From childhood spats to shared memories and cherished traditions, there's a unique bond that ties siblings together. But there's one topic that's a perennial cause for discussion: who's the favorite child?



Alex Jensen, a professor from BYU School of Family Life, shed some valuable insights on this playful contest in his recent research, which examines the subtle displays of parental favoritism influenced by birth order, personality, and gender.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-younger-siblings-vs-older-siblings">Younger siblings vs. older siblings</h2>



According to Professor Jensen, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parent-children-relationships-are-key-to-lifelong-well-being/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parents</a> generally treat their children differently based on birth order, often having a favorite.



Younger siblings often receive more attention, warmth, and support from parents. This could be because parents have more experience raising children by the time the younger ones arrive, making them more relaxed and affectionate.



On the other hand, older siblings tend to gain more independence as they grow up. Parents are usually stricter with their firstborns but gradually become less controlling over time. 



Since older siblings are the first to experience different stages of life, parents may place higher expectations on them to be responsible and self-sufficient.



In short, younger siblings may get more emotional support, while older ones receive more freedom. This difference in treatment can shape sibling relationships and influence how children perceive fairness in their families.



“It is helpful to take the findings from this study and be aware of the patterns that could be happening in your family,” Jensen said. “When parents are aware, they can make small adjustments that benefit everyone.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-parents-favor-daughters">Do parents favor daughters?</h2>



The researchers found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-who-use-humor-have-better-relationships-with-their-children/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parents</a> tend to favor daughters slightly more than sons, often seeing them as the favorite child.



This preference appears in different ways, such as how parents interact with their children and how they distribute resources like money, time, and attention. Interestingly, while parents are aware of this bias, children themselves do not seem to notice it.



The researchers analyzed data from 19,469 participants. The results showed that both mothers and fathers are more likely to treat daughters with warmth, engage in more positive interactions with them, and provide them with more resources compared to sons.



This could be due to cultural expectations, emotional closeness, or the perception that daughters require more protection and support.



Even though this favoritism is subtle, it can still influence how children perceive their relationships with their parents and siblings. Understanding these tendencies can help parents ensure fairness and strengthen family bonds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-personality-of-favorite-child-matters">Personality of favorite child matters</h2>



It’s not just birth order or gender that matters - personality also influences favoritism. The study revealed that children who are more conscientious and agreeable receive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-parents-use-threats-to-discipline-children-but-its-not-effective-in-the-long-run/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">better treatment</a>, regardless of whether they are the eldest or youngest.



“Most parents probably connect more easily with one child over another, whether that be due to personality, birth order, gender or other things like shared interests,” Jensen said. 



“Watch for those patterns within yourself. Pay attention to how your children react to things that could be perceived as favoritism.”



One surprising finding? Extraversion didn’t seem to impact favoritism. “Americans seem to particularly value extraverted people, but within families it may matter less,” Jensen noted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-being-the-favorite-child-matters">Why being the favorite child matters</h2>



Favoritism in families goes beyond small privileges like getting the biggest slice of cake - it can have serious emotional and psychological effects on children.



When a child feels less favored by their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-often-feel-lonely-burnt-out-parenting-demands/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parents</a>, they may struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety, or feelings of rejection. This emotional distress can lead to changes in their behavior, such as acting out, withdrawing socially, or experiencing difficulty in school.



Research suggests that children who perceive themselves as less favored are more likely to develop mental health challenges, including depression and behavioral issues. 



They may seek attention through rebellious actions or disengage from family interactions altogether. This dynamic can also create resentment toward siblings, weakening family relationships over time.



Parents may not always be aware of these effects, but favoritism can leave a lasting impact. 



“Keep an eye out for things that seem unfair. Your children will let you know if they think something is unfair,” Jensen said. “Either they are missing perspective and understanding, or you need to make some changes in your parenting. Make sure you are open to the latter.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-can-parents-do">What can parents do?</h2>



Parents don’t need to feel guilty, but they should be mindful of these patterns. Jensen emphasizes that favoritism isn’t always intentional - it often happens naturally based on personality and circumstances.



“Sometimes parents get so concerned about treating their kids the same that they may overlook individual needs,” he said. 



“We’re not suggesting parents feel guilty; instead, parents can look at this research and use it as encouragement to look at places where they can improve, without going to extremes.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strengthening-family-bonds">Strengthening family bonds</h2>



Favoritism can impact sibling relationships, but awareness can help parents make positive changes. The study from <a href="https://familylife.byu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BYU School of Family Life</a> encourages families to focus on connection rather than comparison.



“The simple answers are perhaps the best. Be patient with yourself and with your children,” Jensen said. 



“Spend time together. Do things together that you like to do. Do things together that your children like to do. Work together, serve others together, worship together. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-spend-the-most-time-on-devices-but-nature-offers-a-solution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Relationships</a> take time and time together doing a variety of things will have many positive benefits.”



So, if you’re wondering whether your sibling really is the “golden child,” the answer might not be so simple. It’s not just about being the oldest, the youngest, or even the most charming - it’s about personality, responsibility, and sometimes, just how easy you are to deal with.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000458.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Psychological Bulletin</a>.



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Parents treat their children differently - but do they have a favorite?

From childhood spats to shared memories and cherished traditions, there's a unique bond that ties siblings together. But there's one topic that's a perennial cause for discussion: who's the favorite child? Alex Jensen, a professor from BYU School of Family Life, shed some valuable insights on this playful contest in his recent research, which examines the subtle displays of parental favoritism influenced by birth order, personality, and gender. Younger siblings vs. older siblings According to Professor Jensen, parents generally treat their children differently based on birth order,...

As someone who takes a personal interest in caves and occasionally explores them myself, I’ve noticed that different cultures treat them differently.  In South Dakota, the Lakota were aware of caves, even considered them sacred and linked Wind Cave to an <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wica/learn/historyculture/the-lakota-emergence-story.htm">emergence myth</a>, but it was taboo to actually enter sacred caves.  Outside of Wind Cave, prayer bundles can be found, but the cave itself had virtually no artifacts of human marks before European Americans arrived.  

Further south, in the desert canyon country of <a href="https://www.nps.gov/para/index.htm">Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument</a>, I’ve helped map caves where small baskets and other human remnants have been found.  Not much in the way of larger artifacts or even petroglyphs were found in these caves. These few artifacts suggest that these caves were visited but not inhabited or used in regular important rituals.  Travelling even further south, into Mexico caves seem to have grown in importance to indigenous people. 

<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/mayan-caves-places-sacred-rituals/">National Geographic</a> reported that to the Maya specific caves were of great importance; a part of a mystical underworld.  According to <a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2014/dec/15-cave-of-the-crystal-maiden">Discover Magazine</a>, the Mayan even made sacrifices in important caves.  The most infamous of these sacrifices is that of the so-called crystal maiden.  In Actun Tunichil Muknal, a jungle cave in Western Belize, a woman of about 20 years old was sacrificed by a Mayan priest over a thousand years ago.  The skeleton lies in the cave among pottery and other ruins. In the cave, calcite crystals grow on the undisturbed human remains, the crystal maiden is literally becoming a part of the cave where she died.  

Other caves where the Maya worshipped have been found with sacrificial remains, animal as well as humans.  Stingray spines are sometimes left in caves where they were used in bloodletting rituals. Vases and other less eerie artifacts are also common. 

Only for about the last 60 years have archaeologists paid any attention to the caves snaking under the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-mayans-raised-dogs/">Mayan</a> world of Central America.  Hieroglyphs impressive pyramids and cities seemed to be the important aspects of a culture that seemed to sit over a rich maze of limestone caves merely by accident.  The importance of caves was first discovered when a guide found a room full of Mayan vases in Balankanché, a cave near Chichén Itzá in 1959. 

Since that time, hundreds of caves with Mayan artifacts have been discovered.  Virtually every cave in Belize has some association with the Maya and even water filled sinkholes or cenotes (essentially flooded vertical caves) have been found to contain artifacts dropped from above as offerings.  <a href="http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&amp;int_new=31676#.XIVdpsBKj3g">Art Daily</a> reports that over 300 of the 1000 caves and cenotes in the Puuc region of the Yucatan have been registered with the National Institute of Anthropology and History, making them part of 2,000 archaeological sites in the area.   Just this month, archaeologists announced the discovery of another cave full of important artifacts, this time underneath Chichén Itzá itself. 

Chichén Itzá is an <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/483">UNESCO World Heritage Site</a> and one of the most important pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Mexico.  The city is a thousand years old and embodies a fusion of Mayan and Toltec cultures.  Monuments in the forms of impressive stepped pyramids stand as testimony of the influence and power of these cultures in their day.  The Temple of Kukulcan also known as ‘The Castle’ is a famed temple in the form of a giant stepped pyramid, sitting in the center of Chichén Itzá.

According to <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pyramid-kukulcan-chichen-itza">Atlas Obscura</a>, a shadowy serpent can be seen climbing The Temple of Kukulcan during the spring and autumn equinoxes.  The serpent is a trick of shadows cast by the temple itself, a shadow undulated in a snake-like way over the pyramid steps.  The shadow is said to be Kukulcan (or Quetzalcoatl), the Mayan feathered serpent god the temple was dedicated to and indeed, the shadow body appears to join the stone serpent heads at the bottom of the pyramid.  Kukulcan is clearly important but what lies beneath the giant pyramid is important as well. 

An archaeologist was first told about a cave with artifacts near The Temple of Kukulcan in <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xyezp/1000-year-old-mayan-artifacts-found-in-sealed-jaguar-god-cave">1966</a> by locals.  The archaeologist had the cave walled off to seal it from would be artifact robbers and never returned to it.  The memory of the cave was lost among archaeologists but the local people of the area remembered. Recently, archaeologist Guillermo de Anda learned about the cave from local man Luis Un who was one of the first people to explore the cave while still a teenager.  Intrigued, de Anda underwent a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/10/702017075/archaeologists-find-trove-of-maya-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years">six hour</a> long purification ritual by a modern Mayan priest to ensure safety before entering the sacred cave to find what artifacts were hidden underground.  

What de Anda found left him dumbstruck.  The archaeologist entered the cave alone, crawling on his belly through incredibly tight passageways before entering a room full of artifacts.  De Anda said upon seeing the state and extent of the artifacts left behind, he was overwhelmed and began to cry, almost feeling the presence of the Maya who left the artifacts.  Vases, ceramic incense holders, decorated plates and more were left in the cave untouched for centuries. In fact, some of the artifacts had sat unmoved for so long that stalagmites had started to form around some of the objects in the cave, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/03/maya-ritual-balamku-cave-stuns-archaeologists/">National Geographic</a> reports.

[caption id="attachment_1870024" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/maya-cave.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870024" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/maya-cave.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> National Geographic archeologist Guillermo de Anda, Image credit: Karla Ortega[/caption]

The cave has been named Balamku for the Mayan jaguar god.  Many of the artifacts seem to have images referencing Balamku but others have images of the face of Tláloc, the Toltec rain god as well as Ceiba trees (a symbol of the Mayan universe) and other designs. More than 200 artifacts were found in the cave so far.    

[caption id="attachment_1870025" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cave-mexico.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870025" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cave-mexico.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="366" /></a> Image credit: Karla Ortega[/caption]

Like many other caves used by the Maya, is hard to access today with modern equipment including electric headlamps.  How difficult it would have been for the Maya relying only on flame to light their way through tortuously cramped passageways hints at the importance of the place to them.  Balamku is beneath Chichén Itzá, less than two miles from the Temple of Kukulcan, an auspicious location. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer           

Main image credit: Karla Ortega, Great Mayan Aquifer Project

Mayan artifacts discovered in cave beneath ancient city of Chichén Itzá

As someone who takes a personal interest in caves and...

People from North Africa were first to colonize the Canary Islands. Archeologists are always eager to uncover new clues as to who first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-human-migration-widespread/">migrated</a> to remote islands and founded the region’s indigenous population.

Studies of the culture and genetics of the indigenous populations of the Canary Islands has shown that North African Berbers were likely the first people to colonize the Islands.

However, throughout history, the genetic makeup of indigenous populations in the Canary Islands has changed due to the Spanish Conquest, the slave trade, and sugarcane plantations.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> and the <a href="https://www.ull.es/">Universidad de la Laguna</a> in Spain examined 48 ancient mitochondrial genomes from 25 archeological sites across the Canary Islands to piece together a more complete picture of the region’s indigenous population. 

Mitochondrial genomes are directly inherited from the mother and are a reliable way to track human migrations through history.

The researchers detailed their findings in a new study published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209125">PLOS ONE.</a>

Tracking the origins of indigenous populations of the Canary Islands revealed four new lineages specific to the Canary Islands which syncs up with radiocarbon dating showing that people were living on the islands by 1000 CE.

The lineages also differ depending on location, and the Canary Islands were likely first settled in two early migration events.

The researchers say that the Canary Islands fit into a larger picture of human migration through North Africa. During the Neolithic Period, humans migrated from the Middle East to Europe and Africa.

By the time the Berbers reached the Canary Islands, their lineages were already mixed with Mediterranean groups, which explains why the genomic data revealed such diverse lineages ranging from Central North Africa to Europe and the Near East.

“Using next-generation techniques, we have been able to obtain ancient DNA of the indigenous population of all the seven Canary Islands for the first time,” the researchers said. “Our results indicate that mitochondrial DNA diversity is variable within the archipelago, suggesting that the colonization of the islands was a heterogeneous process and that the different islands had different evolutionary histories.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People from North Africa were first to colonize the Canary Islands

People from North Africa were first to colonize the Canary...

While 18 is considered the legal age that one crosses into adulthood in the US, as well as the age when people can vote, join the military, and live independent of one’s parents, 18-year-old brains <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/socioeconomic-status-brain-development/">are far from fully developed</a>.

The transition to adulthood doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long process that continues through a person’s 20s and varies from person to person. Now, many scientists are saying that most people don’t fully reach adult development until their 30s.

“These are larger questions that go beyond the science,” said Daniel Geschwind, a professor at the <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">University of California at Los Angeles</a>. “There are individual trajectories... development takes place over decades. But this varies from individual to individual.”

Geschwind is one of several experts who voiced their thoughts on the subject of age and adulthood ahead of an international neuroscience meeting hosted by the <a href="https://acmedsci.ac.uk/">Academy of Medical Sciences</a> in Oxford, and the consensus is that associating the legal age of 18 with adulthood is absurd.

“To have a definition of when you move from childhood to adulthood looks increasingly absurd,” Peter Jones, a professor from<a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/"> Cambridge University</a>, told a press briefing in London. “It’s a much more nuanced transition. I guess systems like the education system, the health system, and the legal system make it convenient for themselves by having definitions.”

At 18, the brain is still changing and during our 20s is also when many mental health disorders can manifest.

Many people experience their first depressive episodes and manic episodes during their 20s, according to <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/mental_health_disorders/mental_health_disorder_statistics_85,p00753">John Hopkins Medicine</a>.

By our 30s, the brain is less susceptible to mental health disorders and for neuroscientists, understanding the nuances of brain development and age is important for improving how people treat and research serious mental disorders which is what the meeting is centered around.

“I think the system is adapting to what’s in plain sight, that people don’t like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly,” Jones said. “There isn’t a childhood and then an adulthood. People are on a pathway, they’re on a trajectory.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists say adulthood doesn’t really begin until age 30

While 18 is considered the legal age that one crosses...

An anesthetic administered at the right time could help dull and weaken traumatic memories that trigger stress and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/depression-anxiety-harm-health/">anxiety disorders</a>, according to a new study.

Researchers found that after receiving an anesthetic, it was harder to recall a troubling memory 24 hours later.

Anxiety disorders plague around <a href="https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics">40 million US adults every year</a> and finding new ways to help individuals cope and process with triggering traumatic memories could open up new treatment options to more people suffering from anxiety and treatment-resistant disorders. 

Previous animal studies have found that reactivating a consolidated memory, or a stable long-term memory, during reconsolidation makes the memory weaker and vulnerable to modification. 

Consolidation is the process of converting short term memories into long term memories. 

For this study, 50 participants were shown two narrated slide shows that featured aversive and negative content. A week later, the participants were reminded about the slide shows to help reactivate the negative memory. 

Once the participants recalled the memory, the researchers administered one intravenous dose of propofol and split the participants into two groups. 

One group was asked to remember the slide shows 24 hours after the anesthesia and the second group had to recall the memories immediately after being given the propofol. 

The researchers wanted to test how the propofol impacted memory recall of reactivated and non-reactivated memories. 

The group that was given 24 hours had a harder time recalling the reactivated memory. 

The results of the study show that the non-invasive approach of using an anesthetic like propofol could help pave the way to new therapies and treatments for disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Science Advances which is backed by the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Anesthesia could help weaken traumatic memories, new study shows

An anesthetic administered at the right time could help dull...

Scientists have come to understand that many individual traits are determined by nature, or <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleep-deprivation-damages-dna-cancer/">DNA</a>, while other traits are shaped by the home environment. Beyond nature and nurture, there is also a third system called epigenetics that has a profound influence on our biology. 

Epigenetics refers to how genes are either expressed or suppressed in response to environmental and lifestyle factors. A growing collection of research suggests that epigenetic marks can be chemically transferred to the DNA of offspring across multiple generations.

Despite direct evidence of this phenomenon, which is known as transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, the topic remains controversial because the science behind it is so unclear. 

But now, a new study from <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UC Santa Cruz</a> may help to identify the mysterious mechanisms that make transgenerational epigenetic inheritance possible. The researchers have demonstrated that epigenetic information carried by parental sperm chromosomes can alter gene expression and development in the offspring. 

DNA is wrapped tight around clusters of proteins called histones, which act as molecular packaging spools. Epigenetic marks are chemical tags that do not actually change the DNA or their sequences, but simply change the way the DNA is packaged around the histones. These chemical modifications either condense or decondense the histone packaging to reveal certain genes and obscure others, along with the genes’ instructions that tell a cell how to behave. 

The UC Santa Cruz study was focused on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and was conducted in the lab of Professor Susan Strome. She explained that the research addressed a central question in the field of epigenetics. 

“It's a very direct question: Does inheriting sperm chromosomes with altered histone packaging of the DNA affect gene expression in the offspring? And the answer is yes,” said Professor Strome.

Study lead author and graduate student Kiyomi Kaneshiro explained that C. elegans is a good model for studying this question because histone packaging is fully retained in the worm's sperm chromosomes. Histone packaging is only partially retained in the sperm of humans and other mammals.

“There is debate over how much histone packaging is retained in humans, but we know it is retained in some developmentally important regions of the genome,” said Kaneshiro.

[caption id="attachment_1869983" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/epigenetic.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869983" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/epigenetic.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="584" /></a> Distinguishing between egg- and sperm-inherited chromosomes allowed researchers to track the effects of epigenetic marks carried by the sperm chromosomes. Image Credit: K. Kaneshiro[/caption]

For the study, a specific histone mark was selectively removed from sperm chromosomes and the modified sperm were used to fertilize eggs. The team used sperm and eggs from two different strains of C. elegans in order to determine which chromosomes were inherited from the sperm and which were inherited from the egg. The worm strains, which were from Britain and Hawaii, had evolved separately for long enough to develop genetic differences.

“The dads were British and the moms were Hawaiian, and there are enough differences between them that we could distinguish between the two parental genomes in the cells of their offspring,” said Kaneshiro. “Through this hybrid system, we were able to see differences in gene expression that were a direct result of the changes in histone marks on the sperm chromosomes.”

The changes in gene expression were found to cause developmental changes as well. When the histone marks were removed, a signal that suppresses certain genes was turned off. As a result, the offspring's germline cells turned on neuronal genes and began developing into neurons.

Because the study involved artificially changing the marks on the sperm chromosomes, it is still not understood how the environment could alter epigenetic marks in the germline cells of an adult organism.

“Our findings raise the possibility that histone marks are carriers for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance,” said Kaneshiro. “We know that the environment an organism experiences can change gene expression patterns in somatic cells (non-germline body cells). If it changes gene expression patterns in the germline, we expect that those changes can be inherited, but we haven't shown that yet."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Epigenetic changes can be passed along to future generations

Scientists have come to understand that many individual traits are...

Given the risks that come with unprotected sex such as sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, researchers from the <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/">University of Guelph</a> in Canada set out to examine why young adults to engage in unprotected sex.

The study is the first of its kind to study and compare how heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and men who have sex with men (MSM) negotiate condom use and the different methods that men and women use to practice safe sex or have unprotected sex. 

Published in the Journal of Sex Research, the study could help shed light on why people choose not to use condoms despite the well-established and known risks.

The researchers used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk System to survey 106 men who have sex with men, 157 heterosexual men, and 177 heterosexual women, all aged between 18 and 25 years, about their attitudes towards unprotected sex. 

With Amazon, the participants were given a scenario about a hypothetical new sexual partner. The participants had to choose how they would proceed in the situation and if they were <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/having-first-emotional-bond/">looking for a relationship. </a>

Answers varied depending on each participant’s sexual preferences, and the researchers found that heterosexual men were most likely to agree to have sex without a condom. 

Heterosexual women, on the other hand, were more likely to be assertive and withhold sex unless their partner wore a condom. 

Men who have sex with men were more verbal and non-confrontational in their negotiations, choosing balance overall. 

The researchers also found that relationship expectations factored into an individual’s decision to engage in unprotected sex. For example, heterosexual women in the study seemed more likely to have unprotected sex if they felt their partner had a lot of relationship potential. 

“Understanding what factors make it more difficult to recognize risk during a sexual encounter, such as the desire for a long-term romantic relationship and partner familiarity, can lead to better prevention,” said Dr. Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, the leader of the research. “It is particularly striking that women had lower expectations that their partner would be interested in condom use--this highlights how challenging heterosexual women expect the negotiation of condom use to be.”

It’s important to note that the study excluded women who have sex with women and didn’t factor in gender fluid individuals or other sexual minority groups and so the results may differ in future studies. 

However, the study is an important step in investigating the motivations and decision making processes that go into sexual risk-taking behaviors for young adults. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Which factors make young people more likely to have unsafe sex?

Given the risks that come with unprotected sex such as...

Researchers from <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> produced a model showing the economic and health effects of prescribing healthy food within Medicare and Medicaid health insurance policies. They found that by covering the cost of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-structure-determines-whether-you-make-healthy-food-choices/">healthy food</a> with Medicare and Medicaid health insurance, participant health would improve and the plan would become highly cost effective after five years.

"We found that encouraging people to eat healthy foods in Medicare and Medicaid — healthy food prescriptions — could be as or more cost effective as other common interventions, such as preventative drug treatments for hypertension or high cholesterol," said co-first author Yujin Lee, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts’ <a href="https://nutrition.tufts.edu/">Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.</a>

"Healthy food prescriptions are increasingly being considered in private health insurance programs,” she added, “and the new 2018 Farm Bill includes a $25 million Produce Prescription Program to further evaluate this approach.”

The study, published March 19th in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/">PLOS Medicine</a>, estimated the economic and health outcomes that would occur if 30% of the cost of healthy food purchases was covered through Medicare and Medicaid. The team first looked at two separate scenarios: the first being 30% cost coverage of fruits and vegetables purchases, and the second was 30% cost coverage of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts/seeds, seafood, and plant-based oils.

Although both scenarios were estimated to have positive outcomes, the team predicted the fruits and veggies initiative would prevent 1.93 million cardiovascular disease (CVD) cases. The broader healthy food initiative would prevent 3.28 million CVD cases and 120,000 diabetes cases. 

Furthermore, both incentives would reduce healthcare utilization. The fruits and veggies plan would save $39.7 billion whereas the broader plan would save $100.2 billion. And both programs were predicted to be very cost effective in terms of total food subsidy and other policy costs.

"Our findings support implementation and evaluation of healthy food prescriptions within healthcare systems to improve the diet and health of Americans," said co-senior author Renata Micha, R.D., Ph.D, a research associate professor at the Friedman School.

"Medicare and Medicaid are the two largest healthcare programs in the U.S., together covering one in three Americans and accounting for 1 in every 4 dollars in the entire federal budget," added co-first author Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H, the dean of the Friedman School. "These new findings support the concept of <a href="https://nutrition.tufts.edu/about/public-impact-initiative-friedman-school/food-is-medicine">Food is Medicine</a>: That innovative programs to encourage and reimburse healthy eating can and should be integrated into the healthcare system.”

The team notes that their research cannot prove the health and cost effects of both incentives, however, the positive estimates provided are certainly enough to be considered by lawmakers in charge of incentive programs.

--

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: Pixabay

Insurance prescribing healthy food could reduce healthcare costs

Researchers from Tufts University produced a model showing the economic...

Heart disease increases the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/depression-anxiety-heart-attack/">depression and vice versa</a>, but until now researchers were unclear as to how the two were linked.

It was thought that perhaps genetic factors might be behind these risks, but now, a new study has found that inflammation in response to environmental stressors has the most substantial influence on depression and heart disease risk. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> and published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. 

Inflammation is a natural response to infection, but lifestyle factors like smoking or obesity can cause chronic inflammation. Stress also triggers inflammation. 

“It is possible that heart disease and depression share common underlying biological mechanisms, which manifest as two different conditions in two different organs - the cardiovascular system and the brain,” said Dr. Golam Khandaker, the leader of the study. “Our work suggests that inflammation could be a shared mechanism for these conditions.”

The researchers first analyzed data from nearly 370,000 middle-aged participants of<a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/ukbiobank"> UK Biobank.</a> The researchers made a note of family histories, and if there were any genetic links to depression or heart disease. 

Having a parent die of heart disease increased the risk of depression by 20 percent, the data showed. 

To see if the connection between heart disease and depression was genetic, the researchers calculated a genetic risk score from the data. But there were no strong correlations between genetic risk factors and links between heart disease and depression. 

Next, the researchers used Mendelian randomization to explore the impacts of 15 biomarkers on coronary heart disease risk. 

Triglycerides and proteins IL-6 and CRP (inflammation-related proteins in the blood) were risk factors for both depression and heart disease, which confirmed that environmental factors and inflammation influence heart disease and depression risk. 

Exactly why triglycerides specifically increase the risk of depression has yet to be firmly established, the researchers say. 

“Although we don't know what the shared mechanisms between these diseases are, we now have clues to work with that point towards the involvement of the immune system,” said Dr. Stephen Burgess, a member of the research team. “Identifying genetic variants that regulate modifiable risk factors helps to find what is actually driving disease risk.”

The researchers hope that by exploring the little understood links between heart disease risk and depression, medical professionals will be able to diagnose and prevent these risks early on before they manifest into serious health problems. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Inflammation explains the link between heart disease and depression

Heart disease increases the risk of depression and vice versa,...

IMG_3241

According to a new model produced by a collaborative team from <a href="https://www.caryinstitute.org/">Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies</a> and <a href="https://www.research.ibm.com/science-for-social-good/">IBM Research’s Science for Social Good</a> program, primate species that can harbor and potentially spread the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mosquitoes-zika-transmit-diseases/">Zika virus</a> are common and often live near people. The team successfully identified these species, showing that the recent and deadly Zika epidemic in the Americas could easily happen again. 

"When modeling disease systems, data gaps can undermine our ability to predict where people are at risk,” said lead author Barbara Han, a disease ecologist at Cary. “Globally, only two primate species have been confirmed positive for Zika virus. We were interested in how a marriage of two modeling techniques could help us overcome limited data on primate biology and ecology — with the goal of identifying surveillance priorities."

The team created their model by analyzing data on flaviviruses and primate species known to carry them. They then compared these primates’ traits to 364 global primate species and successfully identified known primate flavivirus carriers with 82% accuracy, and more specifically, primate species that are likely to carry Zika.

Their work was published March 19th in <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/epidemics">Epidemics</a>.

Primate species located in the Americas with Zika risk scores over 90% include the tufted capuchin (Cebus apella), the Venezuelan red howler (Alouatta seniculus), and the white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus) — each of which are species adapted to living among humans within developed areas. 

White-fronted capuchins (Cebus albifrons), commonly captured and kept as pets or used for live trade, and spider monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis), which are sometimes hunted for bushmeat, are also on the list.

[caption id="attachment_1869965" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/map.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869965" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/map.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="495" /></a> Geographic ranges of primates that are undetected Zika reservoirs. Image Credit: Han et al, 2019[/caption]

"These species are geographically widespread, with abundant populations that live near human population centers,” coauthor Subho Majumdar said. “They are notorious crop raiders. They're kept as pets. People display them in cities as tourist attractions and hunt them for bushmeat. In terms of disease spillover risk, this is a highly alarming result.”

"Like all pathogens, Zika virus has unique requirements for what it needs in an animal host,” Han continued. “To determine which species could harbor Zika, we need to know what these traits are, which species have these traits, and which of these species can transmit the pathogen to humans. This is a lot of information, much of which is unknown."

The team looked into 33 features of the 18 primate species that tested positive for carrying mosquito-borne flaviviruses, such as metabolic rate, gestation period, litter size, and behavior. These features were then studied again in relation to predicting Zika positivity. Analyzing was done via Multiply Imputed Chained Equations (MICE), a program that sets computer algorithms to search through datasets of organism traits and draw connections between organisms with similar or related traits. MICE also fills in “blanks” in the dataset with inferred information.

"This research was made possible by innovations provided by the broader scientific community,” Han added. “We relied on primate and pathogen data collected by hundreds of field researchers, and the base machine learning and imputation methods that we adapted in this research already existed. Partners at IBM Research took on a lion's share of the math and coding. It was an incredibly successful interdisciplinary collaboration — the kind we need more of if we want to find new solutions to complex problems."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main image credit: Carol Blyberg

Certain primate species at high risk of spreading Zika in the Americas

According to a new model produced by a collaborative team...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.slu.edu/medicine/index.php">Saint Louis University School of Medicine</a> has found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/medical-marijuana-treats-chronic-disease/">marijuana</a> can greatly improve sexual experiences for women. Based on information from hundreds of women, the researchers found that using marijuana prior to sex doubled the likelihood that they would have an orgasm.

It has been commonly reported that marijuana increases sexual arousal and results in higher satisfaction during sex. While the science underlying these sexual benefits is not yet clear, experts theorize that they may result from heightened senses and reduced stress. 

“It has been postulated that it leads to improvement in sexual function simply by lowering stress and anxiety,” wrote the study authors. “It may slow the temporal perception of time and prolong the feelings of pleasurable sensations. It may lower sexual inhibitions and increase confidence and a willingness to experiment.”

“Marijuana is also known to heighten sensations such as touch, smell, sight, taste, and hearing.”

To investigate the link between marijuana and sexual satisfaction, the researchers developed a Sexual Health Survey that addressed topics such as sex drive and lubrication. “To limit bias, the authors embedded the questions about marijuana deeper into the questionnaire,” wrote the researchers.

The investigation was focused on the survey responses of 373 women who were both marijuana users and non-users. Of the 47 percent of participants who were marijuana users, 34 percent reported using it before sex. 

The study revealed notable differences in the sexual experiences of the women based on whether or not they used marijuana beforehand.

“Most women reported increases in sex drive, improvement in orgasm, decrease in pain, but no change in lubrication.” Overall, women who smoked pot were 2.13 times more likely to report having “satisfactory orgasms.”

“Marijuana appears to improve satisfaction with orgasm. Women who used marijuana before sex and those who used more frequently were more than twice as likely to report satisfactory orgasms as those who did not use marijuana before sex or used infrequently,” wrote the study authors. 

“Our study is consistent with past studies of the effects of marijuana on sexual behavior in women.”

The research is published in the <a href="https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/">Journal of Sexual Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Marijuana enhances sex for women and doubles likelihood of orgasm

A new study led by the Saint Louis University School...

Winter Storm Ulmer pummeled the Midwest, Plains, and Rockies, causing whiteout conditions and 70 miles an hour wind gusts last week. But the worst was yet to come when the storm became a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bomb-cyclone-winter-storm/">bomb cyclone</a> on Wednesday, March 13th. 

According to the <a href="https://weather.com/safety/winter/news/2019-03-13-bomb-cyclone-winter-storm-ulmer">Weather Channel</a>, when a winter storm undergoes a process of bombogenesis, the storm rapidly intensifies as pressures drop. For Ulmer, bombogenesis occurred when pressure dropped 994 millibars to 968 millibars as is reached the Central Plains. 

As a bomb cyclone, the storm produced <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/14/blizzard-powerful-storm-hit-central-u-s-heavy-snow-winds/3159959002/">tornadoes</a> and severe thunderstorms with torrential rains. 

For Nebraska and Iowa, the rain combined with winter snowmelt has led to some of the most severe flooding in the states’ histories. In Nebraska, 74 cities, 65 counties and 4 tribal areas have declared states of emergency. 

Flooding along the Platte, Missouri and Elkhorn Rivers reached historic levels and broke previous records. In one case, river flooding submerged so much land around Scribner, Nebraska, that the town became a temporary island with only one point of entry. 

<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144691/historic-floods-inundate-nebraska">Satellite imagery</a> shows the stark contrasts between river levels March of last year and March this year, and some residents in Sarpy County, Nebraska are still unable to go back to their homes due to flooding.

[caption id="attachment_1869949" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/march-20-2018.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869949" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/march-20-2018.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="465" /></a> Elkhorn, Platte, and Missouri rivers on March 20, 2018, Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1869950" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/march-16-2019.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869950" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/march-16-2019.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="464" /></a> Elkhorn, Platte, and Missouri rivers March 16, 2019, Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory[/caption]

42 locations in the Plains and Midwest have set new record river levels due to the combination of storms, ice flows, and spring thaw. 

Flood gauges reported a crest of 40.62 feet for the Missouri River on Saturday while the Platte River reached 24.35 feet. 

In Stillwater, Minnesota, which sits along the St. Croix River, the town is expecting record-breaking flooding in the coming months and preparing for the worst. Plans are in place to build a mile or more of levee, according to <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/03/14/blizzard-bringing-whiteout-flooding-in-minn">MPR News</a>, and in some areas, the dikes could be 15 feet high to prevent flood damage. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Historic flooding in Nebraska and Iowa prompt emergency declarations

Winter Storm Ulmer pummeled the Midwest, Plains, and Rockies, causing...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has enlisted the help Indigenous communities in the eastern Canadian Arctic to understand how climate change is affecting the semi-permanent trails they use for travel. 

When the researchers compared this knowledge with 30 years of weather records, they found that travel was not as limited as they expected - despite significant changes in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-warming-locked-in/">climate conditions</a> from 1985 to 2016.

The trails used by Indigenous communities to navigate on sea-ice, rivers, and frozen ground are critically important for travel between settlements and for traditional hunting and gathering activities. Prior to this study, the impact of climate change on the trails was not clear, which has made it difficult to plan for future conditions.

The study findings suggest that trail availability has only declined by roughly one or two days in the last 30 years. Overall, the combined number of suitable travel days per year for three different types of travel has actually increased.

“Previous studies on Arctic transportation and climate change do not take into consideration different types of trail users,” said study lead author Professor James Ford.

“We found that an understanding of how trail conditions are affected by changing conditions, as well as a knowledge of alternative routes, and a well-developed skillsets, such as being adept with snowmobile or recognizing dangerous ice conditions, had a greater impact in determining whether trails were safe to use, more so than the change in travel conditions due to climate.”

“Highly skilled travelers are able to use the trails more than twice as often as travelers whose skillsets are not as well-developed.”

[caption id="attachment_1869942" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/arctic.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869942" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/arctic.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="487" /></a> Image Credit: Dylan Clark, McGill University, Canada[/caption]

The study estimated that high-skilled travelers can expect roughly 100 more days of suitable travel conditions each year.

“While climate models can provide a bigger picture of the overall effects of climate change, it can be harder to determine how environmental variables are affecting specific activities within different communities in affected regions,” said Professor Ford.

“The study highlights how the close involvement of the people in question is essential to understanding how the ongoing changes to the environment will affect specific activities of different groups. Incorporating this practice, or a ‘bottom-up’ approach, is central for understanding what climate change means for people and developing responses tailored to specific contexts.”

“However, while the skill set of the Inuit community may be mitigating the effects of climate change on travel conditions for now, there is no doubt that the warming conditions in the Arctic are having detrimental effects on the region.”

“The shrinking sea-ice and shifts in seasonal temperatures are a serious threat, particularly to the region's native species and ecology which form an essential part of the Inuit community's tradition and culture. And while the effects of climate change to date on trail access were not totally what we expected, communities are very concerned about what future change may mean.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Dylan Clark, McGill University, Canada

Indigenous Arctic communities overcoming changing travel conditions

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

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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

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" 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.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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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.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



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

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