The holiday season, filled with festive gatherings and delicious food, can be challenging for anyone committed to a healthy lifestyle.&nbsp;



A new national survey by <a href="https://www.orlandohealth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Orlando Health</a> finds that nearly 40% of Americans worry about overeating during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-people-die-from-heart-attacks-during-the-holidays/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">holidays</a>. However, experts reassure that a few holiday treats are not a cause for guilt or concern over weight gain long-term health impacts.



“Holidays come around once a year, and indulging in a few traditional foods and favorite recipes that may have a little extra sugar or fat is not going to affect your health or derail your healthy habits,” said Sara Riehm, a registered dietitian at Orlando Health.&nbsp;



Riehm notes that, for many, the anxiety about holiday <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-nuts-every-day-does-not-cause-weight-gain-but-it-does-improve-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weight gain</a> far outweighs actual weight gain during this time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-healthy-holiday-habits">Healthy holiday habits</h2>



The survey also revealed some common yet counterproductive tactics people use to avoid overindulgence.&nbsp;



One in four respondents, for instance, skip meals before a holiday event in an attempt to “save” calories. Riehm warns against this strategy, as it often leads to overconsumption once hunger takes over.



“It’s a lot easier to make healthier decisions when we're not hungry. Having a light meal with protein and fiber before a party helps you feel fuller and make mindful choices about what you’re eating,” Riehm advised.



She suggests balancing a serving of a favorite holiday treat with nutritious options like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-fruits-and-vegetables-improve-heart-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vegetables</a> or a fruit salad to ensure a balanced plate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-debunking-the-detox-myth">Debunking the “detox” myth</h2>



Another common response to holiday indulgence is the urge to “detox” or “cleanse” afterward. The survey showed that a third of people feel the need to detox post-holidays, believing it will offset any negative effects of holiday treats.&nbsp;



However, Riehm explains that these detox measures are not only ineffective but could also pose health risks.



“We can't really detox the body from the so-called ‘toxins’ that we're getting from our food,” she said. “Our liver and kidneys are already designed to remove toxins from the body without the need for juices or supplements.”&nbsp;



She further cautions that detox methods often involve extreme calorie restrictions, potentially leading to dangerous drops in blood sugar and disturbing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-tool-detects-changes-in-gut-health-to-help-prevent-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gut health</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-healthy-goals-in-the-holiday-season">Healthy goals in the holiday season </h2>



Rather than resorting to drastic measures, Riehm recommends seeking guidance from a registered dietitian to help manage a balanced and sustainable plan through the holiday season and beyond.



“With so much information, misguided advice, and pseudoscience out there, registered dietitians are going to be your number one source for evidence-based nutrition information,” she said.&nbsp;



According to Riehm, dietitians, unlike self-designated nutritionists, are licensed to provide medical nutrition therapy, making them a reliable resource for developing lasting, health-centered strategies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-informed-choices">Making informed choices </h2>



For Joshua Walker, a participant in a six-week lifestyle program at the Orlando Health Center for Health Improvement, working with Riehm revealed surprising insights into his <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-healthy-diet-can-reduce-brain-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diet</a>. 



Walker, who carefully manages his diet and exercise, discovered that foods he once considered healthy were elevating his blood sugar.



“I was eating tons of carbs and fruit, and that turns into sugar inside the body,” Walker explained.&nbsp;



Through minor adjustments guided by Riehm, he stabilized his blood sugar and feels confident that he can navigate the holidays without compromising his health goals.&nbsp;



Walker now enjoys the flexibility to indulge without fear: “If Grandma made an apple pie that I’m just looking at and it’s speaking my name, I’ll go ahead and eat a slice.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consistency-over-perfection">Consistency over perfection</h2>



Riehm emphasizes that sustainable health is built on consistency and flexibility rather than strict avoidance.&nbsp;



“No diet or healthy habit is going to be successful in the long term without a little bit of flexibility,” she said.&nbsp;



Rather than fixating on each meal, Riehm advocates a balanced approach: “The same way that one healthy meal is not going to make a huge difference in your health outcomes, having one unhealthy meal is also not going to make a huge difference.”



Ultimately, the key to maintaining a healthy weight over the holidays is to enjoy traditional foods in moderation and make informed, mindful choices without guilt. 



Embracing this balanced perspective allows holiday celebrations to be a joyful experience rather than a source of stress.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.



-----

Worried about holiday weight gain? Here's what the experts say

The holiday season, filled with festive gatherings and delicious food, can be challenging for anyone committed to a healthy lifestyle.&nbsp; A new national survey by Orlando Health finds that nearly 40% of Americans worry about overeating during the holidays. However, experts reassure that a few holiday treats are not a cause for guilt or concern over weight gain long-term health impacts. “Holidays come around once a year, and indulging in a few traditional foods and favorite recipes that may have a little extra sugar or fat is...

For many people, skiing holidays are as much a part of the end of the year as Christmas trees and fireworks. However, as global warming intensifies, white slopes are becoming increasingly rare. Now, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html">University of Basel</a> has calculated how well the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis - one of Switzerland’s largest ski resorts - will remain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-cover-has-decreased-in-recent-decades/">snow</a> reliable with technical snowmaking by the end of the century, and how much water this snow will require to be produced.



Current climate models predict that although there will be more precipitation during the next decades, it will be largely in the form of rain rather than snow. Thus, for ski resorts such as the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis, technical snowmaking will become a necessity. By collecting data on the aspects of this resorts’ slopes, and on where and when the snow is produced and with how much water, and then applying the latest climate change scenarios (CH2018) combined with the SkiSim 2.0 simulation software for projections of snow conditions with and without technical snowmaking, the experts discovered that the use of technical snow could guarantee a 100-day ski season, at least in the higher parts of the resort.



However, if greenhouse emissions will continue unabated, the business may be tight during the Christmas period, and regions such as Sedrun, for instance, will no longer be able to guarantee snow over Christmas in the long term. While new snow guns may alleviate the situation to a certain degree, they will not be able to solve the issue completely.



“Many people don’t realize that you also need certain weather conditions for snowmaking,” said study senior author Erika Hiltbrunner. “It must not be too warm or too humid, otherwise there will not be enough evaporation cooling for the sprayed water to freeze in the air and come down as snow.”&nbsp;In addition, since warm air absorbs more moisture, it will be increasingly difficult to produce snow technically. “Here, the laws of physics set clear limits for snowmaking,” Hiltbrunner added.



According to the scientists, if technical snowmaking will continue to be used as a way of keeping the resort operating, water consumption for snowmaking will increase by 80 percent. Thus, in an average winter towards the end of the century, consumption would amount to over 540 million liters of water (from about 300 million currently). Moreover, since some of the water used for snowmaking now comes from the Oberalpsee – which can provide a maximum of 200 million liters per year – by mid-century new sources will necessarily need to be exploited.



“The Oberalpsee is also used to produce hydroelectric power. Here, we are likely to see a conflict between the water demands for the ski resort and those for hydropower generation,” concluded lead author Maria Vorkauf, a scientist at the <a href="https://www.agroscope.admin.ch/agroscope/en/home/about-us/agroscope.html">Agroscope</a> research station.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02394-z">International Journal of Biometeorology</a>.&nbsp;



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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

Christmas skiing not guaranteed by the end of the century

For many people, skiing holidays are as much a part...

Young babies never lie still. They move continuously, giving kicks and wriggles, and reaching out with their arms. Right from birth - and even in the womb - babies start to make movements that are seemingly random and have no purpose. New research conducted by scientists from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a>, Japan, has now found that these “spontaneous movements” have an important role in the development of the sensorimotor system that enables us to control our muscles, movements and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cows-are-getting-high-from-industrial-hemp/">coordination</a>.



Whole-body coordination involves large-scale sensorimotor interaction, and the ability to make the desired movements. When these bodily movements are made in the early stages of a baby’s life, they may potentially help the baby acquire this complex coordinated behavior. It is as though the baby is practicing this behavior and, thereby, preparing his or her muscles and joints, as well as stimulating neuronal development.



Currently, there is limited knowledge about how newborns and infants learn to move their bodies in a coordinated fashion. “Previous research into sensorimotor development has focused on kinematic properties, muscle activities which cause movement in a joint or a part of the body,” said Project Assistant Professor Hoshinori Kanazawa from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. “However, our study focused on muscle activity and sensory input signals for the whole body. By combining a musculoskeletal model and neuroscientific method, we found that spontaneous movements, which seem to have no explicit task or purpose, contribute to coordinated sensorimotor development.”



For their study, the researchers recruited 12 healthy neonates (&lt; 10 days old) and 10 young infants of around 3 months in age. None of them or their first-degree relatives had neurological impairments.&nbsp;The team recorded the joint movements of the babies in the absence of external stimulation for 60 s, while they were awake, active and in a happy state. In addition, they recorded the three-dimensional positions of 51 markers on the muscles and joints of the babies, using 12 infrared cameras.&nbsp;



The researchers then placed a set of three markers to define the relative positions of each body link connected through the joint. The target joints were the shoulder, elbow, hand, hip, knee, and ankle. The body links connected through the joints included the head, trunk, upper arm, forearm, hand, pelvis, thigh, calf, and foot. In this way, they mapped the exact movements of these elements.



The babies’ muscle activity and sensory input signals were estimated with the help of a whole-body, infant-scale musculoskeletal computer model which had been developed by the researchers. Finally, they used computer algorithms to analyze the ways in which the input signals and muscle activity interacted, spatially and temporally, during the babies’ open-ended movements.&nbsp;



The results of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the spontaneous, whole-body movements that neonates and infants exhibit could contribute to the structure of sensorimotor interactions, such as walking or reaching for something, later in life. Even though the movements appear to have no pattern or purpose, and are akin to “sensorimotor wandering,” they could contribute to the self-organizing sensorimotor interactions in the future. It was as though the movements are a form of practicing for the future and are certainly not simply random.



“We were surprised that during spontaneous movement, infants’ movements “wandered” and they pursued various sensorimotor interactions. We named this phenomenon ‘sensorimotor wandering,’” said Kanazawa. “It has been commonly assumed that sensorimotor system development generally depends on the occurrence of repeated sensorimotor interactions, meaning the more you do the same action the more likely you are to learn and remember it.”



“However, our results implied that infants develop their own sensorimotor system based on explorational behavior or curiosity,” he continued, “so they are not just repeating the same action but a variety of actions. In addition to this, our findings provide a conceptual linkage between early spontaneous movements and spontaneous neuronal activity.”



Previous studies on humans and animals have shown that motor behavior (movement) involves a small set of primitive muscular control patterns. These are patterns that can typically be seen in task-specific or cyclic movements, like walking or reaching. The results of this latest study supports the theory that newborns and infants can acquire sensorimotor modules, i.e., synchronized muscle activities and sensory inputs, through spontaneous whole-body movements without an explicit purpose or task.&nbsp;



Through sensorimotor wandering, the babies showed an increase in coordinated whole-body movements and in anticipatory movements. The movements performed by the infant group showed more common patterns and sequential movements, compared to the more random movements of the newborn group.



The researchers believe that a better understanding of these movements and their role in later functions, will help us to understand how they are involved in early human development. We may also be able to identify early indicators of certain developmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy.&nbsp;



Next, Kanazawa wants to look at how sensorimotor wandering affects later development, such as walking and reaching, along with more complex behaviors and higher cognitive functions. “My original background is in infant rehabilitation. My big goal through my research is to understand the underlying mechanisms of early motor development and to find knowledge that will help to promote baby development.”



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.



---



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

Baby movements seem random, but help with coordination

Young babies never lie still. They move continuously, giving kicks...

The,Groom,Plays,The,Piano,,Fingers,On,The,Keys

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> has found that learning to play a musical instrument increases the brain’s ability to process sights and sounds, while at the time helps improving mental health. The experts showed that beginners who undertook piano lessons for just one hour per week for a period of 11 weeks reported not only significant improvements in recognizing audio-visual changes in their environment, but also less stress, depression, and anxiety.



The researchers assigned 31 participants with no prior musical experience into either a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-physical-task-brain-structure/">music</a> training, music listening, or control group. While the intervention groups played music, the control groups either listened to music or engaged in reading or studying.



The investigation revealed that, within a few weeks of starting piano lessons, participants’ ability to process multisensory information was significantly enhanced. These multisensory improvements – which have benefits for nearly every activity that we engage in, ranging from driving a car or crossing a road to finding someone in a crowd or watching TV – extended well beyond musical activities.&nbsp;



With musical training, participants’ audio-visual skills became more accurate across a variety of tasks, including tests where people were asked to determine whether auditory or visual events occurred at the same time. This happened for both simple displays of flashes and beeps, and for more complex situations, such as observing a person talking. Such an enhancement of individuals’ cognitive abilities was not present for the music listening group, where participants listened to the same music as the one played by the music group, or for the non-music group, where members read or studied.



Moreover, the scientists discovered that participants also had reduced depression, stress, and anxiety after the musical training, suggesting that learning to play an instrument could be beneficial for people with mental health issues.



“We know that playing and listening to music often brings joy to our lives, but with this study we were interested in learning more about the direct effects a short period of music learning can have on our cognitive abilities,” explained study senior author Karin Petrini, a cognitive psychologist and music expert at Bath.



“Learning to play an instrument like the piano is a complex task: it requires a musician to read a score, generate movements, and monitor the auditory and tactile feedback to adjust their further actions. In scientific terms, the process couples visual with auditory cues and results in a multisensory training for individuals. The findings from our study suggest that this has a significant, positive impact on how the brain processes audio-visual information even in adulthood when brain plasticity is reduced,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23340-4">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



—-



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



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

Learning to play piano boosts cognitive abilities

A new study led by the University of Bath has...

Women with obesity may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smartphone-app-can-detect-covid-19-infection-in-your-voice/">infection</a>, according to a study led by Katherine Lee of the <a href="https://www.wvu.edu/">West Virginia University</a> School of Medicine. The researchers used a mouse model to explore how obesity and gender may influence COVID-19 outcomes. The results showed that obese female mice experienced the worst symptoms.



According to the researchers, obesity substantially increases the risk of being hospitalized, placed on a ventilator, or dying from COVID-19.&nbsp;



“No human is 100% healthy in every respect,” said Lee. “There are always going to be little differences in the way our bodies function and those changes can ultimately affect the ways we respond to everything. So, I think as soon as we start incorporating those differences and changes - metabolic diseases and preexisting conditions - into our work, we can learn more about how vaccines and therapeutics might be more or less effective in these people.”&nbsp;



For the investigation, two groups of mice were exposed to SARS-CoV-2. One group had been consuming a high-fat diet, while the other had been consuming a normal diet and maintained a healthy weight.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The results showed that overall, the mice that developed obesity experienced more severe disease and exhibited symptoms sooner. Severe infection was found to be most prevalent among female mice in the obesity group, who developed high viral burdens and the most inflammation in their lungs.&nbsp;



“Clinically, a lot of data shows that men are more predisposed to severe COVID-19 than women,” said Lee. “While we can’t translate our findings from female mice directly to female humans, they do indicate an area for future study. Why does sex play a role in outcomes of COVID-19? And how is obesity a confounding factor?”&nbsp;



“These mice are a new preclinical model we developed to be used as another tool to measure the protection of vaccines and other therapeutics the Vaccine Development Center has in development."&nbsp;



"What we see with SARS-CoV-2 in a host with metabolic disease here is potentially relevant to respiratory pathogens and diseases. Preexisting conditions and comorbidities are going to be really important to consider moving forward.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105038">iScience</a>.



---



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.

Obesity dramatically increases risk of severe COVID-19

Women with obesity may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection,...

C. difficile is a bacterium which can cause potentially deadly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-reinfection-increases-the-risk-of-fatal-complications/">infections</a>, especially among the elderly and individuals on long-term treatments with antibiotics. Infections with these bacteria – averaging about 350,000 cases per year in the U.S. – are usually characterized by diarrhea, nausea, and fever, and once infected, patients are prone to recurrent re-infections.



Now, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.virginia.edu/">University of Virginia</a> (UVA) have found that certain microorganisms present in our guts – a group of antibiotic-resistant “opportunistic pathogens” called enterococci - could make C. difficile more potent and dangerous for certain people.



“The interactions between&nbsp;C. diff,&nbsp;other microbes, and the human gut are highly complex. This study leveraged expertise from a large, multidisciplinary team across several institutions to disentangle these complex interactions and discover key mechanisms that help&nbsp;C. diff&nbsp;cause disease,” said study co-author Jason Papin, an expert in Biomedical Engineering at UVA. “With this greater understanding, we have an opportunity to develop new therapeutic strategies to treat this dangerous infection.”



The scientists collected stool samples from a cohort of patients infected with C. difficile, and, using a combination of lab tests and advanced computer modelling, they investigated how C. diff. interacts with other microorganisms in the gut. The analysis revealed that enterococci – bacteria that, even on their own, can sometimes cause dangerous and difficult to treat infections, such as meningitis, diverticulitis, or urinary tract infections – make for a dangerous ally to C. diff, since they produce amino acids such as leucine and ornithine, which make C. diff more dangerous for people on long-term antibiotics.



By clarifying how this bacterium interacts with enterococci and other gut microorganisms, doctors will be better positioned to battle this common, yet possibly serious infection. “Biology is a data-rich science and the power of computational models to use these data is only in its infancy. We’re excited about the innumerable opportunities to use data science and computer modeling to drive biological discovery,” Papin concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05438-x">Nature</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Deadly bacteria has an ally lurking in our guts

C. difficile is a bacterium which can cause potentially deadly...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> in Denmark, being overweight may not be related only to how healthy one eats or how much exercise one gets, but also to the particular composition of a person’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-gut-microbiome-is-shaped-by-what-we-eat/">gut microbiome</a>. Surprisingly, the experts found that a portion of the population may be disadvantaged by gut bacteria that are highly effective at extracting energy from food.



The scientists investigated the residual energy in the stool of 85 participants to estimate how effective their gut microbes were at extracting energy from food. The analyses revealed that about 40 percent of the participants had a greater abundance of Bacteroides bacteria in their gut microbiome (a so-called B-Type composition), which are more effective at extracting nutrients from food. However, this effectiveness may also result in more calories available for the human host from the same amount of food, a finding previously confirmed by studies of mice.



“The fact that our gut bacteria are great at extracting energy from food is a good thing, as the bacteria’s metabolism of food provides extra energy in the form of, for example, short-chain fatty acids, which are molecules that our body can use as energy-supplying fuel. But if we consume more than we burn, the extra energy provided by the intestinal bacteria may increase the risk of obesity over time,” explained study senior author Henrik Roager, an expert in the Microbiome and Metabolomics at Copenhagen.



By studying how the composition of the gut microbiome is related to the length of food’s journey from consumption to excretion (which can last between 12 and 36 hours), the scientists stumbled upon another unexpected discovery: while they initially hypothesized that people with long digestive travel times would be the ones who harvested the most nutrition from their food, the analysis found the exact opposite.



“We thought that there would be a long digestive travel time would allow more energy to be extracted. But here, we see that participants with the B-type gut bacteria that extract the most energy, also have the fastest passage through the gastrointestinal system, which has given us something to think about,” Roager said.&nbsp;



“We may have found a key to understanding why some people gain more weight than others, even when they don’t eat more or any differently. But this needs to be investigated further,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-022-01418-5">Microbiome</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Some gut bacteria promote obesity

According to a new study led by the University of...

Food waste could be dramatically reduced by changing simple words about freshness on product labels, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>. Depending on the type of product, words like "best by" or "best if used by" can make a big difference in whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/benefits-of-blue-foods-are-not-reaching-millions-of-people/">food</a> is tossed out too early.&nbsp;



"We developed a survey to collect information on consumers’ intentions to discard 15 food products when exposed to different date labels," wrote the researchers. "Results show that the use of certain date labels has the capacity to reduce food waste, but the reductions would happen differentially across food groups."



“Some consumers might do a sniff test to see if food is still good, while others might just look at the date label and throw it away,” said study senior author Professor Brad Rickard. He explained that most of the date labels used on food products in the United States are not even regulated. “And they’re not food safety dates; they’re just food quality dates.”



In particular, the researchers found that the words “use” or “use by” lead to an increase in food waste because these terms seem to imply that it may not be safe to consume foods beyond the established date. On the other hand, the words “best by” seem to refer to the perceived quality of a product beyond a certain date, which could lead to less food waste.&nbsp;



“You go into the yogurt section at the grocery store, and you see many different labels - some say ‘use by,’ some say ‘best by,’ some say ‘best if used by’ or ‘fresh by,’ ‘sell by.’ And there are no rules about this.”



Professor Rickard said the motivation for this work stems from the “wild west” landscape of food date labels which is expected to be driven, in part, by manufacturers’ desire to sell more products. Last year, the Food Date Labeling Act was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in an effort to reduce the discarding of safe food.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbac021">European Review of Agricultural Economics</a>.



---



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.

Food waste could be greatly reduced with better labels

Food waste could be dramatically reduced by changing simple words...

Man,With,Abdominal,Pain.,Abodominal,Disease,Concept.

Allura Red - also called FD&amp;C Red 40 and Food Red 17 – is a common ingredient in candies, soft drinks, dairy products, and certain types of cereals. This synthetic food dye is used to add color and texture to these products, often to attract children. Although, over the past decades, the use of such food dyes has increased substantially, there has been little research on how their consumption could affect gut health.



Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.mcmaster.ca/">McMaster University</a> in Canada has found that long-term consumption of Allura Red could be a potential trigger of <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/noninvasive-test-for-inflammatory-bowel-disease/">inflammatory bowel diseases</a> (IBDs) -&nbsp; which affect millions of people worldwide – in mice under laboratory conditions. While previous studies have argued that dysregulated immune responses, genetic factors, and gut microbiota imbalances can give rise to IBDs, no studies have yet investigated the impact of environmental factors on these health conditions.



“This study demonstrates significant harmful effects of Allura Red on gut health and identifies gut serotonin as a critical factor mediating these effects. These findings have important implication in the prevention and management of gut inflammation,” said study senior author Waliul Khan, a professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster.



“What we have found is striking and alarming, as this common synthetic food dye is a possible dietary trigger for IBDs. This research is a significant advance in alerting the public on the potential harms of food dyes that we consume daily. The literature suggests that the consumption of Allura Red also affects certain allergies, immune disorders, and behavioral problems in children, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.”



Thus, typical Western diets that include processed fats, red and processed meats, sugar, and little fiber – together with large amounts of various additives and dyes – could act as major environmental triggers of IDBs. Further experimental, epidemiological, and clinical studies on the connection between widely used food dyes and the development of such health issues are needed.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35309-y">Nature Communications</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Food dye linked to inflammatory bowel diseases

Allura Red - also called FD&amp;C Red 40 and Food...

With the holiday season fast approaching, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.etsmtl.ca/en/home">École de technologie supérieure</a> (ÉTS) and <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a> has estimated the environmental footprint of a traditional Christmas meal in Canada. The experts found that meat-based meals have a much higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-fashion-carbon-footprint/">carbon footprint</a> than vegetarian or vegan ones, thus negatively contributing to the climate crisis our planet currently faces.



By using the Life Cycle Assessment Tool (LCA) – a technique that helps scientists estimate the potential impact of lifestyle choices on global warming, biodiversity loss, or water pollution - the researchers compared the environmental impact of typical holiday foods with other food with smaller ecological footprints.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that a typical Canadian Christmas meal consisting of a roast ham, pork pie, and a slice of fruit cake, consumes up to 70 percent of a person’s daily carbon budget, according to the targets set at the Paris Agreement, which aim to maintain global temperatures lower than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Thus, the large carbon footprint of such a meal leaves little room for other Christmas-related activities such as heating, transportation, or gift buying.



According to the researchers, ham roast and pork pie have a significantly higher impact than all the food consumed in a day by an average person in Canada on a typical omnivorous diet, confirming that the food usually consumed during holidays increases substantially our carbon footprint.&nbsp;



On the other hand, a meal consisting of a vegetable pie, vegan Wellington, and vegan cake would only use about 14 percent of an individual’s carbon budget, along with a very small parcel of land where these vegetables had to be cultivated.



These findings are quite sobering in a context in which we are strongly encouraged to limit our personal carbon footprint to 2.9 tons of CO2 equivalent per year in order to reach the 1.5C target set by the Paris Agreement, or about eight kilograms per day for all goods and services, including food.



---



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



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

Christmas dinner has a large environmental impact

With the holiday season fast approaching, a team of researchers...

Who,Was,Naughty,This,Year?,Traditional,Santa,Claus,Sitting,At

A long-established Christmas tradition in many parts of the world is rewarding well-behaved children with gifts, but handing out just lumps of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-40-countries-pledged-to-stop-using-coal-power-at-cop26/">coal</a> to miscreant ones. Currently, such Christmas-related lumps of coal are widely available from major online retailers, and the #coalforchristmas hashtag crops up on social media myriad times.



However, in an opinion piece from the Christmas issue of the journal <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2970">BMJ</a>, <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/">National Health Services</a> (NHS) pediatrician Tamsin Holland Brown and her daughters Lilac and Marigold have made an environmental – and compassionate – plea for ending this “outdated and potentially harmful” tradition.&nbsp;



In their view, not only does the burning of this non-renewable fossil fuel exacerbate the current climate crisis, but its impact on air quality can endanger the health of both children and adults. “It would be good for goodness’ sake if coal was left in the ground,” they argued.



Moreover, receiving such a “gift” could also turn out to be damaging for children’s mental health. In times when global anxiety is massively fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change, fostering friendships and connections between the generations might help combating anxiety much better than receiving a lump of coal.



Citing Greta Thunberg, the young eco-activist who inspired millions of children to go on school strikes to raise awareness about climate change, the authors also made a case for rewarding “naughtiness.” According to Thunberg, children “can’t save the world by playing by the rules,” so such children deserve to be on Santa’s nice rather than naughty list.



In Brown’s and her daughters’ opinion, alternatives to punitive coal could include recycled/upcycled gifts, plant-based foods, walks and bike rides in nature, inspiring books, or even stick insects. Since coal is a dangerous fossil fuel, giving it to children means that adults are in fact the naughty ones.



“The suggestion that children on the naughty list only deserve coal is outdated and potentially harmful to the environment and children’s health. Making or choosing gifts that connect children to people of all ages, nature, and animals can foster emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing over the festive season and could make a lifetime of difference,” the authors concluded.&nbsp;



---



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



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

Santa should phase out coal as a punitive Christmas gift

A long-established Christmas tradition in many parts of the world...

According to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101488">Ecosystem Services</a>, conservation strategies often have a narrow focus, tending to prioritize economic or ecological values of various species, while ignoring other types of benefits, such as those related to well-being or morality. Looking specifically at the case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/land-use-changes-affect-elephant-movement/">elephants</a>, the experts found that financial benefits including the role of elephants in ecotourism, trophy hunting, or labor often conflict with the elephants’ ecological, cultural, and spiritual contributions. Thus, overlooking the value systems of all the stakeholders involved in conservation, including local people, can lead to social inequality, conflict, and unsustainable strategies.



“We chose to look at elephants as the case study because their conservation can be especially challenging and contentious,” said study co-author Antoinette van de Water, an expert in human-elephant interaction at the <a href="https://ukzn.ac.za/">University of KwaZulu-Natal</a> in South Africa.&nbsp;“We’re not saying economic contributions aren’t important, but there’s a lot of different values at play and they all need to be considered in conservation strategies if they are going to succeed.”



According to van de Water and her colleagues, conservation decision makers frequently tend to take a single worldview when considering the value of nature. “Whether it’s economic, ecological, or social, a blanket approach to values can impact the success of a conservation strategy,” explained study co-author Lucy Bates, a zoologist at the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a> in the UK.



“Consider something like the ivory trade for example. International trade in ivory is illegal, but many southern African countries want to restart the trade leading to contention across the African continent. If you focus less on the potential economic value of ivory, and turn to other ways elephants can support communities, it can be a game-changer."



“On a smaller scale, you can also apply this framework to defining protected areas and what land could be made available to elephants. By listening to those living in these areas, you can get a clear understanding of how decisions will affect human life as well, and work out ways to resolve any issues.”



Thus, instead of focusing solely on financial and economic benefits, conservationists should also take into account nature’s non-material benefits, such as recreation, inspiration, mental health, or social cohesion, together with broader moral values, like human rights, environmental justice, rights of nature, or intergenerational legacy.



An approach incorporating moral values related to biodiversity conservation to create a positive loop between benefits to humans and to nature would help policymakers and managers better understand what elephants mean to people, why these animals are important in themselves, and what values and interests are actually at stake.



“What is really needed is a change of thinking. Conservation policies are often based on price tags. Our pluralist valuation system provides solutions that are not based on economic gains or political status for the few, but instead on long-term common good and the goals and aspirations of societies,” concluded van de Water.



---



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



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

What is the value of elephants?

According to a new study published in the journal Ecosystem...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/belgian-microbiologists-improve-the-flavor-of-beer/">Beer</a> is one of the oldest and most popular alcoholic beverages in the world. While some people love and other hate the distinct, bitter taste of hops used to flavor beer, new research led by the <a href="https://en.unimib.it/">University of Milano-Bicocca</a> has revealed that particularly “hoppy” brews could have unexpected health benefits. The experts discovered that, in laboratory dishes, chemicals extracted from hop flowers can inhibit the clumping of amyloid beta proteins, which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) – a debilitating neurodegenerative disease, characterized by memory loss and personality changes in older adults.



Part of the difficulty in treating AD is that there is a considerable time lag between the beginning of underlying biochemical processes and the onset of symptoms, often with several years separating them. Thus, since irreversible damage to the nervous system can occur before one even realizes that they might have the disease, preventive strategies and therapeutics which can intervene before symptoms appear are of increasing scientific interest.



One of these strategies involves so-called “nutraceuticals,” or foods which have certain medicinal properties, such as – as the present study argues – the hop flowers used to flavor beers. The scientists created and analyzed extracts of four common varieties of hops using methods similar to those used in the brewing process. Their analyses revealed that these extracts had antioxidant properties and could prevent amyloid beta proteins from clumping in human nerve cells. The most successful extract was from the Tettnang hop, which is found in many types of lagers and lighter ales.



When the researchers separated this extract into fractions, the one containing high levels of polyphenols exhibited the most powerful antibiotic and aggregation-inhibiting activity and promoted processes allowing the body to eliminate misfolded, neurotoxic proteins. By testing the extract in a C. elegans animal model, the scientists found that it protected the worms from AD-related paralysis, although this effect was not extremely pronounced. These findings nevertheless suggest that hop compounds could serve as the basis for the development of nutraceuticals which halt the development of Alzheimer’s disease.



“Our results show that hop is a source of bioactive molecules with synergistic and multitarget activity against the early events underlying AD development. We can therefore think of its use for the preparation of nutraceuticals useful for the prevention of this pathology,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00444">ACS Chemical Neuroscience</a>.



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.



---



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

Beer could help protect against Alzheimer’s disease

Beer is one of the oldest and most popular alcoholic...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...