In the high-pressure world of elite sports, maintaining mental health is proving to be as crucial as keeping one's physical health in top shape. 



Alarming statistics from a recent study conducted by Amsterdam UMC, in partnership with NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee and Sport Federation), highlight the extent of the issue. 



The study, published in BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine, reveals that nearly 74% of Dutch elite athletes and 41% of their coaches report significant sports-related distress. The figures are reflective of global trends seen among elite athletes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-concerns-of-elite-athletes">Mental health concerns of elite athletes</h2>



The study's findings go beyond stress, revealing a broader spectrum of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-health-crisis-half-of-the-worlds-population-will-be-affected-by-age-75/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mental health</a> concerns that extend into athletes' daily lives. 



Excessive alcohol consumption, reported by 52% of athletes and 53% of coaches, is a notable concern, as it not only negatively impacts performance but also exacerbates underlying mental health issues. 



In athletes, mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are frequently linked to significant life events or severe injuries, creating a cycle of distress that can hinder both personal well-being and athletic success.



According to Vincent Gouttebarge, professor of sports medicine at <a href="https://www.amsterdamumc.org/en/organization/amsterdam-umc.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amsterdam UMC</a> and the <a href="https://www.up.ac.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Pretoria</a>, the results are comparable to the mental health of non-athletes and are in line with similar studies among elite athletes worldwide. 



"These are high percentages, but these are self-reported complaints and not serious diagnosed mental illnesses. Nevertheless, sports physicians and other supervisors should pay more attention to the psychological well-being of elite athletes," said Professor Gouttebarge.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-unseen-toll-on-elite-athletes">The unseen toll on elite athletes</h2>



The study surveyed 156 athletes and 95 coaches about their mental health experiences, finding that recent life events had a significant impact on athletes’ mental health. 



There were strong links between these events and issues like anxiety, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-with-a-history-of-depression-tend-to-process-more-negative-information/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">depression</a>, and eating problems. 



Additionally, severe injuries were found to correlate with anxiety and sleep disorders - though no such patterns were found among the coaches.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-support-in-elite-sports">Mental health support in elite sports</h2>



To address these issues, researchers recommend using the International Olympic Committee’s Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 1 to screen athletes for mental health symptoms before the sports season begins. 



Gino Kerkhoffs, Chair of the Academic Center for Evidence-based Sports Medicine at Amsterdam UMC, explained that the tool is an instrument to screen elite <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/at-what-age-do-olympic-athletes-perform-their-best/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">athletes</a> for mental health symptoms. 



"This makes it possible to identify athletes who are at risk of mental health problems or who already suffer from them at an early stage. And then the sports doctors can adequately support, treat, and/or refer them," said Kerkhoffs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-sports-organizations">The role of sports organizations</h2>



Sports organizations play a critical role in addressing the mental health challenges faced by elite athletes. Implementing mental health screening tools and providing psychological support should be integral to their programs.



Many athletes feel the pressure to constantly perform at their best, often ignoring or downplaying mental health symptoms. 



By creating an environment that prioritizes both physical and mental well-being, sports organizations can help athletes develop resilience, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/physically-active-children-cope-better-with-stress/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cope with stress</a>, and seek timely intervention.



Collaboration between sports physicians, coaches, and mental health professionals is essential in ensuring athletes receive the right support. 



Mental health training for coaches can also help them better recognize symptoms and provide appropriate guidance, which may positively influence both athlete performance and well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prioritizing-mental-health-in-sports">Prioritizing mental health in sports</h2>



As the conversation around mental health in elite sports continues to grow, the need for long-term solutions becomes more evident. 



Regular mental health assessments, combined with ongoing education for athletes and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coaches-can-improve-athletes-lives-by-being-authentic-leaders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coaches</a>, will help destigmatize the topic and encourage more individuals to seek help when needed. 



Moving forward, research will need to explore the most effective interventions for elite athletes, focusing not only on reactive measures but also on preventive strategies that support overall psychological health.



By embedding mental health awareness into the very fabric of sports culture, the athletic community can ensure that athletes are equipped to handle the unique pressures they face, leading to healthier, more sustainable careers in sports.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/10/3/e001821" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine</a>.



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Mental health issues are prevalent among elite athletes

In the high-pressure world of elite sports, maintaining mental health is proving to be as crucial as keeping one's physical health in top shape. Alarming statistics from a recent study conducted by Amsterdam UMC, in partnership with NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee and Sport Federation), highlight the extent of the issue. The study, published in BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine, reveals that nearly 74% of Dutch elite athletes and 41% of their coaches report significant sports-related distress. The figures are reflective of global trends seen among...

In a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278443">PLoS ONE</a>, researchers have found that small turtles are often sold illegally as pets online. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited the sale of small pet turtles in 1975 due to the number of illnesses they can cause, including Salmonella <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-reinfection-increases-the-risk-of-fatal-complications/">infection</a>.&nbsp;



"In the 1960s and 1970s, hatchling turtles became increasingly popular pets in the United States. By the early 1970s, about 4% of households in the U.S. owned at least one turtle, and about 15 million hatchling turtles, primarily red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), were being sold annually," wrote the study authors.



"As hatchlings, red-eared sliders are about the size of a U.S. quarter (24.3 mm), and their size, coupled with a lime green shell and red stripes on the sides of their heads, made them popular and highly desired as pets. During the same period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was documenting salmonellosis, an intestinal disease caused by Salmonella bacteria, cases in the public, and it was estimated that approximately 280,000 cases per year were attributable to turtle ownership."



The researchers explained that small children, in particular, were contracting salmonellosis because of poor hygiene after handling turtles. They noted that salmonellosis can cause severe illness and death, especially in young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.



The experts set out to determine whether websites are selling small turtles, in violation of the 1975 regulation. They found that half of online sellers fail to provide information about the disease risk and the laws pertaining to small turtles.&nbsp;



"Despite passage of the Food and Drug Administration regulation nearly 50 years ago prohibiting the sale of these turtles, our research has demonstrated that internet sales of small turtles currently represent part of the thriving online pet trade in the U.S. Enforcement of the regulation is likely done in an ad hoc manner in brick-and-mortar pet stores, but there are jurisdictional challenges to enforcement of this federal regulation by state agents in most states," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"In addition, law enforcement agents at the state and federal levels may feel that they have more important issues regarding internet-based wildlife sales, including monitoring sales of endangered species or potentially injurious species, such as big cats or primates. However, salmonellosis outbreaks continue to occur in the U.S. and are regularly attributed to pet turtles, which represent a more expansive public health concern than that posed by potentially injurious animals."



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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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Small turtles are often sold online despite disease risks

In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE,...

A team of scientists from <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/">Johns Hopkins Medicine</a> investigating how the brain works amid age-related <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hearing-loss-linked-to-dementia-in-aging-dogs/">hearing loss</a> has recently discovered that old mice are less capable than young ones to turn off certain actively firing brain cells in the midst of ambient noise. This inability creates a “fuzzy” sound stage which makes it difficult for the brain to focus on one type of sound, such as spoken words, while filtering out surrounding noise.&nbsp;



Although scientists have long associated inevitable age-related hearing loss to deteriorating hair cells in the inner ear, this new study suggests that the brain has much to do with this condition, and thus, that it may be possible to treat this type of hearing loss by re-training the brain to tamp down wildly firing neurons.



The researchers recorded the activity of 8,078 neurons from the auditory cortex of 12 old mice (16 to 24 months old) and 10 young mice (two to six months old). In a first experiment, they conditioned the mice to lick a water spout when hearing a specific tone. Then, they made the mice perform the same exercise while playing “white noise” in the background.



While, without the ambient noise, both young and old mice licked the water spout when hearing the tone, in the presence of the ambient noise the old mice were worse at detecting the tone and licking the spout than their younger counterparts. Moreover, the young mice tended to lick the spout at either the onset or end of the tone, while older mice licked it at the start of the auditory cue, but sometimes also before the tone was presented, suggesting that they thought a tone was present when it was not.



Next, in order to assess how auditory neurons performed during these hearing tests, the scientists employed a method called “two-photon imaging” – which uses fluorescence to identify and measure the activity of hundreds of neurons at the same time - to get a glimpse into mice’s auditory cortex.



The analysis revealed that, under normal conditions (when the brain worked correctly in the presence of ambient noise), some neural activity increased when the mice heard the tone, while other neurons were repressed. However, in the older mice, there was more neural activity overall, and the neurons that were supposed to turn off when the tone was played in the presence of ambient noise failed to do so. Moreover, just before the auditory cue, there was up to twice as much neural activity in old mice, indicating that their brains may be “firing” or behaving as if a tone is present when it is not.



“In older animals, ambient noise seems to make neuron activity more ‘fuzzy,’ disrupting the ability to distinguish individual sounds,” said study senior author Patrick Kanold, a professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins.



Fortunately, due to its flexible learning potential, the mammalian brain could be “taught” to address this auditory fuzziness in older animals, including humans. “There may be ways to train the brain to focus on individual sound amid a cacophony of noise,” Kanold concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0955-22.2022">Journal of Neuroscience</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 brain’s role in age-related hearing loss?

A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine investigating how...

A growing body of research evidence highlights the existential threat that climate change and its consequences pose to humanity, and to the Earth’s ecosystems and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/habitat-quality-and-biodiversity-impact-bee-health/">biodiversity</a>. However, a new study conducted by researchers at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> has found that college biology textbooks are woefully inadequate in covering this crucial topic. This may go some way to explaining why a 2021 Gallup poll found that only 43 percent of Americans see climate change as a serious threat over their lifetimes.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed 57 college introductory biology textbooks, published between 1970 and 2019. They assessed the content pertaining to climate change in terms of four categories: 1) the number of sentences of text devoted to climate change; 2) the location of the section in the textbook; 3) the topics addressed, including greenhouse effect, impacts of global warming, and actions to mitigate climate change; and 4) the presentation of data in figures.&nbsp;



They found that the presentation of climate change information in college textbooks has varied significantly over the five decades in question. Prior to 1990, textbooks had a median of fewer than 10 sentences addressing climate change. In the 1990s, the median length of climate content was 30 sentences. This rose to 52 sentences in the 2000s, which is not surprising given the amount of emerging research into climate change and its impacts. However, the researchers found that the amount of climate coverage in textbooks actually decreased in the 2010s – dropping to a median of 45 sentences.



According to Jennifer Landin, an associate professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University and a co-author of the study, that amounts to less than three pages of information.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It’s really a very small amount of content,” she said. “I certainly think we can go into more detail explaining the relationships between carbon, where this carbon is coming from, how it relates to fossil fuels, where fossil fuels come from. There are all these elements that we can address that I think are being glossed over.”



Landin and her co-author, Rabiya Ansari, suggested that the decrease in climate change content may have been a result of controversy and political backlash. Increased media attention on the topic in the 1990s and 2000s due to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol (the international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), along with U.N. climate change conferences and the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” led to growing controversy and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/22/science-confirms-it-denial-of-climate-change-is-all-about-the-politics/">climate denialism</a>, which could have made textbook publishers shy away from covering the issues.



The researchers noticed other concerning trends in the textbooks as well. Coverage detailing potential climate change solutions decreased to just 3 percent of the total content on climate change, from a peak of about 15 percent in the 1990s. In addition, information on climate change was increasingly relegated to the very last pages of the books. Whereas textbooks from the 1990s positioned the climate change section approximately 85 percent through the book, those from the 2010s only tackled climate change material in the last 2.5 percent of the book. This means that if the instructor taught the content in the order in which it appeared in the textbook, the section on climate change was highly likely to be skipped or left out completely.&nbsp;



“One of the most troubling findings was that textbooks are devoting substantially less space to addressing climate solutions now than they did in the 1990s – even as they focus more on the effects of climate change,” said Landin. “That suggests to students that nothing can be done, which is both wildly misleading and contributes to a sense of fatalism regarding climate change.”



The findings of the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, did reveal some ways in which the presentation of climate change content has improved in recent years. Textbooks from the 70s and 80s focused primarily on facts relating to the greenhouse effect, whereas more recent textbooks contained significantly more information on the harmful consequences of climate change, such as sea level rise, health risks to humans, biodiversity loss, extreme weather events and food shortages.&nbsp;



Landin said she was encouraged by these changes and wanted to credit textbook authors for adding information on the potential impacts of warming temperatures. However, she stressed that publishers and authors should also include actions that people could take to mitigate climate change, thereby giving students a sense of how they can contribute to the solutions rather than the problems. Many actionable solutions already exist and are helping rewrite the most dire climate projections.&nbsp;



She adds: “We are hoping that this study will serve as a wake-up call for publishers and instructors. We need to do a much better job of incorporating climate change into our courses if we want to prepare students to understand the role that climate change is playing in shaping life on Earth and how we study it.”



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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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Climate change is not adequately covered in college textbooks

A growing body of research evidence highlights the existential threat...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.dukehealth.org/locations/duke-university-medical-center">Duke University Medical Center</a> have discovered why some people take longer to recover their sense of smell after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-90-percent-of-people-have-some-resistance-to-covid/">Covid</a> infection. The experts have linked this prolonged loss of smell to an immune assault on olfactory nerve cells, and also to a decline in the number of those cells.



According to the researchers, similar biological mechanisms may be responsible for other long Covid symptoms as well, including brain fog, fatigue, and shortness of breath.&nbsp;



“One of the first symptoms that has typically been associated with COVID-19 infection is loss of smell,” said study senior author Dr. Bradley Goldstein.



“Fortunately, many people who have an altered sense of smell during the acute phase of viral infection will recover smell within the next one to two weeks, but some do not. We need to better understand why this subset of people will go on to have persistent smell loss for months to years after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.”



In collaboration with experts at Duke, Harvard and UC San Diego, Dr. Goldstein analyzed samples from 24 biopsies. Some of the samples were collected from patients who were experiencing long-term loss of smell following Covid infection.&nbsp; 



The analysis showed widespread infiltration of T-cells engaged in an inflammatory response in the olfactory epithelium, which is the tissue in the nose where smell nerve cells are located. This inflammation was detected even after the patients tested negative for Covid infection.&nbsp;



Furthermore, the number of olfactory sensory cells had been diminished due to damage from the virus. “The findings are striking,” said Dr. Goldstein. “It’s almost resembling a sort of autoimmune-like process in the nose.”



Learning what sites are damaged and what cell types are involved is a key step toward beginning to design treatments, explained Dr. Goldstein. He said the researchers were encouraged that neurons appeared to maintain some ability to repair even after the long-term immune onslaught.



“We are hopeful that modulating the abnormal immune response or repair processes within the nose of these patients could help to at least partially restore a sense of smell."



 



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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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Covid loss of smell linked to abnormal immune response

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered why some...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.indiana.edu/">Indiana University</a> has found that self-care – the process of engaging with a product of experience in order to boost one’s emotional well-being – is highly beneficial, particularly in periods of increased <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/turn-stress-productive-energy/">stress</a>. Unfortunately, the experts argued, people rarely take advantage of this technique to help themselves pass through difficult times.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“There are so many ads reminding us to take a moment for ourselves, for self-care, but we find that people are least likely to engage in this kind of behavior when they need it most,” said study co-author Kelley Gullo Wight, an assistant professor of Marketing at Indiana.&nbsp;



“There’s this moment of self-sabotage. People who feel the most constrained or stressed aren’t taking advantage of these self-gifts. You might think, I’ll be too distracted, or I won’t be able to have a mindful moment to benefit, but our research shows this belief is wrong. People are able to benefit and focus even if they’re stressed. In fact, that exactly when you need it the most. Taking the time to ‘self-gift’ will lead you to feel less stressed in the long run.”



The researchers used behavioral experiments to understand why people would not take advantage of self-gifting experiences – which can range from listening to music to drinking tea or just taking a moment to relax – particularly when it would benefit them the most.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that people who felt pressed for time were least likely to engage in self-gifting, although they were the ones who experienced the strongest boosts in how happy and relaxed they felt afterwards. These findings could help marketers encourage consumers to “self-gift,” by framing their products or experiences as beneficial, especially during busy and stressful periods.



“This holiday season, if you’re focusing on everyone else, you’ve got people coming into town, and absolutely no time for yourself, take two minutes. You may tend to want to wait for self-care until the stressor is over, but our research shows you’ll benefit most by taking a minute for yourself anyways. That’s when you should be looking out for you,” Wight concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucac053">Journal of Consumer Research</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



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Prioritizing self-care is essential in stressful periods

A new study led by Indiana University has found that...

Dna,Molecule,Is,Located,In,Front,Of,A,Colored,Background.

According to a new study the <a href="http://hbio.gr/member/bsrc-%E2%80%9Calexander-fleming%E2%80%9D">Biomedical Sciences Research Center (BSRC) “Alexander Fleming”</a> in Vari, Greece, although humans evolutionarily split from our chimpanzee ancestors nearly seven million years ago, we are continuing to evolve. The experts identified 155 new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-identify-genes-evolution-humans/">genes</a> within the human lineage which spontaneously arose from tiny sections of our DNA. Some of these “microgenes” date back to the ancient origins of mammals, with a few of them thought to be associated with human-specific diseases.



“This project started back in 2017 because I was interested in novel gene evolution and figuring out how these genes originate,” said study lead author Nikolaos Vakirlis, a researcher at BSRC. “It was put on ice for a few years, until another study got published that had some very interesting data, allowing us to get started on this work.”



By using the previously published dataset of functionally relevant new genes, the scientists created an ancestral evolutionary tree to compare humans to other vertebrate species. They tracked the relationship of these genes during evolution and discovered 155 that emerged from regions of unique DNA.



“It was quite exciting to be working in something so new,” says senior author Aoife McLysaght, a professor of Genetics and Molecular Evolution at <a href="https://www.tcd.ie/">Trinity College Dublin</a>. “When you start getting into these small sizes of DNA, they're really on the edge of what is interpretable from a genome sequence, and they’re in that zone where it’s hard to know if it is biologically meaningful.”



Among these 155 new genes, 44 were associated with growth defects in cell cultures, proving their importance in maintaining a healthy, living system. However, since these genes are human-specific, it is difficult to test directly their function. Yet, by examining patterns found within the DNA, the scientists found hints at what roles some of the genes may play in specific diseases.



Three of the newly identified genes had disease-associated DNA markers that pointed to connections to health conditions such as muscular dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, and the Alazami syndrome. Moreover, the researchers found a new gene associated with human heart tissue that most likely originated in humans and chimpanzees right after the evolutionary split from gorillas, an aspect showing how fast a gene can evolve to become essential for an organism.



“It will be very interesting in future studies to understand what these microgenes might do and whether they might be directly involved in any kind of disease,” says Vakirlis.



“These genes are convenient to ignore because they’re so difficult to study, but I think it’ll be increasingly recognized that they need to be looked at and considered. If we’re right in what we think we have here, there’s a lot more functionally relevant stuff hidden in the human genome,” concluded McLysaght.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111808">Cell Reports</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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Discovery of new genes proves that humans continue to evolve

According to a new study the Biomedical Sciences Research Center...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ul.ie/">University of Limerick</a> in Ireland has recently found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-triggers-loneliness-in-old-age/">loneliness</a>, social isolation, and living alone can lead to premature death in people diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.



Cardiovascular disease – encompassing conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and other blood vessel disturbances – is currently among the leading causes of death and disability in Ireland. By reviewing 35 studies that followed people with such conditions for decades across multiple regions in Europe, North America, and Asia, the scientists discovered that loneliness, social isolation, and living alone are all strongly predictive of mortality risks in these populations.



“Social health factors such as loneliness and social isolation have gained a significant amount of attention recently and are really important to think of within the context of cardiovascular health,” explained study lead author Róisín Long, a clinical psychologist at the University of Limerick.



“What was unclear is to what degree they impact how long people live when they have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Our review found that each of these factors are critically important to consider in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, as increased levels of loneliness, social isolation, and living alone appears to lead to premature death. There are likely several reasons for this, ranging from support from another individual to how an individual biologically responds to stress.”



Quite interestingly, the negative effects of living alone on cardiovascular health appeared to be stronger in European countries, most likely reflecting the large number of people living on their own in many parts of this continent.



“While supporting public health concerns surrounding loneliness and social isolation, the study points to the need for rigorous research in this area across a greater range of geographical regions,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001151">Psychosomatic Medicine</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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Loneliness and social isolation increase mortality risks

A team of researchers led by the University of Limerick...

More than half of the global population currently lives in cities, and this is projected to increase significantly by the end of the century. As cities expand in size, their green spaces, including remnant natural areas, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-distance-between-humans-and-nature-is-growing/">nature</a> reserves and urban parks, will come under increasing pressure from human activities. Both managed and unmanaged green spaces are important as locations or people to exercise, get closer to nature, destress and improve their mental health. However, there is a delicate balance between allowing human access and conserving natural ecosystems.&nbsp;



Parks and other green spaces are also important for preserving ecosystem biodiversity and for providing services such as stormwater management and heat reduction. When people utilize green spaces, they can affect these functions, for example by disturbing wildlife and forging new trails that are then subject to erosion. It is therefore important for green space management strategies that the numbers and activities of visitors are measured in some way. This should not be invasive, but must be at a fine enough scale to inform management decisions.



Researchers from the University of Toronto and Conservation Halton have now partnered to test the usefulness of anonymized GPS data from peoples’ smartphones to quantify the extent to which green spaces are used, and for what purposes. Conservation Halton is a local conservation authority responsible for managing natural areas, protected reserves and urban parks in the regional municipality of Halton, Ontario. The various green spaces total around 1,000 km2 and include forests, riverside vegetation and grasslands. More than 1.2 million visitors use these spaces each year, most of them from nearby large urban centers.



Visitors to the green spaces often take part in activities such as hiking, dog walking, cross-country skiing and picnicking, and GPS data from visitors’ smartphones can be a powerful tool in understanding what activities are taking place and how many people are present.&nbsp;



The researchers in the current study used Mapbox Movement to obtain an anonymized activity index representing visitor density aggregated to 100 x 100 m grid cells and two-hour windows. They developed new methods for the synthesis, management and analysis of this GPS data from smart devices in the Conservation Halton green spaces in order to understand how this data compares with traditional measures of human access and activity, and to investigate whether the activity index can be used to infer human presence and activity in green spaces in future.&nbsp;



Alessandro Filazzola and colleagues present their findings in a paper in the open-access journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010725">PLOS Computational Biology</a>. They found that the GPS data did indeed capture insights about people’s use of these green spaces, showing, for instance, that mobile device activity was strongly correlated with data on reservations made by people to access parks.&nbsp;



The data also revealed which areas within green spaces had more or less human activity, with established trails being particularly popular. In addition, greater human presence was linked to certain types of land cover, such as rock formations, as well as certain tree species. These findings highlight the potential for anonymized GPS smartphone data to help inform management of green spaces, especially as cities grow worldwide. Such efforts could optimize the benefits of green spaces for people while also preserving biodiversity and other ecosystem services.



The experts note several challenges to this approach, such as some people’s tendency to disconnect from their mobile devices when visiting green spaces and the difficulty of distinguishing between a smart phone located within a green space and one that is in a car passing just outside the perimeter. Future research could address these issues and refine the methodology.



“Access to parks is important for city residents for recreation, connecting to nature, and socialization, but it’s challenging to understand how people use these green spaces," said the researchers. "Our study is using anonymized mobility data to help shed light on the relationship between people and nature in parks.”



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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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Smartphones track interactions between people and green spaces

More than half of the global population currently lives in...

The foods we choose to eat have environmental impacts in terms of their production, processing, transport and sale. Considering that humanity is facing increasingly dire consequences of global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forest-microclimates-impact-bird-species-diversity/">warming</a> and climate change, it is important to understand how our food choices contribute to environmental problems. Ideally, people should be encouraged to change their diets such that the environmental impacts are minimized, but many different barriers to change currently exist.&nbsp;



In a study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106388">Appetite</a>, researchers interviewed 21 British participants about their knowledge and understanding of what constitutes a sustainable diet, and whether they would be prepared to make the necessary changes. The participants were mostly young adults who cooked for themselves, or for others in the household.&nbsp;



According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), sustainable diets are “diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations.” Previous research has suggested that 20–30 percent of environmental impacts in Europe and the UK originate from supplying the foods that people choose to eat; these impacts arise from greenhouse gas emissions, the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the use of water, among others.



Previous modeing studies have suggested that the negative impacts can be reduced through changes to dietary consumption. For example, it is commonly understood that the production of animals and animal products has significant negative consequences for environments and for the planet as a whole, and that eating a plant-based diet is less environmentally damaging.&nbsp;



In the current study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/">Bournemouth University</a> took a qualitative approach and conducted in-depth interviews with the 21 participants. The participants were asked various questions about their understanding of a sustainable diet and their willingness to make changes in their own food choices. In this way, the researchers gained detailed, rich and personal responses from the participants. The interview transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.



Four themes were identified, in the participants’ responses, that related to understanding sustainable diets: ‘Consistent with the definition by the FAO,’ ‘Multiple benefits,’ ‘Unsure’ and ‘Competing Interests.’ Similarly, four themes were identified relating to making changes to one’s diet: ‘Willing, but unsure,’ ‘Small, easy changes,’ ‘Enablers’ and ‘Barriers.’



Within these themes, participants were able to define sustainable eating in a manner that was consistent with the definition by the FAO, could identify sustainable actions that they were undertaking or could undertake, and considered these to be beneficial. However, there was a lot of uncertainty expressed by the participants. Many did not know, or were very unsure of, what constituted a sustainable diet, and some admitted to choosing foods without considering the consequences for the environment or planet at all. Others thought their diet was sustainable to some degree already, that there was no need for them to change, and that they were content with the diet that they already had, for their lifestyle, pocket, and tastes.



“When thinking about how to live more sustainably, people seem to understand that this can mean taking fewer flights, using the car less, recycling more, but it seems that not everyone is aware of the difference that changing their diet can make as well,” explained Professor Katherine Appleton, who led the study.



Participants were also unclear on what would make their food choices more environmentally sustainable. When it came to making changes to their diet, participants explained that they would be willing to do that to help the environment, but there was significant uncertainty about what changes they should make. There is clearly a lot of contradictory information around concerning the best foods to eat in order to ensure a minimal environmental footprint.



Participants expressed the preference for making small, easy changes of high impact in their diets, but there was again considerable uncertainty as to exactly what changes to make. Their comments indicated hesitation and concern that any actions they may take could be sustainable from one perspective, but not from another. For example, eating tofu made from soy may be a suitable replacement for meat in a diet, but if forest has been cleared to plant that soy then its carbon footprint can be as much as twice that produced when raising chickens.&nbsp;



The researchers concluded that far more needs to be done to increase public awareness and knowledge of sustainable diets, and to educate people about the links between food production and environmental damage. They also recommend that sustainable foods need to be made more available and accessible to consumers, and that information concerning sustainable foods should be easy to access and should stem from credible, objective sources.&nbsp;



“We were surprised by our findings. We had originally intended looking at how we can encourage people to eat more foods such as beans and pulses, but we discovered that people still don’t know enough about why this is important, so to talk about increasing the consumption of specific foods is getting too far ahead for many,” explained Professor Appleton.



“We need to promote greater awareness and knowledge of how changes to eating habits can go some way to helping the planet, while also offering some suggested changes that are likely to be acceptable and acted upon,” she added.



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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

Many people are unaware that food choices impact the environment

The foods we choose to eat have environmental impacts in...

A recent study has confirmed that the goal of reaching 10,000 steps a day is an ideal target for optimal health outcomes. The experts also found that it's not just how far you <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/for-some-walking-boosts-cognitive-function/">walk</a>, but also how fast, that makes a difference.



For the investigation, the researchers monitored 78,500 adults with activity trackers. To date, these are the largest studies to objectively track steps in relation to health outcomes.



Study senior author Emmanuel Stamatakis is a professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health at the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a>.



“Step count is easily understood and widely used by the public to track activity levels thanks to the growing popularity of fitness trackers and apps, but rarely do people think about the pace of their steps,” said Professor Stamatakis.



“Findings from these studies could inform the first formal step-based physical activity guidelines and help develop effective public health programs aimed at preventing chronic disease.”



The experts found that walking 10,000 steps per day is associated with a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer and premature death. Furthermore, participants who walked at a faster pace showed benefits above and beyond the number of steps achieved.



“The take-home message here is that for protective health benefits people could not only ideally aim for 10,000 steps a day but also aim to walk faster,” said co-lead author Dr. Matthew Ahmadi from the University of Sydney.



"For less active individuals, our study also demonstrates that as low as 3,800 steps a day can cut the risk of dementia by 25 percent,” noted co-lead author Professor Borja del Pozo Cruz from the University of Southern Denmark.



According to the researchers, every 2,000 steps lowered the risk of premature death incrementally by 8 to 11 percent - up to around 10,000 steps a day. The results were similar for cardiovascular disease and cancer incidence.



The analysis showed that a higher number of steps per day was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia. In addition, a faster pace was linked to a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer, and premature death.



“The size and scope of these studies using wrist-worn trackers makes it the most robust evidence to date suggesting that 10,000 steps a day is the sweet spot for health benefits and walking faster is associated with additional benefits,” said Dr. Ahmadi.



“Going forward more research with longer-term use of trackers will shed more light on the health benefits associated with certain levels and intensity of daily stepping.”



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;



<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine">JAMA Internal Medicine</a>.



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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

Health benefits of 10,000 steps are enhanced with a faster pace

A recent study has confirmed that the goal of reaching...

Intermittent fasting diets – when you can only eat during a specific window of time each day - have become increasingly popular over the past years as effective weight loss methods. Fasting for several hours per day or eating just one meal a couple of days a week can help the body burn fat and lower the risk of developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-does-eating-late-lead-to-obesity-and-diabetes/">diabetes</a> or cardiovascular disease.



Now, a study published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcem">Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</a> has found that, after an intermittent fasting intervention, patients can achieve complete diabetes remission - defined as an HbA1c (average blood sugar) level of less than 6.5 percent at least one year after stopping diabetes medication.



“Type 2 diabetes is not necessarily a permanent, lifelong disease. Diabetes remission is possible if patients lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits,” said Dongbo Liu, a researcher at the <a href="https://en.hunau.edu.cn/">Hunan Agricultural University</a> in China. “Our research shows an intermittent fasting, Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy (CMNT), can lead to diabetes remission in people with type 2 diabetes, and these findings could have a major impact on the over 537 million adults worldwide who suffer from the disease.”



The scientists conducted a three-month intermittent fasting diet intervention among 36 participants with diabetes and discovered that nearly 90 percent of them – including those taking blood sugar-lowering medication and insulin – reduced their diabetes medication after intermittent fasting. Moreover, 55 percent of the participants experienced diabetes remission and discontinued for at least one year their diabetes medication.



These findings challenge the conventional view that diabetes remission is only possible in patients with a shorter diabetes duration (zero to six years). In fact, 65 percent of the participants who achieved diabetes remission had a diabetes duration of six to 11 years.



“Diabetes medications are costly and a barrier for many patients who are trying to effectively manage their diabetes. Our study saw medication costs decrease by 77 percent in people with diabetes after intermittent fasting,” Liu 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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Intermittent fasting can reverse type 2 diabetes

Intermittent fasting diets – when you can only eat during...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vitamin-d-in-the-brain-linked-to-better-cognitive-function/">Vitamin D</a> is known to play a major role in the regulation of calcium and phosphorous absorption, while also keeping the brain and immune system working properly. Now, according to a recent study led by the <a href="https://www.ufscar.br/">Federal University of São Carlos</a> (UFSCar) in Brazil and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> (UCL)&nbsp;in England, vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of dynapenia – an age-associated loss of muscle strength – in older people by 78 percent.



Dynapenia is partly explained by muscle atrophy and is a major risk factor for physical incapacity in the elderly. People with this condition are more likely to fall, need to be hospitalized or prematurely institutionalized, and die.



“Vitamin D is known to participate in various functions of the organism. Actually, it’s a hormone and its many roles include helping to repair muscles and releasing calcium for muscle contraction kinetics. It was therefore expected to cause muscle alterations of some kind. That’s exactly what our study proved,” reported&nbsp;study senior author Tiago da Silva Alexandre, a professor of Gerontology at UFSCar. “Endocrine disorders such as vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency can lead to loss of bone mineral density as well as a reduction in muscle mass, strength and function.”



The scientists analyzed data for 3,205 non-dynapenic participants aged 50 or older who were followed for four years by the <a href="https://www.elsa-project.ac.uk/">English Longitudinal Study of Ageing</a> (ELSA), a long-term multi-cohort study that began in 2002. The analysis revealed that individuals with vitamin D deficiency (defined as less than 30 nanomoles per liter of blood) had a 70 percent higher risk of developing dynapenia by the end of the four-year study than those with normal vitamin D levels (above 50 nmol/L).



“This is itself an important finding as it shows that vitamin D deficiency heightens the risk of muscle weakness by 70 percent. However, because we knew there are many worldwide cases of people with osteoporosis who take vitamin supplements, we needed to try to measure the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation,” said study lead author&nbsp;Maicon Luís Bicigo Delinocente, an expert in Collective Health and Gerontology at UFSCar.



When participants with osteoporosis and those taking vitamin D were excluded from the analysis, the researchers found that the risk of developing muscle weakness after four years was 78 percent higher for individuals with vitamin D deficiency at the beginning of the study, and 77 percent higher for those with vitamin D insufficiency (30-50 nmol/L).



These findings offer evidence that the risk of muscle weakness is heightened by both vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. “It’s necessary to explain to people that they risk losing muscle strength if they don’t get enough vitamin D. They need to expose themselves to the sun, eat food rich in vitamin D or take a supplement, and do resistance training exercises to maintain muscle strength,”&nbsp;Alexandre concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00223-022-01021-8">Calcified Tissue International and Musculoskeletal 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



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Vitamin D deficiency heightens the risk of muscle weakness

Vitamin D is known to play a major role in...

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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

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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?

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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

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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



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



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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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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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

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...