This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. 



Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space.



In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow.



Since Tuesday, the moon has looked larger than usual, and it’ll keep that appearance through Friday. By Thursday morning, as people head out for their morning commute. Depending on the weather in your area, Thursday night being the best time to see the full Hunter's supermoon..



And let's not forget the dazzling Orionids meteor shower, where you can catch glimpses of shooting stars streaking across the sky, resulting from debris left by Halley's Comet.



There's truly something for everyone in this celestial display. So, grab a warm jacket, perhaps a pair of binoculars for a closer look.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-80-000-year-old-time-traveler">80,000-year-old time traveler</h2>



Meet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-anticipated-comet-of-2024-returns-this-weekend-after-80000-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS</a>, a celestial wanderer that's been on an 80,000-year long odyssey. 



From the outermost regions of our solar system, this comet embarks on an interminable journey around the sun. The last time it paid us a visit, our ancestors were just crafting civilizations.



Although its closest Earth pass was on October 12, it remains visible for the remainder of the month. 



So, how do you spot it? An hour into the sunset, turn your sight to where the sun has sunk and voila. The elusive comet, while difficult to sight with the naked eye, could be seen with a pair of binoculars. 



Don't miss this rare chance to witness a phenomenon that won't return for another 80,000 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunter-s-supermoon">Hunter's Supermoon</h2>



Next up...mark your calendars for October 17, 2024. The night sky is all set to parade the Hunter's Moon, but this year it's not just a full moon -- <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunters-supermoon-prepares-to-illuminate-the-october-skies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it's a supermoon</a>! 



This phenomenon occurs when the moon is at its closest to Earth during its full phase, making it larger and brighter.



The Hunter’s Moon got its name from the historical practice of hunters utilizing the bright moonlight to track game and gather food in preparation for winter. This full moon rises soon after sunset, extending the period of illumination more than usual.



As it ascends, the Hunter’s Moon appears particularly large and orange, a visual effect produced by its lower position on the horizon and the scattering of light in the atmosphere.



This lunar phase holds cultural significance across various traditions, representing a time for preparation and gathering, underscoring the importance of readiness for the impending colder months.



The Hunter’s Moon is generally in October -- although once every four years it makes an appearance in November.



While contemporary life may not depend on this extra light to hunt or complete outdoor tasks, the Hunter’s Moon remains a fascinating reminder of nature’s rhythms and the cyclical changes of the seasons.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-puts-the-super-in-the-supermoon">What puts the 'super' in the supermoon?</h3>



So, you might ask, "What's so super about the supermoon?" As Anna Gammon-Ross, a seasoned astronomer from the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Museums Greenwich</a> explains, a supermoon occurs when a full moon is nearest to Earth in its orbit. 



This cosmic alignment results in a moon that's roughly 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. On seeing the radiant orb hanging low in the sky, you'd agree that the supermoon does indeed earn its name.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shooting-stars-orionids-meteor-shower">Shooting stars: Orionids meteor shower</h2>



The Orionids meteor shower is one of the highlights of the October night sky. These meteors are actually tiny bits of dust left behind by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orionids-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-heres-what-to-expect/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halley's Comet</a> as it travels through the solar system. 



When Earth passes through this trail of debris, the particles slam into our atmosphere at incredible speeds -- up to 148,000 miles per hour! As they burn up, they create those bright streaks of light we love to watch.



What's cool about the Orionids is that they're known for their fast and bright meteors, often leaving glowing trails that last for a few seconds. 



The best time to catch them is in the early morning hours before dawn, when the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/betelgeuse-one-of-our-brightest-stars-will-vanish-from-sight-next-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">constellation Orion</a> (which gives the meteor shower its name) is high in the sky. 



Just find a comfy spot away from city lights, let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and enjoy the show -- no special equipment needed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skywatching-101">Skywatching 101</h2>



All set to behold these cosmic spectacles? Here are some tips to enhance your experience:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Search for a location far from city lights to escape light pollution. </li>



<li>Always check the weather. Clear skies are your best pals for skywatching. </li>



<li>Bring your binoculars. For the supermoon, they are optional, but they'll help with the comet and make meteor watching more fun. </li>



<li>Comfort is key. Dress warmly and consider bringing a blanket or a chair. </li>



<li>Patience is a virtue. Allow around 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.</li>
</ul>



These celestial showstoppers make for some spectacular photography opportunities. 



For the supermoon, a camera with manual settings, plus a tripod for steadiness, can help capture stunning shots. 



For the meteors, a wide-angle lens with a long exposure setting can help you nab a shooting star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-wonders-to-watch">More wonders to watch</h2>



October's skywatching doesn't end with the comet, supermoon, and meteor shower. 



Throughout the month, Venus brightly greets morning risers, while Saturn and Jupiter are earlier night visitors. 



Mars is a bit elusive but worth seeking out. Several constellations, such as Cassiopeia and Perseus, also adorn the night sky. 



If you're a novice stargazer, a smartphone app can help you navigate the starry expanse.



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Hunter's supermoon, a comet, and Orionids meteors are sharing the sky tonight

This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space. In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow. Since Tuesday, the...

A new project led by the <a href="https://www.udel.edu/">University of Delaware</a> (UD) will identify the best models to compute flood risks at coastal military bases where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humanity-should-brace-for-catastrophic-climate-change/">climate change</a> is currently increasing the risk of flood damage from sea level rise and massive storm surges. The researchers will apply their findings to three military sites: the&nbsp;Naval Station Norfolk&nbsp;on the Atlantic Coast,&nbsp;the Tyndall Air Force Base&nbsp;on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.



“Many military installations are located along the coast, and they can’t be easily relocated. They need to be protected,” said project leader Jack Puleo, the chair of UD’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ce.udel.edu/">Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering</a>. “To do that, we need to understand what the flooding risk is.”&nbsp;



The experts will explore numerical models that calculate total water levels in the case of sea level rise, wind-induced surges, waves, and other environmental variables to determine which mitigation approaches perform best and are more cost-effective. The goal of the project will be to accurately predict the amount of flooding and damage a certain site may experience during hurricane impacts or other extreme weather events.



“But it’s not just getting wet that’s important. It’s about flooding duration and depth. If a prediction says there will be one inch of water on a roadway, maybe you don’t care as much. But if it says you’ll have one foot of water for multiple tidal cycles, that’s important to know. It could hamper critical services and evacuation,” Puleo explained.



The researchers will assess how much information is needed to make accurate predictions to help coastal military bases become more resilient in the face of climate change. The models that will be developed will have to be able to process information quickly enough to provide the military personnel the possibility to respond fast to events such as hurricanes or heavy precipitation in order to avoid the most disastrous consequences of such extreme weather events.



Ultimately, these models could also be useful to countries and communities without access to supercomputers or time to wait for slower models to be run, by helping them predict in advance the impacts of climate change-related weather events.



“We’re learning a lot about the models in terms of how they compare with each other,” said Stephanie Patch, an associate professor of Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering at the <a href="https://www.southalabama.edu/">University of South Alabama</a>. “I hope the outcome of this work doesn’t just benefit these specific locations, but also military installations around the world and communities around the world. It’s so translatable and transferable. I would love to see an outcome of this project — even if it’s indirect — to learn enough to apply it worldwide on all of our coasts as climate changes.”



The research was funded by the <a href="https://www.defense.gov/">U.S. Department of Defense</a> (DoD).



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Preparing U.S. military bases for sea level rise

A new project led by the University of Delaware (UD)...

Epicenter,Of,A,Nuclear,Explosion,,Armageddon,For,Planet,Earth.,Elements

With around 12,700 nuclear warheads, produced by nine countries and currently distributed around the world, the threat of a nuclear <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-can-now-observe-supernova-explosions/">explosion</a> is always present. Add to this a war on the border of the European Union, and it does not seem out of place to ask the question: How should one shelter from a nuclear explosion?



In a paper published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0132565">Physics of Fluids</a>, researchers from the University of Nicosia report on the results of their simulated atomic bomb explosion. They used advanced computer modeling to study how a nuclear blast wave speeds through a standing structure, in order to determine where the best place would be for a person to shelter from the effects.&nbsp;



Essentially, no place is really safe when a nuclear bomb goes off. However, the researchers state that, in the event of a nuclear blast, people must not remain outside. Their best chance of surviving is to rush immediately inside a building – to the innermost room, or to an underground location if possible.&nbsp;



The explosion has three components – intense heat and light, a pressure wave, and radiation. Anything too close to the center of the blast is instantly vaporized by the heat and then, a second after the explosion, that heat from the fireball causes a high-pressure wave to develop and move outwards. This is known as a blast wave and it is the shock front which can be likened to a moving wall of highly compressed air. One can be protected from the effects of the shock wave, if one is sheltering in the correct place.&nbsp;



The air immediately behind the shock front is accelerated to high velocities and creates a powerful wind that can hurl people and objects great distances. However, if one shelters in a suitable place indoors, one can be protected from the worst of this wind. In the current study, the researchers simulated the movement of blast wind through a structure that featured rooms, windows, doorways, and corridors. The model enabled the experts to calculate the speed of the air following the blast wave and determine the best and worst places to be.



“Before our study, the danger to people inside a concrete-reinforced building that withstands the blast wave was unclear,” said co-author Dimitris Drikakis. “Our study shows that high airspeeds remain a considerable hazard and can still result in severe injuries or even fatalities.”



According to the results, simply being in a sturdy building is not enough to avoid risk. The tight spaces can actually increase airspeeds, and the involvement of the blast wave causes air to reflect off walls and bend around corners. In the worst cases, this can produce a force equivalent to 18 times a human’s body weight.



“The most dangerous critical indoor locations to avoid are the windows, the corridors, and the doors,” said study co-author Ioannis Kokkinakis. “People should stay away from these locations and immediately take shelter. Even in the front room facing the explosion, one can be safe from the high airspeeds if positioned at the corners of the wall facing the blast.”



There are still more than 100,000 Japanese people alive who survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War. Their testimonies are chilling, and it is noticeable that many of them managed to shelter behind walls or embankments, or in sturdy underground bunkers. To this, they owe their survival.



The authors of the current study stress that the time between the explosion and the arrival of the blast wave is only a few seconds, so it is imperative to get to a safe place as quickly as possible.&nbsp;



“Additionally, there will be increased radiation levels, unsafe buildings, damaged power and gas lines, and fires,” said Drikakis. “People should be concerned about all the above and seek immediate emergency assistance.”



While the researchers hope that their advice will never need to be followed, they believe that understanding the effects of a nuclear explosion can help prevent injuries and guide rescue efforts.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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What should you do in the event of a nuclear explosion?

With around 12,700 nuclear warheads, produced by nine countries and...

A study led by the <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/">Yellowstone Wolf Project</a> is shedding new light on how humans are impacting wolf populations in national parks. The researchers found that human-caused mortality triggers instability among wolf packs. In particular, the team found that human activities such as trapping and legal hunting have detrimental effects on reproduction and pack persistence among gray wolf populations.&nbsp;



"Gray wolf management is rarely simple and transboundary wildlife issues are complicated by disparate management goals," wrote the researchers. "Despite our study focusing on gray wolves that primarily lived within national parks and preserves, we documented high levels of human-caused mortality, most of which occurred outside protected-area boundaries. Of greater concern, these mortalities had detrimental effects on gray wolf pack-level biological processes."&nbsp;



The team analyzed decades of data for gray wolf packs living primarily within Denali National Park and Preserve, Grand Teton National Park, Voyageurs National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. To conduct the study, Yellowstone research associate Kira Cassidy collaborated with experts from all five national parks and from the University of Minnesota Voyageurs Wolf Project.&nbsp;



“For gray wolves, the biological unit is the pack or the family. We wanted to focus on the impacts of human-caused mortality to the pack, a finer-scale measure than population size or growth rate,” said Cassidy. “We found the odds a pack persists and reproduces drops with more human-caused mortalities.”&nbsp;



To investigate, the researchers examined wolf packs after at least one member was killed by human causes and compared these groups with packs that had not experienced human-caused mortality&nbsp;



The study revealed that the likelihood of a pack staying together until the end of the year decreased by 27 percent after human-caused mortality, while the rate of reproduction dropped by 22 percent. The impacts were even more severe when a pack leader died, with the odds of pack persistence dropping by 73 percent and reproduction declining by 49 percent.



Wolves in Voyageurs National Park spent the most time outside of park boundaries. As a result, 50 percent of all deaths among this population were attributable to humans, and poaching was the predominant cause.



“The unique shape of Voyageurs means that there are very few wolf packs that live entirely within the boundaries of the park. Instead, many wolf pack territories straddle the park border and when wolves leave the park, they are at an increased risk of being killed by people,” said study co-author Thomas Gable.



"Rather than viewing this result as a failing, we hope this work encourages a renewed interest in interagency collaboration, where management of gray wolves is defined by compromise and based on science, including weighted space-use and cause-specific mortality data,^ concluded the study authors. "If efforts are made toward this goal, these protected areas and the partners involved can serve as a model for successful transboundary issues worldwide."



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.2597">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.



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



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Wolf packs are less likely to stick together after human impacts

A study led by the Yellowstone Wolf Project is shedding...

An ever-growing body of evidence supports the importance of the gut-brain axis in linking emotional and cognitive centers in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/six-minutes-of-vigorous-exercise-helps-protect-the-brain-from-aging/">brain</a> with the enteric nervous system that governs the function of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrointestinal_tract">gastrointestinal tract</a>. Recent advances in research have suggested that there is communication between the gut microbes and the gut-brain axis, and vice versa, by means of neural, endocrine, and immune system links.&nbsp;



A healthy gut microbiome is involved in overall health and wellbeing in people, and has been shown to affect human metabolism, nutrition, physiology, and immune function. Conversely, imbalance in the normal gut microbiota (dysbiosis) has been linked with gastrointestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and autism.



The practice of meditation has also been shown to influence physical, emotional and mental health in people, and it is increasingly incorporated into treatment programs for those suffering psychological distress associated with depression, anxiety, substance abuse, pain, eating disorders and trauma. Deep meditation is known to originate from ancient Indian Ayurveda, and is today practiced by Tibetan Buddhist monks as a form of psychological training. The practice exercises the mind and allows self-regulation of the body, to cultivate wellbeing and provide insights into the true nature of all phenomena.&nbsp;



However, no research has yet been conducted that links the practice of deep meditation with changes in the structure and function of the gut microbiome.&nbsp;



In an attempt to find out whether meditation can influence the gut microbiome, researchers based at the Shanghai Mental Health Center in Shanghai,&nbsp;China, collected fecal and blood samples from 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks from three temples, and compared them with samples from 19 secular residents in areas surrounding the temples.&nbsp;



The monks had all been practicing deep meditation for at least two hours a day, over a period of between three and thirty years. It was a logistical challenge for researchers to collect these samples, due to the isolated and remote conditions in the Tibetan mountains. Despite this, the researchers had to discard many samples from monks and secular participants who had recently taken antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics or antifungal drugs, or who had eaten yogurt, as these substances can alter the quantity and diversity of gut microbes.



Once the fecal samples were analyzed for genetic material from microbes, the researchers found significant differences in the diversity and volume of microbes in the guts of the monks and their neighbors. The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2022-100893">General Psychiatry</a>, show that the control group (secular neighbors) had a greater diversity of species present in the gut microbiome, than did the monks. While the two groups shared 611 out of 803 different microbe species in their fecal samples, the meditation group had an additional, unique 91 species whereas the control group had 101 additional unique species.&nbsp;



Both groups were matched for age, blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, the two groups had the same dietary structure, with staple foods that included highland barley, rice, steamed bread and noodles. Supplementary food primarily comprised vegetables, meat and butter tea.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The authors report that, at the genus level, Prevotella, Bacteroides, Dialister, Roseburia and Faecalibacterium were the predominant microbes in both ample sgroups. In addition, Bacteroidetes were found to be significantly enriched in samples from the meditation group (29 percent vs 4 percent), which also contained more abundant Prevotella (42 percent vs 6 percent) species, and a high volume of Megamonas and Faecalibacterium species.&nbsp;



These groups of microbes are known to be beneficial to gut health. In addition, previous research has indicated that species of Prevotella, Bacteroidetes, Megamonas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Faecalibacterium&nbsp;have been associated with the alleviation of mental illness symptoms.&nbsp;



“Collectively, several bacteria enriched in the meditation group [have been] associated with the alleviation of mental illness, suggesting that meditation can influence certain bacteria that may have a role in mental health,” write the researchers.



The researchers then applied an advanced analytical technique to predict which chemical processes the microbes might be influencing. Their results suggested that several protective anti-inflammatory pathways, in addition to metabolic pathways – the conversion of food into energy – were enhanced in the meditating monks.



Finally, blood sample analysis showed that levels of chemical agents, including total cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, were significantly lower in the samples from the monks than in their secular neighbors. These biomarkers have previously been associated with decreased immune function and heightened risk of cardiovascular disease.&nbsp;



There are some limitations to this study; it is a comparative study, based on observations of a small, all-male group of participants that all lived at high altitude. This means the conclusions may not be generalizable to the public at large. In addition, no measurements were made of the potential health implications of these differences in gut microbiome, the researchers referring instead to results from other studies for this information.



However, the researchers suggest that their findings show long-term, deep meditation may have a beneficial effect on gut microbiota, enabling the body to maintain an optimal state of health, both physical and mental.&nbsp;



The study authors state that the role of meditation in helping to prevent or treat psychosomatic illness definitely merits further research. “These results suggest that long-term deep meditation may have a beneficial effect on gut microbiota, enabling the body to maintain an optimal state of health.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Deep meditation transforms gut microbes for optimal health

An ever-growing body of evidence supports the importance of the...

During normal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-turns-lymph-nodes-into-fat-impairing-immunity/">aging</a>, the human brain undergoes several changes. It loses mass as nerve cells die and the volume of grey matter shrinks, and there are cellular and metabolic changes to the neurons. This results in the loss of synaptic plasticity, the ability of adjacent neurons to pass nerve impulses across their synapses to adjacent neurons. The overall result of these declines is a gradual decease in cognitive ability, manifested as memory loss and the inability to learn.



Recent research on how to protect the brain from these debilitating effects of aging has focused on the role of the specialized protein named brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein promotes the brain’s ability to form new connections and pathways between nerve cells, and enhances the survival of neurons. It is produced in cells all over the body but its production declines naturally as we age. Research on animals has shown that increasing the availability of BDNF encourages the formation and storage of memories, enhances learning and boosts overall cognitive performance.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, the use of pharmaceuticals to supplement BDNF in humans has not shown much success. In an attempt to identify accessible, equitable and affordable non-pharmacological interventions that anyone can adopt to promote healthy brain aging, researchers from the University of Otago and the University of British Colombia have investigated the effects of fasting and exercise on levels of BDNF. The results are published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP283582">Journal of Physiology</a>.



“BDNF has shown great promise in animal models, but pharmaceutical interventions have thus far failed to safely harness the protective power of BDNF in humans," said lead author Travis Gibbons from the University of Otago. “We saw the need to explore non-pharmacological approaches that can preserve the brain’s capacity, which humans can use to naturally increase BDNF to help with healthy aging.”



Previous research has indicated that both fasting and exercise can protect the brain from age-related cognitive decline. The link between these two stressors is thought to be their ability to force the brain cells to switch away from metabolizing glucose, and to use another substrate for energy production instead. This cerebral substrate switch has been implicated in upregulating the production of BDNF, which then brings heightened levels of this protective protein into the blood.



The researchers recruited 12 healthy, fit participants between the ages of 18 and 56, to help them investigate the effects of fasting and exercising on BDNF production. The participants took part in trials in which they fasted for 20 hours, took part in 90 minutes of low-intensity exercise, took part in six-minute bouts of vigorous exercise, or combined sessions of fasting and exercise. Levels of BDNF were recorded in blood samples from the participants.&nbsp;



The results showed that fasting for 20 hours made no difference to the levels of BDNF in the participants’ blood. Lengthy, low-intensity exercise did raise the blood levels of BDNF slightly (from 336 pg L-1&nbsp;to 390 pg L-1), but the biggest effect was seen when the participants took part in six-minute bouts of vigorous exercise. Their blood levels of BDNF increased from an average of 396 pg L-1&nbsp;to an average of 1170 pg L-1, representing a 3-fold increase.



The cause for these differences is not yet known and more research is needed to understand the mechanisms involved. During intense exercise, the body’s supply of glucose quickly becomes exhausted and the brain switches to a different substrate to use as an energy source. The researchers hypothesize that when the brain switches from metabolizing glucose to metabolizing lactate during vigorous exercise, this may initiate chemical pathways that result in elevated levels of BDNF in the blood.



The observed increase in BDNF during exercise could also be due to the increased number of platelets (the smallest blood cell) which store large amounts of BDNF. The concentration of platelets circulating in the blood is more heavily influenced by exercise than by fasting, and increases by 20 percent during bouts of intense exercise.



These findings add support to the idea that exercise is beneficial for brain and body health in aging people. Six minutes of high-intensity exercise, undertaken on a regular basis, could extend the lifespan of a healthy brain and delay the onset of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We are now studying how fasting for longer durations, for example up to three days, influences BDNF. We are curious whether exercising hard at the start of a fast accelerates the beneficial effects of fasting. Fasting and exercise are rarely studied together. We think fasting and exercise can be used in conjunction to optimize BDNF production in the human brain,” said Gibbons.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Six minutes of vigorous exercise helps protect the brain from aging

During normal aging, the human brain undergoes several changes. It...

Scientists have long pondered why pathogens often cause illness in their hosts. Although, at first sight, making a host <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-reinfection-increases-the-risk-of-fatal-complications/">sick</a> or even killing it may not seem a good way for pathogens to spread, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a> has now found that, in certain cases, making hosts ill is in fact crucial for increasing the infectiousness of some diseases.&nbsp;



“For a pathogen, ‘spreading’ is their key form of reproduction. And when we think about why pathogens make their hosts sick, it’s long been a mystery, because making a host sick or making your host die is superficially not a good way for a pathogen to be able to spread. A very sick host will stay home and not interact as much as others, which means less spread potential for a pathogen,” said study lead author Dana Hawley, a professor of Biology at Virginia Tech.



Yet, “making your hosts feel ill can be important for getting some of the copies of yourself out of the host you are infecting and into another. So there is a trade-off for the pathogen. Making your host feel sick means that host may not interact with as many other hosts as they normally would - this is bad for the pathogen - but when they do have interactions, a very sick host that is coughing or has swollen eyes is going to be much more likely to spread whatever pathogen it has in its body. This is&nbsp;good&nbsp;for the pathogen.”



To better understand this phenomenon, the scientists used finches - a species of songbirds whose populations are affected by a bacterial pink-eye disease (conjunctivitis) - as a case study. They divided the birds into three groups – not ill, mildly ill, and strongly ill – and, after applying a UV fluorescent powder coating around their eyes, housed each of them with four healthy flockmates. The fluorescent coating allowed the researchers to track how much powder was spread to flockmates from birds with different symptoms.



Although the finches experiencing the strongest conjunctivitis symptoms were far less likely to eat, they nonetheless spread the powder at a higher rate than the mildly ill birds who spent more time feeding. “In our study system, the benefits of making your host sicker by increasing eye swelling outweighed the cost of making the finches feed and interact less,” Hawley explained. “So overall, this pathogen is going to likely evolve to cause&nbsp;more harm to birds in nature so that it can spread at a higher rate, but up to some limit, because if the pathogen kills a bird immediately, the pathogen doesn’t have a chance to spread at all.”



These findings could have important implications for managing human-infecting pathogens too. “This goes back to the idea that everyone hoped that COVID would evolve to become milder over time. Our study shows that the pressures on pathogens are complicated. On the one hand, being mild is good for pathogens if it keeps your host out and about and in others’ company - good for spread, but on the other hand, being mild may mean that none of the pathogen makes it out of the host and into another because your host isn’t coughing or depositing as much pathogen onto hands or other surfaces. So pathogens are in many cases going to be favored to make us sick,” Hawley concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220975">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.



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If pathogens wish to spread, why make their hosts sick?

Scientists have long pondered why pathogens often cause illness in...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/">Environmental Working Group</a> (EWG) has found that consumption of just a single serving of freshwater fish per year could be equal to a month of drinking water contaminated with PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid). This type of “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forever-chemicals-are-raining-down-all-over-the-world/">forever chemical</a>” is known to cause significant health issues, ranging from immune system suppression and increased cholesterol to reproductive and developmental problems, and increased risk of certain cancers.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that strict regulations of PFOS and other forever chemicals (known collectively as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are urgently to safeguard particularly communities that depend on eating freshwater fish.



The scientists analyzed data from over 500 samples of fish fillets collected in the United States between 2013 and 2015 and found that the median level of total PFAS was 9,500 nanograms per kilogram, with a higher level in fish caught in the Great Lakes (11,800 nanograms per kilogram). These amounts are 280 times larger than forever chemicals detected in some commercially caught and sold fish, meaning that consuming a single meal of freshwater fish may lead to similar PFAS exposure as ingesting store-bought fish each day for a whole year.



“PFAS contaminate fish across the U.S., with higher levels in the Great Lakes and fish caught in urban areas,” said&nbsp;study co-author Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at EWG. “PFAS do not disappear when products are thrown or flushed away. Our research shows that the most common&nbsp;disposal methods&nbsp;may end up leading to further environmental pollution.”



“People who consume freshwater fish, especially those who catch and eat fish regularly, are at risk of alarming levels of PFAS in their bodies,” added senior author&nbsp;David Andrews, a chemical scientist from the same organization. “Growing up, I went fishing every week and ate those fish. But now when I see fish, all I think about is PFAS contamination.”



According to the researchers, these high levels of forever chemicals in freshwater fish are caused by discharges from over 40,000 industrial polluters in the U.S., as well as from thousands of manufacturing facilities, municipal landfills, wastewater treatment plants, airports, and sites where PFAS-containing firefighting foams have been used.



Since freshwater fish are an important source of protein for many people, PFAS contamination threatens those who cannot afford to buy commercial seafood, as well as communities that depend on fishing for sustenance, thus making exposure to forever chemicals in freshwater fish a textbook case of environmental injustice.



“Identifying sources of PFAS exposure is an urgent public health priority,” concluded Stoiber.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.115165">Environmental Research</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Single fish serving may contain a month of forever chemicals

A new study led by the Environmental Working Group (EWG)...

Although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-can-learn-the-names-of-their-companions/">cats</a> have smaller brains than dogs, they are extremely smart mammals, with a high level of emotional intelligence and a great willingness to adapt. While there is no standardized test to measure intelligence in cats, scientists have recently examined the ability to adapt, curiosity levels, and the need for mental stimulation in various cat breeds.



“Scientifically speaking, there is no universal measure of 'intelligence' in animals.&nbsp;Each species has evolved to adapt to a different niche.&nbsp;A mental ability that is useful for one species may not benefit the survival of another,” said Samantha Watson, a scientist at the <a href="https://www.rspca.org.uk/">Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals</a> (RSPCA), UK’s largest animal welfare charity.



“Some evidence indicates that particular cat breeds may have tendencies to be more active or friendly with people.&nbsp; However, every cat is a unique individual, and there is significant variation within those breeds. Every cat has a unique personality, which is shaped by both their genetics and life history.”



The experts report that some cat breeds seem to possess a higher level of intelligence than others. For instance, Abyssinian cats, originally from southeast Asia, are thought to be some of the smartest cats in the world, and are renowned for their high levels of independence and inquisitiveness. Moreover, they seem less fearful than other breeds, and are able to efficiently interact with children, dogs, and other pets such as ferrets and parrots.&nbsp;



Bengal cats are also famous for their good memory, ability to easily learn tricks, and strong awareness of their surroundings. However, as in the case of Abyssinians, this high level of intelligence comes with a cost: when they lack mental stimulation, they often become depressed or aggressive and destructive.



Another example of a smart breed is the Burmese cats, which thrive off companionship with other felines as well as humans. Unlike Abyssinians and Bengals though, Burmese cats crave more for attention, frequently curling up on people’s laps and trying to sleep in their owners’ beds. These highly sociable cats are known for being very talkative and are even able to learn games such as fetch.



While these appear to be the smartest cat breeds around, other breeds such as the Cornish Rex, the Scottish Fold, the Singapura, the Siamese, the Turkish Angora, and the Japanese Bobtail are also well known for their intelligence.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</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.

Which are the most intelligent cat breeds?

Although cats have smaller brains than dogs, they are extremely...

The gut <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/peanuts-and-herbs-positively-impact-our-gut-microbiome/">microbiome</a> is made up of tens of trillions of healthy and unhealthy microbes that play a major role in human health. As a growing collection of research helps to clarify the potential benefits of gut bacteria, a new study from <a href="https://medicine.wustl.edu/">Washington University School of Medicine</a> demonstrates that the gut microbiome has a significant impact on brain health.&nbsp;



People with Alzheimer’s disease appear to have gut microbiomes that are different from those of healthy people, but it is not yet known whether these differences are a cause or a result of the disease. "Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by early deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques followed by pathological tau accumulation. Although Aβ is a necessary factor in AD pathogenesis, its accumulation in and of itself is insufficient for neurodegeneration and cognitive decline," wrote the study authors.



"By contrast, pathological tau accumulation is closely linked with neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in AD and primary tauopathies. Alterations of the gut microbiota have been reported in AD, which suggests that the microbiota may contribute to AD progression."



To investigate, the researchers altered the gut bacteria of mice that were predisposed to develop cognitive impairment. The study revealed that modified gut bacteria changed the behavior of immune cells throughout the body, including neural cells that promote brain damage that is associated withAlzheimer’s disease.&nbsp;



“We gave young mice antibiotics for just a week, and we saw a permanent change in their gut microbiomes, their immune responses, and how much neurodegeneration related to a protein called tau they experienced with age,” said study senior author Dr. David M. Holtzman. “What’s exciting is that manipulating the gut microbiome could be a way to have an effect on the brain without putting anything directly into the brain.”



Short-chain fatty acids are compounds produced by specific types of gut bacteria. The experts identified three short-chain fatty acids that were associated with neurodegeneration in the mice. Ultimately, these compounds activated immune cells in the brain that caused tissue damage.&nbsp;



Dr. Linda McGavern is the program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), which provided some of the funding for the study. She noted that the study may offer important insights into how the microbiome influences tau-mediated neurodegeneration, and suggests therapies that alter gut microbes may affect the onset or progression of neurodegenerative disorders.



“What I want to know is, if you took mice genetically destined to develop neurodegenerative disease, and you manipulated the microbiome just before the animals start showing signs of damage, could you slow or prevent neurodegeneration?” said Dr. Holtzman.&nbsp;



“That would be the equivalent of starting treatment in a person in late middle age who is still cognitively normal but on the verge of developing impairments. If we could start a treatment in these types of genetically sensitized adult animal models before neurodegeneration first becomes apparent, and show that it worked, that could be the kind of thing we could test in people.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.add1236">Science</a>.



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

Gut bacteria have an impact on brain health

The gut microbiome is made up of tens of trillions...

Children often become active on social media platforms during their early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/emotional-eating-by-teens-is-influenced-by-their-parents/">adolescent</a> years. This is a critical developmental period when the brain is especially sensitive to social feedback, and it is possible that the frequent checking of social media may affect the way in which adolescents’ brains respond to the world around them.&nbsp;



A new study from researchers at the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a> has now investigated adolescent neural development in relation to technology use over a three-year period, in order to identify links with habitual checking behavior.&nbsp;



The researchers selected 169 participants (average age 12.9 years) from three public middle schools in rural North Carolina. At the start of the study, the sixth- and seventh-grade students completed a survey about how often they checked three popular social media platforms, namely Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Following this, they underwent yearly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)&nbsp;of their brains while completing the social incentive delay task, which measures brain activity while anticipating social feedback from peers.



Previous studies have shown that 78 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds check their mobile devices at least hourly, and 35 percent of teens report using at least one of the top five social media platforms almost constantly.&nbsp;In the current study, the number of times participants checked their social media feeds ranged between less than once to more than 20 times a day.&nbsp;



The research findings, published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.4924">JAMA</a>, showed that 12- to 13-year olds who checked their social media feeds more frequently (more than 15 times per day) had different patterns of neural development in certain brain areas than did those who checked less frequently. Over the three-year period, participants who checked more frequently also became more sensitive to social feedback in the form of rewards and punishments.&nbsp;



“The findings suggest that children who grow up checking social media more often are becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” said Eva Telzer, a professor in UNC-Chapel Hill’s psychology and neuroscience department and a corresponding author.



“While this increased sensitivity to social feedback may promote future compulsive social media use, it could also reflect a possible adaptive behavior that will allow teens to navigate an increasingly digital world,” noted Maria Maza, a doctoral student in psychology and one of the study’s two lead authors.



Social media platforms provide adolescents with unprecedented opportunities for social interactions during a critical developmental period when the brain is especially sensitive to social feedback. Furthermore, these platforms deliver a constant and unpredictable stream of social feedback in the form of likes, comments, messages and notifications. This pattern of delivery often proves irresistibly attractive to users, who eagerly await any form of communication.&nbsp;



“These social inputs are frequent, inconsistent and often rewarding, making them especially powerful reinforcers that can condition users to check social media repeatedly,” said Kara Fox, co-lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology.&nbsp;



The results of this cohort study, one of the first long-term studies on adolescent neural development and technology use, suggest that social media checking behaviors in early adolescence may be associated with changes in the brain’s sensitivity to social rewards and punishments, explained the study authors. They suggest that further research is needed on the long-term associations between social media use, adolescent neural development, and psychological adjustment in order to understand the effects of this ubiquitous influence on development in today’s adolescents.



“Most adolescents begin using technology and social media at one of the most important periods for brain development during our lifetime,” said co-author Mitch Prinstein, who also serves as the chief science officer for the American Psychological Association.&nbsp;



“Our research demonstrates that checking behaviors on social media could have long-standing and important consequences for adolescents’ neural development, which is critical for parents and policy-makers to consider when understanding the benefits and potential harms associated with teen technology use.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Social media use alters the adolescent brain

Children often become active on social media platforms during their...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has found that over 80 percent of premature <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heatwaves-in-europe-linked-to-over-20000-excess-deaths/">deaths</a> caused by exposure to small smoke particles in the United States result from human-ignited fires. According to the experts, human-ignited fires account for more than 67 percent of tiny smoke particles called PM2.5 which are known to degrade air quality and cause a variety of diseases and premature deaths.



Currently, the level of fire activity in the U.S. is increasing, with estimates suggesting that smoke from human-ignited fires accounted for 20,000 premature deaths in 2018 alone, or 270 percent more than there were in 2003, a year with a lower frequency of fire events.



“Fires not only threaten human lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems, but they are also a major cause for concern in terms of air quality,” explained study lead author Therese Carter, an expert in Atmospheric Chemistry at MIT. “High levels of smoke exposure can negatively impact human health resulting in conditions such as respiratory infections, lung cancer, heart disease, and even premature births. Our results show that a large and significant portion of harmful smoke particles result directly from human-lit fires.”



By using the Global Fire Emissions Database, the scientists quantified agricultural fire emissions and classified them into two categories: human versus natural ignition. Then, with the help of a chemical transport model, they simulated the concentrations of smoke particles across the U.S. The analysis revealed that a significant amount of PM2.5 in the country results from human-ignited fires and thus has the potential to be managed.



In order to mitigate the devastating health effects of pollution from small smoke particles, the authors recommend management plans to restrict the ignition of agricultural fires to periods when weather conditions would minimize health impacts.



“Now we know that humans can play a pivotal role in reducing PM2.5 concentrations, we should be putting policies, regulations, and management plans in place to reduce human-ignited fires. Efforts to minimize human-ignited fires should be focused on certain regions and ignition types in order to be more successful. Identifying and acknowledging the sources of these particles is the first step in a cleaner, healthier future,” Carter concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca91f">Environmental Research Letters</a>.



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Tens of thousands of premature deaths linked to human-ignited fires

A new study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> has found that ants do not adjust their behavior in response to warmer temperatures and tend to persist in sub-optimal microhabitats even when optimal ones are available. These findings suggest that ants may not be able to adjust their behavior in response to climate change.



Ants are ectotherms - animals whose body temperature depends upon the environment. Although such animals experience a variety of temperatures in their lives, most of them prefer habitats that are slightly cooler than the optimal functioning temperature in which an ectothermic animal is able to best perform its life functions. Usually, if an ectotherm encounters an environment warmer than the optimal point, it risks approaching the lethal end of its physiology’s spectrum.



Until recently, little has been known about how – and if – insect ectotherms will adjust their behavior to avoid warmer yet sublethal temperatures in which functioning is possible but not optimal. Now, experts have counted and collected specimens from five different species of ants common in North Carolina and measured air temperatures at the collection sites, as well as the body temperature of the ants themselves. To determine each species’ preferred temperature, they collected some ants and placed them in a rectangular chamber with a controlled temperature gradient.



The analysis revealed that, while ants in the laboratory did have distinct thermal preferences, those in the wild were active in their preferred climates only slightly more often than expected by chance. In fact, most species were collected from warmer than optimal sites, thus suggesting a lack of awareness or some type of limitation in their capacity to adjust to rising temperatures.



“It’s interesting that the worker ants we observed were willing to put themselves in uncomfortable situations while foraging,” said study co-author Sara Prado, a research associate in Zoology at NC State. “I wonder if the food was ‘profitable’ enough for the ants to stretch their comfort levels, or if they are simply willing to sacrifice their well-being for the sake of the colony.”



“Warmer times and places make warmer ants, and they’re not adjusting their activity to match their preferred conditions,” added co-author Elsa Youngsteadt, a professor of Applied Ecology at the same university. “For now, this may be a tradeoff that works out fine for them. But if you think of the huge biomass of ants underfoot, their metabolic rates are all creeping upward as the climate changes. Even if it doesn’t kill them outright, what does that amped-up metabolism mean for their life cycle and even the whole forest ecosystem?”&nbsp;&nbsp;



In future research, the scientists aim to address these questions in the case of urban ants, which are currently living in even warmer temperatures.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13860">Journal of Animal Ecology</a>.



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Ants are not properly adapting to warming temperatures

A new study led by North Carolina State University has...

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" 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> 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



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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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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> 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



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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



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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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



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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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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