School,,Education,And,Laziness,Concept,-,Tired,Teenage,Student,Girl

Late nights are a badge of honor in many high‑school hallways, yet the cost often hides in plain sight. When classes, homework, and screens shave hours off nightly rest, stress hormones rise and moods wobble. 



A new investigation of nearly two thousand middle‑schoolers marks out a simple guardrail: sleep in a little on weekend mornings, but stop well before lunchtime.



After tracking wrist‑device data and mental‑health scores, the team observed the best outlook in teens who added under two extra hours of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-prepares-the-brain-for-the-future-while-protecting-memories-of-the-past/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shut‑eye</a> on Saturdays and Sundays.



<a href="https://cas.uoregon.edu/directory/natural-sciences/all/sojeongk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sojeong Kim</a> of the University of Oregon, presenting the findings today at the SLEEP 2025 meeting in Seattle, led the study with colleagues from the <a href="https://abcdstudy.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development project</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-teens-don-t-sleep-enough">Most teens don’t sleep enough</h2>



Only <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/dstr/pdf/dstr-dietary-physicalactivity-sleepbehavior2013-2023-508.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">23 percent</a> of U.S. high‑school students log at least eight hours on a school night, federal surveyors reported last year. Sparse rest shows up as poorer attention, slower memory consolidation, and heavier <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-quality-could-be-the-key-to-better-metabolic-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotional swings</a>.



The <a href="https://aasm.org/advocacy/position-statements/teen-sleep-duration-health-advisory/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Academy of Sleep Medicine</a> advises 13‑ to 18‑year‑olds to bank eight to ten hours each night for steady growth and learning. 



Yet biology pushes adolescents to prefer late bedtimes, while early bells drag them out of bed before their <a href="https://nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">circadian rhythm</a> finishes its natural cycle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-teens-naturally-sleep-and-wake-up-late">Teens naturally sleep and wake up late</h2>



Teenagers experience a biological delay in their circadian rhythm, meaning they naturally fall asleep and wake up later than younger children or adults. 



This shift is caused by changes in <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/melatonin-for-sleep-does-it-work" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">melatonin</a> production during puberty, which pushes the body's internal clock back by one to two hours.



Because school start times don’t align with this shift, teens are often forced to wake up while still in their biological night. 



The resulting disconnect between natural sleep patterns and social demands is known as <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8707256/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social jetlag</a>, a condition that has been linked to mood disorders and reduced academic performance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-weekend-sleep-boost-of-1-2-hours-helps-mood">Weekend sleep boost of 1–2 hours helps mood</h2>



Researchers call the practice of extending weekend sleep <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36612896/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weekend catch‑up sleep</a>. Kim’s group sorted participants into three bands: no catch‑up, one to two hours, and more than two hours.&nbsp;



Those in the middle group scored lowest on internalizing symptoms, a bundle of anxiety and low mood markers, even after the team adjusted for sex, race, and socioeconomic status. 



The results echo a South Korean cohort in which teens adding 60–119 minutes on weekends reported higher well‑being than those who slept in longer.



“The results show that both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-new-mothers-feel-exhausted-despite-getting-sleep/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleeping</a> less on weekends than weekdays and sleeping substantially more on weekends were associated with higher anxiety symptoms,” explained Kim.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-weekend-sleep-tracked-using-fitbits">Weekend sleep tracked using fitbits</h2>



Researchers collected data from 1,877 teens with an average age of 13.5 years. Each participant wore a Fitbit device to objectively measure sleep duration across both weekdays and weekends.



To track mental health, the team used the <a href="https://aseba.org/wp-content/uploads/BPM-Y11-18_511-sample-copy-watermark-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brief Problem Monitor–Youth</a>, a tool that evaluates internalizing symptoms like anxiety and low mood. 



Weekend catch‑up sleep was calculated by subtracting average weekday sleep from weekend totals, then categorizing teens into three groups based on this difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-too-much-rebound-can-backfire">Why too much rebound can backfire</h2>



At first glance, extra hours of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-night-of-lost-sleep-can-trigger-hidden-health-issues/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rest</a> should erase weekday debt. But oversleeping drags the body clock later, making Sunday night shut‑eye harder to achieve and starting a fresh deficit cycle. 



Long morning lie‑ins also trim daylight exposure, one of the easiest cues for resetting melatonin release.



Laboratory work <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11578994/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">links</a> irregular sleep‑wake patterns with higher evening cortisol and amygdala reactivity, biological changes tied to anxious rumination. 



Kim’s data reinforce the idea that stability, not sheer quantity, keeps teenage brains on an even keel.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-parents-can-support-better-sleep-routines">Parents can support better sleep routines</h2>



A two‑hour allowance is practical: if a teen usually rises at 6:30 a.m., a target of 8:30 a.m. on Saturday lets friends stay up for a movie without wrecking Monday. 



Families can dim house lights an hour before bed, swap late‑night scrolling for music or journaling, and schedule weekend sports or chores mid‑morning so alarms are still needed.



“Many teens try to make up for lost sleep by sleeping in on weekends,” Kim said. Parental buy‑in helps translate that urge into a measured routine rather than an open‑ended Sunday sleep marathon.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-school-schedules-still-matter">School schedules still matter</h2>



Household tweaks compete with systemic hurdles. U.S. high schools typically start before 8:00 a.m., yet laboratories show adolescent brains remain in a biological night until about that hour. 



Districts that shifted bells past 8:30 a.m. report stronger attendance and lower crash rates, supporting the idea that policy can lighten the private work parents now shoulder.



Weekend guidelines will not replace nightly sufficiency. The new study found no benefit for teens who grabbed little or no rebound sleep, underscoring that weekday restriction still carried emotional costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-better-tools-may-guide-weekend-sleep-habits">Better tools may guide weekend sleep habits</h2>



Kim’s team plans longitudinal analyses to test whether moderate weekend recovery predicts future mental‑health resilience. 



Wearable devices give scientists a sharper lens than self‑reports and may soon guide personalized alerts, nudging students to adjust bedtime before mood dips.



Until then, a modest Saturday lie‑in stands out as a simple win: enough to refill the tank, not enough to flood the system.



The study is published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/48/Supplement_1/A115/8136037" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sleep</a>.



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Weekend catch up sleep benefits teens when done right

Late nights are a badge of honor in many high‑school hallways, yet the cost often hides in plain sight. When classes, homework, and screens shave hours off nightly rest, stress hormones rise and moods wobble. A new investigation of nearly two thousand middle‑schoolers marks out a simple guardrail: sleep in a little on weekend mornings, but stop well before lunchtime. After tracking wrist‑device data and mental‑health scores, the team observed the best outlook in teens who added under two extra hours of shut‑eye on Saturdays and Sundays....

The chronic sleep deprivation that many youth and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/screen-time-suicide-teens/">teens</a> face today has been well documented, with many health professionals calling for later start times in middle and high school, but these suggestions have gone largely unheard.

Adolescents need more sleep than adults, and chronic sleep deprivation in teens can actually raise their risk of depression and addiction, according to a new study. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.pitt.edu/">University of Pittsburgh</a> and documented the negative impact that sleep deprivation has on the brain’s reward system and mood. 

For the study, the researchers had 35 participants, ages 11 through 15, take part in a sleep lab study. 

For two nights, half the group slept for ten hours and the other half was only allowed to sleep for four fours. A week later, the participants came back to the lab but slept for the opposite amount of time they had for the first two nights. 

The study volunteers were also asked to play a game with monetary gains of one and ten dollars that activated the reward centers of the brain. The participants were given brain scans both weeks while they played the game. 

The researchers also had each participant answer questions about emotional functioning and if they experienced symptoms of depression. 

The results show that sleep deprivation impacted the putamen, a part of the brain involved with reward learning and goal-based movements. Even when the rewards in the game were higher during the sleep lab studies, the putamen was less responsive in the sleep-deprived subjects. 

The sleep-deprived participants also reported more symptoms of depression. These results correlate with research on how depression lowers activity in the brain’s reward system. 

Chronic sleep deprivation poses major health risks for all ages, but these results show that sleep deprivation in teens especially increases the risk of depression and addiction. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Sleep deprivation increases risk of depression in teens

The chronic sleep deprivation that many youth and teens face...

Science has proven that it’s crucial for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reaction-time-predict-mortality/">seniors</a> to stay active as they get older. But what happens when the environment you’re exercising in is toxic enough to counter those health benefits? In cities with heavy air pollution, this may very well be the case.

A new study conducted by scientists from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and<a href="https://www.duke.edu/"> Duke University</a> found that adults over 60 lost all benefits of walking for two hours when subjected to short-term exposure to traffic exhaust and street pollution.

The study was published in the journal The Lancet and is the first study of its kind to look at exposure to pollution canceling out the benefit of exercise on both healthy patients and those with cardiorespiratory illnesses like coronary heart disease.

The research found that that exposure to busy city streets and traffic pollution countered the the positive effects of moderate exercise like walking, but that walking in parks significantly improved health and wellbeing.

“Combined with evidence from other recent studies, our findings underscore that we can't really tolerate the levels of air pollution that we currently find on our busy streets," said Fan Chung, Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Head of Experimental Studies in Medicine at the<a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/nhli"> National Heart &amp; Lung Institute at Imperial College</a>. “We call for greater access to urban green spaces for people to exercise.”

For the study, the researchers asked 119 volunteers over 60 years old who were either healthy or had a preexisting cardiorespiratory condition to walk for two hours during the day.

The participants either walked in Hyde Park in London or a busy section of Oxford Street. Pollution levels in Oxford Street often exceed air quality limits set by the <a href="http://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a>.

The researchers took physical measurements before and after the walks so they could see how the exercise impacted the participants’ blood pressure, lung capacity, and arterial stiffness.

The study volunteers who walked in Hyde Park showed significant improvement in lung capacity within the first hour and the effects lasted even after the walk was completed. 

Walking along Oxford Street had a small impact on lung capacity, but it didn’t match nearly those that were in Hyde Park.

Healthy participants experienced a 24 percent reduction in arterial stiffness, and patients with preexisting conditions saw a 19 percent reduction when walking in Hyde Park. Those who walked on Oxford Street experienced much smaller reductions in arterial stiffness. 

Even when accounting for the stress-inducing environment of crowded Oxford Street, and the medications that some of the participants took, the results show the lasting positive effects that walking in non-polluted areas has on respiratory health. 

The study also highlights the importance of urban green spaces and reducing pollution in major cities. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Air pollution cancels positive benefits of exercise for seniors

Science has proven that it’s crucial for seniors to stay active...

Musical training is being linked to improved brain function in more and more studies. In particular, musical training is thought to help with important aspects of speech such as the perception of speech in a noisy environment. A study from the <a href="http://english.psych.cas.cn/">Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> has revealed that musicians have increased connectivity of the auditory-motor network which enhances their speech perception.

Dr. DU Yi teamed up with Dr. Zatorre Robert from the <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/neuro/neuro-brain-research-patient-care-and-training">Montréal Neurological Institute</a> and <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a> to understand how musical training benefits speech processes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers examined the brain activity of 15 musicians and 15 non-musicians while they identified speech syllables against changing levels of background noise.

The musicians had at least 10 years of musical training, including consistent practice over the past three years. The two groups of participants showed no difference in their educational level, hearing ability, education, auditory working memory, or non-verbal IQ.

Under a condition with no noise distractions, the two groups performed equally. At all other signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), however, the musicians outperformed the non-musicians. The researchers linked this exceptional ability in musicians to enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal and right auditory regions of their brains.

Further analysis showed that musicians had more distinguished neural patterns related to the composition of syllables in the bilateral auditory regions and frontal motor regions of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-talking-coherent-dirty/">brain</a>.

Most significantly, the research team found that the functional connectivity of the auditory-motor network was strengthened in the musicians compared to non-musicians. This means that musical training sharpens and bonds the ears with the speech motor system, or lips and tongue, so that musicians can hear speech better.

The findings of this study, which is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</a>, show an enormous potential for the use of musical training to reduce speech perception difficulties that are commonly associated with hearing disorders and age.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Musical training can improve your perception of speech

Musical training is being linked to improved brain function in...

Champagne is the bubbly, alcoholic beverage that is usually poured after the distinctive “pop” of the bottle it comes from. But it’s not just the bottle popping that is of acoustic interest to the researchers at the Applied Research Laboratories at the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a>. 

In what was likely their favorite research study in years, investigators Kyle S. Spratt, Kevin M. Lee, and Preston S. Wilson set out to determine whether the acoustics of champagne bubbles might play a key role in determining how expensive the bottle it came from should be.

“The point of the project is to study the sounds that champagne bubbles make, and to see what we can infer about the bubbles from the sounds that they make,” explains Spratt. “Bubbles are very resonant. They basically ring like bells, and the frequency of that ringing depends in part on the size of the bubbles. There is a well-known notion that the quality of a sparkling wine is correlated to the size of its bubbles, and we are investigating whether the bubble size distribution of a sparkling wine can be obtained from simple acoustical measurements.”

The research team used a very small hydrophone – a piezoelectric transducer-based underwater recording device – to investigate the properties of the bubbles. They found that the type of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lead-decorated-drinking-glasses/">glass</a> used is actually of significant importance to how the bubbles react. The design of a champagne flute is crafted to have a noticeable effect on the bubble formation of the beverage, as well as the material the glass is made out of. 

“It turns out the bubble formation process on Styrofoam is completely different than on glass,” Spratt says. “So, if you ever have to resort to drinking champagne out of a Styrofoam cup, the bubbles will be quite different.”

The findings could prove useful for consumers, who can test bubble acoustics to make sure the brand they're purchasing is not overpriced.

The team will present their findings at the 174th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in New Orleans, Louisiana, held December 4th through 8th, 2017.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The sound of champagne bubbles can indicate quality

Champagne is the bubbly, alcoholic beverage that is usually poured...

The art of telling stories has been around since the days when humans first began forming cohesive societies. These days, a good storyteller can be the life of the party, or making a living through their speeches or writing. But new research has found that in hunter-gatherer societies, storytellers were essential to promoting cooperative and egalitarian values before religion was ever a factor.

The research was led by Daniel Smith, Andrea Migliano, and Lucio Vinicius from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>’s Department of Anthropology. The group based their findings on their study of the Agta, which was a hunter-gatherer group descended from the first colonizers of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-growth-of-manila-philippines/">Philippines</a> over 35,000 years ago.

They asked three group elders to tell them stories that they would have normally told their children and each other. This resulted in four stories narrated over three nights. In listening to these stories, the researchers found that the stories about humanized natural entities like animals or celestial bodies promoted social and cooperative norms to coordinate group behavior.

Out of a sample of 89 stories from seven different hunter-gatherer societies, the study found that 70% of the stories concerned reinforcing and regulating social behavior. 

“These stories appear to co-ordinate group behavior and facilitate co-operation by providing individuals with social information about the norms, rules and expectations in a given society,” explains Smith. In light of this, it’s not surprising that Agta groups with a greater proportion of skilled storytellers were found to have increased levels of cooperation.

Storytellers were found to be more popular than even the best foragers. They had greater reproductive success and were more likely to be cooperated with by other members of their group. Skilled storytellers had an average of 0.53 more children than those who were not skilled.

The authors believe that storytelling was pivotal to organizing necessary social behavior and promoting cooperation. 

“Hunter-gatherer religions do not have moralizing gods and yet they are highly cooperative towards the whole community,” says Migliano. “Thus, storytelling in hunter-gatherers was a precursor to more elaborate forms of narrative fiction such as moralizing high-gods, common in post-agricultural populations”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Storytellers kept hunter-gatherer groups together before religion

The art of telling stories has been around since the...

As Europe prepares for a shift toward hybrid and electric vehicles, new issues arise because these vehicles are considered to be too quiet for hearing-impaired pedestrians. The European Union has mandated that low-emissions vehicles be equipped with acoustic vehicle alerting systems, which will lead to a major increase in traffic noise.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-noise-pollution-fish/">Noise pollution</a> is an environmental issue which is often overlooked that causes negative health and economic impacts. Road traffic, railways, and air traffic all contribute to the growing amount of noise pollution in densely populated areas.

René Weinandy, head of Noise Abatement in Transport for the German Environment Agency, was shocked to learn that the European Union had drafted regulations to utilize speakers which continuously emit sound during vehicle operation. 

Weinandy explained that the plans to arm electric vehicles with acoustic vehicle alerting systems "are already being cast into laws both in the U.S. and Europe - without adequate scientific proof of their effectiveness or adequate consideration of their negative side effects.” He added that, “Less harmful alternatives haven't been systematically sought or explored. Clearly, there must be better alternatives."

Weinandy developed a study to assess the effectiveness of acoustic vehicle alerting systems, their downsides, and potential non acoustic alternatives.

"In Germany alone, an estimated 4,000 people die every year from noise-triggered heart attacks -- more than are killed in traffic accidents," said Weinandy. "So is it really a wise decision to increase the noticeability of electric vehicles in traffic by making them spew noise pollution?"

Weinandy said that the noise released by the acoustic vehicle alerting system is "a synthetic, increasing sound that's supposed to be similar to an internal combustion engine vehicle start-up.”

Weinandy and his team are currently exploring the development of non acoustic strategies while accounting for environmental protection, road safety, feasibility, and usability. They have a goal of reducing noise pollution and making traffic as quiet as possible.

"We're working to change the mindset of the general public: while noise may be simply a nuisance in some situations, it acts as a potent environmental poison in others and should be treated as such," said Weinandy. "Noise does its harmful job - often without the conscious perception of the people being exposed to it."

Weinandy will present his team's work during the 174th Meeting of the <a href="http://acousticalsociety.org/">Acoustical Society of America</a>, being held this week in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Electric cars temper noise pollution but may be dangerously quiet

As Europe prepares for a shift toward hybrid and electric...

While the current conditions of transportation and water infrastructure funding in the United States are not as critical as what is widely perceived, a new study has found that priority shifts and policy changes are needed on a local, state, and federal level for more effective spending.

Research from the <a href="https://www.rand.org/">RAND Corporation</a> has revealed that just a 2.5 to 3 percent annual spending increase above the $235 billion which is currently spent on transportation and water infrastructure could eliminate existing maintenance backlogs by 2030.

According to the study, a national consensus on capital spending priorities is needed to target strategies to meet 21st century needs, while also taking into consideration the varying needs of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-grow-faster-cities/">urban</a> and rural areas.

State and local governments are primarily responsible for building and maintaining infrastructure such as highways, bridges, water and sewage treatment, airports and ports. The RAND study suggests that these state projects need federal support through tax advantaged financing, efficiency improvements in regulatory processes, and research and development.

"Spreading federal dollars around to fund short-term, 'shovel-ready' projects without a sense of national purpose or priority will not get the nation where it needs to be," said study lead author Debra Knopman. "The federal government should focus on maintaining and modernizing vital federal infrastructure and on targeting nationally significant projects that are beyond the capacity of individual states and cities."

Federal assistance could be provided through direct spending or through the tax code. The researchers recommend for Congress to preserve the federal tax exemption on interest earned from municipal bonds for at least the next ten years, reinstate taxable Build America Bonds, and experiment with other financing alternatives that keep capital flowing so that state and local agencies have sustained and reliable capital for building projects.

RAND researchers also suggest investing in advanced technologies to support newer construction methods that would utilize more durable and sustainable materials and sensor technologies to benefit maintenance. Furthermore, the researchers say that federal funding should require projects to focus on resilience to natural disasters and climate change in order to reduce the need for additional spending in the future.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Smarter spending key to improving U.S. infrastructure

While the current conditions of transportation and water infrastructure funding...

Permanent housing for homeless people in Los Angeles County is actually saving the local government more money than it costs, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.rand.org/">RAND Corporation</a>. The program was started in an effort to provide support for people with complex medical and behavioral health issues, and has caused a significant drop in the use of public services.

The initiative, which is known as Housing for Health, has led to large drops in the use of emergency medical services and inpatient hospital care. The utilization of outpatient care has also declined.

Overall, for every $1 invested in the housing program, the Los Angeles County government saved $1.20 in health care and social service costs. These are among the most substantial savings ever documented for a housing program that benefits homeless individuals.

Sarah Hunter is a senior behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, and lead author of the study.

"These findings suggest that a permanent supportive housing program that targets people who are both homeless and are frequent users of county health services is feasible and may save local government money overall," said Hunter. "It will be important to continue to examine the effort as it scales up to help even more people."

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/watering-lawns-lost-gallons-water/">Los Angeles County</a> has the highest rate of unsheltered homelessness in the country. Individuals who are both chronically ill and homeless, who frequently seek health care and social services, are among the groups targeted by the program for services.

The RAND study investigated the experiences of 890 people who received housing and support during the first 2.5 years of Housing For Health. The research team looked at this group's use of county services in the year prior to receiving housing and compared it to the use of services in the following year.

The researchers found that public services for the participants during the year prior to enrollment in the program costed $38,146, which dropped to $15,358 in the year after housing was received. After taking into account the costs of permanent housing for the group, the county still saved around 20 percent.

"These savings are substantially higher than what has been seen in other cities and suggest that Los Angeles County officials have succeeded in implementing this model," said Hunter. "Oftentimes, these programs strive to 'break even' in terms of costs and only exhibit cost savings among the most vulnerable, while the Los Angeles program shows considerable savings across a diverse population."

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Homeless housing program in LA saves the government money

Permanent housing for homeless people in Los Angeles County is...

Although the therapeutic value of sunlight exposure is often overshadowed by its harmful risks, the health benefits of the sun are actually incredible. Sunlight therapy, or heliotherapy, has been used since the time of the ancient Greeks. 

Ultraviolet rays from the sun help create Vitamin D which promotes bone health, fights cancer, and protects brain health. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-solar-cells-absorb-sunlight/">Sunlight</a> also helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol, cures depression, and builds up the body's immunity.

As we approach the official start of winter, the sunny days of summer start to seem like a distant dream. But there are some places in the country where the sun shines nearly all of the time. If you are feeling inspired to escape dreary winter weather, here are the top ten cities in the United States where sunshine is the most abundant.

&nbsp;

Yuma, Arizona

With a 90 percent chance of sunshine year-round, Yuma is not only the sunniest city in the United States but is also the sunniest place on Earth. Yuma receives more than 4,000 sunlight hours per year and averages 11 sunny hours per day.

&nbsp;

Redding, California

Located in northeastern California, the city of Redding takes over as the sunniest destination in the United States during the summer months. On average, Redding has sunny days 88 percent of the time.

&nbsp;

Phoenix, Arizona

Known for its long, hot summers in the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix has sunshine 85 percent of the time. An average of 3,872 sunshine hours per year makes it one of the top ten sunniest places in the world.

&nbsp;

Las Vegas, Nevada

Just behind Phoenix, Las Vegas has an average of 3,825 hours per year with an 85 percent chance of sunshine on any given day. The city also has very little humidity and less than five inches of rain per year.

&nbsp;

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is another sunny destination in the Sonoran Desert which has sunny weather 85 percent of the time. This city is slightly cooler than Phoenix and gets about 12 inches of rain per year.

&nbsp;

El Paso, Texas

If you are visiting this west Texas town, there is an 84 percent chance you will have a sunny afternoon. Located in the Rio Grande across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, El Paso receives just over 9 inches of rain annually. 

&nbsp;

Fresno, California

With hot summers and mild winters, the sun shines about 79 percent of the time in Fresno. Located in the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno is a major gateway to Yosemite National Park.

&nbsp;

Reno, Nevada

Also having a 79 percent chance of sun, Reno has an average of 252 sunny days per year. Reno is the largest city in northern Nevada, located on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

&nbsp;

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff has 266 days a year with sunny skies and an average of 78 percent sunshine. At an elevation of 7,000 feet, the city is located on a mountain surrounded by volcanoes.

&nbsp;

Sacramento, California

Sacramento has a 78 percent chance of sunshine throughout the year, and the likelihood of catching a sunny day in Sacramento during July and August jumps to 96 percent. The city, which is located in the northern part of California’s Central Valley, receives 3,608 hours of sunlight every year.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The top 10 sunniest cities in the United States

Although the therapeutic value of sunlight exposure is often overshadowed...

Internal experiences are an important part of daily life. Whether it’s remembering a distant childhood memory or simply recalling what you had for breakfast this morning, self-generated cognitions are key brain functions and also extend to our ability to empathize with others or become emotionally attached to a fictional character.

Not much is known about how the brain achieves this wide range of phenomena, but researchers have hypothesized that self-generated cognitions are the results of several mental processes becoming active at the same time. 

A new study, published in the journal Human Nature Behavior, tested this hypothesis and isolated the parts of the brain that were active during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/boost-memory-reading-aloud/">memory</a> recall and other similar internal mental processes. 

“When we recall a recent birthday party, for example, the brain likely activates a number of different systems, such as a system that is responsible for retrieving memory of events, a system that is responsible for building a vivid scene in our mind, and a system that is responsible for moving back in time,” said  Dr. Axelrod, the lead author of the paper.

For the study, the researchers had 41 participants take part in four different experiments. The participants were asked to recall their personal lives inside of an MRI scanner so the researchers could identify the different brain systems that were activated during internal mental processes. 

The first three experiments gave the researchers time to isolate three different systems in the brain, and the fourth experiment showed that these three systems were all active at the same time. 

The results of the experiment matched the earlier hypothesis that when we recall personal memories or even plan a vacation, different cognitive systems are all activated simultaneously. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to better understanding the processes behind self-generated cognitions.

The researchers note that even though the results of study identified three different systems, there is likely a much more complicated process of mechanisms at play. 

“Obviously, our internal experience is mediated by much more than three cognitive systems. We hope that the approach we used will help in the future to identify additional systems,” say the researchers. 

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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

Understanding how the brain processes internal experiences

Internal experiences are an important part of daily life. Whether...

Timing is critical for navigating and balancing life, but how does our internal clock keep track of it all? Researchers from the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> have now discovered how the brain keeps track of time. 

The clock accumulator model was one of the earliest models of timing control in the brain. This model suggested that the brain has an internal clock that keeps time for the rest of the brain. But now, the researchers at MIT have found that earlier models are inaccurate.

"What we found is that it's a very active process. The brain is not passively waiting for a clock to reach a particular point," said senior study author Mehrdad Jazayeri.

Evidence for a centralized clock has never been presented, and the research team proposed that parts of the brain that control behaviors which require precise timing might perform the timing function themselves. 

"People now question why would the brain want to spend the time and energy to generate a clock when it's not always needed,” explained Jazayeri. “For certain behaviors you need to do timing, so perhaps the parts of the brain that subserve these functions can also do timing.”

To test their theory, the researchers recorded neuron activity from three brain regions in animals as they performed a task at two different time intervals. During the varying time intervals, 850 milliseconds and 1,500 milliseconds, the experts found a complex pattern of neural activity. 

Some neurons fired faster, while some neurons fired slower. The most significant finding was that no matter the neural response, the rate at which the neurons adjusted their activity depended on the time interval required.

A set of neurons remains in a particular neural state, which changes as each individual neuron alters its activity in a different way. To execute a particular behavior, the complete collection of neurons must reach a defined end state. 

The study revealed that the neurons always traveled the same route to reach this end state, no matter the time interval. The only thing that changed was the rate at which the neurons traveled this path.

When the time interval required was longer, the route taken by the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/addiction-smartphones-imbalances-brain/">neurons</a> was stretched, meaning that the neurons took more time to evolve to the final state. When the time interval required for the activity was shorter, the trajectory was compressed.

"What we found is that the brain doesn't change the trajectory when the interval changes, it just changes the speed with which it goes from the initial internal state to the final state," said Jazayeri.

Jazayeri plans to investigate further in order to determine how the brain generates the neural patterns seen during varying time intervals, and also how our expectations influence our ability to produce different intervals.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/neuro">Nature Neuroscience</a>.

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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

How our internal clock works to keep track of time

Timing is critical for navigating and balancing life, but how...

Because dreams are involuntary and sometimes vivid or recurring, they often make us question what they could mean. But the practice of dream interpretation becomes particularly tricky because of the erratic and messy nature of dreams. 

If you have a recurring dream about your teeth falling out, one expert may claim you are unhappy with your appearance, but another might suggest that you are worried about being embarrassed in your daily life. 

One thing that is irrefutable is that recurring <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-works-dreaming/">dreams</a> can be somewhat traumatic when they involve frightening or negative scenarios. 

But now, new research has found that recurring negative dreams are indeed related to problems in our daily lives, specifically if our psychological needs are not being met. 

Two studies conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/">Cardiff University</a> explored how dreams relate to unmet needs to see if dreams are a way of processing our negative emotions. 

For one study, the researchers asked a group of 200 participants to discuss their most common recurring dreams, and the second study involved a group of 110 participants that had written in dream diaries over the course of several days. 

The researchers analyzed responses from the two studies to see how unmet psychological needs influence dreams and cause an increase in nightmares. 

The popular recurring dreams that the participants reported having were ones of being chased, trapped, falling, or attacked. 

“We found that people whose recurring dreams were felt to have more negative emotions in them also felt more incompetent, isolated, or pressured by others in their daily life,” Dr. Netta Weinstein, an expert in dream studies, told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5132669/How-bad-dreams-reflect-daily-frustrations.html">Daily Mail</a>. 

The researchers discussed each type of recurring dream and linked it to certain difficult situations in someone’s life that could be causing the dreams. 

For example, if someone was frustrated, it was likely they would experience dreams where failure was a common theme. 

If the person felt trapped in their job or relationship, they might have recurring dreams where they are physically trapped or unable to move. 

“Negative dream emotions may directly result from distressing dream events, and might represent the psyche's attempt to process and make sense of particularly psychologically challenging waking experiences,” Dr. Weinstein told the Daily Mail. 

The studies show that it’s important to pay attention to your dreams, and if your recurring dreams are negative and nightmarish, your brain might be trying to process or highlight the stresses of your daily life. 

The results of the two studies could help future dream analysis and make more sense of the chaotic nature of dreams. 

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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

Recurring dreams mirror our daily problems

Because dreams are involuntary and sometimes vivid or recurring, they...

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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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