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...

A new survey from the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a> has revealed that 91 percent of parents have noticed that their family is less <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/isolated-horses-become-stressed-with-weakened-immunity/">stressed</a> when they eat together. Among the respondents, 84 percent wish they could share a meal together with their family more often.&nbsp;



Overall, the participants reported that they eat alone about half of the time. The research suggests that stress reduction, connecting with other people and taking time to slow down are the greatest benefits of family mealtime.



Stress levels were found to be extremely high among 27 percent of the respondents, while 65 percent said they are at least somewhat stressed. Chronic stress is known to increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. The results of the survey indicate that family mealtime could be a simple solution to help manage stress.



“Sharing meals with others is a great way to reduces stress, boost self-esteem and improve social connection, particularly for kids,” said Dr. Erin Michos, associate director of preventive cardiology at Johns Hopkins. “Chronic, constant stress can also increase your lifetime risk of heart disease and stroke, so it is important for people to find ways to reduce and manage stress as much as possible, as soon as possible.“



Most of the survey respondents said they are more likely to make healthier food choices when eating with other people but have difficulty aligning schedules with their friends or family to do so.



“We know it’s not always as easy as it sounds to get people together at mealtime. Like other healthy habits, give yourself permission to start small and build from there,” said Dr. Michos. “Set a goal to gather friends, family or coworkers for one more meal together each week. If you can’t get together in person, think about how you can share a meal together over the phone or a computer.”



The American Heart Association will share practical and budget-friendly meal tips each Tuesday through December. People can follow #TogetherTuesday on social media or text 2gether to 51555 to get tips sent directly to their phone. You can also find free recipes and more at <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/together-tuesdays">heart.org/together</a>.&nbsp;&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

Families are less stressed when they eat meals together

A new survey from the American Heart Association has revealed...

Marijuana is the most widely smoked substance in the world, second only to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-and-zinnia-can-thrive-in-polluted-land/">tobacco</a>. And its use is on the increase since it has become legalized for recreational purposes in some of the U.S. states, as well as in Canada (in 2018). However, not very much is known about the effects that marijuana has on the lungs, and images of lung condition in long-term marijuana users are not readily available. 



A recent study, comparing the chest CT images from 56 marijuana smokers with those of 57 non-smoking controls and 33 individuals who smoked only tobacco, has now been published in <a href="https://pubs.rsna.org/journal/radiology">Radiology</a>, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America. The CT images were taken between 2005 and 2020, and show that those who smoke marijuana are more likely to suffer from emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe in enough oxygen.&nbsp;



Dr. Giselle Revah, a cardiothoracic radiologist and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Canada, was first author on the study. She was searching for information on the effect of marijuana on the lungs, and its health implications.&nbsp;



“I can tell if someone is a heavy or a long-time cigarette smoker when I look at a CT scan. With marijuana being the second most inhaled substance after tobacco, I started wondering: What does marijuana inhalation look like on a CT scan? Would I be able to tell if someone was a marijuana smoker; is it different from cigarette smoke?” says Dr. Revah.



“What’s unique about this study, is that there hasn’t been anything comparing the imaging findings in tobacco smokers to marijuana smokers before. In fact, there is a lack of imaging research in marijuana, probably because it’s still illegal in many parts of the world, and in many U.S. states, which is why I think we were the first to do a project like this.”



The comparison showed that 75 percent of the marijuana smokers had emphysema, compared with 67 percent of those who smoked tobacco only. To put this in perspective, only 5 percent of the non-smokers had emphysema. Paraseptal emphysema, which damages the tiny ducts that connect to the air sacs in the lungs, was the predominant type of emphysema seen in marijuana smokers compared to the tobacco-only group.



In addition, the researchers found evidence suggesting that marijuana smokers suffered other health effects on their lungs, including more instances of large and small airway diseases. Airway inflammation was more common in marijuana smokers than non-smokers and tobacco-only smokers, as was gynecomastia, the condition of enlarged male breast tissue due to hormone imbalance. Gynecomastia was found in 38 percent of the marijuana smokers, 11 percent of the tobacco-only smokers and 16 percent of non-smoking controls.&nbsp;



Dr. Revah said the overall results were surprising, especially considering that the patients in the tobacco-only group had extensive histories of smoking.



“The fact that our marijuana smokers – some of whom also smoked tobacco – had additional findings of airway inflammation/chronic bronchitis suggests that marijuana has additional synergistic effects on the lungs above tobacco,” she said. “In addition, our results were still significant when we compared the non-age-matched groups, including younger patients who smoked marijuana and who presumably had less lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke.”&nbsp;



The differences between the effects of marijuana and tobacco smoke may be due to the specific ways in which the substances are smoked. Marijuana is smoked unfiltered; and this results in more particulates reaching the airways. In addition, marijuana is inhaled with a longer breath hold and puff volume than tobacco smoke.



“It has been suggested that smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more particulates in the lung than an average tobacco cigarette,” Dr. Revah said. “These particulates are likely airway irritants.”



While smoking marijuana, a full inhalation with a sustained Valsalva maneuver, an attempt at exhalation against a closed airway, may also lead to trauma and peripheral airspace changes.&nbsp;Dr. Revah recognizes that more data is needed, particularly involving how much and for how long marijuana has been used. She also states it would be interesting to find out if the technique of smoking, such as through a bong, a joint or a pipe, has an influence on the damage caused.



“We’ve identified an association between marijuana smoking and damage to both the small and the large airways,” she said. “We still need more research before we can effect policy change. We need larger, more robust prospective studies with more patients to confirm 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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Marijuana smokers may have more lung damage

Marijuana is the most widely smoked substance in the world,...

Even before the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-deaths-linked-to-unhealthy-lifestyles/">Covid-19</a> pandemic, many world leaders started sounding the alarm on the increase in loneliness among all age categories as a major public health issue. In 2018, Britain was the first country to name a “<a href="https://time.com/5248016/tracey-crouch-uk-loneliness-minister/">loneliness minister</a>,” followed by Japan in 2021. 



Previous research has shown that loneliness is much more than a feeling – it can actually have significant health impacts, and is associated with higher risks of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, or stroke, with some scientists claiming that its effects are comparable to those of smoking or obesity.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College London</a> (KCL) has shed new light on why people feel lonely, particularly in older life, and what we can do about it. “Loneliness results from a discrepancy between expected and actual social relationships,” said study lead author Samia Akhter-Khan, a graduate student in Health Service and Population Research at KCL.



“The problem that we identified in current research was that we haven’t really thought about: What do people expect from their relationships? We work with this definition of expectations, but we don’t really identify what those expectations are and how they change across cultures or over the lifespan.”



According to Akhter-Khan and her colleagues, older people may have certain relationship expectations that have gone largely overlooked. For instance, they want to be respected, and expect people to listen to them, take an interest in their experiences, learn from their mistakes, and appreciate what they have been through and the many obstacles they needed to overcome. 



Moreover, they also want to contribute by giving back to others and their communities and passing along traditions or skills through teaching and mentoring, caregiving, volunteering, or other meaningful activities.



Thus, finding ways of fulfilling these expectations can go a long way towards combating loneliness in later life. Unfortunately, regular scales for measuring loneliness have largely left them out, mostly because the labor and contributions of older people are unaccounted for in typical economic indices.&nbsp;



Further research is needed to clarify why people feel lonely at different times in their lives, in order to address the current loneliness pandemic humanity faces.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/17456916221127218">Perspectives on Psychological Science</a>.



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



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What triggers loneliness in old age?

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, many world leaders started sounding...

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly changed the lifestyles of people – particularly children. As lockdowns were issued all over the world, children engaged in more sedentary behaviors, defined as any waking behavior in a sitting or reclining position where less than 1.5 metabolic equivalents of energy are expended. Since such behaviors are major risk factors for the development of conditions such as cardiovascular disease or high cholesterol levels, there is an urgent need to design strategies to address them.



According to a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.waseda.jp/top/en">Waseda University</a> in Japan, it is necessary to understand the underlying factors which correlate with sedentary behavior among children. To shed more light on this problem, the experts investigated the socio-cultural, geographical, and indoor/outdoor environmental contexts that contribute to such behavior.



“Sedentary behavior, such as television viewing or excessive computer use, is harmful for children’s health and well-being. Nevertheless, this is a very common behavior in the younger generations, especially with new technologies,” said study lead author Mohammad Javad Koohsari, an associate professor of Urban Design and Health at the <a href="http://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/">Japan Advanced Institute of Science &amp; Technology</a>, who conducted this study during his graduate degree at Waseda.&nbsp;



“Hence, reducing such inactivity in children is the need of the hour. Understanding the correlates across different domains of sedentary behavior among children can help develop effective interventions to reduce sitting time in this vulnerable population.”



The researchers surveyed 343 children from Japan with a median age of 8.8 years, and identified 22 potential correlates with sedentary behavior across five categories: parental characteristics, household environment, residential neighborhood, school environment, and school neighborhood. Among these, the age of the parents, the mother’s educational level, the presence of screen-based devices at home - and, most importantly, in the child’s bedroom - non-educational computer use at home, and traffic safety in the neighborhoods were the children lived were found to strongly correlate with sedentary behavior.



According to the scientists, parental characteristics played a major role at home. For instance, the mother’s age and lower educational background was correlated with less time spent by children on homework and recreational activities. However, parental support and shared activities helped decreased children’s sedentary behavior.



Other factors correlated with increased sedentarism included the presence of screen-based devices at home, the lack of traffic safety in the neighborhood, and the prolonged sitting periods at school. The researchers advise parents to remove personal TVs from their children’s bedrooms, city officials to make neighborhoods safer with improved traffic norms, and schools to reduce extended sitting in classrooms.



“Sedentary behavior is an emerging risk factor for children’s cardiometabolic health.&nbsp;The correlates of sedentary behavior in children identified by our study were highly subjective and different across domains. Therefore, future studies and efforts for developing strategies to reduce this behavior must look into the different domains and contexts that contribute to it,”&nbsp;Dr. Koohsari concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23410-7">Nature Scientific 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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What are the causes of sedentary behavior in children?

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly changed the lifestyles of people –...

Serosurveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and is widely used to measure population immunity due to past infection or vaccination. According to a new study led by the World Health Organization’s <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/early-investigations">Unity Studies</a> and <a href="https://serotracker.com/">SeroTracker</a>, global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-origins-of-covid-19-will-most-likely-remain-a-mystery/">Covid-19</a> infection rates are significantly higher than previously reported.



Usually, routine surveillance data underestimates infection rates and cannot reliably infer population immunity due to asymptomatic infections – which, in the case of Covid, are quite high – and uneven access to diagnostics. In order to determine the true rates of infection and indicators of population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 over time, the scientists conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of seroprevalence studies published between January 2020 and May 2022. They analyzed seroprevalence by country and month in order to estimate regional and global seroprevalence over time, as well as seropositivity rates from infection versus infection or vaccination.



The analysis revealed that global seroprevalence has risen from 7.7 percent in June 2020 to 59.2 percent in September 2021, suggesting that nearly two-thirds of the global population had Covid antibodies from either infection or vaccination even before the emergence and spread of the highly contagious Omicron variants.&nbsp;



“This study on global seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies found that while seroprevalence has increased over time, a third of the global population tested negative for antibodies against the virus as of September 2021 estimates. It was also found that compared to seroprevalence estimates, routine testing for Covid-19 has largely underestimated the number of global infections,” the authors explained.



“As we enter the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, implementation of a global system or network for targeted, multi-pathogen, high-quality, and standardized collaborative serosurveillance is a crucial next step to monitor the Covid-19 pandemic and contribute to preparedness for other emerging respiratory pathogens,” they concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004107">PLoS 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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Covid infection rates are much higher than previously reported

Serosurveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and...

Since everyone ages at different rates, two 50-year-olds, for instance, despite living the same number of years, may have different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brisk-walking-could-reduce-biological-aging-by-more-than-a-decade/">biological ages</a>, meaning that a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors have caused them to age at different paces, with different levels of disease and mortality risks. Lifestyle choices, such as diet or smoking, together with illness, contribute to accelerating biological age often well beyond one’s chronological age. Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> has found for the first time that muscle weakness marked by grip strength – a proxy for overall strength capacity – is associated with accelerated biological age.



The scientists modelled the relationship between biological age and grip strength of 1,274 middle-aged and older adults using three “age acceleration clocks” based on DNA methylation, which were originally designed to provide a molecular biomarker and estimator of the pace of aging in various health-related conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or physical disability.



The analysis revealed that both older men and women showed a significant association between lower grip strength and biological age acceleration. “We’ve known that muscular strength is a predictor of longevity, and that weakness is a powerful indicator of disease and mortality, but, for the first time, we have found strong evidence of a biological link between muscle weakness and actual acceleration in biological age,” said&nbsp;study lead author Mark Peterson, an associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan.



“This suggests that if you maintain your muscle strength across the lifespan, you may be able to protect against many common age-related diseases. We know that smoking, for example, can be a powerful predictor of disease and mortality, but now we know that muscle weakness could be the&nbsp;new&nbsp;smoking.”



Previous research has shown that low grip strength is an extremely strong predictor of adverse health effects, such as cardiovascular events. This evidence, coupled with the new study’s recent findings, could help clinicians adopt the use of grip strength as a method of screening individuals for future risk of functional decline, chronic disease, and even early mortality.



“Screening for grip strength would allow for the opportunity to design interventions to delay or prevent the onset or progression of these adverse ‘age-related’ health events,” Peterson explained. “We have been pushing for clinicians to start using grip strength in their clinics and only in geriatrics has this sort of been incorporated. However, not many people are using this, even though we’ve seen hundreds of publications showing that grip strength is a really good measure of health.”



Further research is needed to better understand the connection between grip strength and age acceleration, such as how inflammatory conditions contribute to age-related weakness and mortality. Moreover, scientists should also investigate how lifestyle and behavioral factors, such as diet or physical activity, could affect grip strength and thus age acceleration. “Healthy dietary habits are very important, but I think regular exercise is the most critical thing that somebody can do to preserve health across the lifespan,”&nbsp;Peterson concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13110">Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia, and Muscle</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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Muscle weakness could be the new smoking

Since everyone ages at different rates, two 50-year-olds, for instance,...

Since the beginning of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-reinfection-increases-the-risk-of-fatal-complications/">Covid-19</a> pandemic three years ago, scientists worldwide have struggled to discover this virus’ ancestor in order to clarify the origins of the pandemic. So far, over a dozen viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 have been isolated from bats and pangolins. 



By comparing their entire genomes – which are about 30,000 nucleotides long – the experts found that SARS-CoV-2’s closest relatives are a bat virus discovered in Laos (called BANAL-52), whose genome is 96.8 percent identical to that of SARS-CoV-2, and another virus (RaTG13) found in southern China’s Yunnan province with a 96.1 percent similar genome. The three to four percent difference between their genomes and that of SARS-CoV-2 suggests that there have been about 40 to 70 years of evolution since these viruses shared a common ancestor.



However, according to a new study presented at the <a href="https://worldonehealthcongress2022.miceapps.com/client/sites/view/WOH2022">7th World One Health Congress</a> in Singapore on November 8, comparing whole-genome sequences ignores the role of recombination in virus evolution - a process in which viruses swap chunks of RNA with each other. By comparing 18 bat and pangolin coronaviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 and splicing them into segments with different evolutionary histories, the scientists found that some segments shared a common ancestor with the new coronavirus just a few years ago.



For instance, most of the fragments shared a common ancestor around 2007, but one small chunk – about 250 nucleotides long – could have shared a common ancestor in 2016, and another 550-nucleotide-long one in 2015. Since the youngest fragments were from bats sampled in Yunnan and Laos, southern China and southeast Asia are the most likely hotspots for the ancestors of SARS-CoV-2.



Unfortunately, although these findings significantly narrow the time between the ancestor of SARS-CoV-2 originating in bats and the virus that spilled over in humans and created worldwide havoc since 2019, it is still not clear how this closest ancestor made this jump into such a different species as humans, suggesting that an as yet unidentified intermediary animal host may have been involved.&nbsp;



According to Edward Holmes, a world-famous virologist from the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> in Australia, given how often coronaviruses recombine and how much time has already passed since 2016, the chances of finding a direct ancestor “are almost nil. That ship has sailed,” he concluded.



A pre-print version of the study can be found <a href="https://virological.org/t/the-comparative-recency-of-the-proximal-ancestors-of-sars-cov-1-and-sars-cov-2/906#post_1">here</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

The origins of Covid-19 will most likely remain a mystery

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic three years ago,...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-meditation-can-reduce-pain/">Mindfulness</a> is a form of meditation which emphasizes focusing only on what is happening in the present moment and dismissing intrusive thoughts. Sessions often start with breathing exercises and continue with full “body scans” - thinking about each part of the body systematically, from head to toe. If during these process various thoughts intrude, participants are asked to briefly acknowledge them, but then dismiss them.



Although previous research has proven the benefits of mindfulness for treating mental conditions such as anxiety disorders, no study has yet compared the effects of this practice with the use of anti-anxiety medication. Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://gumc.georgetown.edu/">Georgetown University Medical Center</a> has found that mindfulness meditation worked as well as a standard drug for alleviating anxiety.



The scientists assigned 200 participants either to a widely used meditation program including two and a half hours of weekly classes and 45 minutes of daily practice at home, or to the daily use of a generic drug for depression and anxiety called Lexapro. After two months, anxiety decreased by about 30 percent in both groups of participants and continued to decline during the following few months. The experts used a psychiatric scale of one to seven, with the top number reflecting severe anxiety. While before starting the treatments, the average score was about 4.5, after two months, it dropped to three.



These findings are “reaffirming about how useful meditation can be when practiced effectively,” according to Sheehan Fisher, an associate professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a>, who was not involved in the study. However, mindfulness treatments appear to work best for patients with mild symptoms, and clinicians are still recommending drug treatments to those with severe anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, the fact that mindfulness meditation appear so effective in many cases could make insurers more likely to cover costs, which can range between $300 to $500 for an eight-week meditation class.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2798510">JAMA Psychiatry</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

Mindfulness may be as effective as drugs for treating anxiety

Mindfulness is a form of meditation which emphasizes focusing only...

In a surprising new study, experts have discovered that Covid vaccination may improve the effectiveness of some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-plant-virus-could-help-cure-cancer/">cancer</a> treatments. A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/university">University of Bonn</a> found that a drug used to treat nasopharyngeal cancer was more effective after vaccination with the Chinese vaccine SinoVac.



For patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, treatments are designed to activate the immune system against the tumor. Prior to this study, there was concern that Covid vaccination may reduce the success of such treatments or cause severe side effects.&nbsp;



Many cancer cells attempt to deactivate the body's immune defense by disrupting the PD-1 receptor, an inhibitory receptor that is expressed by all T cells during activation.&nbsp;



Cancer drugs can be used to block PD-1 receptors and help the body recognize and attack cancer cells. Covid vaccination also stimulates the immune response involving the PD-1 receptor.&nbsp;



"It was feared that the vaccine would not be compatible with anti-PD-1 therapy," explained Dr. Jian Li of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology (IMMEI) at the University Hospital Bonn. "This risk is especially true for nasopharyngeal cancer, which, like the SARS Cov-2 virus, affects the upper respiratory tract."



The investigation was focused on more than 1,500 patients in 23 hospitals across China. Among these individuals, 373 had been vaccinated with the Chinese Covid vaccine SinoVac.&nbsp;



"Surprisingly, they responded significantly better to anti-PD-1 therapy than the unvaccinated patients," explained Professor Dr. Christian Kurts. "Furthermore, they did not experience severe side effects more often."&nbsp;



So far, the researchers cannot say why the cancer treatment was more successful after Covid vaccination. "We assume that vaccination activates certain immune cells, which then attack the tumor," said Dr. Qi Mei. "We will now investigate this hypothesis further."



The researchers collaborated with a number of clinics throughout China, as well as with experts at University Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, and Tongji Medical College.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2022.10.002">Annals of Oncology</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

Covid vaccination improves the success of a cancer drug

In a surprising new study, experts have discovered that Covid...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetic-research-tomatoes-production/">Tomatoes</a> account for 22 percent of vegetables intake in Western diets. Previous research has linked consumption of tomatoes with reduced risk of developing various health conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. However, tomatoes’ impact on the gut microbiome – the community of microorganisms living in the intestinal tract – has not yet been assessed.&nbsp;



Now, a research group led by the <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> (OSU) has found that two weeks of eating a diet heavy in tomatoes increased the diversity of gut microbes and altered gut bacteria toward a more favorable profile in young pigs. These findings could be tested in humans too, in order to identify health-related links between tomato consumption and changes to the human gut microbiome.



“It’s possible that tomatoes impart benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome,”&nbsp;said study senior author Jessica Cooperstone, an assistant professor of Horticulture and Crop Science at OSU. “Overall dietary patterns have been associated with differences in microbiome composition, but food-specific effects haven’t been studied very much. Ultimately, we’d like to identify in humans what the role is of these particular microorganisms and how they might be contributing to potential health outcomes.”



The scientists fed ten recently weaned piglets with a standard diet, and other ten with the standard diet fine-tuned so that ten percent of the food consisted of a freeze-dried tomato powder - with the amount of fiber, sugar, protein, fat, and calories identical in both diets.&nbsp;



The control and study pig populations were kept separately, and the researchers minimized the time spent with the pigs in order to ensure that any microbiome changes could be attributed solely to the chemical compounds in the tomatoes. Microbial communities were collected from fecal samples both before the study and seven and 14 days after the diet was introduced.



By using a method called “shotgun metagenomics,” the scientists sequenced all microbial DNA from the samples. The analysis revealed two main changes in the microbiomes of pigs fed the tomato-heavy diet: the diversity of microbes in their guts increased, and the concentration of two types of bacteria common in the mammal microbiome shifted to a more favorable profile. More specifically, the higher ratio of the phyla Bacteroidota compared to Bacillota has been found to be linked with more positive health outcomes.



“This was our first investigation as to how tomato consumption might affect the microbiome, and we’ve characterized which microbes are present, and how their relative abundance has changed with this tomato intervention,” Cooperstone said.



“To really understand the mechanisms, we need to do more of this kind of work in the long term in humans. We also want to understand the complex interplay – how does consuming these foods change the composition of what microbes are present, and functionally, what does that do? A better understanding could lead to more evidence-based dietary recommendations for long-term health,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02506-22">Microbiology Spectrum</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

Tomatoes improve the health of the gut microbiome

Tomatoes account for 22 percent of vegetables intake in Western...

According to a new report released on World Population Day, the global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-population-exploded-animation/">human population</a> is set to reach eight billion on 15 November 2022, with India projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023. Although the global population is currently growing at the slowest rate since 1950, experts suggest that it could reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050, and 10.3 billion by 2080.



“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”



Scientists argue that over half of the projected increase in world population will be concentrated in eight countries - the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania – with sub-Saharan African countries expected to contribute more than half of the anticipated increase by mid-century.&nbsp;



Thanks to recent reductions in fertility, the percent of population at working age (25 to 64 years) has been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Moreover, the share of global population aged 65 or older is projected to rise from 10 percent in 2022 to 16 percent in 2050, making it an imperative for countries with aging populations to adapt public programs to the growing number of older persons, by establishing universal health care and long-term care systems and by improving the sustainability of social security and pension systems.



“The relationship between population growth and sustainable development is complex and multidimensional” said Liu Zhenmin, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “Rapid population growth makes eradicating poverty, combatting hunger and malnutrition, and increasing the coverage of health and education systems more difficult.



“Conversely, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to health, education and gender equality, will contribute to reducing fertility levels and slowing global population growth.”



“Further actions by Governments aimed at reducing fertility would have little impact on the pace of population growth between now and mid-century, because of the youthful age structure of today’s global population. Nevertheless, the cumulative effect of lower fertility, if maintained over several decades, could be a more substantial deceleration of global population growth in the second half of the century,” concluded John Wilmoth, the director of the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.



The World Population Prospects 2022 can be found <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/World-Population-Prospects-2022">here</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

World population set to hit eight billion by next week

According to a new report released on World Population Day,...

Motivation is a highly important process in life, often marking the difference between success and failure, goal-directedness and aimlessness, or wellbeing and unhappiness. However, becoming and staying motivated is far from easy, prompting many scientists to look for ways of boosting motivation.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.epfl.ch/en/">Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne</a> (EPFL) has investigated whether differences in the metabolites in the brain affect our capacity for motivation, and whether nutritional interventions could be an effective vehicle to improve motivated performance. The scientists focused on an area of the brain called the “nucleus accumbens,” which plays a major role in regulating functions such as reward, reinforcement, aversion, and most importantly, motivation.



Like all tissues in our body, the brain is subjected to constant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exposure-to-green-space-reduces-oxidative-stress-in-children/">oxidative stress</a>, as a result of its metabolism. As cells consume various molecules to garner energy, they produce toxic waste products in the form of highly reactive molecules known as “oxidative species.” Although cells have several mechanisms in place to clear oxidative species, sometimes this capacity is disturbed in a process called “oxidative stress.” The question the researchers focused on in this study was whether antioxidant levels in the brain’s nucleus accumbens can affect motivation, by looking into the brain’s most important antioxidant, a protein called glutathione (GSH).



“We assessed relationships between metabolites in the nucleus accumbens – a key brain region – and motivated performance,” said study senior author Carmen Sandi, a behavioral neuroscientist at EPFL. “We then turned to animals to understand the mechanism and probe causality between the found metabolite and performance, proving as well that nutritional interventions modify behavior through this pathway.”



By using a technique called “proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy,” the researchers assessed the relationship between GSH levels in the brain and performance in tasks measuring motivation in both humans and rats. The analysis reveled that higher levels of GSH were linked to better and steady performance in motivation tasks.



“Our study provides novel insights on how brain metabolism relates to behavior and puts forward nutritional interventions targeting key oxidative process as ideal interventions to facilitate effortful endurance,” the authors explained. Their findings “suggest that improvement of accumbal antioxidant function may be a feasible approach to boost motivation.”



“N-acetylcysteine, the nutritional supplement that we gave in our study can also be synthesized in the body from its precursor cysteine,” Sandi added. “Cysteine is contained in ‘high-protein foods,’ such as meat, chicken, fish or seafood. Other sources with lower content are eggs, whole-grain foods such as breads and cereals, and some vegetables such as broccoli, onions, and legumes.”



“Of course, there are other ways beyond N-acetylcysteine to increase GSH levels in the body, but how they relate to levels in the brain – and particularly in the nucleus accumbens – is largely unknown. Our study represents a proof of principle that dietary N-acetylcysteine can increase brain GSH levels and facilitate effortful behavior,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.77791">eLife</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

Nutritional interventions can boost motivation in the brain

Motivation is a highly important process in life, often marking...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[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?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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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"

[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...