New research reveals how the brain assigns emotional value to smells - and why it matters for health and happiness.



If you've ever recoiled from the smell of microwaved fish or smiled at the scent of fresh bread, you’ve experienced just how powerfully odors can stir emotions. But what makes our brains decide that a smell is pleasant - or downright awful?



A new study from researchers at the <a href="https://ufhealth.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Florida Health</a> reveals the neural pathways that give odors their emotional charge.



The findings provide the first detailed insight into how the brain categorizes smells as good or bad. This sheds light on why certain odors evoke such visceral reactions - and how that knowledge could eventually improve health outcomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smell-s-path-to-the-brain">Smell's path to the brain</h2>



Dan Wesson is senior author of the study and a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics. He's also the interim director of the <a href="https://fcs.institute.ufl.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Florida Chemical Senses Institute</a>.



“Odors are powerful at driving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-emotions-build-in-the-brain-and-why-they-linger/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a>," he said. "It’s long been thought that the sense of smell is just as powerful, if not more powerful, at driving an emotional response as a picture, a song, or any other sensory stimulus.” 



The research focused on the amygdala - the brain’s emotional command center - which interacts with all of our senses. It has especially close ties to smell. In fact, the olfactory system has a more direct route to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizard-brain-shapes-social-abilities-in-humans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">amygdala</a> than any other sense.



“This is, in part, what we mean when we say your sense of smell is your most emotional sense,” said first author Sarah Sniffen, a graduate research fellow.



“Yes, smells evoke strong, emotional memories, but the brain’s smell centers are more closely connected with emotional centers like the amygdala.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-good-vs-bad-smells">Good vs. bad smells</h2>



To understand how this connection works, researchers studied <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mice-use-scent-to-determine-whos-the-boss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mice</a> - animals whose brains share many neurochemical similarities with humans. Like us, mice can learn to associate smells with positive or negative experiences.



By analyzing the mice’s brain activity, the researchers identified two genetically distinct types of brain cells in the amygdala that play a key role in determining the emotional value of a smell.



Surprisingly, they found that both cell types could be involved in generating either positive or negative responses. It all depended on where those cells were sending signals.



“It can make an odor positive or negative to you,” Wesson said. “And it all depends upon where that cell type projects in your brain and how it engages with structures in your brain.”



In other words, the same type of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-cell-origins-traced-to-creatures-that-lived-800-million-years-ago/">brain cell</a> could contribute to opposite emotional outcomes depending on its connections.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-odors-shape-daily-experience">Odors shape daily experience</h2>



Understanding smell responses may seem niche, but it has big implications - especially for those with heightened sensory sensitivity.



“We’re constantly breathing in and out and that means that we’re constantly receiving olfactory input,” Sniffen said.



“For some people that’s fine, and it doesn’t impact their day-to-day life. They might even think, ‘Oh, odors don’t matter that much.’ But for people who have a heightened response to sensory stimuli, like those with PTSD or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbes-have-an-unexpected-link-to-anxiety/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anxiety</a> or autism, it’s a really important factor for their day-to-day life.”



Scents associated with trauma, illness, or discomfort can trigger disproportionately strong responses in certain individuals. These reactions can sometimes interfere with routine activities or medical treatment.



Wesson noted how a patient’s negative association with the smell of a clinic - tied to previous transfusions - could cause intense distress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-scent-based-therapies">Future scent-based therapies</h2>



Understanding the specific brain circuits behind these reactions may open the door to targeted therapies. According to the researchers, it may one day be possible to modulate the activity of these odor-processing pathways with medications.



This could either dampen distressing responses or help restore emotional enjoyment in cases like appetite loss.



“Emotions in part dictate our quality of life, and we’re learning more about how they arise in our brain,” Wesson said. “Understanding more about how our surroundings can impact our feelings can help us become happier, healthier humans.”



By demystifying the deep link between scent and emotion, this research not only advances neuroscience - it also offers a potential path toward better mental and physical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-the-critical-role-of-nature-in-human-well-being/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">well-being</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-025-03075-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature: Molecular Psychiatry</a>.



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How your brain decides what smells good or bad

New research reveals how the brain assigns emotional value to smells - and why it matters for health and happiness. If you've ever recoiled from the smell of microwaved fish or smiled at the scent of fresh bread, you’ve experienced just how powerfully odors can stir emotions. But what makes our brains decide that a smell is pleasant - or downright awful? A new study from researchers at the University of Florida Health reveals the neural pathways that give odors their emotional charge. The findings provide the...

It's the look that any dog owner immediately recognizes when their pooch chews up a pair of tennis shoes or the couch cushions.

There's actually a name for it, Nathan H. Lents, is a professor of molecular biology at <a href="http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/">John Jay College</a>, of the City University of New York, writes in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beastly-behavior/201704/the-guilty-dog-look-and-other-borrowed-signals">Psychology Today</a>.

The "apology bow" has been studied extensively in wolves, Lents writes. and it is more complex than previously believed. 

In wolves, it is first displayed when a pup bites too hard during rough and tumble wrestling play. 

"A dog that bites too hard is punished by temporary shunning," Lents wrote. "They are removed from the social unit and ignored for a time. In order to be reintroduced, the offending wolf must approach with an apology bow and be re-admitted into the group."

Domesticated <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/chocolate-bad-dogs/">dogs</a> inherited this type of behavior from their wolf ancestors and have expanded the apology bow to include other types of infractions. 

"They will use it after any kind of infraction that results in being punished," Lents writes. “As social animals, they crave harmonious integration in the group and neglect or isolation is painful for them."

Dogs, like humans and other animals, send signals with their body language, according to Lents.

An "apology bow" can signal remorse but also submission, he wrote.

In the same way, a human handshake which can be both a greeting and a signal to bury the hatchet after a fight.

"Facial expressions and body language are rich forms of communication among animals and a complex array of signals can be conveyed with just a few gestures," wrote Lents. "The key is context. Just like humans rarely misinterpret a smile from a snarl, animals surely understand the subtleties of their own body language.”

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beastly-behavior/201704/the-guilty-dog-look-and-other-borrowed-signals">Psychology Today</a>.

Why your dog looks so guilty: the science behind dog shaming

It's the look that any dog owner immediately recognizes when...

The Eastern wood pewee is a small North American bird named after the unique sound of its song.  While not yet classified as a threatened species, its numbers are declining at alarming rates. The number of these birds in the Washington D.C. area has dropped by over 50% in the last 70 years. Researchers from <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a> teamed up to identify a likely cause for this rapid decline in bird population - the interference of traffic noise.

The researchers chose three parks in the Washington D.C. area to set up an observation. They selected sites where the traffic was constant, and also where the road was closed weekly for 36 hours at a time. The frequencies, bandwidth, and length of the birdsongs were analyzed. Low frequency traffic noise was added within 20 seconds of each bird vocalization along with full spectrum background <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/traffic-noise-prevents-birds-hearing-danger-alerts/">noise</a>.

The study, published today in the journal Bioacoustics, reveals that the birds changed both the length and frequencies of their songs as a result of shifts in traffic noise. When the traffic was silenced due to road closure, the songs returned to their natural state including longer duration, lower frequencies, and broader bandwidth. 

Dr. Katherine Gentry of <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a> is the lead author of the study. She explains, "We found that Eastern wood pewees modified their songs to optimize transmission depending on traffic noise levels.”

The interference of traffic can make bird habitats unsuitable for many reasons. Besides immediate threats such as visible disruption and fatal vehicle collision, traffic disturbance can cause communication issues that have long-term repercussions. Birds will not only have a more difficult time establishing and maintaining their territories due to a lack of communication, but will also find it more challenging to attract mates and maintain bonds with them. 

Significant changes are needed for the Eastern wood pewee to thrive again. The ideal solution for conservation of these and other roadside habitats is uniform noise reduction. According to the authors of the study, road closures and traffic rerouting could become part of a much-needed conservation effort.

“The results confirm that temporary measures to reduce traffic noise, such as weekend road closures, can benefit animals and is a feasible and effective option for managing traffic noise," concludes Dr. Gentry.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a>

Is traffic noise causing birds to stop singing?

The Eastern wood pewee is a small North American bird...

Young patients are experiencing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ants-rescue-injured/">back</a> and neck problems from texting, according to researchers at <a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.edu/">Cedars-Sinai Medical Center </a>in Los Angeles, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-neck-smartphone-use-idUSKBN17G12Z">Reuters said</a>.

Looking down while texting puts extra pressure on the spine, the news agency reported

“In an X-ray, the neck typically curves backward, and what we're seeing is that the curve is being reversed as people look down at their phones for hours each day,”  study coauthor Dr. Todd Lanman, a spinal neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai, told Reuters. “By the time patients get to me, they're already in bad pain and have disc issues."

The long-term impact of texting is unknown, Lanman added.

“For today’s users, will an 8-year-old need surgery at age 28?” Lanman asked. “In kids who have spines that are still growing and not developed, we’re not sure what to expect or if this could change normal anatomies.”

The researchers suggest holding cell phones in front of the face, or near eye level, while texting, the story said.

However, raising a phone to eye level could then lead to shoulder problems, said Gwanseob Shin of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology Ergonomics Lab in South Korea, who wasn't involved with the study, Reuters reported.

“A more practical recommendation would be frequent rest breaks or some physical exercise that can strengthen the neck and shoulder muscles,” Shin said.

Lanman recommends stretches and basic exercises that focus on posture. He tells patients to lie on their beds and hang their heads over the edge, extending the neck backward to restore the normal arc in the neck, Reuters said.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-neck-smartphone-use-idUSKBN17G12Z">Reuters</a>

Texting can be a pain in the neck, literally

Young patients are experiencing back and neck problems from texting,...

We all know the downsides to city living: smoggy air, fewer plants, traffic and noise pollution, to name a few. But one of those downsides – noise – could have an upside, too, scientists have found.

When people live in noisy areas, they tend to have lower weight and blood pressure, researchers at the <a href="http://nyulangone.org/">New York University Langone Medical Center</a> recently discovered. 

The theory is that noisy environments encourage people to get outside and get moving, which burns calories and strengthens the cardiovascular system, the scientists said.

“The inverse associations between neighborhood noise and [cardiovascular disease] risk factors were unexpected,” the research team wrote in their study, published earlier this month. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean city living is a cure-all for people with heart risks. The scientists cautioned that more research is needed. 

“It may just be that New York's noisiest neighborhoods are also the most walkable and that its residents get more exercise that way,” said Dr. Dustin Duncan, an epidemiologist at Langone and co-author of the paper. “But our study shows that neighborhood noise may have an indirect impact on health that is different from known risk factors, such as diet and sedentary lifestyles.”

The medical researchers had initially set out to study how frequency of noise complaints might affect body mass index in low-income neighborhoods.

The researchers used noise complaints made to NYC311, the city’s official website, to create density maps of New York neighborhoods. Then they used those maps and data collected from patients living in the neighborhoods to see how the complaints correlated with BMI and blood pressure.

Participants in the study wore GPS monitors for a week as they went about their normal daily routines. The monitors tracked the neighborhoods where they spent the most time.

“It made sense to study neighborhood noise because the neighborhood is where people spend most of their time; the city is a bustling, congested environment; and the health of people being studied is already at risk from the stresses of poverty,” Duncan said in a press release.

They found that low-income residents living in areas with a higher rate of noise complaints had lower BMI and blood pressure. 

The researchers hope to look into other possible causes for their findings, such as neighborhood walkability, peer pressure, and other social factors. The research could help doctors in New York and elsewhere more effectively reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in low-income neighborhoods.

The study was published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10900-017-0344-5">Journal of Community Health</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="https://ncats.nih.gov/">National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences</a> and the <a href="https://www.niddk.nih.gov/">National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

City living could have a positive impact on your waistline

We all know the downsides to city living: smoggy air,...

New research has found that while many tropical forests may appear structurally undisturbed, hunting can exert significant pressure on wildlife and result in large population declines.

The review covered 176 studies, which spanned from South America to Asia and Africa, encompassing 97 bird and 254 <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/chewing-early-mammals-survive/">mammal</a> species. Hunted and unhunted sites were analyzed for mammal and bird abundance and the data was used to estimate the overall reduction in these populations.

They concluded that both bird and mammal populations were significantly reduced in hunted areas – 53% and 82% respectively. Furthermore, the study found a direct relationship between population reduction and distance from hunters’ access points, urban trading markets, and protected areas. So even though mammal populations were higher inside protected areas compared to non-protected areas, nearby hunting still had a negative impact on mammal abundance within the protected areas.

It was also found that smaller mammals were almost always more abundant in places with higher hunting pressure than larger species, which the researchers say is due to smaller species experiencing a decrease in predation pressure as a result of humans hunting the more desirable medium and large-sized animals. So it goes without saying that these smaller mammals are big fans of the current hunting practices.

The authors believe a possible solution to these problems would be to increase strategies that sustainably manage wildlife hunting in both protected and unprotected tropical regions, as current strategies aren’t doing the job.

While protecting certain regions of tropical forests may help sustain some of the wildlife in that specific area, it’s important to understand the impact of hunting practices in nearby forests. Since most non-human species have a tough time reading sign postings, they’re likely to unknowingly cross between protected and non-protected areas. Studies like this are important for giving us a reality check on whether or not our protection efforts are helping.

--

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.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>

Hunting significantly reduces bird and mammal populations

New research has found that while many tropical forests may...

Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day be a technology hero that helps replace climate-damaging fossil fuel vehicles – but not if drivers can’t find hydrogen fueling stations. Currently there’s a grand total of 34 public hydrogen fueling stations in the entire nation, according to the <a href="https://energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy</a>, and most of those are located in California.

It’s not much of a problem now since there are only a few hundred of the hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road, all of them on lease from Honda, Toyota and Hyundai, and all in California. But that number’s going to escalate to about 1,000 leased cars this year – and the industry certainly hopes the numbers continue to climb.

Just like electric cars, the hydrogen-powered vehicles are emission-free and of no danger to the environment. But they carry an added advantage over their electric siblings – they fuel as quickly as a gas stop. That’s in contrast to the eight or nine hours it might take to fully recharge an electric battery.

On the other hand, you’ve got to contrast those 34 lonely hydrogen refueling stations to the 15,703 public electric charging stations in operation today. Also, the electric charge cost is much smaller than for hydrogen. And, obviously, most drivers can plug in at home for a battery recharge. Not so much with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/portable-hydrogen-energy/">hydrogen</a>.

It costs up to about $80 to refill the five kilogram tank of a Clarity, the Honda hydrogen fuel cell model. But drivers get about 366 miles of hydrogen-powered driving before the need to refill the tanks.

In the near future, automakers might partner with governments and energy companies to develop more hydrogen fueling stations, as they’ve done in California. Earlier this year, Shell, BMW and nearly a dozen other companies in the transportation and energy industries formed a council to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

If automotive industry wants to grow this driving option into more than a California boutique industry, those hydrogen fuel cell stations must eventually start to pop up all across the country.

[caption id="attachment_259466" align="aligncenter" width="512"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6-hydrogenfuel.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-259466" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6-hydrogenfuel.jpg" alt="" width="512" height="341" /></a> The hydrogen fuel cell Genesis GV80 concept SUV. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew[/caption]

-- 

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://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FUEL_CELL_FUTURE?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-04-13-19-03-15"> Associated Press</a>

The one big problem with hydrogen fuel cell cars...

Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day be a technology...

A significant number of kids – and even babies – are using touchscreen electronic devices such smartphones and tablets – and it’s robbing them of the sleep they need. That’s what researchers from <a href="http://www.bbk.ac.uk/">Birkbeck University</a> of London and <a href="https://www.kings.edu/">King’s College</a> London uncovered when surveying 715 parents over their youngsters’ sleep and touchscreen habits.

They concluded that, for each hour of daily smartphone use, the young ones lost, on average, 16 minutes of sleep. The way that broke down was that the screen-using youngsters spent less time sleeping at night and more time napping during the day, but that overall sleep time was still insufficient. Also, it took longer to get the kids to sleep.

Of the six-month to three-year-old children of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grown-penguins-mooch-parents/">parents</a> surveyed, 75 percent used smartphones on a daily basis. This included 51 percent of the six-month-olds and escalated to 92 percent of those at the two- and three-year stage.

“These results indicate that the popularity and accessibility of touchscreen devices has led to high levels of usage by babies and toddlers, and this is associated with reduced sleep,” said Dr. Tim Smith, a research team member from Birkbeck University. “Future research is now needed to build on this initial study to try and understand whether touchscreen use is causing sleep problems and how types of use may mitigate these risks.”

The idea here is the need to find out which came first – the chicken or the egg? Does touchscreen use keep kids up, or are parents giving their toddlers the screens because they’re not sleeping anyway?

Not that there isn’t an upside to screen use among the very young. An earlier study from the same research team demonstrated that increased active use – that is, scrolling through pages and interacting with the content rather than merely watching a video – helped develop fine motor skills at an earlier age than non-users.

“Before totally restricting touchscreen use, which might have potential benefits, we need to understand in depth how to use this modern technology in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes any negative consequences for young children,” said Smith.

The research was reported in Scientific Reports.

-- 

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.bbk.ac.uk/news/babies-and-toddlers-who-use-touchscreens-sleep-less"> Birkbeck University of London</a>

Smartphones causing kids to get much less sleep

A significant number of kids – and even babies – are...

These days, there is no shortage of dating apps that allow people to… get around. While it may certainly sound like fun, these apps have also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34008736/dating-apps-increasing-rates-of-sexually-transmitted-infections-say-doctors">been shown</a> to increase the rate of sexually transmitted diseases amongst young people. And now, more bad news. New research suggests that promiscuity within a species can slow down its evolution.

The study was performed by a collaborative team of researchers from the <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath’s</a> Milner Centre for Evolution, <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/">Cardiff University</a>, and the <a href="http://www.orn.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Ornithology</a>, and published in the journal Evolution.

The team studied the genetic structure of shorebird populations to see how they evolved over time. The data showed that polygamous bird species are much less genetically diverse than monogamous <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-dehydration-climate-change/">bird</a> species. The findings contradict prior theories that polygamous birds experience rapid diversification and higher genetic differences.

As it turns out, promiscuity mixes up the gene pool of a species. This actually dilutes the genetic differences between populations and thus, slows down the rate of evolution. 

"Our findings suggest that because of the pressure to find more than one mate, polygamous shorebirds may search large areas and therefore spread their genes as they go,” said Josie D'Urban Jackson, lead author of the study. "This means they effectively mix up the gene pool by diluting any genetic differences between geographically distant locations, so that populations are less likely to diversify into new species over time".

"In contrast, monogamous species only have to find one partner to pair with each season and tend to come back to the same breeding sites over time. This means they can gradually adapt to their local environment which increases the chance that they will split off and form a new species."

"We're very excited about these findings as this theory completely overturns conventional wisdom,” added Professor Tamás Székely of the <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath's</a> Milner Centre for Evolution."You might think that birds choose mates arbitrarily if they are promiscuous, but most individuals prefer a certain type, just as some humans might prefer blonde or dark hair in a partner.”

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/news/2017/04/10/promiscuity-and-evolution/">University of Bath</a>

Sexual promiscuity can slow down the process of evolution

These days, there is no shortage of dating apps that...

Ambient fine particle exposure is the cause of 3.7 million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-snow-toxic/">deaths</a> worldwide each year. Many of these losses are due to short-term particulate matter exposure that causes damage to the cardiovascular system. A new study suggests that a simple vitamin B supplement may reverse the effects of potentially deadly health issues caused by particulate matter pollution.

The study was led by Jia Zhong, PhD., a postdoctoral research officer for <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia’s </a>Mailman School. "Ambient PM2.5 pollution is one of the most common air pollutants and has a negative effect on cardiac function and the immune system," says Zhong. "For the first time, our trial provides evidence that B-vitamin supplementation might attenuate the acute effects of PM2.5 on cardiac dysfunction and inflammatory markers."

Researchers at<a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/"> Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health</a> set out to discover if B vitamins can reduce, or even possibly reverse, the harmful effects of air pollution. Between July 2013 and February 2014, ten volunteers who were healthy non-smokers were given a placebo for four weeks prior to a two-hour exposure to ambient PM2.5. Next, they were given Vitamin B supplements for four weeks before another two-hour exposure to the concentrated ambient PM2.5. The results were then compared to a particle-free  two-hour exposure.

"Our results showed that a two-hour exposure to concentrated ambient PM2.5 had substantial physiologic impacts on heart rate, heart rate variability, and white blood counts. Further, we demonstrated that these effects are nearly reversed with four-week B-vitamin supplementation," says Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, PhD., who worked closely with Leon Hess, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School.

The research shows that the Vitamin B supplements reversed the effects of air pollution on the heart rate by 150 percent, lymphocyte count by 106 percent, and the white blood cell count by 139 percent. According to the researchers, they studied healthy adults from a lightly-polluted area, and advise that the findings are not applicable to every case of air pollution-induced cardiovascular disease.

The study, published in the online journal Scientific Reports,is the first of its kind to determine if Vitamin B can alter biological responses to ambient air pollution. Dr. Baccarelli stresses that, despite the efforts of studies like this, there is still an urgent need for pollution regulation. 

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:: <a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/">Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health</a>

How Vitamin B Could Save Your Life

Ambient fine particle exposure is the cause of 3.7 million...

A stressful childhood is a common occurrence that seems to lead to a more difficult future. A new study reveals this is not the case. Adversity in early life can actually help develop a skill set that is not learned by more privileged children.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">the University of Utah </a>studied cases of people who had endured childhood trauma. The team discovered many of these individuals adapted to their situations by becoming exceptionally aware of the stressful circumstances they endured. As a result, they have improved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-trained-improve-memory/">memory</a> function. The team derived this adaptation could be a way of avoiding the same type of emotional hardship in the future.

Bruce Ellis, a psychology professor at the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> explained, “We have been documenting deficits in children from high-stress backgrounds forever. We fill libraries with all the things that are wrong with them. But this paper was the first systematic attempt to understand what was right with them.”

The study, which will be published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, found that children have a much better memory of negative interactions than positive ones. The research suggests that these individuals evolve to protect themselves from experiencing these types of negative encounters later in life. 

The research also concludes that individuals who witness verbal abuse early in life become much more capable of recognizing emotions. This prepares them to better cope with stressful situations. The research team refers to this as a type of “cognitive survival mechanism” that could be helpful in creating a school curriculum that will help build on the strengths of children that may otherwise be considered weak.

“We're not arguing that stress is good, or that it's good for kids to grow up in poverty or under harsh conditions,” said Dr Ellis. “What we're arguing is that [the detrimental effects of stress] are real, and that's half the story.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">The University of Utah</a>

A tough childhood could lead to smarter decisions in adulthood

A stressful childhood is a common occurrence that seems to...

Would you believe me if I told you that a team of mechanical engineers from <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> just came out with a study to show why your shoelaces may keep coming untied? Well, like it or not you’re going to have to believe me – because it’s true and it’s on the cutting edge of shoelace science.

The study shows that the reason behind this annoying inconvenience is the combined factors of stomping and whipping forces that act like an invisible hand (not Adam Smith’s invisible hand- sorry, economics majors) and loosens the knot while pulling on the free ends of the shoelaces. 

So that’s it, right? Mystery solved and now we can all go about our day with a better understanding of our shoelace physics. Well… this study goes beyond just the laces on our shoes. The researchers believe that this study on knot mechanics could also lead to a better understanding of how knotted structures as a whole fail under a number of forces.

“When you talk about knotted structures, if you can start to understand the shoelace, then you can apply it to other things, like DNA or microstructures, that fail under dynamic forces," says Christopher Daily-Diamond, co-author and a graduate student at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley</a>. “This is the first step toward understanding why certain knots are better than others, which no one has really done.”

Previous studies have shown how knotted structures fail under sustained loads, but not much research has been done on how the dynamic pressures of changing forces and loads affects a knotted structure.

“We are trying to understand knots from a mechanics perspective, such as why you can take two strands and connect them in a certain way that can be very strong, but another way of connecting them is very weak,” explains Oliver O'Reilly, a <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley</a> professor of mechanical engineering.

And while you may ask the opinion of your closest sailor friend on which knots are the toughest and strongest, you’ll need to read about this study to find out the mechanics behind their strength.

This study tested the two most common bowtie knots used to lace up shoes. One version is based on a square knot, with two lace crossings of opposite handedness on top of each other. The other version is based on a false knot, where the two lace crossings have the same handedness, which causes the knot to twist instead of lying flat when it is tightened.

The researchers found that both knots failed in the same way, and surmised that weak knots will always fail – which shouldn’t be surprising – but a strong knot will also fail over a certain time scale. However, they are still unsure as to why there is a fundamental mechanical difference between the two most common shoelace bowtie knots. 

Although this may all seem very trivial, the mechanics and physics behind this research have applications elsewhere. And if nothing else, reading this study may help you learn to tie your shoes.

More information on this study can be found in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society 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="http://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California – Berkeley</a>

The real reason your shoelaces are always coming undone

Would you believe me if I told you that a...

How would you use a warning of a few seconds – or possibly as much as a minute – before an earthquake struck? It’s not much time, but maybe you could get out of a building or at least stay out of that elevator whose doors have just opened. If you live on the U.S. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unusual-blob-ocean-water/">west coast</a>, you might start giving it some thought because you soon might get that early earthquake warning safeguard.

According to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>, Oregon and Washington State are about to join California in the launch of ShakeAlert, an earthquake warning system under development by the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Society</a> (USGS) and university partners.

Officials with <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">USGS</a>, the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> and others held a news conference Monday in Seattle to announce the system's rollout across the west coast. California has been testing the production prototype since early last year.

The <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/">Seattle Times</a> reported that RH2 Engineering, a Washington state firm, signed on as a pilot user. The firm develops municipal water and sewage tank plants and hopes the alert system can help prevent spills in the event of a quake.

“The advantage of earthquake early warning is that it gives us forewarning that the shaking will occur, and we can be sure the valve is fully closed by the time the shaking starts,” RH2’s Dan Ervin told the newspaper.

The company is developing software and hardware to process the warning signals and automatically close valves.

The warning system works through a network of ground motion sensors. The amount of warning time depends on distance from an earthquake's epicenter. It might provide little or no warning to locations close to the epicenter, but spots farther away could get seconds or minutes depending on distance.

The <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">USGS</a> says it will cost $38.3 million in capital investment to complete the ShakeAlert system to the point where it can begin issuing alerts and about $16.1 million per year to operate and maintain.

-- 

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.apnews.com/be7d5ed5a3904d3cba5dc013fd1ec38d/Early-quake-warning-system-expands-to-Oregon,-Washington"> Associated Press</a>

Could this new earthquake warning system save lives?

How would you use a warning of a few seconds...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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