Sunburn is painful skin damage that we've all experienced after spending a bit too much time outdoors without protection from UV rays. Whether it's from a lazy beach day or an exhilarating hike, the aftermath tells a singular tale - crimson skin and a nagging sting.



We've long believed that stepping out into the sun requires ample sunscreen slathering, shade-seeking, and hat-wearing, especially between the peak hours of 12 noon and 3 p.m.



However, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a> and <a href="https://www.ntu.edu.sg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nanyang Technological University</a> (NTU Singapore) have made surprising new strides in our understanding of sunburn.



As it turns out, the DNA damage we've always associated with sunburn might not be the complete story.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-rna-and-sunburn-damage">DNA, RNA, and sunburn damage</h2>



When it comes to sunburn, the prevailing wisdom suggests that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-can-now-collect-human-dna-from-water-air-and-basically-everywhere/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNA</a> damage triggers inflammation and subsequent cell death.



However, this recent research suggests that the real offender might be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rna-world-unraveling-mysteries-life-origin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RNA</a>, not DNA. 



"Sunburn damages the DNA, leading to cell death and inflammation. So the textbooks say," stated assistant professor Anna Constance Vind from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the <a href="https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/organisations/institut-for-cellul%C3%A6r-og-molekyl%C3%A6r-medicin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a>. 



"But in this study we were surprised to learn that this is a result of damage to the RNA, not the DNA that causes the acute effects of sunburn." 



But what's the difference between DNA and RNA? While they share similarities, the two aren't interchangeable. 



DNA is a more consistent molecule, whereas RNA is more transitory. 



A particular type of RNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), carries information from DNA to create proteins - the fundamental building blocks of cells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-rna">Importance of RNA</h2>



The importance of mRNA in our body's response to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-does-skin-become-leathery-after-too-much-uv-light-from-sun-exposure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UV radiation</a> can't be understated. 



"DNA damage is serious as the mutations will get passed down to progenies of the cells, RNA damage happens all the time and does not cause permanent mutations," Vind explained. 



"Therefore, we used to believe that the RNA is less important, as long as the DNA is intact. But in fact, damages to the RNA are the first to trigger a response to UV radiation."



Investigating more deeply into the matter was no small task.



The researchers embarked on a study involving both mice and human skin cells to better understand the consequences of UV radiation on the skin. They discovered a consistent response in both species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zak-alpha-the-protector">ZAK-alpha - the protector</h2>



RNA damage activates a response in ribosomes (protein complexes that interpret the mRNA to assemble proteins).



This process is managed by a protein known as ZAK-alpha, which triggers what is referred to as the "ribotoxic stress response."



Think of it like a vigilant watchman, always on the lookout for RNA damage. When it detects any, it won't hesitate to call for backup.



"We found that the first thing the cells respond to after being exposed to UV radiation is damage to the RNA, and that this is what triggers cell death and inflammation of the skin," explained Professor Simon Bekker-Jensen, who was also from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.



In mice exposed to UV radiation we found responses such as inflammation and cell death, but when we removed the ZAK gene, these responses disappeared, which means that ZAK plays a key role in the skin's response to UV-induced damage.



"So you could say that everything depends on this one response, which monitors all protein translations occurring. The cells respond to the RNA damage, realizing that something is wrong, and this is what leads to cell death," Bekker-Jensen elaborated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-sunburn-and-uv-damage">Rethinking sunburn and UV damage</h2>



The study's findings question our long-held beliefs about sunburn and how our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/skins-secret-strength-shields-against-puncture-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skin</a> safeguards itself. It suggests that RNA damage sparks a quicker, more efficient response, which safeguards the skin from additional harm.



"The fact that the DNA does not control the skin's initial response to UV radiation, but that something else does and that it does so more effectively and more quickly, is quite the paradigm shift," reflected Vind.



Knowing how our skin reacts to UV damage at a cellular level could potentially transform prevention and treatment approaches to sunburn and other inflammatory skin conditions.



"Many inflammatory skin diseases are worsened by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-parents-are-not-using-sunscreen-properly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sun exposure</a>. Thus, understanding how our skin responds at the cellular level to UV damage opens the door to innovative treatments for certain chronic skin conditions," explained Dr. Franklin Zhong, Nanyang assistant professor at NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewriting-the-textbooks">Rewriting the textbooks</h2>



In closing, it seems now is the time to revise our textbooks and rethink how we perceive the effects of UV radiation on our skin. 



"This new knowledge turns things upside down. I think most people associate sunburn with DNA damage; it is established knowledge," Professor Simon Bekker-Jensen concluded. "But now we need to rewrite the textbooks, and it will affect future research on the effects of UV radiation on the skin."



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1097276524008840" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Cell</a>.



-----



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Main cause of sunburn is finally identified, and it's time to rewrite the textbooks

Sunburn is painful skin damage that we've all experienced after spending a bit too much time outdoors without protection from UV rays. Whether it's from a lazy beach day or an exhilarating hike, the aftermath tells a singular tale - crimson skin and a nagging sting. We've long believed that stepping out into the sun requires ample sunscreen slathering, shade-seeking, and hat-wearing, especially between the peak hours of 12 noon and 3 p.m. However, researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have...

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic growth. Scientists have created a new mathematical model that will provide support for environmental taxation without slowing economic growth. 

These environmental taxes are a result of the worldwide “green development” movement in which governments are proposing said taxes on climate-harming products like carbon emissions in order to promote environmentally friendly practices. 

Few studies have quantified the effects of environmental taxes on linked factors involved in green development. So researchers from <a href="http://eng.ujs.edu.cn/">Jiangsu University</a> developed a mathematical model that shows the relationships between environmental taxation, economic growth, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-epa/">pollution emissions</a>, and utilization of resources like water and fossil fuels. 

They applied their model to real-world data and analyzed the toll environmental taxes had on China.

The team found that environmental taxes can not only help stimulate economic growth, but also decrease emissions and improve resource utilization. Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic growth. 

Furthermore, they found that benefits of an environmental tax are heightened by advanced technology, increased consumer awareness, and strict government control.

The hope is that this mathematical model can be applied to other countries interested in exploring the effects of environmental taxation.

Their model and research is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221264">published in PLOS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/24Novembers

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic...

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and precipitation. The urban heat island effect describes when city temperatures are much higher than in surrounding rural areas. Densely packed populations, asphalt roads, high-rise buildings, and traffic all contribute to the urban heat island effect. 

The size and intensity of a city’s urban heat island depend largely on precipitation levels, which is why there is no simple solution to mitigating urban heat island effect. 

In a new study, researchers from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en.html">ETH Zurich</a>, and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University </a>developed a framework that creates custom strategies to help reduce energy use and <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/mapping-temperatures-across-urban-heat-islands/">keep cities cooler. </a>

The researchers designed a simple model that uses population and precipitation data. Summer temperature data from more than 30,000 cities worldwide were included in the framework. 

“There are a few cities -- New York, London, Baltimore -- that are studied intensively, and we don’t know very much about a large range of other cities,” said Elie Bou-Zeid, an author of the study. “With a reduced model that only needs information on precipitation and population, we are hoping to provide a simple framework that can give guidance to any city.”

While high levels of rainfall are linked to rising city temperatures, this effect has its limits. For cities that get around 39 inches of rain each year, city temperatures do not increase much more than two degrees Fahrenheit. 

[caption id="attachment_1877389" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cities.png"><img class="wp-image-1877389" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cities.png" alt="" width="650" height="366" /></a> Cities are marked by colored dots that correspond to the intensity of their urban heat island effect, Image Credit:[/caption]

The team found that wetter cities require different approaches to tackling urban heat island effect compared to drier regions. It has been suggested that planting more vegetation and creating ample green space can keep temperatures down, but in wetter cities planting more trees won’t reduce temperatures. 

“In places that are already wet and vegetated, adding more vegetation is not going to help,” explained Bou-Zeid.

One the other hand, cities with drier climates like those in Arizona could benefit significantly from more vegetation.

The researchers will continue fine-tuning their model to include factors like how seasonal changes impact urban heat island. 

“Our results show that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reduce city-scale warming,” said Gabriele Manoli, the lead author of the study. “The efficiency of heat mitigation strategies varies across geographic regions, and any effort aimed at greening and cooling world cities should be put in the context of local hydro-climatic conditions.” 

The researchers published their findings in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1512-9">Nature.</a>

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/TWStock

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and precipitation

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and...

While it may seem that a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/barn-owls-improve-navigational-devices/">white barn owl</a> would be at a competitive disadvantage when it is lit up by the moonlight, experts have discovered one way that these shiny feathers work to their advantage. The researchers have demonstrated that, under full-moon conditions, the white plumage causes the barn owl's preferred prey to freeze in place for longer. 

The team set out to determine how moonlight may affect the fitness of nocturnal species with distinctly different colors by studying the hunting success of red and white barn owls. The research was focused on data from long-term monitoring and high-resolution global positioning system tracking. 

Led by Alexandre Roulin at the <a href="https://www.unil.ch/central/en/home.html">University of Lausanne</a>, the team found that despite the fact that white owls were more conspicuous on moonlit nights, they still managed to catch more rodents than red owls. This is counterintuitive considering that the reddest owls are much more camouflaged under a bright moon. 

To investigate, the experts designed an experiment in which they flew taxidermied owls on a zip wire to observe the responses of voles, which are naturally startled by bright lights. As the moonlight reflected off of the white feathers, the voles froze in place longer, giving the owls a better opportunity to catch them.

According to the experts, this may explain why both types of barn owl colors persist. White barn owls may be favored under certain conditions, but the birds’ white plumage causes them to be easily detected by competitors like carrion crows when the moon is not shining brightly.

"Our study shows that the moon differently affects the hunting performance and reproductive success and timing of barn owls with contrasting plumage colorations," wrote the researchers. "This supports the longstanding, untested hypothesis that moonlight influences coloration of nocturnal animals, particularly by uncovering a link between fitness proxies, moonlight and coloration that was missing in previous studies."

"Moreover, our study raises the possibility that the unique white coloration of barn owls might be favored by moonlight owing to the effect that the light being reflected from white plumage has on the prey’s behavior."

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/FJAH

White barn owls have surprising hunting success under a bright moon

While it may seem that a white barn owl would...

Young adults with a childhood history of exposure to the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/employees-criminal-records-jobs/">criminal justice system</a> are nearly three times as likely to develop depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to their peers, according to a new study. These individuals are also twice as likely to suffer from anxiety as young adults. 

Study lead author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris is a pediatrician at <a href="https://www.luriechildrens.org/">Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago</a> and an instructor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"This is a particularly vulnerable and understudied population. Incarceration impacts families across generations, and youth who had a parent in jail or prison more often find themselves in the juvenile justice system," said Dr. Heard-Garris. "Young adults with histories of both juvenile incarceration and parental incarceration as children had a strong association with poor mental health outcomes in young adulthood."

In the United States, five million children have had a parent incarcerated. These kids are estimated to have triple the rate of involvement in the juvenile justice system compared to children with no history of parental incarceration.

The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to Adult Health to investigate the mental health outcomes of children exposed to both parental incarceration and the juvenile justice system. 

"Our analyses highlight that a history of both parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement occurs for 1 out of every 100 U.S. children overall and is disproportionately more common among youth of color," said Dr. Heard-Garris.

However, the researchers determined that children with dual incarceration exposure had an increased likelihood of developing mental health issues regardless of race, or any other relevant factors like age and family structure.

In addition, the poor mental health outcomes associated with a history of parental incarceration or juvenile justice involvement were found to occur independently of one another.

"Currently parental incarceration is considered an adverse childhood experience, but juvenile justice involvement is not," said Dr. Heard-Garris. "Given the increased risk for poor mental health outcomes we found in our study, perhaps we should also consider juvenile justice involvement an adverse childhood experience and start screening youth for any incarceration exposure during typical healthcare visits. This would allow us to further support vulnerable patients by connecting them with appropriate resources."

The study is published in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/RimDream

Childhood exposure to incarceration causes depression later in life

Young adults with a childhood history of exposure to the...

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to girls, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html">Centers for Disease Control</a>, but researchers have yet to understand why this disproportion exists.  

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers from the <a href="https://home.www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> and the <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/">Western University</a> have confidently ruled out any direct link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/autism-less-empathy/">characteristic of some spectrum disorders.</a> 

 The researchers conducted two randomized controlled studies exploring how testosterone impacts cognitive empathy, which allows people to interpret another’s emotions. 

 It’s been suggested by past research that testosterone can limit cognitive empathy, but studies on the subject were limited by small sample sizes and had inconclusive results. 

For this study, 643 men, all in good health, were given either testosterone or a placebo. Next, the participants were asked to complete questionnaires and behavioral tasks to measure cognitive empathy. 

In one experiment, the participants had to guess the emotional state and expression of an actor by looking at a picture of their eyes. 

The testosterone, applied as a gel, did raise hormone levels, but the researchers found no evidence of the gel impairing empathy or ability to answer the cognitive empathy test questions correctly.

“The results are plain,” said Nave. “However, it’s important to note that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. We found that there is no evidence to support this effect of testosterone, but that doesn’t rule out any possible effects. From what we know, though, it seems that if testosterone does have an influence, the effect is complex, not linear.” 

The researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Africa Studio

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of...

The very clothes you’re wearing may be one of the biggest contributors to your carbon footprint. With ‘fast fashion’ clothing companies quickly and consistently releasing new items for incredibly low prices, consumers are buying new clothes more frequently. 

The charity organization <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/en">Oxfam</a> recently published a report on the fast fashion environmental crisis. The report shows how brands and stores like Zara, Forever21, and Topshop produce tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. 

<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-day-2019-fashion-industrys-carbon-impact-is-bigger-than-airline-industrys/">CBS</a> reported that apparel and footwear companies have more of an impact on atmospheric emissions and the global climate than all international airline flights and shipping vessels combined.  

According to Oxfam, the fast fashion trend produces the same amount of carbon emissions every two minutes as would be produced by a car driving around the world six times. 

To calculate the impact of fast fashion emissions, Oxfam looked at how many emissions are produced by buying new clothing in the UK from manufacturer to consumer.

Everything from sourcing materials to producing collections to selling to washing and throwing away clothes produces emissions and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-fashion-rayon/">impacts the environment</a>. 

Many fast-fashion companies take advantage of cheap materials and fabrics which shed microplastics when washed and don’t have a long shelf-life. 

However, even buying a simple 100 percent cotton shirt can produce almost 24 pounds of greenhouse gases.  

“These staggering facts about fashion’s impact on the planet and the world’s poorest people should make us all think twice before buying something new to wear,” said 

Danny Sriskandarajah, the Chief Executive of Oxfam. “We are in a climate emergency - we can no longer turn a blind eye to the emissions produced by new clothes or turn our backs on garment workers paid a pittance who are unable to earn their way out of poverty no matter how many hours they work.” 

Consumers need to be aware of the impact their purchasing power has on the environment. As appealing as fast fashion clothing is, Oxfam recommends that people consider buying second-hand clothes and donating when it’s time to clean out the closet. 

The new report was released in time to promote the <a href="https://oxfamapps.org/secondhandseptember/">Second Hand September campaign</a> where participating consumers promise not to buy anything new for one month. 

“By taking part in Second Hand September, we are also sending a clear message to the clothing industry that we don’t want to buy clothes that harm our planet and the people in it,” said Sriskandarajah. “Together we can make a difference and help reduce fast fashion’s impact on people and the environment.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sorbis

Fast fashion has an enormous carbon footprint

The very clothes you’re wearing may be one of the...

Close-up of a devastated young man holding his head in his hands

A new study has revealed how social network interventions can affect a range of health behaviors and outcomes on both the short and long term.

The team of researchers, led by Ruth Hunter of <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">Queen’s University Belfast</a>, conducted a review and meta-analysis of 37 social-network based studies, including 27 randomized controlled trials, conducted between1996 and 2018, each of which investigated the effectiveness of social network intervention for health behaviors and outcomes.

The studies took place in 11 countries total, and included 53,891 participants. And outcomes looked at included sexual health behaviors, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/quitting-alcohol-health-benefits/">substance abuse</a>, smoking cessation, diet, physical activity, weight loss, and vaccinations.

The team saw that significant effects of social network interventions on sexual health outcomes were supported by the most evidence. However, there were also significant effects for interventions on alcohol abuse, wellbeing, a shift in a diabetes marker, and smoking cessation, and effects were witnessed in both the short term (less than 6 months) and long term (more than 6 months).

22 of the 37 studies included had a high-risk bias, and many were based on self-reporting. Even so, the researchers saw high participation rates that have the potential to reach populations at-risk.

"We recommend that the scientific community should move beyond individual-level approaches, to design and test interventions that use the largely untapped potential of social networks to improve health behaviors and outcomes," Hunter and her colleagues said.

This study is published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/">PLOS Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Photographee.eu

Social network interventions can have a major impact on a range of behaviors

A new study has revealed how social network interventions can...

Recent research has revealed how people are unknowingly ingesting thousands of pieces of microplastics each year. 

One study found polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles in stool samples taken from participants across the globe.

Microplastics have entered the human food chain, and everything from seafood to bottled water could be a culprit.  

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/">Medical University of Vienna</a> and the <a href="https://www.umweltbundesamt.at/en/">Environment Agency Austria </a>monitored participants across the world from countries including Finland, Italy, Japan, and the UK. 

Participants were asked to keep a food diary for a week and provide a stool sample. Plastic particles were found in every single sample, and the researchers found around 20 pieces of microplastics per ten grams of stool. 

On average, we could be eating 73,000 plastic particles every year through disposable food containers, plastic water bottles, seafood, and other sources.  

The researchers tested the samples at the Environment Agency Austria looking for ten types of plastic using a new analyzing technique. The 2018 study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found as many as nine different plastics of various sizes in the samples. 

“This is the first study of its kind and confirms what we have long suspected, that plastics ultimately reach the human gut,” said Dr. Philipp Schwabl, the lead researcher for the study. “Now that we have first evidence for microplastics inside humans, we need further research to understand what this means for human health.”

There’s a chance that some microplastics could enter the bloodstream or damage our gastrointestinal tract. 

Each year more than 350 million tons of plastic are produced and the researchers say more studies must be done to understand how microplastics impact human health. 

The <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> has answered that call and compiled a comprehensive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-water-human-health/">review of microplastics</a> and the impacts of ingesting <a href="https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/microplastics-in-drinking-water/en/">plastic particles through drinking water</a>. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Pcess609

Microplastics have found their way into the human food chain

Recent research has revealed how people are unknowingly ingesting thousands...

Researchers have found that the consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/soda-taxes-are-controversial-but-do-they-work/">soft drinks</a> is linked to a higher incidence of all-cause mortality. The study associated artificially sweetened soft drinks with a greater risk of death from circulatory diseases, while sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with deaths from digestive diseases.

The research was focused on data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), an ongoing population-based study of nearly 452,000 men and women in 10 European countries.

The EPIC study collected soft drink consumption rates from participants through food questionnaires and interviews from 1992 to 2000. 

During a follow-up period of 16 years, more than 41,000 deaths were recorded. The researchers found that drinking two or more glasses of soft drinks per day was associated with a greater risk of mortality compared with one glass or less per month.

While no association was observed between soft drink consumption and overall cancer death, one or more glasses of sugar-sweetened soft drinks appeared to increase the chances of death from digestive diseases. Higher mortality risk from circulatory diseases was found for participants consuming two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks daily. 

"Only artificially sweetened, and not sugar-sweetened, soft drinks were associated with deaths from circulatory diseases, whereas for digestive disease deaths, only sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with higher risk," wrote the study authors. 

These results remained consistent among men and women, and were even observed in participants who had maintained a healthy weight. 

"We also found positive associations between consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks and all-cause mortality, a finding consistent with the results of the HPFS/NHS and Women’s Health Initiative studies," wrote the researchers. 

"In addition, we observed that a higher level of total soft drink consumption was associated with greater risk of Parkinson's disease mortality, with positive nonsignificant associations found for sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks. To our knowledge, this study is the first to link soft drink consumption with Parkinson disease, and additional studies are required to examine this association."

The findings support ongoing public health measures to reduce the consumption of soft drinks.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine">JAMA Internal Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Vintage Tone

Soft drink consumption linked to a higher risk of death, study finds

Researchers have found that the consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially...

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets. Scientists at <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyoto University</a> have investigated the diverse diet of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fruit-fly-smell/">fruit fly</a>, Drosophila melanogaster. The team discovered that this diversity is tied to the fly's flexible response to carbohydrates, which provides new insight into how the human diet evolved.

Species such as humans and fruit flies are collectively known as "nutritional generalists" because we eat a wide variety of foods. Some genetic cousins of the fruit fly, however, are known as "nutritional specialists" because they require very specific plants for survival. The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets

The researchers set out to gain a better understanding of how organisms have such different feeding habits, even when they are genetically related.

"Uncovering the differences in the molecular mechanisms between nutritional generalists and specialists can help us understand how organisms adapt to variable nutritional environments," said the study authors. "In our investigation, we changed the nutrient balance in the food of different Drosophila species and compared their nutritional adaptability along with their transcriptional and metabolic responses."

The team evaluated whether larvae of generalists and specialists could adapt to three experimental diets that were high in protein, high in carbohydrates, or had a moderate mix of the two. The generalist flies, including the common fruit fly, were found to grow and thrive with all three diets. 

On the other hand, the larvae of specialists could not survive on a carbohydrate-rich diet. The researchers examined the nutritional composition of the fruits and flowers that are usually eaten by the specialists, and determined that they have low-carbohydrate profiles.  

The team theorized that the difference between the generalist and specialist flies resides in the genetic pathways that control their response to carbohydrates.

"A signaling pathway known as 'TGF-β/Activin signaling' regulates the body's response to carbohydrates. In the generalists, this pathway is quite flexible and maintains metabolic homeostasis under different diets. In fact, there are about 250 metabolic genes that are downregulated when their diet is carbohydrate-rich," explained the researchers. 

By contrast, the specialist flies expressed these genes at higher levels where they accumulated metabolites, which led to a lack of adaptation. When a gene in the TGF-β/Activin pathway named dawdle was disabled in the common fruit fly, the same lack of adaptation was observed. 

The findings suggest that generalists were constantly under pressure to retain carbohydrate-responsive systems throughout their evolution, while specialists must have been surrounded by low-carbohydrate environments.

"Considering that humans and flies share a number of genes and regulatory factors, we can begin to develop an interspecies comparative approach that provides an informative model system for addressing the genetic variability among humans in response to dietary intakes," concluded the researchers. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Claudia Evans

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into...

The interaction between <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/size-community-complexity-language/">language</a> and thought is a concept that has long challenged neuroscientists and philosophers, who have been working to determine whether language shapes the way we categorize what we perceive or if language corresponds with categories that are formed through perception.

In a recent case study, a stroke patient was left unable to name the colors of various objects. This provided experts with an opportunity to explore the patient's perception of color in the absence of language. 

Study senior author Paolo Bartolomeo is a neurologist at the Brain and Spine Institute in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piti%C3%A9-Salp%C3%AAtri%C3%A8re_Hospital">Salpêtrière Hospital</a> in Paris.

"We perceive colors as continuous. There is no sharp boundary between, say, red and blue. And yet conceptually we group colors into categories associated with color names," explained Dr. Bartolomeo. "In our study, we had the unique opportunity to address the role of language in color categorization by testing a patient who couldn't effectively name colors after a stroke."

Many scientists believe that, in order to categorize colors, an individual needs top-down input from the language system to the visual cortex. Color names are believed to be stored in the brain's left hemisphere, and are thought to be dependent on language-related activity in the left side of the brain.

By contrast, the latest findings suggest that color categorization is distributed bilaterally in the human brain - a concept that is further supported by recent neuroimaging studies.

As the patient viewed discs containing two colors from the same category, such as two shades of blue, he was asked to identify same-category colors. The patient was also asked to name 34 color patches presented on a computer screen.

The stroke had created a lesion in the left region of the man's brain that had apparently severed his memory of color names from his visual perception of colors and his language system. However, the patient was still able to group most colors, including those that he did not have a name for, into dark, light, and mixture categories.

"We were surprised by his ability to consistently name so-called achromatic colors such as black, white, and gray, as opposed to his impaired naming of chromatic ones such as red, blue, and green," said study first author Katarzyna Siuda-Krzywicka. This indicates that our language system may process black, white, and gray differently from chromatic colors. 

According to Siuda-Krzywicka, such striking dissociations raise important questions about how different color-related signals are segregated and integrated in the brain. She pointed out that future studies could explore the implementation of color categorization in non-human primates, as well as how language acquisition interacts with color categorization at stages of childhood development.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/PeterPhoto123

Language may not be needed for the brain to categorize objects and colors

The interaction between language and thought is a concept that...

A growing collection of studies suggests that being the youngest sibling may come along with some major health advantages. Researchers have found that the baby of the family is often slimmer and less prone to illness. As a result, younger <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/younger-siblings-develop-empathy/">siblings</a> can expect to live longer than their older brothers and sisters. 

Youngest children are typically thought of as being the thrill seekers of the family, and are more vulnerable to addictive habits, such as drinking and smoking. Risky behaviors aside, however, this group seems to be the healthiest, while older siblings are more likely to suffer from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. 

According to a report in the <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TaD4m7pekO3qO_LZAPAMBkdbGBvlC52hGjhqI6xatto">Daily Mail</a>, there will be 400,000 deaths linked to excessive weight across Britain within the next decade. Obesity increases the risk of heart failure by 70 percent, and is now the leading cause of several types of cancer. Researchers have found evidence to suggest that birth order may contribute to the risk of obesity. 

In 2015, a study from New Zealand analyzed weight differences in 13,400 pairs of sisters and found that those born first were almost 33 percent more likely to be overweight and 40 percent more likely to be obese compared to their younger sisters. A similar pattern has been found among men, but the underlying cause of this discrepancy is not yet clear. 

Professor Sandra Black of <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> has proposed that a mother’s blood vessels are narrower during the first pregnancy, which may reduce the amount of nutrients that are flowing to the womb and prompt the growing baby to store more fat. The blood vessels are more flexible in later pregnancies, allowing an abundance of blood and nutrients to reach the baby.

"Lower nutrient flow to first-borns in the womb may affect their body’s regulation of fat, causing them to store more fats in adulthood," explained Professor Black.

Older siblings are more likely to have hay fever and food allergies than their younger siblings, according to a Japanese study of more than 13,000 children. In a separate study, researchers in New Zealand found that older children are less responsive to insulin. Uncontrolled sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes and major health complications, such as heart attack or stroke, if left untreated. 

Furthermore, a study from the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts</a> revealed that adults with younger siblings had higher blood pressure. Some experts believe that first-borns may simply be more ambitious, putting more pressure on themselves and often landing in stressful jobs with a lot of responsibility. 

On <a href="https://www.doctoroz.com/">DoctorOz.com</a>, psychiatrist Sue Varma explained that the oldest siblings tend to be more driven, which has the potential to increase stress and blood pressure and may ultimately lead to the development of cardiovascular disease.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Cookie Studio

Younger siblings have health advantages over older siblings

A growing collection of studies suggests that being the youngest...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

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

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



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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

[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



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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...