Since 1990, childhood obesity has significantly increased on all continents, nearly doubling in prevalence. Although the United States currently has the highest prevalence, many other nations are not very far behind.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-childhood-obesity-worldwide-nbsp">Childhood obesity worldwide&nbsp;</h2>



For instance, in Southern European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain, 10 to 15 percent of children are obese, and, although Eastern European countries have for the moment slightly lower rates, they are experiencing a rapid surge which may soon match Southern Europe.&nbsp;



At a global level, Asia has almost half of all overweight children under five, while Africa has one-quarter of such children. Finally, in Latin America, nearly 20% of children under 20 are overweight.&nbsp;



And sadly, a great number of developing countries currently face not only the challenge of&nbsp; overweight/obesity in their children, but also malnutrition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-epidemic-levels-of-childhood-obesity-nbsp">Epidemic levels of childhood obesity&nbsp;</h2>



This obesity epidemic leads to a variety of health issues, including childhood <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-blood-pressure-drug-called-rilmenidine-dramatically-slows-aging-in-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hypertension</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-blood-pressure-drug-called-rilmenidine-dramatically-slows-aging-in-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">type 2 diabetes</a>.&nbsp;



Recently, a team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.fau.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Florida Atlantic University</a> (FAU) has discussed these challenges and provided possible solutions in a commentary published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-04001-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Maternal and Child Health Journal</a>.



Study lead author Charles H. Hennekens is a professor of medicine and preventive medicine at FAU.&nbsp;



“Pediatric overweight and obesity have reached epidemic levels in the U.S. and are becoming a pandemic globally. These conditions lead to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and lipid disorders, which contribute to metabolic syndrome,” said Hennekens.



“In adults, these issues significantly increase the risks of heart attacks, stroke, liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, arthritis and certain cancers - many of which are now occurring at younger ages.”



Hennekens noted that through coordinated clinical and public health efforts, we can address these troubling trends and work toward a healthier future for children and families globally.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-misconceptions-about-childhood-obesity-nbsp">Misconceptions about childhood obesity&nbsp;</h2>



In the United States, a preschooler is considered overweight if their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weight-and-bmi-do-not-accurately-reflect-a-persons-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">body mass index</a> (BMI) surpasses the 85th percentile.&nbsp;



Previous research has shown that such children are at a significantly higher risk of being overweight in their adolescence than those with a BMI at the 50th percentile. This highlights the current misconception that children can simply “outgrow” overweight problems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-boosting-daily-activity-among-children-nbsp">Boosting daily activity among children&nbsp;</h2>



According to the experts, health care providers and public health practitioners face great challenges in their attempts to boost daily <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/any-type-of-physical-activity-can-help-protect-the-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">physical activity</a> among children, which could significantly increase metabolic rates, lower BMI, and reduce risks of coronary heart disease later in life.



“With declining physical education in schools and excessive time spent on electronic devices, many children fail to meet recommended activity guidelines,” said co-author Panagiota “Yiota” Kitsantas, the chair of FAU’s Department of Population Health and Social Medicine.&nbsp;



“This sedentary behavior contributes to overweight and obesity through poor diet, reduced sleep, and decreased physical activity. Encouraging organized, enjoyable activities rather than competitive ones can help children achieve necessary physical activity levels.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contributing-factors-to-childhood-obesity-nbsp">Contributing factors to childhood obesity&nbsp;</h2>



However, the scientists warn that while increasing the amount of physical activity among children is necessary, it is far from sufficient to have a large impact on the rates of childhood overweight and obesity. 



This is due to the fact that other major contributors are the increase of foods containing high quantities of sugars, together with the consumption of ultra-processed foods.



“Nearly 70 percent of the average U.S.-based child’s diet is made up of ultra-processed foods,” Hennekens said. “Moreover, consumption of ultra-processed foods among children under 24 months is rising worldwide, triggering not only the potential of developing obesity but also decreased immunological protection.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-ultra-processed-foods-nbsp">The role of ultra-processed foods&nbsp;</h2>



Although further research is needed to clarify which components of ultra-processed foods lead to weight gain in children, it is already clear that a diet high in such foods is connected to increasing rates of overweight and obesity.



“Evidence suggests that enhancing school lunch nutritional standards could help reduce obesity, particularly among low-income children,” Kitsantas said.&nbsp;



“We recommend adopting school food policies that remove ultra-processed foods from menus and promote healthier alternatives, alongside educational programs on healthy eating, despite the challenges posed by external influences on children.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-public-health-measures-nbsp">Public health measures&nbsp;</h2>



Some of these challenges include the use of social media and advertising, which affects children’s food choices and behaviors such as sharing unhealthy food posts.



“Despite recommendations from the World Health Organization and public health authorities to restrict food marketing aimed at children, few countries have implemented such measures,” Hennekens explained.&nbsp;



“The effectiveness of existing regulations in today’s media landscape is uncertain, creating an opportunity for health providers and public health practitioners to educate families about the impact of this advertising.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-managing-the-public-health-crisis">Managing the public health crisis </h2>



The scientists argue that tackling the rising pediatric obesity epidemic requires a multidimensional approach. In 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed World Health Organization’s guidelines, while releasing their own recommendations for managing this public health crisis.&nbsp;



The guidelines suggest that healthcare providers and public health professionals address the social determinants of health, utilize motivational interviewing to encourage changes in nutrition and physical activity habits, and consider options like pharmacotherapy or surgery to achieve individualized patient objectives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reversing-the-troubling-trends">Reversing the troubling trends</h2>



Yet, the study authors argue that although there are approved drug therapies available, maternal and child health care providers should employ therapeutic lifestyle changes before prescribing pharmaceutical interventions.



“While the ultimate goal is prevention of pediatric overweight and obesity as well as metabolic syndrome, to paraphrase Voltaire, we should not ‘let the perfect be the enemy of the good,’” Hennekens said.



“Health care and public health professionals must collaborate across disciplines to address these issues with patients, families, communities and policymakers. United efforts can help reverse these troubling trends and ensure a healthier future for children worldwide,” Kitsantas concluded.



-----



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Childhood obesity rates are surging worldwide

Since 1990, childhood obesity has significantly increased on all continents, nearly doubling in prevalence. Although the United States currently has the highest prevalence, many other nations are not very far behind. Childhood obesity worldwide&nbsp; For instance, in Southern European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain, 10 to 15 percent of children are obese, and, although Eastern European countries have for the moment slightly lower rates, they are experiencing a rapid surge which may soon match Southern Europe.&nbsp; At a global level, Asia has almost half of...

Drinking cocoa may give your <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/desire-for-social-interaction-activates-the-brain-like-a-food-craving/">brain</a> a major boost of speed and accuracy, according to new research from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>. Study participants who drank cocoa with high levels of flavanols were able to complete complex cognitive tasks much more efficiently.

Flavanols are plant nutrients that are found in tea, grapes, tomatoes, and many other foods, but they are particularly concentrated in the cacao beans that are used to make cocoa. Previous studies have shown that cocoa flavanols can help lower blood pressure, improve blood circulation, and fight cell damage.

The Birmingham team set out to investigate the cognitive effects of cocoa flavanols in young, healthy individuals while focusing on a link between blood oxygenation and cognitive benefits. The researchers used non-invasive brain imaging to measure blood oxygenation levels among individuals who consumed cocoa that contained either high levels of flavanols or no flavanols. 

In collaboration with scientists at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a>, the experts showed that participants who consumed a flavanol-rich drink produced a faster and greater increase in blood oxygenation levels in response to artificially elevated levels of CO2.

Approximately two hours after drinking the cocoa, the volunteers were exposed to air with 5 percent carbon dioxide, which is about 100 times the normal concentration. This is a standard method for challenging brain vasculature to determine how well it responds, said study co-author Professor Gabriele Gratton. He explained that the body typically reacts by increasing blood flow to the brain. "This brings in more oxygen and also allows the brain to eliminate more carbon dioxide."

The researchers found that most of the individuals had a stronger and faster brain oxygenation response after the consumption of cocoa flavanols. "The levels of maximal oxygenation were more than three times higher in the high-flavanol cocoa versus the low-flavanol cocoa, and the oxygenation response was about one minute faster," said study lead author Dr. Catarina Rendeiro.

After the carbon dioxide test, the participants were assigned progressively complex cognitive tests, which often required them to manage contradictory or competing demands. During the tests, the researchers found that volunteers who consumed flavanols executed tasks with significantly higher speed and accuracy.

"Our results showed a clear benefit for the participants taking the flavanol-enriched drink - but only when the task became sufficiently complicated," said Dr. Rendeiro. "We can link this with our results on improved blood oxygenation - if you're being challenged more, your brain needs improved blood oxygen levels to manage that challenge. It also further suggests that flavanols might be particularly beneficial during cognitively demanding tasks."

The experts discovered that a small group of four volunteers did not benefit from the flavanol-enriched drink in terms of blood oxygenation levels, and also did not experience any cognitive benefits. These individuals had high levels of brain oxygenation responses at the beginning of the trial that were not influenced by the enriched cocoa. 

"Because these four participants already had the highest oxygenation responses at baseline, this may indicate that those who are already quite fit have little room for improvement," said Dr. Rendeiro. "Overall, the findings suggest that the improvements in vascular activity after exposure to flavanols are connected to the improvement in cognitive function."

"We used cocoa in our experiment, but flavanols are extremely common in a wide range of fruit and vegetables. By better understanding the cognitive benefits of eating these food groups, as well as the wider cardiovascular benefits, we can offer improved guidance to people about how to make the most of their dietary choices."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Drinking cocoa can make your brain sharper and faster

Drinking cocoa may give your brain a major boost of...

The desire for social interaction triggers the same neural activity as a food craving, according to researchers at the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>. The study revealed that after just a single day of isolation, the sight of fun social interaction stimulates the same brain region that is activated when you are hungry and see an image of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-seafood-industry-has-been-hit-hard-by-the-covid-19-pandemic/">food</a>. 

"People who are forced to be isolated crave social interactions similarly to the way a hungry person craves food," said study senior author Professor Rebecca Saxe. "Our finding fits the intuitive idea that positive social interactions are a basic human need, and acute loneliness is an aversive state that motivates people to repair what is lacking, similar to hunger."

The investigation was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018 and 2019. The study is part of a larger research program that is focused on how social stress may affect behavior.

In 2016, a previous MIT study identified a cluster of neurons in the mouse brain that represented feelings of loneliness and triggered the desire for social interaction following isolation. 

"We wanted to see if we could experimentally induce a certain kind of social stress, where we would have control over what the social stress was," said Professor Saxe. "It's a stronger intervention of social isolation than anyone had tried before."

For the current study, participants were confined to a windowless room on MIT's campus for 10 hours where they were not allowed to use their phones except for making contact with the researchers.

"There were a whole bunch of interventions we used to make sure that it would really feel strange and different and isolated," said Professor Saxe. "They had to let us know when they were going to the bathroom so we could make sure it was empty. We delivered food to the door and then texted them when it was there so they could go get it. They really were not allowed to see people."

Prior to the trial, participants were trained on how to get into an MRI machine so that they could do so following 10 hours of isolation. 

"Normally, getting somebody into an MRI machine is actually a really social process. We engage in all kinds of social interactions to make sure people understand what we're asking them, that they feel safe, that they know we're there," explained Professor Saxe. "In this case, the subjects had to do it all by themselves, while the researcher, who was gowned and masked, just stood silently by and watched."

In a separate phase of the trial, the participants fasted for 10 hours, and the experts collected brain scans immediately afterward. All of the scans were performed while the individuals were shown images of either food, flowers, or of people interacting and socializing.

The analysis was focused on a part of the brain called the substantia nigra, a tiny structure in the midbrain that was previously linked with food and drug cravings. As predicted by the researchers, when socially isolated subjects saw photos of people enjoying social interactions, the "craving signals" were produced in their substantia nigra. The extent of activity in this brain region was found to correlate with how strongly the patients rated their cravings for food or social interaction.

In addition, the strength of the desire for social interaction was dependent upon an individual's social habits. Those who reported being isolated or lonely in the months before the study showed weaker cravings for social interaction.

"For people who reported that their lives were really full of satisfying social interactions, this intervention had a bigger effect on their brains and on their self-reports," explained Professor Saxe. She said that based on their findings, the researchers can now try to answer many additional questions, such as how social isolation affects behavior and motivation.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/neuro">Nature Neuroscience</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Desire for social interaction activates the brain like a food craving

The desire for social interaction triggers the same neural activity...

A new study from the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/">University of Warwick</a> has revealed that weight loss is not restricted or limited by age. The researchers found that patients over the age of 60 can lose the same amount of weight as younger people using simple lifestyle changes.

The investigation looked at the capacity for weight loss in adults under the age of 60 compared to adults between the ages of 60 and 78 that were enrolled in the same hospital-based obesity intervention.

The study, which was conducted at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), showed that lifestyle changes are effective in reducing obesity regardless of age. 

The intervention was focused on lifestyle-based changes tailored to each individual patient, such as dietary changes, psychological support, and the encouragement of physical activity. Most of the 242 patients were morbidly obese at the time of enrollment.

When the results were analyzed, the two groups were statistically equivalent in their achievements, with participants aged 60 years and over reducing their body weight by an average of  7.3 percent compared with a body weight reduction of 6.9 percent in those aged under 60 years. 

According to the experts, there are more than fifty comorbid medical conditions associated with obesity that can be addressed by losing weight, including diabetes, depression, osteoarthritis, and heart complications such as hypertension.

"Weight loss is important at any age, but as we get older we're more likely to develop the weight-related comorbidities of obesity," said study lead author Dr. Thomas Barber. "Many of these are similar to the effects of aging, so you could argue that the relevance of weight loss becomes heightened as we get older, and this is something that we should embrace.

Dr. Barber said there are a number of reasons why people may discount weight loss in older people, including an "ageist" perspective that weight-loss is not relevant to senior adults. There are also misconceptions about the reduced ability of older people to lose weight through dietary modification and increased exercise. Dr. Barber noted that many older people may feel that hospital-based obesity services are not for them. 

"Service providers and policymakers should appreciate the importance of weight loss in older people with obesity, for the maintenance of health and wellbeing, and the facilitation of healthy ageing. Furthermore, age per se should not contribute towards clinical decisions regarding the implementation of lifestyle management of older people."

"Age should be no barrier to lifestyle management of obesity. Rather than putting up barriers to older people accessing weight loss programmes, we should be proactively facilitating that process. To do otherwise would risk further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652265">Clinical Endocrinology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Weight loss can be achieved at any age with lifestyle changes

A new study from the University of Warwick has revealed...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">UC Davis</a>, researchers have found that eating just the right amount of Ataulfo mangoes can substantially reduce wrinkles in older women with fair <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/babies-have-reduced-pain-response-with-skin-to-skin-contact/">skin</a>.

Just like other orange fruits and vegetables, mangoes are rich in beta carotene - a carotenoid and antioxidant that may help to delay the cell damage associated with aging.

The research was focused on postmenopausal women who added a specific portion of Ataulfo mangoes, also known as honey mangoes, to their weekly diet. 

The study revealed that women who ate a half cup of mangoes four times a week saw a 23 percent decrease in deep wrinkles after two months. 

"That's a significant improvement in wrinkles," said study lead author Vivien Fam, who is a doctoral student in the UC Davis Department of Nutrition. The experts also discovered that the amount of mangoes consumed was critical to achieving the desired result.

"Women who ate a cup and a half of mangoes for the same periods of time saw an increase in wrinkles. This shows that while some mango may be good for skin health, too much of it may not be," explained Fam.

According to the researchers, it is unclear why consuming more mango would increase the severity of wrinkles. They speculate that the negative effects may be tied to the increased amount of sugar in the larger portion of mangoes.

The randomized pilot study involved 28 postmenopausal women with fair skin types that burn more easily than they tan. The women were divided into two groups to consume either a half cup or a cup and a half of mangoes four times a week for four months. The team used a high-resolution camera system to evaluate wrinkles.

"The system we used to analyze wrinkles allowed us to not just visualize wrinkles, but to quantify and measure wrinkles," said study co-author  Professor Robert Hackman. "This is extremely accurate and allowed us to capture more than just the appearance of wrinkles or what the eye might see."

The experts assessed the severity, length and width of fine, deep, and emerging wrinkles. The group that consumed a half cup of mangoes saw improvements in all of these categories.

Fann noted that further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the reduction in wrinkles. She explained that it may be due to the beneficial effects of carotenoids and other phytonutrients that could help build collagen.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients">Nutrients</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mangoes may help to erase wrinkles

In a new study from UC Davis, researchers have found...

People who are starved or stuffed share a lack of nutrition. Part of the world is starving, another part overindulges and throws <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/otters-can-count-on-their-friends-to-gain-access-to-food/">food</a> away every day, and both suffer from a lack of nutrition. According to the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK), the gap between people who are starved and people who are stuffed is expected to widen, and the environmental impacts will worsen.

The researchers say that based on the current nutrition transition, more than four billion people will be overweight and 500 million people will continue to be underweight by mid-century.

"If the observed nutrition transition continues, we will not achieve the United Nations goal of eradicating hunger worldwide," said study lead author Benjamin Bodirsky. "At the same time, our future will be characterized by overweight and obesity of mind-blowing magnitude." 

The experts predict that by 2050, 45 percent of the world's population could be overweight compared to about 29 percent in 2010. The underlying issues include an insufficient global distribution of food and a shift from plant-based diets toward unbalanced diets that are based on animal protein, sugar, and fat.

"The increasing waste of food and the rising consumption of animal protein mean that the environmental impact of our agricultural system will spiral out of control," said Bodirsky. "Whether greenhouse gases, nitrogen pollution or deforestation: we are pushing the limits of our planet - and exceed them."

Food production dominates about one-third of the global land area and is responsible for up to a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers found that on the current trajectory, global food demand will increase by about 50 percent between 2010 and 2050 and the demand for animal products will approximately double. These increasing demands will require more and more land.

"Using the same area of land, we could produce much more plant-based food for humans than animal-based food," said study co-author Alexander Popp. "To put it in a very simplistic way: If more people eat more meat, there's less plant-based food for the others - plus we need more land for food production which can lead to forests being cut down. And greenhouse gas emissions rise as a consequence of keeping more animals."

The study is the first to provide a long-term overview of a continued global nutrition transition from 1965 to 2100. The team used a computer model to account for various factors that influence food demand such as population growth, aging, increasing height, growing body mass index, and increasing food waste. 

"There is enough food in the world - the problem is that the poorest people on our planet have simply not the income to purchase it. And in rich countries, people don't feel the economic and environmental consequences of wasting food," said study co-author Prajal Pradhan.

Redistribution would not be sufficient on its own, however, because there is a lack of knowledge among both rich and poor people about a healthy way of life and nutrition.

"Unhealthy diets are the world's largest health risks," said study co-author Sabine Gabrysch. "While many countries in Asia and Africa currently still struggle with undernutrition and associated health problems, they are increasingly also faced with overweight, and as a consequence, with a rising burden of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer." 

"We urgently need political measures to create an environment that promotes healthy eating habits. This could include binding regulations that limit the marketing of unhealthy snacks and promote sustainable and healthy meals in schools, hospitals and canteens. A stronger focus on nutrition education is also key, from early education in kindergarten to counseling by medical doctors and nurses. What we eat is of vital importance - both for our own health and that of our planet."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who are starved or stuffed share a lack of nutrition

People who are starved or stuffed share a lack of...

Measles outbreaks are back, and COVID-19 will make them worse. Researchers are warning that measles outbreaks will be another unexpected consequence of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-may-prevent-severe-covid-19-infection/">COVID-19</a> pandemic. In a new article published by The Lancet, the experts call for urgent international action to prevent devastating epidemics that could emerge as soon as next year. 

Many children have missed out on their vaccinations this year, making future measles outbreaks inevitable, explained study lead author Professor Kim Mulholland of the <a href="https://www.mcri.edu.au/">Murdoch Children's Research Institute</a>.

Professor Mulholland noted that while 2020 has been a quiet year for measles, partly due to travel restrictions, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to many cases of childhood malnutrition. As a result, the measles will lead to worse health outcomes and more deaths - considering that malnutrition worsens the severity of the infection.

"Children who die from measles are often malnourished, but acute measles pushes many surviving children into malnutrition," said Professor Mulholland. "Malnutrition, along with measles-associated immune suppression, leads to delayed mortality, while co-existing vitamin A deficiency can also lead to measles-associated blindness."

"The coming months are likely to see increasing numbers of unimmunized children who are susceptible to measles. Many live in poor, remote communities where health systems are less resilient, and malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency are already increasing."

According to Professor Mulholland, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the control of vaccine preventable diseases, with vaccination campaigns paused in the early months of 2020 and routine immunization services greatly disrupted in many countries.

The WHO estimates that delayed campaigns in 26 countries led to a lack of vaccines for 94 million children by the end of October.

"All these factors create the environment for severe measles outbreaks in 2021, accompanied by increased death rates and the serious consequences of measles that were common decades ago," said Professor Mulholland. "This is despite the fact that we have a highly cost effective way to prevent this disease through measles vaccination."

Before COVID-19, the measles had already made a dramatic and devastating return in 2019 when 9.8 million cases emerged. Compared to 2016, measles deaths doubled to more than 200,000.

Major outbreaks in Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were responsible for many of the fatalities in 2019. Measles also re-emerged in South America, where it was particularly prevalent among indigenous communities.

"The inadequate vaccination that led to the 2019 measles outbreaks has still not been adequately addressed, and the situation is now exacerbated by service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic so that high-risk, unimmunized children are clustered together in unreached communities," said Professor Mulholland. 

"Without concerted efforts now, it is likely that the coming years will see an increase in measles and its severe, frequently fatal, complications."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/">The Lancet</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Measles outbreaks are back, and COVID-19 will make them worse

Measles outbreaks are back, and COVID-19 will make them worse....

A new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> describes how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dog-ticks-prefer-human-hosts-in-hotter-weather-conditions/">human</a> ability to teach evolved along with complex tools. The researchers explain that as tools shifted from simple to complex, teaching became more necessary and advantageous. 

When recovering the remains of ancient societies, artifacts like stone tools provide scientists with a glimpse into how early humans lived and their level of sophistication. 

The social-learning process through which technology has improved over time, known as "cumulative cultural evolution," plays a critical role in the advancement of the human species. Despite its significance, however, little is known about the origins of such social learning. 

The Exeter team set out to investigate how teaching may influence the development of simple and more complex tools. The experts found that when it comes to tackling complicated problems, teaching really stands out. 

The research suggests that, as early humans developed more complex tools, natural selection began to favor those who could teach.

"Humans have an unrivaled ability to pass knowledge down the generations," said study senior author Dr. Alex Thornton.

"Traditional theories assumed that cumulative cultural evolution requires specialized processes, like teaching, to transmit information accurately, but this cannot explain why these processes evolved in the first place."

"Our aim in this study was to test the hypothesis that these processes gradually 'co-evolved' with an increasing reliance on complex tools."

The experiment involved more than 600 people, who formed "chains" to develop a simple boat made of waterproof paper or a more complex basket made of pipe cleaners. The tools were used to carry marbles, and their effectiveness at doing so was used to measure success. 

The development chain consisted of ten "generations," or ten versions of the tool. Each participant either saw the tool made by the previous person in the chain or spoke to the previous participant - which allowed teaching to take place.

"Simple and complex tools generally improved down the 'generations', and for simple tools this improvement was about the same in all three study conditions," said study co-author Dr. Amanda Lucas. 

"With complex tools, teaching consistently led to more improvement compared to other conditions. Teaching seemed to be particularly useful in allowing new, high-performing designs to be transmitted."

Dr. Lucas expressed her enormous gratitude to the local community groups across Cornwall who took part in the research, including Women's Institutes, sports clubs, craft societies, museums, theaters, galleries, libraries and community gardeners.

"This meant that our study represented a diversity of ages, backgrounds and skills, which is important as many of these types of experiments, that intend to investigate something essential about being human, recruit a narrower sample of university students only," said Dr. Lucas.

The study revealed that simple tools tended to converge toward a common design, while complex tools were more divergent and unique, which reflects the diversity of technologies across human societies.

"The effects we found were gradual - but the idea here was to look at the origins of cumulative cultural evolution, and over many generations these gradual improvements would add up," said Dr. Thornton. "Our findings point to an evolutionary feedback loop between tool-making and teaching."

"This suggests that our ancestors could have started to make modest cumulative improvements to simple tools without the need for teaching, but as tools became more complex, teaching started to become advantageous."

"The evolution of improved teaching skills would in turn allow the production of even more complex and effective tools."

The study is published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Teachers became essential when tools became more complex

A new study from the University of Exeter describes how...

Wearing a facemask does not interfere with breathing or impair lung function, even during the most strenuous <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/a-nutritional-diet-maximizes-the-benefits-of-exercise/">exercise</a>, according to a new study from <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a>. The research contradicts the idea that facemasks impair the cardiopulmonary system by making it harder to breathe.

In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, facemasks have suddenly become a part of everyday life for most people. The physical barrier created by masks has prompted concerns that they may alter the flow of inhaled oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide and increase shortness of breath, particularly during physical activity.

The researchers determined that even though it may seem harder to breathe due to increased sensations of dyspnea, there is no significant evidence to show that wearing a facemask diminishes lung function.

Study first author Dr. Susan Hopkins is a professor of Medicine and Radiology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine who specializes in the study of lungs under stress.

"There might be a perceived greater effort with activity, but the effects of wearing a mask on the work of breathing, on gases like oxygen and CO2 in blood, or other physiological parameters are small - often too small to be detected," said Dr. Hopkins. "There's also no evidence to support any differences by sex or age in physiological responses to exercise while wearing a facemask."

According to the researchers, the single exception may be persons with severe cardiopulmonary disease in which any added resistance to breathing or minor changes in blood gases could prompt dyspnea great enough to affect exercise capacity, 

"In such cases, these individuals might feel too uncomfortable to exercise, and that should be discussed with their doctor," said Dr. Hopkins. "However, the fact that these individuals are at great risk should they contract COVID-19 must also be considered."

Among healthy individuals, wearing a mask had minimal effects on these physiological markers, regardless of what type of mask was worn or the intensity of exercise.

"Wearing a facemask can be uncomfortable," said Dr. Hopkins. "There can be tiny increases in breathing resistance. You may re-inhale warmer, slightly enriched CO2 air. And if you're exercising, the mask can cause your face to become hot and sweaty."

"But these are sensory perceptions. They do not impact cardiopulmonary function in healthy people. So while dyspnea might be increased with a mask, you have to weigh that against the reduced risk of contracting COVID-19, knowing that the physiology is essentially unchanged."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/journal/annalsats">Annals of the American Thoracic Society</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

Wearing a facemask does not make it harder to breathe

Wearing a facemask does not interfere with breathing or impair...

Healthy sleep patterns reduce the risk of heart failure by 42 percent, according to a new study published by the <a href="https://www2.heart.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=donatenow_heart&amp;s_src=pmxsem19&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA48j9BRC-ARIsAMQu3WRvJ1fzWC57QNGi4mNiK8on1nB8zizJ_1HtZ_nyiHed3VomuAMi69gaAoEEEALw_wcB">American Heart Association</a>. The protective effects of healthy sleep were found to persist regardless of other risk factors for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/long-naps-increase-the-risk-of-premature-death-and-heart-disease/">heart</a> failure.

There is a growing collection of evidence to suggest that poor quality sleep plays a central role in the development of heart failure, which affects more than 26 million people. Healthy sleep patterns are characterized by getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night without frequent insomnia, snoring, or excessive daytime sleepiness.

The study was focused on data from 408,802 UK Biobank participants, who were between 37 and 73 years old at the time of enrollment from 2006 to 2010. During an average follow-up of ten years, the researchers found 5,221 cases of heart failure.

The team analyzed overall sleep patterns and sleep quality, including duration, insomnia, snoring, and other sleep-related factors like daytime sleepiness. Based on the scoring of these sleep behaviors, the experts calculated a healthy sleep score. 

Study co-author Dr. Lu Qi is a professor of Epidemiology and the director of the Obesity Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans. "Our findings highlight the importance of improving overall sleep patterns to help prevent heart failure," said Dr. Qi.

After adjusting for diabetes, hypertension, medication use, genetic variations, and other relevant heart-related risk factors, the study revealed that individuals with the highest sleep scores and healthiest sleep patterns had a 42-percent lower risk of heart failure compared to unhealthy sleepers.

According to the researchers, the risk of heart failure was independently associated and found to be 8 percent lower in early risers, 12 percent lower in those who slept 7 to 8 hours daily, and 34 percent lower among individuals who reported no daytime sleepiness.

Dr. Qi noted that the study's strengths include its novelty, prospective study design,  and large sample size.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ">Circulation</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

Healthy sleep reduces the risk of heart failure by up to 42 percent

Healthy sleep patterns reduce the risk of heart failure by...

In an effort to develop effective treatment for loneliness, researchers at the <a href="https://medschool.ucsd.edu/Pages/default.aspx">UC San Diego School of Medicine</a> investigated the factors that cause feelings of isolation different age groups. Some of the most consistent predictors of loneliness were found to be a lack of compassion and empathy, as well as less <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/how-you-use-social-media-affects-your-sense-of-happiness/">social</a> activity.

Loneliness is a widespread public health issue that can have a serious impact on health and well-being. To get a sense of how to prevent or treat loneliness, the team surveyed more than 2,800 people between the ages of 20 and 69. 

An analysis of the data revealed that levels of loneliness were highest in the 20s, peaked again during the mid-40s, and were lowest in the 60s.

"What we found was a range of predictors of loneliness across the lifespan," said study senior author Dr. Dilip V. Jeste.

The research revealed that lower levels of empathy and compassion, smaller social networks, not having a spouse or a partner, and greater sleep disturbances were the most reliable predictors of loneliness across all decades. 

A lack of confidence to deal with various aspects of one's life, or self-efficacy, and higher anxiety were associated with worse loneliness in all age decades, except the 60s.

The study confirmed the findings of previous research that there is a strong inverse association between loneliness and wisdom, particularly involving pro-social behaviors.

"Compassion seems to reduce the level of loneliness at all ages, probably by enabling individuals to accurately perceive and interpret others' emotions along with helpful behavior toward others, and thereby increasing their own social self-efficacy and social networks," said Dr. Jeste.

The survey responses indicate that people in their 20s are under a lot of stress and pressure while trying to find a life partner and become established in a career. 

"A lot of people in this decade are also constantly comparing themselves on social media and are concerned about how many likes and followers they have," said study first author Dr. Tanya Nguyen. "The lower level of self-efficacy may lead to greater loneliness."

In their 40s, individuals are beginning to experience physical challenges and health issues, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

"Individuals may start to lose loved ones close to them and their children are growing up and are becoming more independent. This greatly impacts self-purpose and may cause a shift in self-identity, resulting in increased loneliness," said Dr. Nguyen.

According to Dr. Jeste, the findings are especially relevant during the COVID-19 global pandemic. "We want to understand what strategies may be effective in reducing loneliness during this challenging time. Loneliness is worsened by the physical distancing that is necessary to stop the spread of the pandemic."

Dr. Nguyen concluded that intervention and prevention efforts should consider stage-of-life issues. "There is a need for a personalized and nuanced prioritizing of prevention targets in different groups of people," said Jeste.

The study is published in the <a href="https://ascpp.org/resources/psychiatry-resource/journal-of-clinical-psychiatry/">Journal of Clinical Psychiatry</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

Loneliness hits people hardest in their 20s and 40s

In an effort to develop effective treatment for loneliness, researchers...

Mindfulness will not help you react better to stress, according to a new study from the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University at Buffalo</a>. The researchers found that being mindful, or calmly present in the moment, is largely ineffective when it comes to managing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tropical-birds-handle-heat-stress-much-better-than-expected/">stress</a>. 

The findings contradict the widely accepted theory that mindfulness offers stress relief and coping benefits.

The experts measured the cardiovascular responses of 1,001 participants as they were engaged in stressful performance tasks. While it has been suggested in previous research that mindfulness may help people manage active stressors, the researchers found the opposite to be true. 

During the stressful task, mindful participants exhibited cardiovascular responses consistent with engagement. In other words, they were actually "sweating the small stuff." 

Despite their negative stress responses, however, mindful participants reported having a positive experience after completing the task.

Study lead author Thomas Saltsman is a researcher in UB's Department of Psychology.

"What's surprising, and particularly striking about our results, is that mindfulness didn't seem to affect whether people had a more positive stress response in the moment," said Saltsman. 

"Did more mindful people actually feel confident, comfortable and capable while engaged in a stressful task? We didn't see evidence of that, despite them reporting feeling better about the task afterward."

There is no question that mindfulness has benefits, but it appears to be limited in providing relief during stressful tasks like taking a test or giving a speech. The research indicates that when it comes to managing stress, being mindful may only benefit people's perception of their stress experience after the fact.

"Although our findings seem to go against a wholesome holy grail of stress and coping benefits associated with dispositional mindfulness, we believe that they instead point to its possible limitations," explained Saltsman. "Like an alleged holy grail of anything, its fruits are likely finite."

Dispositional mindfulness is a mindset that tries to avoid ruminating on past realities or considering future possibilities or consequences, explained Saltsman. In this mindset, an individual is focused on the present without judgement or critical interpretations. 

Mindfulness can be achieved with formal training, but people can also be dispositionally higher or lower in mindfulness - which was the focus of the current study. People with high levels of dispositional mindfulness report greater well-being and do not dwell on the past.

"Although those benefits seem unambiguous, the specific ways in which mindfulness should impact people's psychological experiences during stress remain unclear," said Saltsman. "So we used cardiovascular responses to capture what people were experiencing in a moment of stress, when they're more or less dispositionally mindful."

Study co-author Professor Mark Seery said that when people care more about the task they are completing, their heart rate increases and beats harder. 

"One thing these results say to me, in terms of what the average person is expecting when they casually get into mindfulness, is that what it's actually doing for them could very well be mismatched from their expectations going in," said Professor Seery. "And this is an impressively large sample of more than a thousand participants, which makes the results particularly convincing."

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/psp">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mindfulness can literally make you "sweat the small stuff"

Mindfulness will not help you react better to stress, according...

A glacier that has been hanging onto an Alaskan slope for centuries is melting and facilitating what scientists call a slow-motion landslide. The soil is gradually being released from beneath the glacier and if this movement were to speed up, it could trigger a powerful tsunami.

The slope is located on the Barry Arm fjord on Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska. A study led by Chunli Dai of <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a> Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center estimates that from 2010 to 2017, the slope shifted by about 120 meters. "We are measuring this loss of land before the tsunami occurs," said Dai.

Climate change is accelerating the pace at which glaciers are melting, and the ice loss can cause nearby slopes to become unstable. When the subsequent landslides dump massive amounts of dirt, rocks, and vegetation into a body of water, this can unleash a dangerous tsunami with no warning. 

In the current study, the researchers found that if the entire slope on the Barry Arm fjord collapsed at once, tsunami waves could reach communities throughout the sound. These communities are home to hundreds of people, including fishermen, tourists, and members of an indigenous Alaskan group called the Chugach.

The researchers used satellite data to measure the size of the glacier that had covered the Barry Arm slope, as well as the amount of land that has already been displaced. Using these measurements, the team built models to identify the potential landslide risk.

The analysis revealed that from 1954 to 2006, Barry Glacier melted at a rate of less than a meter per year. After 2006, the rate of melting sped up so quickly that the glacier was thinning by about 40 meters per year. The glacier continued to retreat rapidly from 2010 to 2017, until the bottom point of the falling slope had butted against the glacier and became exposed to the water in Prince William Sound.

According to computer simulations, if the land along the slope collapsed at once, the resulting tsunami would send currents between 25 and 40 meters per second. This would be enough strength to cause significant damage to large cruise and cargo ships. Small fishing boats and kayaks, which frequent Prince William Sound, would be completely overwhelmed.

The study authors estimate that waves from the tsunami could reach 32 feet in the nearby town of Whittier. The tsunami could also disrupt fiber optic service to parts of Alaska, and release oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that is still contained in sediment in Prince William Sound.

The team noted that an earthquake, excessive rainfall, or snowmelt could easily trigger the landslide. "If the slope fails at once, it would be catastrophic," said Dr. Bretwood Higman.

"People are working on early-detection warnings, so if a landslide happens, people in nearby communities might at least get a warning," said Anna Liljedahl. "This kind of research might help with building those early-warning systems."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19448007/0/ja">Geophysical Research Letters</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

Alaska's Barry Glacier could trigger a catastrophic tsunami

A glacier that has been hanging onto an Alaskan slope...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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...