Why do some individuals rush to help, while others hesitate? A new study led by Dr. Inbal Bartal of Tel Aviv University digs deep into this question using rats. The findings highlight the strong influence of social experience and brain chemistry on prosocial behavior and willingness to help.



The team used a helping behavior task where rats could free a distressed peer trapped in a restrainer. Rats that had previous positive interactions were more likely to help. 



These "helper rats" also showed more brain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-increases-feelings-of-hope-happiness-and-gratitude/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">activity</a> in areas linked to empathy and motivation compared to their less helpful counterparts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-bonds-drive-helping">Social bonds drive helping </h2>



Helper rats exhibited stronger activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, and other empathy-related areas. This activity pattern suggests that not just feeling another’s distress, but having a social bond, is crucial for helping.



Interestingly, oxytocin - the hormone involved in bonding - played a key role. Rats that consistently helped had higher oxytocin receptor expression in the nucleus accumbens, a major reward center in the brain. 



Blocking oxytocin signaling did not completely erase helping <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/who-is-happier-being-single-men-or-women/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">behavior</a> but did reduce the rats’ social tendencies. According to the researchers, caring about others appears more important than simply sensing their distress.



“We appear to live in an increasingly polarized society where there is a gap in empathy towards others," said Dr. Bartal, a faculty member in the Psychology Department and School of Neuroscience at <a href="http://tau.ac.il/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tel-Aviv University</a>.



"This work helps us understand prosocial, or helpful, acts better. We see others in distress all the time but tend to help only certain individuals. The similarity between human and rat brains helps us understand the way our brain mediates prosocial decisions."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-helpful-rats-socialize-more">Helpful rats socialize more</h2>



The study found that rats who became "helpers" showed greater <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/facial-expressions-arent-enough-to-understand-human-emotions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social</a> affiliation even before the helping task began. Before any rat was trapped, these rats spent more time interacting, lying together, and engaging in affiliative behaviors with their cagemates.



The frequency of social interactions predicted how quickly rats would later act to free a distressed peer. Rats that interacted more often on the first day were faster to help across testing days. 



This link between early social behavior and later helping actions offers new insights into how prosocial tendencies develop.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-helpers-had-more-oxytocin-receptors">Helpers had more oxytocin receptors</h2>



Gene expression studies revealed that helper rats had significantly higher oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) levels specifically in the nucleus accumbens. They also showed greater activity of genes related to social reward and emotional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coping-with-eco-anxiety-turning-climate-worry-into-action/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regulation</a>.



Importantly, genes tied to stress responses were downregulated in helper rats. This suggests that lower stress reactivity could promote a readiness to help others. Brain-wide analyses also showed that helper rats had more active networks in sensory and empathy-related brain regions.



When the researchers blocked oxytocin signaling in the brain’s paraventricular nucleus, rats showed fewer social behaviors. This reduced sociality hints that oxytocin may strengthen social bonds in the brain, which in turn could drive helping actions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-brains-are-motivated-to-help">Social brains are motivated to help</h2>



Helper rats demonstrated a widespread activation of the brain’s prosocial network. Critical areas included the anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and insular cortex. Many of these regions overlap with known human empathy and reward circuits.



Moreover, the orbitofrontal cortex stood out as playing a major role. This area, known for evaluating rewards and decisions, showed the strongest difference between helpers and non-helpers.



Social interaction frequency correlated strongly with brain activity in these regions. Rats who were more socially engaged early on had higher brain activation related to empathy later, even days after initial testing.



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



The research suggests that social connectedness and neurochemical factors together shape helping behavior. The results support the idea that empathy alone does not always lead to action - social bonds and emotional rewards are key motivators.



Understanding how oxytocin and social affiliation drive prosocial behavior could help us better support empathy in increasingly divided societies. Strengthening social bonds might be more effective than simply raising awareness about others' distress.



Dr. Bartal and colleagues have illuminated the biological roots of kindness in a way that could one day inform how we nurture empathy in humans.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/04/17/JNEUROSCI.0845-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.



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Acts of kindness: Social brains are wired to help

Why do some individuals rush to help, while others hesitate? A new study led by Dr. Inbal Bartal of Tel Aviv University digs deep into this question using rats. The findings highlight the strong influence of social experience and brain chemistry on prosocial behavior and willingness to help. The team used a helping behavior task where rats could free a distressed peer trapped in a restrainer. Rats that had previous positive interactions were more likely to help. These "helper rats" also showed more brain activity in areas...

Our current understanding of the brain and memory is that when something happens it’s stored as a short-term memory in the hippocampus, and then transferred to long-term storage in the cortex.  Now, new research from <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> suggests that our memories are stored simultaneously in short- and long-term memory chambers, but the memory isn’t activated in long-term for a period of perhaps two weeks.  

To illustrate, lab <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zombie-killer-mice/">mice</a> undergoing brain scans by MIT researchers were given mild shocks. They immediately remembered the shock in the hippocampus, the part of the brain where researchers already know short-term memory is temporarily stored. But then something unexpected happened: the shock simultaneously triggered a memory response in another part of the mouse brain, the prefrontal cortex.

The mice would freeze the next day when in the corridor where the shock occurred, and researchers could see the memory being activated in the hippocampus. That same memory, however, went ‘silent’ in the cortex. That means the memory was present there, but it didn’t spur a response. The mice only froze when the researchers reactivated that part of the brain with light. Furthermore, after the shock memory was fully transferred to the cortex, and the memory went silent in the hippocampus, it could be reactivated here too, making the mouse freeze.

To researchers, this availability of memory in two brain locations suggested the possibility of turning memories on or off by activating or silencing this mechanism to benefit the patients.

“If we identified a mechanism for the overactive memory in PTSD to be switched back to silent, we may find a way to treat the disease,” lead author Dr. Takashi Kitamura told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>. “Additionally, we could potentially activate the frozen, silent memories of amnesiac patients to retrieve their past.”

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4387392/Is-memories-stored-brain.html"> Daily Mail</a>

How does the brain store and recall memories?

Our current understanding of the brain and memory is that...

For some people, getting enough high-quality sleep has always been difficult. Disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea can leave you feeling fatigued during the day but somehow restless at night. Unfortunately, these types of sleep problems tend to only get worse as we age, even though we are less likely to notice the symptoms as we get older.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> have found that the lack of good sleep experienced by the elderly can actually increase their risk of memory loss and a number of mental and physical disorders. In fact, sleep deterioration has been linked to conditions such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and stroke.

The article’s senior author – Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> – explains further, “Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep. We've done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that.”

The shift from restful, healthy sleep when we’re young to fitful, restless sleep can start as early as your 30s, leading to sleep-related cognitive and physical ailments in middle age.

While a doctor may prescribe you medication to help you fall asleep, Walker believes these pills are not a good substitute for our natural sleep cycle, saying, “Don’t be fooled into thinking sedation is real sleep. It’s not.”

In their study, Walker and fellow researchers Bryce Mander and Joseph Winer, show that the aging brain has trouble generating the necessary slow brain waves that lead to deep and beneficial sleep. Our brains may also struggle to produce the neurochemicals that help us make the switch from sleep to wakefulness.

“The parts of the brain deteriorating earliest are the same regions that give us deep sleep,” says Mander – the study’s lead author. The aging process can also lead to a decline in deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) or “slow wave sleep.” The characteristic brain waves associated with NREM – such as fast bursts of brain waves known as “sleep spindles” as well as slow waves – occur less frequently as we get older.

When our brains exhibit healthy slow waves and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-gene-helps-explain/">sleep</a> spindles, it increases the brain’s ability for short-term memory storage, as these waves help transfer memories and information from the hippocampus. As the waves decrease, it can lead to a decline in memory later in life, says Winer.

Furthermore, the resulting fatigue that many of the elderly feel during the day can be related to the inability of the aged brain to regulate specific neurochemicals that stabilize our sleep and ease the transition to wakefulness. 

Luckily, not everyone will experience these sleep issues later in life. Mander explains, “Just as some people age more successfully than others, some people sleep better than others as they get older, and that's another line of research we'll be exploring.”

The focus now is providing alternatives to prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids. There is already an effort to explore non-pharmaceutical remedies, such as electrical stimulation to amplify brain waves during sleep and acoustic tones that may help slow brain rhythms, almost like a brain-metronome.

Quality sleep cannot be attained simply by sedating yourself for the recommended eight hours. The science of sleep points to a variety of factors that lead to true and healthy restfulness – not just being unconscious for a period of time. As Walker explains, “we need both quantity and quality.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/"> University of California – Berkeley</a>

Our quality of sleep declines as we age

For some people, getting enough high-quality sleep has always been...

The horrifying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/group-epa-waited-seven-months-intervene-flint-water-crisis/">Flint</a> water crisis has led many scientists to take a closer look at what exactly is in our drinking water. Now, new research has shown an abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and pet waste is polluting urban water sources. 

A new study from the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> is the first to compare urban watershed concentrations of nitrogen in phosphorus, leading to results that can be applied to urban watersheds around the world that experience an influx of excess nutrients.

The researchers – led by Sarah Hobbie, a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution &amp; Behavior – found that households tend to be the main source of nutrient pollutants in the Twin Cities urban watershed. In particular, household nitrogen fertilizer use is exceeds that of commercial fertilizer use by golf courses, college campuses, and other non-residential locations by a factor of ten. Furthermore, pet waste is the leading source of phosphorus in the seven sub-watersheds of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The calculated network of streets and storm drains that whisk away water from the landscape to avoid flooding are actually a major factor in this nutrient pollution. Most of the phosphorus that is found in these watersheds is carried away by stormwater that drains into surface waters – such as rivers and lakes – and ends up contributing to pollution and eutrophication.

Unlike phosphorus, nitrogen tends to disperse through a wider array of pathways. Only one-fifth of nitrogen is transported through stormwater into surface water, while the majority ends up being released into the atmosphere or seeping through soil into groundwater.

Hobbie explains, “Not only is this a concern for water resource managers tasked with cleaning up urban pollution, but also urban and downstream residents who depend on clean water for drinking water, recreation and aesthetic value.”

In order to curtail this nutrient pollution, the researchers want to focus on reducing excessive nitrogen fertilizer use and controlling the erosion and excessive pet waste that releases phosphorus into the watershed. Picking up after your dog – or your cat, as some people actually do walk their cats believe it or not – is not just your civic duty for aesthetic reasons. Rather, your pet’s waste has consequences that lead further down stream, no pun intended. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a>

Fertilizers and pet waste could be polluting your drinking water

The horrifying Flint water crisis has led many scientists to...

People who are always late have poorer time estimation skills. We all know someone who is always late. Or maybe you’re one of those people? Either way, it turns out that chronic lateness is caused by a problem with the person’s Time-Based Prospective Memory (TBPM), where memory is tied to a time-related cue. According a new study, some people are better at estimating time than others because they stay more aware of its passing.

Researchers from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University</a> in St. Louis conducted an experiment that showed that one key way of fighting tardiness was simply to stay more aware of the passing time.

First, study participants were given a trivia quiz to complete. While doing so, either two or four pop songs from various eras were playing in the background – or none at all. The participants, who were broken into age groups of younger (18-36) and older (60-87) were asked to estimate how long they were given to take the test, in minutes and seconds.

This phase was to give the participants some estimation of how long that part of the test would take. It was assumed that test-takers, especially the younger ones, would use the songs as a timekeeping device. In fact, they did so, but tended to overestimate the amount of expired time when more songs played.

In Phase 2, all participants were to spend however much time they wished to spend on putting together a puzzle, and would be given credit for the number of pieces they connected. Then they were to retake the trivia quiz they’d already time-estimated, and complete a questionnaire in 20 minutes. But first they were to write a time plan, indicating the strategy they intended to use to gain as many points as possible for their puzzle and trivia skills while also completing the final test on time. They were also told how to use a clock for timekeeping if and when they felt the need.

The multi-stage test was complex to mimic conditions in the outside world, where there are likely to be multiple distractions that can dull the sense of urgency – a root cause of tardiness. In fact, one test-taking participant had results thrown out because the individual got so engrossed with the puzzle that he or she never did move on to the other tasks.

What researchers found was that those participants who most frequently checked the time had the greatest success in avoiding being late. Winners also did the best job of pre-planning a strategy for completing the tasks on time and resisted the impulse to crowd the allocated time with additional tasks.

The study was published in the <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/xge/">Journal of Experimental Psychology</a>.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304362510_Why_Are_You_Late_Investigating_the_Role_of_Time_Management_in_Time-Based_Prospective_Memory"> Journal of Experimental Psychology</a>

People who are always late have poorer time estimation skills

People who are always late have poorer time estimation skills....

What is the one activity that engages the most parts of our brains? Hint: it’s not listening to or playing music, writing a book or working out a complex math equation. It’s sipping a glass of wine, according to Gordon Shepherd.

In his book Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine, the <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> neuroscientist relates flavor science through the lens – or, more to the point, the stemmed glassware – of wine.

Flavor is not within the food or beverages we consume, we’re told. The concept of taste is created by the brain, through multiple sensory, motor, and central behavioral systems. Taste is even affected by the contents of our saliva and such variables as age, gender and our very unique array of 350 different kinds of olfactory receptors.

Shepherd uses the term “neurogastronomy” to describe the way the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-older-men/">brain</a> goes to work on our perception of taste and flavor. The science isn’t an easy concept. Shepherd discusses orthonasal versus retronasal smell and the fluid dynamics of wine tasting to explain the complex interplay between brain and sip.

As Shepherd stated in his book, “The taste is not in the wine; the taste is created by the brain of the wine taster.”

In an interview with <a href="http://www.npr.org/">NPR Radio</a>, be spoke of taste as being as seemingly illusory as color.

“The objects we see don't have color themselves — light hits them and bounces off,” he said. “It's when light strikes our eyes that it activates systems in the brain that create color from those different wavelengths. Similarly, the molecules in wine don't have taste or flavor, but when they stimulate our brains, the brain creates flavor the same way it creates color.”

Two more points that Shepherd would like to make: you lose much of the flavor through the act of sipping and spitting. And you only cheat yourself by turning that delicate sip into a gulp because too much at one time just saturates your taste system.

As for one preferred location of the vineyards that so actively engages his own brain, Shepherd expressed to <a href="http://www.npr.org/">NPR Radio</a> a special fondness for Sancerre, a designated wine district in the eastern Loire Valley.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/03/521415892/the-taste-of-wine-isnt-all-in-your-head-but-your-brain-sure-helps"> National Public Radio</a>

Nothing engages your brain like a sip of wine

What is the one activity that engages the most parts...

Circadian rhythms are a fundamental component to life on earth and have remained genetically unchanged throughout the evolution of animals. These rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral patterns that correspond to the 24-hour cycle of the day – mostly cued by light or darkness as observed by the individual. For <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-species-similarities-humans/">humans</a>, we all know someone who constantly stays up into the wee hours of the morning and has a hard time waking up before noon. According to a new study published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell/home">Cell</a>, some of these people may exhibit this behavior because a gene mutation has programmed their internal clock to run slowly.

People who stay up late and have trouble getting up early are usually referred to as “night owls.” Sleep clinics will often diagnose this night owl behavior as delayed sleep phase disorder, or DSPD. People with DSPD generally struggle to fall asleep at night, sometimes with sleep coming so late that it fractures into a series of long naps. Michael Young, the head of the Laboratory of Genetics at <a href="http://www.rockefeller.edu/">The Rockefeller University</a>, calls it “perpetual jet lag.”

Sleep disorders such as DSPD are associated with anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Both Michael Young and Alina Patke – a research associate in Young’s lab and the first author of the study – decided to take a closer look at what causes this disrupted circadian rhythm.

Young connected with clinical researchers at the <a href="http://weill.cornell.edu/">Weill Cornell Medical College</a> in an attempt to find the molecular map behind these sleep disorders.

By studying the skin cells of people with DSPD, they found that a mutation in a gene called CRY1 actually alters the human circadian clock, throwing off the rhythmic behavior of a person’s sleep/wake cycle. Their results showed that carriers of the gene variant experienced nighttime sleep delays of 2 to 2.5 hours compared to non-carriers.

Patke explains, “Carriers of the mutation have longer days than the planet gives them, so they are essentially playing catch-up for their entire lives." Their study is the first to point towards a gene mutation in the development of DSPD, and sheds light on the genetic basis behind this sleep disorder.

While not all suffers of DSPD can be attributed to the CRY1 mutation – Patke herself is a night owl but does not carry the gene variant – the researchers found the mutation in 1 in 75 individuals of non-Finnish, European ancestry. They discovered this gene variation in what Young calls “a large fraction of the population,” by doing a gene database search.

Despite the CRY1 mutation potentially affecting millions of people, it is possible for the resulting sleep disorder to be properly managed. The circadian clock is very responsive to external environmental cues, so it can be easily influenced if the right steps are taken. “An external cycle and good sleep hygiene can help force a slow-running clock to accommodate a 24-hour day,” says Patke. “We just have to work harder at it.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.cell.com/about">Cell Press</a>

Are you a night owl? A gene mutation may explain why

Circadian rhythms are a fundamental component to life on earth...

Fasten your seatbelts and hold on to your hats; new research suggests that aircraft turbulence may become two or three times more frequent due to increases in climate change.

According to a recent study from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a> published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/376">Advances in Atmospheric Sciences</a>, climate change actually has an effect on the forces that generate turbulence. Dr. Paul Williams has discovered that increases in climate change generate stronger wind shears within the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-internal-jet-stream-core/">jet stream</a>, which can become unstable and are a major cause of turbulence.

A wind shear – for those of us who aren’t pilots or meteorologists – is a difference in wind speed or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere.

This study is the first to examine the future of severe turbulence. It investigated multiple different turbulence strength levels using supercomputer simulations for the atmosphere. These simulations specifically calculated how wintertime transatlantic clear-air turbulence would change at an altitude around 12km when there is twice as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Many scientists believe atmospheric carbon dioxide is likely to double before the end of this century.

Williams explains, “Our new study paints the most detailed picture yet of how aircraft turbulence will respond to climate change.”

The study found that the average amount of light turbulence in the atmosphere may increase by 59%, with light-to-moderate turbulence increasing by 75%, moderate by 94%, moderate-to-severe by 127%, and severe by 149%.

While an increase in light turbulence may seem like just a minor inconvenience, severe turbulence routinely hospitalizes both air travellers and flight attendants around the world. 

Williams hopes to expand on this research, stating: "My top priority for the future is to investigate other flight routes around the world. We also need to investigate the altitude and seasonal dependence of the changes, and to analyze different climate models and warming scenarios to quantify the uncertainties."

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>

Climate change may cause dangerous increases in aircraft turbulence

Fasten your seatbelts and hold on to your hats; new...

Sleep… we spend roughly one-third of our lives doing it, and while it may look like nothing, it’s a major part of a healthy lifestyle. The thing is, no one is really sure why sleep is necessary.

"Sleep must be serving some important function," says Jason Gerstner, an assistant research professor at <a href="https://medicine.wsu.edu/">Washington State University’s College of Medicine</a>, "But as scientists we still don't understand what that is. One way to get closer to that is by understanding how it is regulated or what processes exist that are shared across species."

In order to do this, Gerstner and his colleagues in Japan analyzed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-strain-flavors/">genes</a> that change expression over the sleep-wake cycle. They discovered that expression of the gene FABP7 tended to change over the day in the brains of mice. Furthermore, they found that mice with a “knocked out” – or absent – FABP7 gene slept more fitfully compared to mice with a normal FABP7 gene.

The researchers thought these findings might mean that this gene is a requirement for normal sleep in all mammals. The next step was to observe the actions of this gene expression in humans.

Gerstner and his team looked at data from nearly 300 Japanese men who underwent a seven-day sleep study, which included analyzing their DNA. They found that 29 individuals had an abnormal variant of the gene responsible for the production of FABP7. These subjects – similar to the mice – tended to sleep more fitfully. In other words, while they would get the same amount of sleep as others, their sleep was not as good and included more waking events.

Delving further, the researchers made transgenic fruit flies by inserting mutated and normal human FABP7 genes into their astrocytes, which are cells that support neuronal activity and help control behavior. They then monitored the flies’ sleep using an infrared beam that detected motion.

As luck would have it, flies with mutated FABP7 genes slept more fitfully – aligning perfectly with the results from the mouse and human studies.

Gerstner believes these results suggest “there's some underlying mechanism in astrocytes throughout all these species that regulates consolidated sleep.” Recent research has revealed that astrocytes – a form of glial cells – may have more of a role in the central nervous system than previously thought.

This particular research is especially exciting, Gerstner explains, “It's the first time we've really gained insight into a particular cell's and molecular pathway's role in complex behavior across such diverse species.”

Given that fruit flies have been around for about 60 million years, it “suggests we have found an ancient mechanism that persisted over evolutionary time,” says Gerstner. “Evolution does not keep something around that long if it is not important.”

Moving forward, Gerstner and his colleagues will look to see how the functions of FABP7 proteins may shed light on current theories about why sleep is so important.

More information on this study can be found in the open-access journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a>

Discovery of a sleep gene helps explain why we need rest

Sleep… we spend roughly one-third of our lives doing it,...

It is possible you may have noticed recent “clickbait” or “life-hack” headlines that suggest using common artificial sweeteners as insecticides to keep away houseflies. It’s also possible you may have tried this out or have boxes of Splenda being shipped to you right now. But scientists have come out with new research that could have your rushing to the computer to cancel that order.

A new study done by a team of researchers at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu">North Carolina State University</a> suggests that these insects aren’t poisoned by artificial sweeteners – rather, they simply end up dying of malnutrition. 

The researchers tested the survival rate of houseflies (Musca domestica) on the main ingredient in Truvia – known as erythritol – compared to natural sugar, agar, and water alone. They discovered that the flies had a strong preference for the natural sugar over the erythritol when given the choice. When fed only erythritol, they had a similar mortality rate to flies fed only water or agar.

Michael Fisher, the lead author on the study and a doctoral candidate at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu">NC State,</a> elaborates: “Based on our results, erythritol does not appear to have insecticidal properties on house flies in the traditional sense, and would not be a candidate for adult control.”

The research team also tested mannitol, xylitol, and sorbitol on flies, ultimately finding that only sorbitol had any nutritive value for the insects. They believe there are a multitude of reasons for why <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossilized-damselflies-mating-rituals/">flies</a> cannot survive on artificial sweeteners, including problems with digestion and a negative effect on the flies’ gut microbes.

Scientists also believe that real-world applications of a sweetener insecticide would face practical challenges, the most significant of which would likely be the presence of competing food sources. It appears even flies can understand that these sweeteners hold no nutritional value for them, and they would realistically avoid contributing to their own demise.

--

By Connor Ertz, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.entsoc.org/">Entomological Society of America</a>

Can artificial sweeteners be an effective fly insecticide?

It is possible you may have noticed recent “clickbait” or...

Clean, safe drinking <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/irrigation-groundwater-depletion/">water</a> is in short supply for up to one billion people in the developing world, according to <a href="https://thewaterproject.org/">The Water Project</a>. In addition, climate change is triggering global drought conditions to crisis proportions. And finally, the <a href="http://www.wri.org/">World Resource Institute</a> estimated in 2015 that 33 nations would be particularly water stressed by 20140. These and other water-scarcity statistics underline why the development of an effective and affordable seawater desalination and filtering process is such welcome news.

The technology consists of a graphene-oxide membrane that acts as a sort of water filter at the atomic level. Its atoms of carbon and water only allow water through, and act as a barrier to the larger salt and particulate atoms, resulting in the relatively fast and easy desalination of seawater and filtration of dirty water for safe drinking and irrigation.

The new graphene filter is an improvement over an earlier version, both created by scientists at the <a href="http://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/collaborate/national-graphene-institute/">National Graphene Institute</a> at <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">The University of Manchester</a> (TUM) in England.

Wealthy nations can develop large and costly desalination plants, but this new technology could lead to the development of smaller and much more affordable filtration plants that could serve the needs of poorer countries. And since the water flow-through occurs quickly while the nano-particles of salt and waste are effectively screened, the graphene filters can accommodate the needs of large plants where huge volumes of water would flow.

“This is the first clear-cut experiment in this regime,” said TUM Professor Rahul Nair, a study participant. “We also demonstrate that there are realistic possibilities to scale up the described approach and mass produce graphene-based membranes with required sieve sizes.”

The study was published today in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2017.21.html">Nature Nanotechnology</a>.

[caption id="attachment_202167" align="aligncenter" width="550"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-04-at-12.13.39-PM.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-202167" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-04-at-12.13.39-PM.png" alt="" width="550" height="378" /></a> Credit: University of Manchester[/caption]

--

Written by <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2017.21.html"> Nature Nanotechnology</a>,<a href="https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/"> The Water Project</a>,<a href="http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/08/ranking-world%E2%80%99s-most-water-stressed-countries-2040"> World Resource Institute</a>

New nanotech filtration makes seawater affordably drinkable

Clean, safe drinking water is in short supply for up...

Peter and the Farm (2016)

Artist, ex-hippie and organic livestock <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/vertical-farming-future-agriculture/">farmer</a> Peter Dunning lives a life of solitude amid pastoral beauty and decay. He still has the beard and longish hair to fit his alternative past, and a love-hate relationship with his soil and profession. Our first view of Dunning’s Mile Hill Farm is through the front windshield of a vehicle approaching a ramshackle cluster of buildings in the green middle of nowhere that look to be already partially reclaimed by the fertile land.

The film, directed by Tony Stone, is a gloss-free depiction of organic farming, with all its mud, blood, flies, filth and casual animal cruelty.  At one point, when young assistant director Dylan Krause helps the farmer wrangle a sheep to the ground, the kid nervously looks for reassurance. “We can’t catch these lice, right?”

A scene that’s just as gritty, but not the least bit humorous, is when the camera catches Dunning struggling with a sheep that it tries to shoot in the head with a rifle – and misses with the first attempt. Then he casually cuts the dead sheep’s throat and throws his pigs a pan of blood. 

Dunning has a multitude of stories, some of them ghastly but usually told in a cheerful tone that can go harder in the next breath. A mutilated hand is the result of a bandsaw accident he tells in loving detail. It left him with three gnarled fingers and a three-month hospital stay when he was 26.

When his demons are let loose, Dunning shares his regret for his inability to keep either of at least two ex-wives and his four adult children around him. “I could, in front of you, call all of my children. Not a one would answer the phone,” he tells his behind-the-camera audience. 

He shows the exact places where two of his kids were conceived, each story involving Dunning and a wife camping out overnight to bring a predatory raccoon to justice. There’s also bitter resentment for how his adoptive family would tell him next to nothing about the biological mother he never knew. 

It’s hard at first figuring out why the kids won’t visit or take the calls of the chatty old guy. Then the camera catches him in a low point, when he rages about his life choices and berates poor young Dylan for every imagined insult, and the family dysfunction begins to make sense.

Dunning is a man filled with rage, bitterness, self-revulsion and dark thoughts during his depressive, alcohol-fueled slides. At these times he admits the need to detox, “but not now.” 

“I’ve spread and lost hope over every acre,” the dark poet says of the property he tour-guides the camera through, stopping to tell stories about his herds of sheep, cows, pigs, his dog and even a couple trees on the property. 

“Life is really more impressive than death,” he says at one point. But he also mentions a rifle so powerful that it virtually obliterated the brains of a deer he had to use it on up close after wounding the beast. After which he says of his hired hand and the gun, “Paul hides it when I get suicidal.”

Dunning found his way to the property through the counter-culture and his artistic pursuits. He was – and to some extent still is – a painter and a sculptor. His pragmatic goal, when he was 33 and rudderless, was “half of the year to make money, half to make art.”

Over the decades that have passed since, Dunning has found that an organic farm is hardly a part-time venture. He admits that the year 1998 was the farm’s high point and “it’s been in decay ever since.”  Later, he eloquently describes the condition of land and landowner, perhaps quoting one of his own dark poems, “The old man is slowing down, and the weeds are speeding up.”

During one of his self-flagellating soliloquies he’s predicting how quickly he’ll be forgotten. “This used to be the Peter Dunning farm,” he imagines strangers saying dismissively of his land and his life.

Peter and the Farm is gorgeously shot, though some of the night scenes are too dark to be clearly seen. Rural Vermont looks both appealing and daunting. And the lonely, irascible, loquacious, contemplative, poetic, raging, drunk landowner knowns how to draw an audience.

Peter and the Farm is currently playing on Netflix ad is also available on iTunes, Amazon and other online sites.

--

Original Feature by David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="http://www.magpictures.com/peterandthefarm/">Peter and the Farm Official Site</a>

Earth.com Film Review Peter and the Farm

Peter and the Farm (2016) Artist, ex-hippie and organic livestock...

Researchers from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> and <a href="http://english.pku.edu.cn/">Peking University</a> in Beijing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/winter-pollution-china-worsening/">China</a> have written a paper suggesting that air pollution impacts older males the most, in terms of a loss of logical and verbal reasoning skills.

The researchers tested a total of 25,485 people of both sexes in 2010 and 2014 and found that for those who were 20 and under, there were no statistical difference in math and language test scores. Between age 21 and 60, the test results of males exceeded those of female participants. But in the later years, scores fell considerably for males in the most polluted cities.

The researchers were able to score the difference based on Air Quality Index readings, which grade air pollution levels on a 0-500 scale. For every ten units on the Index, older males lost 2.1 percent in cognitive skills, on average, to females living in the same cities.

“We hypothesize that differences in brain composition may help explain why men appear more sensitive to the negative effects of air pollution,” said study leader Xi Chen of Yale.

The researchers went on the explain that they attributed the greater impact of air pollution on older males on brain structural differences between the genders, making the male more vulnerable to shrinking white and gray matter.

“Contemporaneous and cumulative exposure to air pollution significantly lowers both the verbal and math test scores of survey subjects,” said Chen. “In general, men perform worse than women when exposed to the same dose of air pollution. The gender difference is more salient among the old and less educated in both tests.”

They also found that older males lost more on verbal abilities than on math skills.

China is a nation experiencing a severe air pollution crisis associated with rapid industrialization, so its cities are in much worse air-quality conditions than U.S. cities.

The study was published by <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/155762/1/GLO_DP_0032.pdfor.">EconStor</a>.

-- 

Written by David Searls, Earth.com staff writer

Source:<a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/155762/1/GLO_DP_0032.pdfor."> EconStor</a>

Air pollution most severely impacts brains of older men

Researchers from Yale University and Peking University in Beijing, China...

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

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

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