could take someone with depression, for instance, and use the approach we developed to identify neural markers for the emotional rigidity that keeps them in a very negative state.”



His comment matches growing interest in music‑based interventions. Unlike medications, playlists can be tailored rapidly and have few side effects. 



If clinicians can spot delayed transition signatures in vulnerable patients, they might train quicker shifts through neurofeedback. Past <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19646532/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> shows that people can learn to nudge targeted brain regions with real‑time feedback.



Therapists already use mood‑tracking apps; adding objective brain markers could improve accuracy. Personalized “emotion workouts” might teach flexible switching, similar to cognitive training for attention.



 Beyond clinics, the findings could improve soundtracks in virtual reality or adaptive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/video-games-can-rewind-the-clock-on-cognitive-performance/">games</a>. Systems might adjust musical cues to help users linger in, or exit from, certain feelings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-science-hasn-t-tested-yet">What science hasn’t tested yet</h2>



The study focused on adults in a scanner; children, musicians, or people with disorders may show different timelines. Future projects could compare those groups directly.&nbsp;



Only five emotion labels were used. Real life holds many blended states such as awe or envy that might map differently. Subcortical areas did not show clear transition patterns here, but that may reflect scanner noise or event length.&nbsp;



Higher‑resolution recordings could reveal subtler dynamics. Music is just one trigger; spoken stories, movement, or smell might drive other networks. 



Combining modalities could pinpoint common versus unique pathways. Finally, the team manipulated valence but not arousal. Experiments that cross calm‑excited levels might tease apart the role of energy versus positivity.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eNeuro</a>.



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Music rewires the brain to quickly navigate emotion

Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or turn a routine workout into an emotional burst of energy. Scientists have long wondered how a string of notes pushes the brain from one emotional feeling to the next, and why the experience changes when the previous feeling was different. Matthew Sachs of Columbia University and colleagues set out to answer that puzzle. A wordless path to emotion Music reliably raises specific emotions across cultures, making it a useful tool for lab work. Because melodies lack words,...

The newly unveiled “<a href="https://map.ox.ac.uk/accessibility_to_cities_news/">global map of accessibility</a>” illustrates how long it would take to get to a major city from anywhere on the planet.

The map was created for the organization the <a href="https://map.ox.ac.uk/">Malaria Atlas Project (MAP)</a> to help show how some regions of the world are at risk of not having access to health care. It is part of MAP’s mission to assess malaria risks worldwide and implement the best intervention methods against the mosquito-borne disease.

According to the <a href="http://www.who.int/malaria/en/">World Health Organisation</a> (WHO), in 2016 there were 216 million recorded cases of malaria worldwide. 

According to MAP, the organization aims to “work together to assemble global databases on malaria risk and intervention coverage and develop innovative analysis methods that use those data to address critical questions.” 

The map was created by researchers at the <a href="https://www.bdi.ox.ac.uk/">Big Data Institute</a> at the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> and could help save lives. 

Data was collected from Open Street Maps and Google in order to capture representations of transportations networks across the globe. 

These networks were fed into engines that produced color-coded maps that showed how long it would take for a person anywhere in the world to travel to a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-life-sunrise-sunset/">city</a> with a population of at least 50,000. 

The map highlights the gaps where access to healthcare is difficult, which is critical for implementing changes to improve quality of healthcare and living for those isolated from city services. 

“Cities concentrate activities that promote and sustain human wellbeing including banking, education, employment, and healthcare services,” says the MAPS team “Identifying populations that have poor access to urban centers provides an important data source for enacting and assessing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations.”

The research team also notes the accessibility map will help mitigate the possibility of habitat degradation with infrastructure and economic changes made to improve healthcare access in rural areas. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: 2018 OpenStreetMap contributors, creative commons attribution 4.0

Map shows how long it takes to get to a major city from anywhere

The newly unveiled “global map of accessibility” illustrates how long...

For many busy people of all ages, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scent-reduce-stress/">stress</a> is often thought of as an inescapable part of life. But in many cases, stress can actually make you physically sick.

Besides affecting emotions and behavior, stress symptoms can cause headaches, muscle tension, and stomach issues.

Now, a new study reveals the science behind how stress can aggravate certain cells and cause allergic reactions or even disease. 

The study was conducted Adam Moeser, a researcher from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a>, who specializes in stress-induced diseases. 

Moeser’s work illustrates how the stress receptor CRF1 interacts with immune cells called mast cells and can control the cells’ defense response to allergens. 

For example, when exposed to a severe allergy or high-level stress, histamine can cause a major allergic reaction. Histamine is a chemical substance in the body that helps get rid of irritants and allergens, and stress can amplify the histamine’s normal response. 

“Mast cells become highly activated in response to stressful situations the body may be experiencing,” said Moeser. “When this happens, CRF1 tells these cells to release chemical substances that can lead to inflammatory and allergic diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, life-threatening food allergies and autoimmune disorders such as lupus.” 

Moeser conducted several lab experiments with mice, studying how the mice were impacted by either allergic or physiological stress. 

One group of mice had normal CRF1 receptors on the mast cells, while a second group had the CRF1 receptors removed from their cells. 

The CRF1 deficient mice showed decreased levels of disease regardless of the type of stress they were exposed to. Allergic stress exposures resulted in a 54 percent reduction in disease and the physiological stress correlated with a 63 percent decrease in disease. 

“While the 'normal' mice exposed to stress exhibited high histamine levels and disease, the mice without CRF1 had low histamine levels, less disease and were protected against both types of stress,” said Moeser. “This tells us that CRF1 is critically involved in some diseases initiated by these stressors.” 

The research could help create new treatments for stress-induced diseases like asthma and irritable bowel syndrome, and serves as a reminder to monitor stress levels in the interest of your own health.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

How stress can make you sick and induce allergies

For many busy people of all ages, stress is often...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC) compared the differences in sexual activity between women who live in the country and women who live  in the city. The statistics show that women in rural areas generally have sex earlier than women in urban areas. Females who grow up in the country also tend to have more children, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db297.htm">study findings</a>.

The CDC conducted the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) for their investigation, which involved 10,000 women in the United States between the ages of 18 and 44. 

People living in rural America are perceived as being more religious, so the fact that rural females have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/christmas-sex-september-births/">sex</a> before urban females comes as a surprise. The study revealed that women in urban areas become sexually active at 16.6 years of age on average, while women in the city start having sex around 17.4 years old.

In addition, the survey showed that a higher percentage of women in the country have three or more children compared to women in the city. 41.6 percent of urban women do not have any children, while only 30.3 percent of rural women are childless.

More women living in rural areas were also found to use the most effective methods of contraception, such as contraceptive sterilization or intrauterine device, in the past year compared with women in urban areas.

Furthermore, there was little difference in the percentages of women who reported being currently married or living with a partner, yet a higher percentage of women living in rural areas reported being formerly married and not currently cohabiting.

The NSFG collects data on fertility, cohabitation, marriage, use of contraception, and reproductive health. More information can be found on the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/index.htm">NSFG website</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

Women in rural areas start having sex at a younger age

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> are reporting that water conservation measures in the state of California have also significantly reduced electricity consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In 2015, following four years of severe <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-drought-changing-landscape/">drought</a>, California implemented new water regulations with a target of cutting overall water usage by 25 percent. 

The investigation from UC Davis established that 524,000 million gallons of water were saved in the first year of conservation efforts, which was a bit shy of the state's goal of a 25 percent reduction. However, the experts also found that the new water regulations were helping to address other environmental issues. 

The water and energy systems in California are closely interconnected. The energy used to move, treat, and distribute water accounts for 19 percent of the state's total electricity demand.

“Due to this close interdependence, we estimated that the decrease in water usage translated into a significant electricity saving of 1,830 gigawatt hours (GWh),” said lead author Dr. Edward Spang. 

The study authors noted that the energy savings which resulted from water reduction were around 11 percent greater than those savings which resulted from investor-owned electricity utilities' efficiency programs within the same time frame.

“In turn, we calculated that the GHG emissions saved as a direct result of the reduction in electricity consumption are also significant - in the region of 524,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). That is the equivalent of taking 111,000 cars off the road for a year,” said Dr. Spang.

“The scale of these integrated water-energy-GHG savings, achieved over such a short period, is remarkable,” said study co-author Professor Frank Loge. “Even more interesting is that the cost of achieving these savings through water conservation was competitive with existing programs that specifically target electricity or GHG reductions.”

Professor Loge said that the findings of this study strongly support the addition of water conservation to the growing collection of ideas on how to effectively reduce energy consumption and harmful emissions.

“Taking these three benefits into consideration together would substantially increase the cost-effectiveness of water-focused conservation programs across all scenarios of varying program and technology persistence,” said Professor Loge. 

“There is a strong incentive for water and energy utilities to form partnerships, and identify opportunities to secure these combined resource savings benefits at a shared cost. There would also be a benefit in the associated regulatory agencies supporting these partnerships through aligned policy measures, and targeted funding initiatives.”

The study is published today in the journal <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

California water conservation brings other environmental benefits

Researchers at the University of California, Davis are reporting that...

According to a new report from the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/">Environmental Working Group</a> (EWG), more than 170 million people are exposed to radioactive elements in their drinking water. A study conducted by the nonprofit organization reveals that radiation can be detected in treated tap water across all 50 states.

The EWG says that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nuclear-tests-exposed-radiation/">radiation</a> in drinking water poses a major health risk, particularly for women who are pregnant. The researchers found that radium is the most common radioactive element found in tap water. Radium is a carcinogen which is associated with an increased risk of cancer even in low doses. 

EWG analyzed data from almost 50,000 public water systems for their investigation. They found that more than 22,000 utilities in all 50 states reported radium in tap water between 2010 and 2015. Of these public water systems, 158 “reported radium in amounts that exceeded the federal legal limit.”

According to the study, Texas has the most widespread contamination levels and 80 percent of the state's population is affected. 

A former top environment official in the state of Texas, Kathleen Hartnett White, has been accused of consistently lowering the levels of radiation submitted to the EPA. Despite this, Hartnett White has been nominated by President Trump to serve on the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

Christy Goldfuss is the Vice President for Energy and Environmental Policy at the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/">Center for American Progress</a> and was previously the managing director of the CEQ.

“With the renomination of Kathleen Hartnett White to the White House Council of Environmental Quality, President Trump is failing these 170 million at-risk Americans who are drinking contaminated water,” said Goldfuss. 

“When Hartnett White was tasked with addressing radiation in Texas’s drinking water as a government official, she regularly and deliberately underreported the amount of radiation in drinking water, keeping families in the dark about their health and safety. Putting her in charge of the Council of Environmental Quality could do untold damage to even more Americans.”

EWG has released an <a href="https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/2018-radium/#.Wle0poFOnqB">interactive map</a> to inform the public of where radium has been detected in tap water. Information on contamination, including how many people are affected, can be accessed with a simple zip code search.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Radioactive material reported in drinking water in every state

According to a new report from the Environmental Working Group...

Workplace inequality has been in the news a lot recently – particularly regarding the mistreatment of women in the workplace. Topics such as wage gaps, sexism, and the lack of opportunities for women in certain industries have been discussed and debated at length. Now, new research from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> has found another disparity between men and women when it comes to applying for jobs.

In a survey, the researchers asked whether the participants would be interested in jobs requiring brilliance or hard work. The results showed that women were significantly less interested in applying for jobs that required “brilliance.” A follow-up survey asked almost 600 people what they thought of these type of job adverts, and found that women were more anxious if a job required brilliance. In general, they felt like they wouldn’t be as good of a fit for this type of job compared to one that only required “dedication.” 

The authors write, “Notions of brilliance and genius are stereotypically associated with men, not women. These cultural notions are likely to affect women’s involvement in a variety of professions. In particular, the idea that ‘brilliance=men’ may discourage women from pursuing activities that are believed to require high levels of intellectual ability.”

Follow-up research involving students presented with an internship showed that they also reacted differently to descriptions of the role. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/women-live-longer-men/">women</a> participants were deterred by requests for an “intellectual firecracker” with a “sharp, penetrating mind,” and instead were more attracted by a role that required someone with “great focus and determination” who “never gives up.”

“In earlier work, we found that girls start to associate ‘smartness’ with boys by the time they are six years old,” says co-author Sarah-Jane Leslie, a professor of philosophy at <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>. “These new findings show that the effects of these stereotypes persist over time, continuing to shape women’s educational and career trajectories well into adulthood.”

The research, led by senior author Andrei Cimpian, an associate professor in New York University’s department of psychology, may help us better understand why fewer females enter “STEM” careers (science, technology, engineering, and math) compared to males. Overall, it shows that the psychological make up of women on average leaves them less likely to apply for certain positions that use this type of description of the ideal candidate. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Women less likely to view themselves as brilliant, study finds

Workplace inequality has been in the news a lot recently...

The Mediterranean diet consists of eating primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish and poultry, replacing butter with healthy fats like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-chocolate-cardiovascular-health/">olive oil</a> and limiting red meat consumption.

Inspired by the recipes and food culture of the countries along the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean diet is a way to encourage people eat clean, healthy foods. 

But now, a new study has found that the Mediterranean diet also helps protect seniors from becoming frail and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

The study was led by Kate Walters and Gotaro Kojima from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 

The results show that the Mediterranean diet could help maintain muscle strength and health in older adults. 

Frailty is a common problem for senior citizens and can be linked to an increase in falls, fractures, dementia, disability, requiring hospitalization or even placement in a nursing home. 

Walters and Kojima were curious to see how important nutrition and healthy eating are in reducing the risk of frailty. 

The research team examined four studies that took place in France, Spain, Italy, and China and each showed some link between sticking to the Mediterranean diet and reducing the risk of frailty as people aged. 

“We found the evidence was very consistent that older people who follow a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of becoming frail,” said Walters. “People who followed a Mediterranean diet the most were overall less than half as likely to become frail over a nearly four-year period compared with those who followed it the least.” 

The Mediterranean diet also promotes heart health, weight loss, and can help maintain muscle strength and energy.

Walters notes that because the study was only an analysis of previous research, further studies will need to be done to understand exactly to what extent the Mediterranean diet reduces frailty.

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By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The Mediterranean diet can help seniors from becoming frail

The Mediterranean diet consists of eating primarily fruits, vegetables, whole...

Grocery shopping trends are shifting in America, and the result will be a faster, cheaper, and more streamlined experience for consumers. According to a new study, stores like European grocer Aldi are disrupting the market by offering better prices.

Walmart was once in a position to become the future of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/online-food-shopping-healthy/">grocery shopping</a> by offering customers an abundance of discounted options. Study co-author Sayan Chatterjee is a professor of Strategy at <a href="https://case.edu/">Case Western Reserve University</a>.


“It's all about limiting choice,” said Chatterjee.

He explained that Aldi has been successful by utilizing a single supplier for most of its products and targeting Walmart's customers.

This strategy has simplified quality control and has helped Aldi’s products consistently meet the standards of middle-class consumers. The company targets customers who are cost-conscious and do not mind a limited selection of products.

Large supermarkets stock around 30,000 products of varying degrees of quality, but Aldi has about 1,400 single-sourced products. Most of the products are labeled in-house, allowing Aldi to offer lower prices. As a result, Aldi increased overall sales by 15 percent in 2016, while Walmart only saw a two percent rise in sales during the same year.

“Aldi has invented a new business model that provides similar quality groceries at a price point well below others,” said Chatterjee. “They have taken enough of Walmart's customers to have forced the retail giant to lower its prices in response and refocus its strategy.”

The study highlights many other strategies used by Aldi, including the use of small stores to reduce overhead and speed up the shopping experience. In addition, Aldi charges for shopping bags and carts, and sets up stores next to supermarkets to attract some of their customer base.

“Price is increasingly winning over brand loyalty, and Aldi is winning on price,” said Chatterjee.

According to the researchers, Aldi is also trying to appeal to more upscale customers by accepting credit cards and offering more organic products.

“This competition is good for consumers and beneficial for the economy,” said Chatterjee.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/sl">Strategy and Leadership</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Grocery stores are changing to become smaller, cheaper, faster

Grocery shopping trends are shifting in America, and the result...

As many of us are aware, poor diet is a leading risk factor for obesity and life-threatening diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. While we can encourage each other to have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/getting-sleep-healthier-diet/">healthier diets</a>, sometimes a little more incentive is needed to get someone to improve their eating habits. 

An original analysis from researchers at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> College of Global Public Health and <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> Friedman School of Nutrition Science has found that a federal tax on junk food is both legally and administratively feasible. Published online in the <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/">American Journal of Public Health</a>, the article indicates that enacting an excise tax paid by junk food manufacturers would be more effective than a sales tax paid for by consumers.

“Economic and social environments can influence food choice in beneficial and harmful directions,” says Jennifer L. Pomeranz, JD, MPH, an assistant professor of public health policy and management at NYU College of Global Public Health and the article’s lead author. “Our finding that a federal manufacturer excise junk food tax – defined through product category or combined category-nutrient approaches – appears to be legally and administratively feasible and has strong implications for nutrition policy.”

Although local taxes on soda and other sugary beverages are increasing in both popularity and political acceptance, a push for a national soda or junk food tax has yet to gain any traction. Important policy questions surrounding such a measure include how these taxed foods would be defined and what that appropriated taxing mechanism would be. To address these questions, the research team looked over scientific literature, recent legislative experiences from the U.S. and other countries on defining targeted foods, U.S. federal taxing and administrative mechanisms, and potential differences by tax type and purpose.

The team identified four methods of classifying foods: by product category (such as soda or candy), broad nutrient criteria, specific nutrients or calories, or a combination. Some of their findings recommended a graduated taxation strategy, meaning that the tax increases as the nutritional quality of the food decreases. Along those same lines, local U.S. junk food tax bills and laws, international junk food laws, and U.S. soda taxes supported taxing foods using nutrient-based, category-based, or combination approaches. The categories that were targeted for taxation most frequently were sugar-sweetened beverages, candy, processed meat products, and sweet and salty snacks.

Analysis also showed that between sales or excise tax, it was determined excise tax would be the most administratively feasible. Excise taxes are usually charged to the manufacturer, distribution, or sale of commodities – rather than the consumer. The U.S. manufacturer excise taxes on alcohol – based on ingredient levels and processing – presented the researchers with an informative model that could also be adopted for junk food taxes.

“One advantage of a manufacturer excise tax is that food companies may be incentivized to reformulate their products if nutrition criteria are incorporated into the tax,” says Pomeranz.

Ultimately, the research team found that a federal excise tax on junk food is both feasible and potentially beneficial to the general public. “Junk food taxes have the potential to substantially reduce the disease burden that results from unhealthy food and beverage consumption in the United States,” concludes Renata Micha, RD, PhD, an associate research professor at the Friedman School at Tufts and one of the study’s senior authors.

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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

Could a national junk food tax curb obesity in America?

As many of us are aware, poor diet is a...

The phenomenon of urban agriculture has become increasingly more apparent over the years – whether the gardens and plants themselves are community projects or simply provide some greenery to the drab concrete and brick. While it may seem that the benefits of these plantings are only local and somewhat limited, they may actually provide a significant environmental impact when considered collectively.

New research from collaboration between <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> and Google provides an assessment of the value of urban agriculture, and the benefits it provides on a global scale. The findings are presented in “A Global Geospatial Ecosystems Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture,” in the current issue of <a href="http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2328-4277/">Earth's Future</a>.

“For the first time, we have a data-driven approach that quantifies the ecosystem benefits from urban agriculture,” says Matei Georgescu, an ASU associate professor of geographical sciences and urban planning and corresponding author of the paper. “Our estimates of ecosystem services show potential for millions of tons of food production, thousands of tons of nitrogen sequestration, billions of kilowatt hours of energy savings and billions of cubic meters of avoided storm runoff from agriculture in urban areas.”

Using the Google Earth Engine, the researchers analyzed global population, urban, meteorological, terrain, and Good and Agricultural Organization (FAO) datasets to arrive at their global scale estimates – and then aggregated them by country. The estimated value of four ecosystems services resulting from existing vegetation in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-grow-faster-cities/">urban areas</a> was found to be roughly $33 billion. This includes a projected annual food production of 100 to 180 million tons and energy savings of 14 to 15 billion kilowatt-hours.

If urban agriculture is implemented on a global scale, the overall annual worth is estimated to be as much as $80 to $160 billion, and could help feed a world that faces future challenges to industrial agriculture as a result of climate change. “We’ve known there are benefits to having these small plots of land in our cities, but we found that the benefits extend well beyond having fresh food in the hands of those who will consume it,” explains lead author Nicholas Clinton of Google, Inc. These benefits include improved access to healthy foods, and increased urban nitrogen fixation, pollination and control of storm water runoff, among others.

“Relatively temperate, developed or developing countries with the right mix of crops are expected to have the greatest incentives for urban agriculture,” he said. “These would include China, Japan, Germany and the U.S.,” says Clinton.

Overall, the research team found that the environmental and societal benefits of urban agriculture extend well beyond what we once previously thought. It would stand for the benefit of everyone if cities and countries looked to improve their urban agricultural efforts.

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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 benefits of urban agriculture may be greater than we thought

The phenomenon of urban agriculture has become increasingly more apparent...

Researchers have found that many consumers choose to conveniently forget that products have been made unethically. A series of tests revealed that consumers chose to forget the knowledge that certain desks were made with wood from rainforests or that jeans were made by child laborers. 

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/group-accuses-tv-makers-of-misleading-consumers-about-energy-consumption/">consumers</a> not only forgot certain facts but also sometimes remembered the facts differently, stating that products were produced ethically when they actually were not.

“It's not necessarily a conscious decision by consumers to forget what they don't want to know,” said study co-author Rebecca Reczek, an associate professor of Marketing at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>. “It is a learned coping mechanism to tune out uncomfortable information because it makes their lives easier.”

For one of the tests, 236 college students were asked to memorize descriptions of six fictitious brands of desks. The descriptions discussed quality, price, and the source of the wood, which was either obtained from sustainable tree farms or endangered rainforests.

Immediately after becoming informed of the source of the wood for the desks, the participants accurately recalled where the wood came from 94 percent of the time. 

After 15 to 20 minutes of distractions, however, participants could recall where the wood came from 60 percent of the time if the desk was sourced from tree farms, and only 45 percent of time when wood was sourced from rainforests.

“It is not that the participants didn't pay attention to where the wood came from. We know that they successfully memorized that information,” said study co-author Daniel Zane.

“But they forget it in this systematic pattern. They remembered the quality and price attributes of the desks. It is only the ethical attributes that cause people to be willfully ignorant.”

For a second evaluation, 402 online participants were instructed to put together an outfit that included a pair of jeans. Half of the individuals were shown a brand of jeans that was described as being made with child labor, while the other half were presented with a brand of jeans made ethically.

Much like the first study, people who saw the jeans made with child labor were much less likely to remember this information than the others.

A third study suggested that forgetting this type of information makes consumers feel better about themselves. 

For this analysis, a hypothetical person named Chris was described to the participants. Chris had bought a pair of jeans made with child labor and had prior knowledge of this. Some individuals were told that Chris forgot that the jeans had been made unethically when he bought them, while other participants were told that he did not forget yet simply ignored this fact. 

“What we found is that people judged the person who forgot the ethical information as more moral than the person who ignored the information,” said Reczec.”So, for most people, forgetting is seen as the more acceptable coping strategy.”

The study is published online in the <a href="http://www.ejcr.org/">Journal of Consumer Research</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

Consumers think ignorance is bliss when it comes to child labor

Researchers have found that many consumers choose to conveniently forget...

Melatonin, produced in the pineal gland in the brain, is a key player in regulating sleep and the body’s natural sleep/wake cycle.

The sleep/wake cycle, also known as the circadian or biological clock, is present in many animals including mammals and single-celled organisms. 

The circadian clock’s main function is to monitor our bodies, helping us sleep when it’s dark and be active during the day. 

Jet-lag, an irregular sleep pattern, or shift-work can disrupt our biological clock and cause many health problems such as sleep disorders, a lowered immune system, weight gain, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Melatonin treatments have been successfully used to help circadian clock disruptions and improve <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/getting-sleep-healthier-diet/">sleep</a> for shift-workers and those affected by jet-lag. 

Now, new research reveals that melatonin could also help promote healthy physical and mental aging, with exciting implications in Alzheimer's disease studies.

A new review of melatonin treatments in regards to sleep disorders published in the British Journal of Pharmacology highlights the links between melatonin, our circadian rhythm, and diseases. 

“Deviant circadian rhythms and poor sleep quality are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive diseases, as well poor quality of life and increased risks of premature death,”  said Dr. Nava Zisapel from <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a>, in Israel, the author of the review. 

Zisapel shows that melatonin treatments could be used for more than just regulating healthy sleep and could help with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's because of the role sleep plays in memory and cognitive functioning. 

“In healthy humans, periods of sleep following learning, consistently enhanced retention of the learned material in a variety of memory tasks compared to wakefulness,” writes Zisapel in his review. “Considering the role of sleep in memory consolidation it is not surprising that insufficient sleep can reduce cognitive ability including attention and memory.”

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By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Melatonin can help promote healthy aging and regulate sleep

Melatonin, produced in the pineal gland in the brain, is...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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