Narcan, the nasal spray form of the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, is now available over the counter in the United States. However, many people still don’t realize they can get it without a prescription. 



This simple spray, capable of restoring normal breathing in a matter of minutes, has become an essential tool in the fight against a rising tide of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-discovery-offers-hope-for-tackling-opioid-addiction/">opioid</a> overdoses. 



Yet, even with new efforts to boost awareness, polls indicate that a large portion of Americans remain uninformed about the updated, easier availability of naxolone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-source-of-real-world-guidance">A source of real-world guidance </h2>



TikTok’s rapid rise as a place to find health information has shifted how younger audiences learn about critical topics, including substance use and harm reduction.&nbsp;



A recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/17/more-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-especially-young-adults/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> found that roughly one in five adults in the United States now turns to TikTok for news and information on a variety of issues. This number has more than quadrupled in the last four years. 



As a result, the platform has transformed into more than a casual entertainment hub. It’s also a key source of real-world guidance that can influence behavior.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiktok-and-opioid-overdose-prevention">TikTok and opioid overdose prevention</h2>



Led by Dr. Kelli Boling, assistant professor of advertising at the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Nebraska–Lincoln</a>, a team of researchers analyzed hundreds of TikTok posts to see how people talk about naloxone and its brand name Narcan online. 



The study was focused on videos featuring popular hashtags linked to opioid safety messages. The researchers narrowed their search to a time when opioid fatalities were climbing, and more people were scrolling through social media. 



The findings highlight TikTok’s potential for quick, high-impact communication about overdose prevention, addiction support, and news on treatment options.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiktok-videos-on-narcan-access">TikTok videos on Narcan access</h2>



The researchers found that the most consistent topic across the videos was education about opioid risks, Narcan access, and the reality of recovery. 



In each video, creators used text, audio, and captions to clarify how to use naloxone and where to find it. The team also noticed a supportive group dynamic. 



“There was a strong ‘collective voice’ among the harm reduction creators that is ‘de-stigmatizing opioid harm reduction and sharing resources and information helpful to others,’” noted the researchers.



Similar trends emerged in a separate scholarly investigation that focused on the top opioid-related content under the #opioids hashtag, demonstrating that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/growing-up-in-a-digital-world-tiktok-makes-teenagers-happy/">TikTok</a> discussions often revolve around safe medication practices, overdose risks, and pain management.&nbsp;



Across these studies, the short-video format proved to be an unexpected stage for candid personal stories and urgent calls to action.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-of-the-tiktok-ban">Implications of the TikTok ban </h2>



Despite TikTok’s growing impact on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/longer-lifespan-strongly-linked-to-higher-education/">health education</a>, the Supreme Court recently upheld a federal law that effectively bans new downloads of the app unless it is sold by its current parent company. The court cited national security concerns as the main reason for its decision.&nbsp;



No matter where one stands on the ruling, the ban threatens to interrupt the steady flow of harm reduction content that is reaching individuals who might otherwise not seek out such information.



Existing users may still access TikTok, but fresh downloads and updates for new users will be blocked. This limit on functionality could reduce the platform’s reach and eventually affect creators who regularly upload videos about opioid safety.&nbsp;



For individuals in rural or underserved communities, losing easy access to these short but informative clips could make a real difference in whether they learn about new ways to manage opioid-related emergencies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiktok-and-opioid-safety-messages">TikTok and opioid safety messages</h2>



Educators and content creators on TikTok have long embraced the app’s simplicity. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scrolling-online-videos-is-not-a-good-cure-for-boredom/">Videos</a> showing how to administer Narcan, how to watch for overdose warnings, or where to find naloxone kits can be filmed in a matter of minutes.&nbsp;



This approach keeps instructions clear and relatable. Their style relies less on complicated jargon and more on straightforward guidance, which encourages viewers to ask questions and share personal experiences.



At a time when stigma still clings to discussions of addiction, these snippets of community-led education are often a lifeline. Many participants share struggles with pain or recovery, offering mutual support in the comments.&nbsp;



Such interactions highlight a practical form of outreach that appeals to younger audiences. That sense of openness can break down shame, encouraging people to seek professional help or pick up a naloxone kit at a local pharmacy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-saving-opioid-information-on-tiktok">Life-saving opioid information on TikTok </h2>



The recent legal development creates uncertainty. Some worry about a drop in new creators who tackle opioid safety messages. Others point out that alternative platforms exist, though none match TikTok’s unique way of combining brief, entertaining videos with a vast user base.&nbsp;



Conversations about harm reduction may end up scattered across multiple sites, making it harder for people to find consistent, trustworthy guidance.



Still, the drive to curb opioid overdoses carries on. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/living-alone-in-america-an-escalating-public-health-crisis/">Public health</a> groups and grassroots advocates continue to emphasize naloxone training in schools, libraries, and community centers.&nbsp;



Experts at academic institutions are studying how best to deliver clear, effective instructions that cut through noise and misconceptions. 



The top priority is reversing rising overdose figures, and many believe that social media (no matter which platform ends up in the spotlight) will remain an essential tool for sharing life-saving information.



The study is published in the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39727094/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs</a>.



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TikTok videos provide a lifeline to prevent opioid overdoses

Narcan, the nasal spray form of the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, is now available over the counter in the United States. However, many people still don’t realize they can get it without a prescription.  This simple spray, capable of restoring normal breathing in a matter of minutes, has become an essential tool in the fight against a rising tide of opioid overdoses. Yet, even with new efforts to boost awareness, polls indicate that a large portion of Americans remain uninformed about the updated, easier availability of naxolone....

According to the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), about one in eight people worldwide (cc. 970 million individuals) currently suffer from a mental disorder. These mental health issues cost the world economy $2.5 trillion each year, a number estimated to rise to $6 trillion by 2030. 



Although mental issues are mostly treated by medication or psychological/psychiatric counseling, a large review study conducted by researchers at the <a href="https://www.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a> (UniSA) has recently found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/any-type-of-physical-activity-can-help-protect-the-brain/">physical activity</a> is 1.5 times more effective than counseling or medications.



By examining 97 reviews and 1,039 trials involving a total of 128,119 participants, the experts discovered that physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of anxiety, depression, and distress, and that exercise interventions which were 12 weeks or shorter were the most effective in alleviating mental illness symptoms.&nbsp;



The largest benefits were observed in people with depression, pregnant and postpartum women, people diagnosed with HIV or kidney disease, and healthy individuals. These findings highlight not only the effectiveness of such interventions, but also the speed at which physical activity can make significant mental changes. Thus, physical activity should be prioritized in order to order to better manage the increasing incidence of mental health issues.



“Physical activity is known to help improve mental health. Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment. Our review shows that physical activity interventions can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in all clinical populations, with some groups showing even greater signs of improvement,” said study lead author Ben Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow in Health and Human Performance at UniSA.



“Higher intensity exercise had greater improvements for depression and anxiety, while longer durations had smaller effects when compared to short and mid-duration bursts. We also found that all types of physical activity and exercise were beneficial, including aerobic exercise such as walking, resistance training, Pilates, and Yoga. Importantly, the research shows that it doesn’t take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health.”



According to senior author Carol Maher, a professor of Population and Digital Health at UniSA, this study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the effects of all types of physical activity on anxiety, depression, and distress in all adult populations.



“Examining these studies as a whole is an effective way to for clinicians to easily understand the body of evidence that supports physical activity in managing mental health disorders. We hope this review will underscore the need for physical activity, including structured exercise interventions, as a mainstay approach for managing depression and anxiety,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195">British Journal of Sports Medicine</a>.&nbsp;



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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.

Exercise may improve mental health more than medication

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about one in...

According to a comprehensive review study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.23984">Clinical Cardiology</a>, people who suffer from insomnia are 69 percent more likely to have a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-is-a-major-risk-factor-for-heart-attacks/">heart attack</a> compared to those without sleep disorders during an average nine years of follow-up. The experts found that individuals who sleep five or fewer hours per night have the greatest risk of experiencing a heart attack, while people with both insomnia and diabetes are twice as likely to have a heart attack than those without these conditions.



“Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but in many ways it’s no longer just an illness, it’s more of a life choice. We just don’t prioritize sleep as much as we should,” said study lead author Yomna E. Dean, a medical student at <a href="https://www.alexu.edu.eg/index.php/en/">Alexandria University</a> in Egypt. “Our study showed that people with insomnia are more likely to have a heart attack regardless of age, and heart attacks occurred more often in women with insomnia.”



The scientists conducted a systematic literature review of 1,226 studies, comprising data for 1,184,256 adults (43 percent women) with an average age of 52. Among those, 13 percent (153,881) had insomnia, defined by the presence of any of these three symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep. Most of the participants (96 percent) did not have a previous history of heart attacks. During a follow-up period of nine years, 2,406 of those who had insomnia experienced heart attacks, as well as 12,398 of those in the non-insomnia category.



The investigation revealed a statistically significant association between insomnia and heart attacks across all subgroups of patients, regardless of their age, follow-up duration, sex, and comorbidities such as diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. However, those with such comorbidities were at an even greater risk for heart attacks. “People with diabetes who also have insomnia had a twofold likelihood of having a heart attack,” Dean reported.



While those who slept five or less hours per night were 1.38 and 1.56 times more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who slept seven or eight hours, there was no difference in the likelihood of heart attacks between them and those who slept over nine hours, supporting previous findings that too much sleep can also be damaging.



Moreover, although disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep were associated with a 13 percent increased risk of heart attacks, non-restorative sleep and daytime disfunction did not seem to influence the likelihood of heart attacks.



“Based on our pooled data, insomnia should be considered a risk factor for developing a heart attack, and we need to do a better job of educating people about how dangerous [lack of good sleep] can be. Practice good sleep hygiene; the room should be dark, quiet, and on the cooler side, and put away devices. Do something that is calming to wind down, and if you have tried all these things and still can’t sleep or are sleeping less than five hours, talk to your doctor,” Dean concluded.&nbsp;



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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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Insomnia increases heart attack risk by 69 percent

According to a comprehensive review study published in the journal...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a>, experts have determined that a spring <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heatwaves-in-europe-linked-to-over-20000-excess-deaths/">heatwave</a> in April 2021 caused record snow melt across the western United States. This phenomenon disrupted the natural water cycle, and contributed to severe water supply shortages in the region.&nbsp;



Record-breaking snowmelt rates were documented at nearly 25 percent of all mountain snowpack monitoring sites in the western states. This loss of snow depleted a natural water reservoir that is critically need during the hotter months.&nbsp;



“One thing that stood out was the spatial pattern. It wasn't just one single mountain range or one part of the West – there were snowmelt records across the entire Western U.S., in all 11 states," noted said study co-author Dr. Daniel McEvoy.



The researchers discovered that record snowmelt rates occurred throughout the entire month of April, but two particular heatwaves did the most damage. During the first week of April 2021, temperatures were four to six degrees Celsius above average in the Rocky Mountains. During the third week of April, the Pacific Northwest experienced temperatures up to eight degrees Celsius above average.



“Summer heat waves are studied extensively, but people don't often care as much about a spring heatwave because the actual air temperatures don't usually lead to human health impacts,” said Dr. McEvoy. “But at the same time, they are creating these hydrological and climatological extreme impacts.”&nbsp;



“What really motivated this study was that in May and June of 2021, I kept hearing from other climatologists, meteorologists, hydrologists, and even skiers, that ‘the snow really came off the mountains fast this year. I kept hearing that over and over again.”&nbsp;



According to Dr. McEvoy, the spring 2021 heatwave was one of several extreme climate events over the course of that year. “There was a compounding set of climate extremes that all contributed to this rapid expansion and intensification of the drought across the Western U.S. during the late spring and summer.”&nbsp;



The researchers noted that these spring heatwaves are consistent with the long-term trend of spring warming across the West, and that because of this, April 1 may no longer be a reliable benchmark for evaluating snowpack levels and their seasonal contributions to western water supplies.&nbsp;



Dr. McEvoy said that future research will examine the impacts and frequency of spring heatwaves. “Understanding the predictability of these types of snowmelt events would be helpful for both drought early warning and water resource management,” says McEvoy.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bd">Environmental Research Letters</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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Spring heatwaves deplete the water supply in the Western US

In a new study from the Desert Research Institute, experts...

Silhouette,Young,Woman,Practicing,Yoga,On,The,Beach,At,Sunset.

In 2014, a smoking cessation study led by <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insightful-psychedelic-experiences-may-improve-mental-health/">psychedelic</a> substances such as psilocybin (the active hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms), combined with cognitive behavioral therapy, were highly effective in helping some people quit smoking for years.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a> examined the post-treatment journals kept by participants in that study, and discovered that psychedelics combined with talk therapy could help people reinvent themselves, by changing their perception of who they are. In the 2014 experiment, this treatment helped longtime smokers see themselves as nonsmokers and thus develop a new core identity that made 80 percent of them stop smoking for six months and 60 percent remain smoking-free after five years.



During the smoking cessation study, the experimenters provided participants guided imagery exercises in which they were asked to see smoking as a behavior external to their core identity and nicotine addiction as an external force manipulating their behavior for its own ends. According to Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins and co-author of both studies, psilocybin – and possibly other psychedelic substances – could serve as a catalyst to help motivate and inspire people to make a change with the aid of cognitive behavioral therapy.



“Cognitive behavioral therapy asks us to tune into the thoughts and feelings that we experience in our day-to-day lives and how those relate to our behaviors. In turn, people often tend to build a narrative or sense of self around those cognitions and behaviors. This sets the stage for actually having the psilocybin experience, which can both provide novel insights and perspectives as well as serve as a marker of that identity shift like a rite of passage, signifying the change for instance from smoker to nonsmoker,” he explained.



But how do psychedelics help with this transformation? According to lead author of the current study Neşe Devenot, a postdoctoral fellow at Cincinnati, people frequently get stuck in the same ruts of behavior, responding in the same way to specific stressors or other triggers – a phenomenon which she compares with a downward skier who uses the same grooved path down the mountain that they have used thousands of times.



“Psychedelics have been compared to skiing in fresh snow. Some researchers suggest that you might have more freedom to maneuver your skis anywhere down the mountain,” Devenot explained. “The entrenched grooves of bad habits might not have as much pull on our skis, so we can lay down other paths.”



“We’re looking for ways to help people shift behaviors and overcome the inertia of their habits that are more in line with their goals and aspirations. That’s why psychedelics are of wider interest to researchers,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2022.0022">Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal</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



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Psychedelics could help us reinvent ourselves

In 2014, a smoking cessation study led by Johns Hopkins...

The mortality risk of being <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbes-help-bears-gain-weight-regardless-of-diet/">overweight</a> is extremely higher than what was previously thought, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">CU Boulder</a>. The experts report that obesity or excess weight increases the risk of death by 22 to 91 percent.



The results of the analysis, based on nearly 18,000 individuals, suggest that about one in six deaths in the United States are related to excess weight or obesity.



“Existing studies have likely underestimated the mortality consequences of living in a country where cheap, unhealthy food has grown increasingly accessible, and sedentary lifestyles have become the norm,” said study author Professor Ryan Masters. “This study and others are beginning to expose the true toll of this public health crisis.”



The research contradicts the idea that only those who are classified as "extremely obese" have an increased risk of death. The current study shows that groups with higher BMIs have much higher mortality rates as well.



“The conventional wisdom is that elevated BMI generally does not raise mortality risk until you get to very high levels, and that there are actually some survival benefits to being overweight,” said Professor Masters. “I have been suspicious of these claims.”



Body mass index (BMI) is based on weight and height only and doesn’t account for differences in body composition or how long a person has been overweight, explained Professor Masters. He noted that Tom Cruise (at 5 feet 7 inches and an extremely muscular 201 pounds at one point), had a BMI of 31.5, putting him in the category of “obese.”



“It’s a reflection of stature at a point in time. That’s it,” said Professor Masters. “It isn’t fully capturing all of the nuances and different sizes and shapes the body comes in.”



The study was focused on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which followed 17,784 people from 1988 to 2015.



According to the results of the analysis, there are no significant mortality risks associated with being “underweight." In fact, individuals with low BMI (18.5–22.5) were found to have the lowest mortality risk.



On the other hand, the results suggest that U.S. adult deaths linked to high BMI are about eight times higher than previously estimated.



Professor Masters said he hopes the research will alert scientists to be “extremely cautious” when making conclusions based on BMI.&nbsp;



“For groups born in the 1970s or 1980s who have lived their whole lives in this obesogenic environment, the prospects of healthy aging into older adulthood does not look good right now. I hope this work can influence higher-level discussions about what we as a society can do about it.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2023.2168035">Population Studies</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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One in six U.S. adult deaths linked to excess weight

The mortality risk of being overweight is extremely higher than...

A recent study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01558-4">Nature Climate Change</a> has found that, although the Amazon rainforest and the Tibetan Plateau are located on different sides of the globe, changes in the South American ecosystem caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-air-pollution-could-give-global-warming-a-boost/">global warming</a> could trigger changes in the vicinity of the Himalayas.



“Logging, road construction, and warming are already today stressing the Amazon rainforest, and will likely do so even more in the future – and while the Amazon region is of course an important Earth system element by itself, it’s also a burning question if and how changes in that region could affect other parts of the world,” said study co-author Jingfang Fan, an expert in Earth Systems Analysis at the <a href="https://english.bnu.edu.cn/">Beijing Normal University</a> in China and the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) in Germany.&nbsp;



“For the first time, we’ve now been able to robustly identify and quantify these so called teleconnections. Our research confirms&nbsp;that Earth system tipping elements are indeed inter-linked even over long distances, and the Amazon is one key example how this could play out.”



The scientists analyzed near-surface air temperature changes in a grid of over 65,000 subregions of the globe, using data collected during the past four decades. The investigation revealed a pronounced propagation pathway spanning more than 20,000 kilometers – from South America via Southern Africa to the Middle East and reaching finally the Tibetan Plateau. According to the experts, this propagation pathway could be explained by our planet’s main atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns.



Afterwards, the researchers used climate computer simulations to assess how global warming could impact this pathway by the end of the century. “We’ve been surprised to see how strongly climate extremes in the Amazon are connected to climate extremes in Tibet,” said study co-author Jürgen Kurths, an expert in Complexity Sciences at PIK. “When it’s getting warmer in the Amazon, it also does so in Tibet, hence for temperature there’s a positive correlation. It’s different for precipitation. When we have more rain in the Amazon, there’s less snowfall in Tibet.”



Moreover, the analysis revealed that the Tibetan Plateau has already been losing stability and approaching a tipping point since 2008. “Our research underlines that tipping cascades are a risk to be taken seriously: inter-linked tipping elements in the Earth system can trigger each other, with potentially severe consequences,” warned co-author Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, an atmospheric physicist at PIK.&nbsp;



“To be clear, it’s unlikely that the climate system as a whole will tip. Yet, over time, sub-continental tipping events can severely affect entire societies and threaten important parts of the biosphere. This is a risk we should rather avoid. And we can do so by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by developing nature-based solutions for removing CO2 from the atmosphere,” he concluded.



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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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Amazon heat drives changes on the other side of the globe

A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change...

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of flight have a specialized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-wing-shape-is-driven-by-environment-and-behavior/">wing</a> structure called the propatagium, without which they could not fly. For a long time, the evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery. Now, by conducting statistical analyses of arm joints preserved in fossils of nonavian dinosaurs, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> has found that this structure may have first emerged in these prehistoric creatures.



Scientists have long known that modern birds evolved from various lineages of dinosaurs, which had some of the features now unique to birds, such as feathers or particular types of bone structures. The recent discovery of the possible origins of the propatagium sheds new light on the origins of bird flight.



“At the leading edge of a bird’s wing is a structure called the propatagium, which contains a muscle connecting the shoulder and wrist that helps the wing flapping and makes bird flight possible,” said study senior author Tatsuya Hirasawa, an associate professor of Evolution and Vertebrate Paleontology at Tokyo.&nbsp;



“It’s not found in other vertebrates, and it’s also found to have disappeared or lost its function in flightless birds, one of the reasons we know it’s essential for flight. So, in order to understand how flight evolved in birds, we must know how the propatagium evolved. This is what prompted us to explore some distant ancestors of modern birds, theropod dinosaurs.”



Theropod dinosaurs - such as the well-known Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor – had arms instead of wings and were incapable of flight. Thus, if scientists could find evidence of the existence of the propatagium in these dinosaurs, it would help explain the evolutionary transition from arms to wings. However, since the propatagium consists of soft tissues that don’t fossilize well, scientists needed an indirect method of identifying the presence or lack of this structure in theropods.&nbsp;



“The solution we came up with to assess the presence of a propatagium was to collect data about the angles of joints along the arm, or wing, of a dinosaur or bird,” said lead author Yurika Uno, a graduate student from Hirasawa’s lab. “In modern birds, the wings cannot fully extend due to the propatagium, constraining the range of angles possible between connecting sections. If we could find a similarly specific set of angles between joints in dinosaur specimens, we can be fairly sure they too possessed a propatagium. And through quantitative analyses of the fossilized postures of birds and nondinosaurs, we found the telltale ranges of joint angles we hoped to.”



This method revealed that the propatagium most likely evolved in a group of dinosaurs called maniraptoran theropods, which included the Velociraptor. This hypothesis was confirmed when the experts identified this structure in preserved soft tissue fossils of the feathered oviraptorosaurian&nbsp;Caudipteryx&nbsp;and winged dromaeosaurian&nbsp;Microraptor.&nbsp;



Although it is now known when the propatagium emerged, a more difficult question which will need further research has to do with the reasons for its emergence and further development in non-flying prehistoric creatures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40851-023-00204-x">Zoological Letters</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



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What is the evolutionary origin of birds’ wings?

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of...

According to a recent study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s <a href="https://accscientificsession.acc.org/">Annual Scientific Session Together with the World Congress of Cardiology</a>, people using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-use-may-cause-dangerous-drug-interactions/">cannabis</a> daily are one-third more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to those who never use the drug. This study is one of the largest and most comprehensive to date to investigate the possible long-term cardiovascular implications of frequent cannabis use.



CAD is the most common form of heart disease, occurring when the arteries that supply blood to the heart narrow down due to a buildup of cholesterol. This condition causes chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue, and can ultimately lead to heart attacks. Previous studies have suggested that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive component of cannabis – acts on receptors located not only in the central nervous system, but also in the heart and blood vessels, which could induce inflammation and the buildup of plaque, and ultimately lead to CAD.



In the current study, the experts analyzed data on the health and habits of 175,000 people – collected through the <a href="https://allofus.nih.gov/">All of Us Research Program of the National Institutes of Health</a> – in order to better understand the relationship between cannabis use frequency and rates of CAD. The analysis revealed that daily cannabis users were 34 percent more likely to develop CAD than people who never used the drug – a causal relationship found to be independent of potential confounding effects of age, sex, or other major cardiovascular risk factors, such as alcohol or tobacco use.



“We found that cannabis use is linked to CAD, and there seems to be a dose-response relationship in that more frequent cannabis use is associated with a higher risk of CAD,” said study lead author Ishan Paranjpe, a resident physician at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>. “In terms of the public health message, it shows that there are probably certain harms of cannabis use that weren’t recognized before, and people should take that into account.”



Since cannabis is currently legal or decriminalized in over half of U.S. states for recreational use (and over three-quarters of states allow it to be used for medical purposes), these findings suggest that it is important for people to be aware of the drug’s potentially dangerous effects, and make sure to regularly monitor their heart health if they use it frequently.



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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.

Frequent cannabis use can lead to heart disease

According to a recent study presented at the American College...

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually clear that their furry friends enjoy the experience due to their positive reactions. This is not only the case for popular <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pets-are-unrecognized-victims-of-climate-related-disasters/">pets</a> such as dogs and cats, but for all kinds of animals, including calves.&nbsp;



In fact, not only do calves exhibit positive reactions to physical contact from humans, but a new study has concluded that as little as five minutes of socialization can make them happier and healthier.&nbsp;



The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Florida Department of Animal Sciences, specifically studying the behaviors exhibited by calves after being fed. According to lead investigator Dr. Emily K. Miller-Cushon, calves often show distressed behavior after being fed, such as sucking or chewing on their housing pens or bedding, on their pen-mates or human handlers.



The researchers randomly assigned 28 Holstein heifer calves to individual or paired housing from birth, standardizing human contact with them for seven weeks through health exams and feeding.&nbsp;



During the weaning period at around six weeks into the study, additional human contact was introduced throughout a four-day study period. Each calf received extra human contact on two of these days, and an extra five minutes of neck scratches on the other two days.&nbsp;



The enjoyment that calves get from neck scratches is curious, but there is an explanation. “We know from previous research that calves seem to enjoy tactile contact including brushing from humans," explained Dr. Miller-Cushon.&nbsp;



“This kind of contact can reduce their heart rates, and calves lean into the scratches and stretch out their necks for more. Calves are active and seek stimulation following milk-feeding, so providing more things to do, like brushing, may calm calves, reducing sucking behaviors after feeding and increasing rest."



After the study period, the researchers analyzed video recordings of the calves and their behaviors, concluding that both human contact and socialization with other calves positively impacted the well-being of each animal. Sucking behaviors were reduced and this resulted in them resting more, ultimately helping to promote calmness and overall health.&nbsp;



While the study’s results were clearly positive, the experts noted that there was no evidence to show that human contact could completely eradicate sucking behaviors in calves.&nbsp;



“Our findings showed benefits of human contact, but the results also suggest that our work is not done in finding the most beneficial and natural methods of feeding and housing our dairy calves," said Dr. Miller-Cushon.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.jdscommun.org/">JDS Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</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.

Human contact reduces stress in dairy calves

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually...

Today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/linking-national-parks-could-help-mammals-survive/">mammals</a> range in body size from pygmy shrews, with a mass of around 2g, to blue whales that weigh 180 tons. These vastly different body sizes are associated with different growth rates. Not only do large mammals grow faster than reptiles, they also grow faster than small mammals. However, this is not the case with dinosaurs.&nbsp;



The meat-eating theropod dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth also had wildly differing body sizes. Some were likely only a few kilograms in mass, while others, such as the giant T. rex, weighted in at around 8 tons. Recently, scientists investigating differences in growth rates between dinosaur species found, to their surprise, that there was no relationship between body size and growth rate in these dinosaurs.&nbsp;



“Most animals are thought to evolve to be larger by growing faster than their ancestors, but this study shows that it’s just as likely that bigger and smaller animals grew for longer or shorter periods of time during growth spurts,” said Michael D. D’Emic, a paleontologist at Adelphi University and lead author of the study.



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adc8714">Science</a>, makes use of data from fossil bones to estimate the growth rates of different species of dinosaurs. The bones of dinosaurs show lines of arrested or slowed growth every year, leaving marks like tree rings that indicate the animal’s age and can be used to estimate the rate of growth.&nbsp;



“Rings like these are called cortical growth marks,” said D’Emic. “Widely spaced rings indicate faster growth and narrowly spaced rings tell us that an animal was growing more slowly.”



D’Emic, along with <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/">Ohio University</a> professor Patrick O’Connor and Ph.D. student Riley Sombathy, and a team of international researchers, measured about 500 growth rings in the fossilized bones of about 80 different species of theropods.&nbsp;



“We found that there was no relationship between growth rate and size,” said D’Emic. “Some gigantic dinosaurs grew very slowly, slower than alligators do today. And some smaller dinosaurs grew very fast, as fast as mammals that are alive today.”&nbsp;



This made sense to co-author Thomas Pascucci, whose graduate thesis contributed to the project: “Extinct animals like dinosaurs inspire awe because of how different they seem from our modern world, but they were animals that grew under similar constraints and environmental factors as those that exist today,” he said.



According to O’Connor, this study opens the door to future investigations of how animals regulate their growth. “Alteration of different growth control mechanisms, at molecular or genetic levels, likely accounts for the range of developmental strategies our team observed in theropod dinosaurs. Future studies of living organisms provide an opportunity to elucidate mechanisms related to the evolution of body size in vertebrates more generally.”



Sombathy hopes to take up some of those investigations in future: “One of the things that interests me most about the results is the apparent decoupling between growth rate and body size. My Ph.D. dissertation will investigate the impacts of growth rate and body size on bone shape and function.”



“This has really important implications because changes in rate versus timing can correlate to many other things, like how many or how large your offspring are, how long you live, or how susceptible to predators you are,” D’Emic added. “Hopefully this research spurs investigations into other groups, both alive and extinct, to see what developmental mechanisms are most important in other types of animals.”



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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



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.

Large dinosaurs did not necessarily grow faster

Today’s mammals range in body size from pygmy shrews, with...

Although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/acts-of-kindness-can-help-relieve-depression/">depression</a> and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and are the most common forms of mental illness, current treatments show limited success in relieving the symptoms. This has led to increased investigation into alternative approaches, including the use of psychedelic experiences combined with psychotherapy. This approach has yielded significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms.



Published research on this approach mostly reflects the use of a top-down approach in analyzing the relationship between psychedelic effects and mental health outcomes, meaning that researchers have developed their own hypotheses before the study starts. A drawback of this approach is that it does not provide an understanding of the different types of subjective experiences brought on by the use of psychedelic substances. In addition, it does not allow analysis of the relationship between subjective experience and beneficial mental health outcomes.



A new study, published in the&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.042">Journal of Affective Disorders</a>, has now taken an alternative, bottom-up approach using data collected from users of psychedelic substances and a machine learning analytic procedure involving cluster analysis. This has enabled the researchers to elucidate specific subtypes of the psychedelic experience and how these subtypes might be related to different mental health outcomes.



Data were collected from nearly 1,000 respondents who answered questions about their previous, non-clinical experiences with psychedelic drugs. They included users of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, Ayahuasca, mescaline, peyote cactus and 5-MeO-DMT, the natural psychedelic substance in the venom of the Colorado River toad. The survey was anonymous, and included people who reported having a moderate to strong psychedelic experience in the past, associated with subsequent changes to their symptoms of anxiety and depression.



The participants completed online questionnaires and evaluated the extent to which their psychedelic experience was mystical (evoking a sense of pure awareness, positive mood and/or transcendence of time and space that is difficult to describe in words), psychologically insightful (eliciting acute insight into memories, emotions, relationships, behaviors or beliefs), or challenging.&nbsp;



Outcomes assessed in the survey included depression and anxiety symptom levels and ratings of satisfaction with life and psychological flexibility – one’s capacity to act in ways that are consistent with one’s values regardless of whatever might be experienced, internally or externally – before and after using the psychedelic.



Analysis of the results shows that individuals who rated their experiences as highly mystical and insightful consistently reported improvements in the symptoms of their anxiety and depression. It also suggests that a challenging experience while on these substances, one that feels frightening or destabilizing, can have beneficial results, especially in the context of mystical and insightful experiences. This could be helpful for practitioners to know as they guide patients through clinical trials testing the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.



“Sometimes the challenge arises because it’s an intensely mystical and insightful experience that can, in and of itself, be challenging,” said senior author&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/about/faculty-staff/faculty-directory/davis-alan/">Alan Davis</a>, assistant professor and director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/">Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education</a>&nbsp;in <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/">College of Social Work</a>.&nbsp;



“In the clinical research setting, folks are doing everything they can to create a safe and supportive environment. But when challenges do come up, it’s important to better understand that challenging experiences can actually be related to positive outcomes.”



The data analysis suggested three distinct subtypes of psychedelic experiences:



<ul><li>High scoring, combining high scores on the mystical and insightful assessments with moderate scores on the challenging assessment.</li><li>Low scoring, with low to moderate scores on mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging scale.</li><li>Positive scoring, with high scores for mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging assessment.</li></ul>



“The group that had the highest insightful and mystical experiences and low challenging experiences showed the most benefit in terms of remission of anxiety and depression symptoms and other longer lasting benefits to their life,” said first author&nbsp;<a href="https://childmind.org/bio/aki-nikolaidis-phd/">Aki Nikolaidis</a>, an affiliate of Ohio State’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE) and a research scientist in the Center for the Developing Brain at the Child Mind Institute.



When the researchers included only data from participants who had used psilocybin and LSD, the same patterns emerged: three distinct subtypes that were associated with the same outcomes, including benefits to mental health even after a challenging experience. That replication speaks to the importance of the subjective experience for psychedelics users, Nikolaidis said.



“Identifying subtypes that exist regardless of which psychedelic you take answers an interesting question,” he said. “But the fact that we found that they’re associated with specific outcomes, and replicated that finding, really shows why it’s important to understand the powerful nature of what is happening subjectively and its potential to yield a beneficial outcome.”



Davis said he will be watching to see if these subtypes of experiences apply in the clinical setting, where psilocybin-assisted therapy is being studied&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/projects">at Ohio State</a>&nbsp;for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder among military veterans.



“Finding the variety of other outcomes that these subtypes might be related to is an interesting next step,” he said. “These could include adaptive or functional outcomes in people’s quality of life or wellbeing, or a better understanding of their life’s purpose or relationships.”



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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



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.

Insightful psychedelic experiences may improve mental health

Although depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-malaria-colder-areas/">Malaria</a> is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) that is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes. In humans, symptoms usually start out mild (fever, chills, and headaches), but the infection can sometimes turn lethal within 24 hours. Although scientists have long been aware that apes can also be infected with this parasite, little has been known about how malaria affects them and how deadly it is.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="http://archive">Washington University in St. Louis</a> (WUSTL) has found that many species of great apes get malaria and – according to evidence from wild bonobos – the disease appears to harm them too.



“We don’t yet have a good handle on the symptoms and mortality risk,” said study lead author Emily Wroblewski, an assistant professor of Biological Anthropology at WUSTL. “The number of infected animals in captivity that have exhibited disease symptoms has been limited. Sometimes they show symptoms like fever and other things that might be associated with infection, and sometimes not. And in the wild these things are very difficult to track.”



Analyses of DNA in apes’ feces has revealed that malaria is widespread across the geographical ranges of wild chimpanzees and gorillas, with these species of great apes harboring at least 12 Plasmodium species, seven of which are closely related to the parasite causing about 95 percent of human deaths. However, bonobos appeared to have escaped infection in all but two locations where scientists have studied them in the wild.&nbsp;



This provides experts the opportunity to compare infected populations – in which 38 percent of bonobos had detectable malaria parasites in their feces – to uninfected bonobos from ten other regions across their natural range in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to better understand some basic facts about how malaria impacts the health and mortality of great apes.



The scientists discovered that, in areas where the parasite was detected, bonobos were more likely to have particular variants of an immune gene (Papa-B), which are very similar to a human variant (HLA-B*53) that is associated with protection from developing severe and more deadly disease, suggesting that humans and bonobos may share similar immune mechanisms.&nbsp;



“To us, this means that there is a selective advantage to individuals having these protective variants, because those individuals are more likely to survive their infection and reproduce, causing that variant to rise in frequency,” Wroblewski explained.



“Seeing infected populations differ from uninfected populations in this immune trait suggests that bonobos experience increased mortality or costs to their reproductive success because of their infection. The differences between the bonobo populations provides the first evidence of any kind, albeit indirect, that a wild great ape suffers any sort of consequences from their infection.”



Further research is needed to investigate how this particular immune gene variant protects both bonobos and humans. Better understanding these protective mechanisms could lead to the development of new treatments and vaccines for humans. Moreover, since many great apes are already endangered by anthropogenic factors, clarifying how diseases affect them is important for their future protection.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36623-9">Nature Communications</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.

How does malaria impact wild African apes?

Malaria is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne...

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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

[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



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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" 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.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?

[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



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

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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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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