Genetically predicted height can be linked to the development of certain health conditions, according to new research. The findings suggest that increased height may raise or lower the odds of certain ailments, emphasizing the importance of early check-ups.



The study was led by Dr. Areti Papadopoulou, a postdoctoral research associate at the <a href="https://www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit</a>, and Dr. Eirini Marouli, an associate professor in computational biology at Queen Mary University of London.



The experts emphasize that these findings can benefit many people from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/health-risks-of-ultra-processed-foods-revealed-in-30-year-study/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">varied backgrounds</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-notable-links-between-height-and-disease">Notable links between height and disease</h2>



The scientists examined data from six populations of different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-life-expectancy-faces-a-triple-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ancestries</a>, and analyzed the DNA factors that govern how tall a person might grow.



This approach, known as a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34982132/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phenome-wide association study</a> (a method that scans a broad set of health outcomes), uncovered a variety of conditions that were linked to a single genetic trait.



The researchers discovered 254 notable links between height and disease. One of the strongest connections was with <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/atrial-fibrillation/what-is-atrial-fibrillation-afib-or-af" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">atrial fibrillation</a>. This particular condition, which disrupts normal heart rhythms, appeared more frequently among taller individuals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taking-a-closer-look-at-circulatory-risk">Taking a closer look at circulatory risk</h2>



Height was strongly related to blood vessel and heart <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heart-disease-remains-the-leading-cause-of-death-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issues</a>, with taller people experiencing more problems involving veins and certain arterial conditions.



By one measure, taller people also seemed to have a lower chance of developing <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21656-hyperlipidemia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hyperlipidemia</a> (high fats in the blood) but a higher likelihood of facing specific heart <a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/arrhythmias" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrhythmias</a>.



Some conditions connected to taller stature were only spotted in one sex or ancestry group. For instance, there was a connection between increased height and lower risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470284/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hyperpotassemia</a> (high potassium levels), but the link was only found in males. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-perspectives-on-disease-risk">New perspectives on disease risk </h2>



“Our study explored disease-related outcomes in up to 840,000 individuals of European, African, East Asian and Hispanic population groups with genetically predicted height,” explained Dr. Papadopoulou, the first author of the study.



“We report associations with a series of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-takes-a-major-toll-on-childrens-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">disorders</a>, involving mental disorders and the endocrine system, that have not been previously associated with genetically predicted height.”



According to Dr. Marouli, the study reveals significant links between genetically predicted height and various health conditions, providing new perspectives on disease risk. 



"By analyzing genetic data across diverse ancestries and incorporating sex-specific analyses, we have identified associations that could improve early diagnosis and patient care,” said Dr. Marouli.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-daily-life">What this means for daily life</h2>



Simple measures, like blood pressure readings, might be interpreted more carefully for taller adults, given that some <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCGEN.121.003612" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> points to different cardiac risks by height.



For example, the experts noted that taller men appear less likely to experience high blood pressure but are more prone to heart rhythm disorders.



Screening for conditions such as certain cancers has also been debated in past <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.29159" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> of taller women, especially regarding breast health. The exact reasons for the potential link remain unclear, but the genetic factors that lead to a bigger frame may sometimes coincide with an increased risk for various types of tumors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-managing-risks-across-diverse-groups">Managing risks across diverse groups</h2>



The researchers emphasize that improving health monitoring based on genetically predicted height should not focus on one ancestry alone.



The best strategies come from studies that include everyone, ensuring that recommendations will apply to people from diverse backgrounds and help them <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nearly-one-third-of-asthma-cases-linked-to-air-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">manage risks</a>.



Health leaders also recognize the importance of routine checkups, such as monitoring blood pressure, which is crucial for spotting early <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hypertension</a>. With height now becoming a bigger part of the conversation, providers might refine their advice to match each person's unique background and build.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-link-between-height-and-health">The link between height and health</h2>



There is still much to learn about the interplay between height and overall health. By studying the genetic codes of people in different parts of the world, scientists hope to reveal fresh insights that lead to more targeted guidance.



Large-scale projects will likely expand on these findings. Future research may clarify why taller individuals face certain conditions at higher rates, while shorter individuals may struggle with others. 



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41525-025-00464-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">npj Genomic Medicine</a>.



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Tall or short? Your height could predict future health risks

Genetically predicted height can be linked to the development of certain health conditions, according to new research. The findings suggest that increased height may raise or lower the odds of certain ailments, emphasizing the importance of early check-ups. The study was led by Dr. Areti Papadopoulou, a postdoctoral research associate at the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit, and Dr. Eirini Marouli, an associate professor in computational biology at Queen Mary University of London. The experts emphasize that these findings can benefit many people from varied backgrounds. Notable...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.earth.columbia.edu/">Earth Institute at Columbia University</a> have turned to ancient urine to work out the details of the transition from hunting to herding during the Neolithic Revolution, which occurred around 10,000 BC. The urine salts, the scientists claim, can help them map out the pace of change when humans first began domesticating animals in ancient Turkey.

“This is the first time, to our knowledge, that people have picked up on salts in archaeological materials, and used them in a way to look at the development of animal management," said lead author Jordan Abell, a graduate student at the <a href="https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/">University of Columbia Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory</a>.

Prior to using urine salts, researchers relied on bone fragments and fossilized dung to estimate population size in ancient settlements, however, this process can be difficult. 

"We thought, well, humans and animals pee, and when they pee, they release a bunch of salt," Abell said. "At a dry place like this, we didn't think salts would be washed away and redistributed."

Using the salts, scientists were able to calculate the density of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-humans-swapping-genes/">humans</a> and animals at the Turkey settlement at any specific time. Around 10,000 years ago, they found a jump in the number of animals and people at the settlement — from about zero to approximately one person per one animal for every 10 square meters. This finding suggests that domestication may have happened quicker than previously thought, perhaps within just 1,000 years.

The team looked at over 113 samples from the site in question, calculating sodium, nitrate, and chlorine salt levels along the way. They watched as the amount of urine salts increased over time, with the largest spike occurring between 10,000 and 9,700 years ago. Abell says that these findings support the theory that the ancient humans began as hunters of sheep and goats, then they corralled a few and then corralled a larger number, finally keeping domesticated goats and sheep on the periphery of the settlement.

The findings appear in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

The researchers hope to eventually be able to discern human urine from livestock urine. However, even without being able to do so, using urine salts as a method for tracking population have been proven useful in arid areas where dung and bone fragments may be lacking.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Güne Duru

Transition from hunting to herding discovered in ancient urine

Researchers from the Earth Institute at Columbia University have turned...

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, over 800 million tons of dairy products are made from cow’s milk every year. For the very first time, a study published by the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> has produced a comprehensive database of all the known compounds in bovine milk.

For more than 10,000 years, dairy milk has driven both economic and agricultural developments worldwide. Although previous studies have identified thousands of components in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-milk-dairy-products-9000-years/">milk</a>, the data are not organized. Furthermore, the composition of milk varies by breed of cow, type of feed, and other factors.

There have been targeted chemical analyses that provided scientists with large amounts of data on milk compounds in the past. However, none of these studies have fully identified and quantified the makeup of bovine milk. To investigate, a research team at the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/">University of Alberta</a> led by David Wishart conducted research that has produced the most clear information to date.


The researchers used an approach that combined both experimental technologies and literature text-mining. The team examined commercially purchased skim, one percent, two percent, and whole milk with four different types of spectrometry. During this phase of the study, the experts identified and measured substances in milk such as metal ions, vitamins, organic acids, and amino acids. 

For the computer analysis phase, the researchers used a series of digital tools to find published information on dairy compounds. Ultimately, the team created the <a href="http://www.mcdb.ca/downloads">Milk Composition Database</a>, which has more than 2,300 metabolite entries. Notably, over 160 of these substances were reported for the first time in cow's milk. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jafcau">Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What exactly is in cow’s milk?

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, over...

Are smartphones, constant access to the internet, and social media really shortening attention spans? There has been growing concern that the onslaught of information that we are bombarded with on a day to day basis is impacting our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-addiction-drugs/">focus and attention spans</a>.

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.tu-berlin.de/">Technische Universität Berlin</a>, <a href="https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Human Development</a>, <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/">University College Cork</a>, and the <a href="https://www.dtu.dk/english">Technical University of Denmark</a> sought to empirically answer these questions. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications, and the results show that our collective attention is changing. 

People are not necessarily losing their attention spans, but as a collective whole, we are jumping from headline to headline and hashtag to hashtag at a rapidly increasing pace. 

“It seems that the allocated attention in our collective minds has a certain size, but that the cultural items competing for that attention have become more densely packed,” said Sune Lehman, a co-author of the study. “This would support the claim that it has indeed become more difficult to keep up to date on the news cycle, for example.” 

The researchers reviewed and analyzed Twitter data from 2013 to 2016, books from Google Books dating back as far as 100 years, 40 years worth movie ticket sales, and 25 years of cited scientific studies. Data from Google Trends, Reddit, and Wikipedia was also analyzed for the study. 

The analysis showed that over time people spent less time focused on a movie, book, or headline. In other words, the amount of time a cultural item spends in the limelight these days is getting shorter and shorter. 

Take Twitter hashtags, for example. Hashtags can be a great way to discover new and trending topics and stay up to date with the latest news. In 2013, a top trending hashtag stayed in the top 50 for around 17.5 hours, but this dropped 11.9 hours in 2016. 

The researchers found similar patterns when it came to top box office movies and the number of Reddit comments on an individual submission. 

“We wanted to understand which mechanisms could drive this behavior,” said Phillip Hovel, a fellow co-author of the study. “Picturing topics as species that feed on human attention, we designed a mathematical model with three basic ingredients: ‘hotness,’ aging and the thirst for something new.” 

The model showed that as more and more content is produced and published in quicker and quicker time frames, people spend less and less time on one specific piece or item. 

The race for content is a kind of competition for who can capture the collective attention next and for how long. 

As a whole, the research shows we are quick to lose interest in something but how the information age is impacting individual attention spans remains to be seen. 

“Our data only supports the claim that our collective attention span is narrowing,” said Lehman. “Therefore, as a next step, it would be interesting to look into how this affects individuals, since the observed developments may have negative implications for an individual's ability to evaluate the information they consume.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Information overflow is shortening our attention spans, research shows

Are smartphones, constant access to the internet, and social media...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a> have found that the legalization of gay marriage across the United States has significantly impacted the evolving attitudes of Americans toward <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/india-decriminalized-homosexuality/">homosexuality</a>. The study revealed that the state legislation has reduced anti-gay bias in many parts of the country.

Study senior author Eric Hehman is a professor in the Department of Psychology. He explained that the findings provide evidence that public policy can shape social norms and alter attitudes.

Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004, followed by 34 other states and Washington, D.C. Ultimately, in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that gay couples could marry nationwide. Since this ruling, poll results have shown that support for same-sex marriage has steadily increased.

Professor Hehman is an expert in how individuals perceive one another and how stereotypes and biases influence our behavior. He set out to investigate whether state legislation had an impact on anti-gay bias.

“The idea that norms shape attitudes has been around in social psychology for many years,” said Professor Hehman. “We wanted to measure if laws and policies can also act as norms and potentially change deeply rooted biases.”

The team was able to map trends in anti-gay bias over the course of the 11 years that different states were adopting same-sex marriage. The researchers examined changing regional anti-gay biases of about one million respondents on a website known as Project Implicit. Next, they compared the trends from before and after gay marriage was legalized in each state. 

Bias against the gay community was found to be slightly decreasing prior to same-sex marriage legalization. After same-sex marriage was accepted, however, the rate of anti-gay bias was found to decline at roughly double the previous rate.


Professor Hehman also discovered a “backlash effect” in the 15 states that did not pass same-sex marriage legalization locally. Across these states, anti-gay bias increased immediately after the Supreme Court ruling.

The outcome of the research suggests that attitudes and legislation may be mutually reinforcing, and evolving attitudes toward same-sex marriage may have provided the momentum for both state and federal legalization.

“In other words, representative governments can contribute to and/or intensify change in the attitude of citizens by passing legislation,” said Professor Hehman. “We have some evidence that the laws caused this change in bias, but it is possible the effect goes in both directions.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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>

Legalization of same-sex marriage linked to reduced anti-gay bias

Researchers at McGill University have found that the legalization of...

Empathy allows us to put ourselves in another person’s shoes and understand the feelings, emotions, and perspectives of our peers. And humans aren’t the only species that experience empathy, as recent studies have found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-feel-empathy/">rats empathize with other rats</a> in pain. 

Arunas L. Radzvilavicius, a Postdoctoral Researcher of Evolutionary Biology at the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a>, theorizes that empathy is the key to cooperation and our prosperous human societies. 

Cooperation is a cornerstone of human society, as we cooperate at work, at school, and all agree to cooperate with the rules, laws, and social norms put in place through the years. 

Radzvilavicius set out to explore human cooperation and altruism and find out how these skills evolved to benefit our survival as a species. 

In a recent piece for <a href="https://theconversation.com/empathy-is-the-secret-ingredient-that-makes-cooperation-and-civilization-possible-115105">The Conversation</a>, Radzvilavicius explains how he and his colleagues used evolutionary game theory to model empathy and cooperation in human society. 

Past research has stated that social norms drive cooperation and how we perceive another’s reputation influences how they are treated in society. 

The idea that we help people with a good reputation depends on the assumption that people will always agree on who has a good or bad reputation, when in reality this is hardly the case. From community to community, people’s perceptions about what is good or bad differs. 

To get to the bottom of human altruism, Radzvilavicius used evolutionary models to simulate a realistic human society with relative views on morality. 

Interestingly, factoring in moral relatively made societies more selfish and less cooperative. 

As we know societies overall are not selfish and so there had to be something that Radzvilavicius was overlooking with these models. 

Teaming with colleagues from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> and the <a href="http://www.uh.edu/">University of Houston</a>, Radzvilavicius included the capacity for empathy in the models and found that cooperation increased. 

“Even initially uncooperative societies in which everyone judged each other based mostly on their own selfish perspectives, eventually discovered empathy – it became socially contagious and spread throughout the population,” Radzvilavicius writes. “Empathy made our model societies altruistic again.” 

How empathy evolved remains a mystery according to Radzvilavicius, but the research shows that empathy plays a key role in human cooperation.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Human societies have been able to thrive because of empathy

Empathy allows us to put ourselves in another person’s shoes...

According to a new study by linguists at <a href="https://www.ru.nl/english/">Radboud University</a> and the University of Edinburgh, many individuals associate colors with the same vowel sounds. Even though speech and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/navy-pink-turquoise-relaxation/">color</a> are not perceived by the same sensory organs, most people share a particular system for linking vowels to colors.

Some individuals, including Russian-born novelist Vladimir Nabokov, have a condition where certain colors or sounds trigger different senses. Nabokov saw colors when he heard vowel sounds. For example, he perceived the color yellow when hearing “ee” and ebony when hearing “aa.”

Even though only one in 25 people have synaesthesia, the current study has found that many more share the same intuitions about “sound colors.” The investigation, which was focused on an online test of over 1,000 participants, revealed that most people selected the same colors to correspond with 16 different combinations of vowels. 

The majority of participants matched “i” with green or yellow, “e” with green, and “a” with pink or red. Darker colors, such as purple-blue, were selected most often for “o,” and “u” was usually associated with blue or red.

“There seems to be a logic to how we link sound and color, and the structure of language has an important role in this process,” explained study co-author Mark Dingemanse. “Our findings showed that with lighter colors (yellow, green) associated with more front vowels, or vowels that come from the front of the mouth.”

[caption id="attachment_1871345" align="aligncenter" width="660"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/color-association.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871345" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/color-association.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="139" /></a> Vowel-color associations in two non-synesthete subjects (left) and in two synesthetes (right), Image Credit: Mark Dingemanse Radboud University[/caption]

“Darker colors (e.g., red, brown, blue) were associated with back vowels and redder colors were associated with low front vowels,” Dingemanse added. “If color associations were purely dependent on acoustical factors, the colors would neatly run into one another like in a rainbow. Instead, we see that sounds are grouped according to the way that our language carves up the vowel space.”

“A few blue spots and then suddenly a red one, with no transition of blue-purple-red. You could say that the vowels have to pass through the sorting machine that is our language before we can link colors to them, even in synaesthetes, for whom associations like these are involuntary.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.psychonomic.org/page/BRM">Behavior Research Methods</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People often link certain vowel sounds to the same colors, study finds

According to a new study by linguists at Radboud University...

Creating technology to desalinate salt water could help provide <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/socioeconomic-groups-unsafe-drinking-water/">safe drinking water</a> to the billion people around the world who lack access to it. However, traditional desalination systems are too expensive to set up and operate, particularly in low-income countries and remote areas.

In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Maryland's <a href="https://eng.umd.edu/">A. James Clark School of Engineering</a> have developed a critical component that may lead to affordable small-scale desalination. They have successfully demonstrated the use of an inexpensive solar evaporator that is made of wood. 

According to study senior author Liangbing Hu, an associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering, the evaporator generates steam with high efficiency and with a minimal need for maintenance. 

Professor Hu said that the technique used by the device, known as interfacial evaporation, “shows great potential in response to global water scarcity because of its high solar-to-vapor efficiency, low environmental impact, and portable device design with low cost. These features make it suitable for off-grid water generation and purification, especially for low-income countries.”

Interfacial evaporators made of thin materials are able to float on saline water and absorb solar heat on top. The evaporators continuously pull up the saline water from below and convert it to steam on the top surface, leaving behind the salt, explained Professor Hu. On the other hand,  he said that salt can build up on the evaporative surface over time and negatively affect performance until it is removed. 

Professor Hu and his team minimized the need for this maintenance with a device made out of basswood that exploits the wood's natural ability to carry water and nutrients up the tree.

Study lead author Yudi Kuang said the wood’s natural channels are supplemented by drilling millimeter-wide channels through a thin cross-section of the wood. The top surface is then briefly exposed to high heat, which carbonizes the surface for greater solar absorption.

While operating, the device draws up salty water through the wood's natural micron-wide channels as it absorbs solar energy. Salt is spontaneously exchanged from these tiny channels through natural openings along their sides to the vastly wider drilled channels, and then dissolves back into the water below.

“In the lab, we have successfully demonstrated excellent anti-fouling in a wide range of salt concentrations, with stable steam generation with about 75% efficiency,” said Kuang.

“Wood is an intriguing material scaffold, with its unique hierarchically porous structure, and it is a renewable, abundant and cost-effective resource,” said Professor Hu. “In our lab, the fundamental understanding of biomaterials (especially wood) leads us to achieve extraordinary performance that is competitive with widely used but non-sustainable materials.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15214095">Advanced Materials</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: John T. Consoli/University of Maryland

Solar evaporator could help provide drinking water to remote areas

Creating technology to desalinate salt water could help provide safe...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College of London</a> have discovered that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/families-buried-together-stone-age/">Stone Age</a> Britons were mostly wiped out and replaced with European invaders about 6,000 years ago. 

After analyzing DNA from ancient Neolithic skeletons found in Britain, experts saw that they were almost all descended from farmers of the Aegean, located between modern day Turkey and Greece. They also displayed DNA links with people form the Iberian peninsula, located in modern day Spain and Portugal.

Furthermore, scientists conclude that it was this European invasion that introduced farming to Britain, thus explaining why farming in Britain developed about 1,000 years later than in its continental neighbors.

“The transition to farming marks one of the most important ecological shifts in human evolution,” the authors note in their study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0871-9">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6924447/Neolithic-Britons-learned-farm-prehistoric-people-Europe-arrived.html">per Daily Mail</a>. “The processes by which this transition occurred have been a matter of intense debate for over a century.” The experts agree that there was little interbreeding between the Britons and the Europeans. 

They continued, “In contrast to other European regions, the transition to farming in Britain occurred with little introgression from resident foragers — either during initial colonization or throughout the Neolithic. This may reflect low Late Mesolithic population density in Britain and/or an introduction of farming by populations who had mastered the technologies needed to thrive in northern and western continental Europe during the previous two millennia.”

Farming in continental Europe was brought to the area by Aegean Neolithic people via both the Mediterranean and Central into Northern Europe. Neolithic cultures in Britain did not pop up until about 4,000 BC, about 1,000 years after farming was established in Europe. These new findings explain the origins of these Neolithic Britons and how they were colonized by those who had farming skills.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stone Age Britons were wiped out by Mediterranean invaders

Researchers from the University College of London have discovered that...

If multiple males are competing for a mate, it impacts the quality performance of sperm. 

Rival males have better-performing sperm that’s faster and more efficient but also more susceptible to DNA damage, according to a new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zebrafish-spinal-cord-injuries/">zebrafish</a> study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.ua.es/en/">University of Alicante</a> and the <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">University of Uppsala</a> in Sweden. 

In the study, published in the journal Evolutionary Biology, the researchers compared the sperm of two male zebrafish in the presence of a single female to the sperm of a single male in a tank with two females. 

The fish were observed and monitored for two weeks, and the researchers used geometric morphometry to analyze and compare differences in sperm shape, size, quality, and performance. 

The two rival males developed competitive spermatozoa that were faster, had smaller heads, and were more efficient compared to the single male fish with no competition. 

The competing spermatozoa showed higher rates of DNA damage and the researchers say this could impact not only fertilization but also future offspring. 

A potential explanation for the higher rates of damage in the competing males is that sexual rivalry increases stress levels. 

Sexual rivalry and sperm design are not well understood, and studies like this can help shed insight on how competition among males impacts evolution and species diversification. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Competing for a mate impacts sperm quality and performance

If multiple males are competing for a mate, it impacts...

An international research team led by <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a> has discovered that individuals buried in megalithic tombs in Ireland and Sweden during the Stone Age were relatives. The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/families-prone-migraines/">families</a> can be traced for more than ten generations, which indicates that megaliths were graves for kindred groups in northwestern Europe.

Beginning around 4,500 BCE, megalithic monuments emerged along the Atlantic European shoreline that were often used for funeral practices. However, the social structure and origin of the groups that began constructing the stone monuments remains a mystery.

For the current study, the researchers sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 24 individuals recovered at five megalithic burial sites, representing megalithic construction in northern and western Europe.

By using radiocarbon-dating, the team traced the remains back to between 3,800 and 2,600 BCE. Genome sequencing revealed that the individuals in the megaliths were closely related to Neolithic farmers in northern and western Europe, but not closely related to farmers in central Europe. On the British Isles, the males in the tomb outnumbered the females. 

“We found paternal continuity through time, including the same Y-chromosome haplotypes reoccurring over and over again,” said study co-author Helena Malmström. “However, female kindred members were not excluded from the megalith burials as three of the six kinship relationships in these megaliths involved females.”

The genetic analysis showed close family ties among the individuals buried within the megaliths. In two particular tombs that were located about two kilometers away from each other, it appeared that parents were buried together with their offspring. “This came as a surprise. It appears as these Neolithic societies were tightly knit with very close kin relations across burial sites,”  said co-author Federico Sanchez-Quinto.

The Ansarve site on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea is located in an area that was home to mostly hunter-gathers.

[caption id="attachment_1871267" align="aligncenter" width="469"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/europe.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1871267" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/europe.jpg" alt="" width="469" height="512" /></a> Megalith tombs on the British Isles, Image Credit: Göran Burenhult[/caption]

“The people buried in the Ansarve tomb are remarkably different on a genetic level compared to the contemporaneous individuals excavated from hunter-gather-contexts, showing that the burial tradition in this megalithic tomb, which lasted for over 700 years, was performed by distinct groups with roots in the European Neolithic expansion,” explained study co-author Magdalena Fraser.

“That we find distinct paternal lineages among the people in the megaliths, an overrepresentation of males in some tombs, and the clear kindred relationships point to towards the individuals being part of a patrilineal segment of the society rather than representing a random sample from a larger Neolithic farmer community," said study senior author Mattias Jakobsson.

“Our study demonstrates the potential in archaeogenetics to not only reveal large-scale migrations, but also inform about Stone Age societies and the role of particular phenomena in those times such as the megalith phenomena,” concluded Sanchez-Quinto.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Magdalena Fraser

Families in Europe were buried together during the Stone Age

An international research team led by Uppsala University has discovered...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.sfn.org/">Society for Neuroscience</a> has pinpointed a pattern of brain activity associated with anger during dreams. The research may ultimately help experts understand the neural foundation of the emotional content involved in nightmares, which may also be the basis for various mental and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/poor-sleep-genes/">sleep disorders</a>.

Little is known about the brain mechanisms which underlie the emotions that are experienced during dreams. A team of researchers led by Pilleriin Sikka of the <a href="https://www.utu.fi/en">University of Turku</a> has discovered one such mechanism that is tied to emotional response during both times of sleep and wakefulness. 

The investigation was focused on the electroencephalography recordings from participants during a two-night sleep study. After the individuals had experienced five-minute bouts of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, they were awakened and asked to describe their dreams and rate the various emotions that were involved.

During evening wakefulness and also during REM sleep, the researchers found that individuals who displayed greater alpha-band brain activity in the right frontal cortex experienced more anger in their dreams. This same neural activity, which is known as frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), has also been linked to anger during wakefulness. 

The findings indicate that FAA may be a universal representation of emotion regulation, which is the ability to respond to life experiences with a range of emotions.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Where do angry dreams come from? Scientists may have found the answer

A new study from the Society for Neuroscience has pinpointed...

New research from the <a href="https://osteopathic.org/">American Osteopathic Association</a> has revealed that patients who use <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-compound-psychosis/">cannabis</a> regularly may require more than twice the typical level of sedation for medical procedures. 

The investigation was focused on the medical records of 250 patients who received endoscopic procedures in Colorado after 2012, which is the year that recreational cannabis was legalized in the state. The researchers discovered that patients who used cannabis on a daily or weekly basis needed 14 percent more fentanyl, 20 percent more midazolam, and 220 percent more propofol to be sedated.

“Some of the sedative medications have dose-dependent side effects, meaning the higher the dose, the greater likelihood for problems,” said study lead author Dr. Mark Twardowski. “That becomes particularly dangerous when suppressed respiratory function is a known side effect.”


Dr. Twardowski explained that due to cannabis's status as a schedule 1 drug, a lack of research combined with its sudden widespread legalization raises concerns about other unforeseen issues.

“Cannabis has some metabolic effects we don't understand and patients need to know that their cannabis use might make other medications less effective. We're seeing some problematic trends anecdotally, and there is virtually no formal data to provide a sense of scale or suggest any evidence-based protocols.”


Dr. Twardowski said that some doctors have noticed an increase in the number of patients complaining of chronic nausea, which is often caused by cannabis use. In addition, anesthesiologists have found that patients are requiring much higher dosages for general anesthesia and have noted higher rates of post-op seizures.

This information prompted an investigation by Dr. Twardowski and his colleagues. Their study revealed that cannabis use in the United States increased by 43 percent between 2007 and 2015, with the greatest increase documented among people 26 and older. 

As recreational cannabis is legalized in more and more states, many individuals will become more honest about their cannabis use and there is the potential for meaningful data collection. According to the researchers, adding specific questions regarding cannabis use to patient intake forms is the first step to acquiring useful information that influences patient care. 

“This study really marks a small first step,” said Dr. Twardowski. “We still don't understand the mechanism behind the need for higher dosages, which is important to finding better care management solutions.”

The study is published in <a href="https://jaoa.org/">The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a>  Staff Writer

Regular cannabis users require higher sedation dosages for surgery

New research from the American Osteopathic Association has revealed that...

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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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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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

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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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