Selection,Of,Animal,And,Plant,Protein,Sources,-,Fish,,Meat,

Nearly 90% of adults in the United States believe they must eat meat, dairy, or eggs to get enough protein. This finding comes from a poll of 2,203 people who were surveyed in January 2025, and it highlights the lingering confusion around animal protein and plant-based eating.



Women and Gen Z participants were most likely to push back against the idea that animal products are required for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hemp-seeds-could-be-a-game-changer-as-an-alternative-protein-source/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adequate nutrition</a>. 



<a href="https://www.pcrm.org/about-us/staff/roxanne-becker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Roxanne Becker</a>, MBChB, DipIBLM, who is with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, <a href="https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/nearly-90-us-adults-believe-inaccurately-its-important-eat-animal-products-get" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">notes</a> that some consumers still struggle to see how plant foods can match traditional protein sources.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-plant-protein-replace-animal-protein">Can plant protein replace animal protein?</h2>



Consumers may worry about protein quality when moving away from animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-more-plant-protein-lowers-the-risk-of-heart-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">foods</a>. One key concern is about whether plant proteins are too low in essential amino acids.



Plant-based proteins are often linked with health perks such as high fiber and reduced levels of unhealthy fats. 



They also contain a variety of vitamins and minerals that animal products may lack, but the question about adequate essential amino acids remains.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-protein-vs-animal-protein">Plant protein vs. animal protein</h2>



“Plant protein has been shown in randomized controlled trials to be as effective as animal protein for building muscle when the amounts of protein are equal. And it is full of nutrients and fiber, unlike animal-based protein sources,” clarified Dr. Becker.



There is strong support from <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10537483/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">controlled trials</a> for the benefits of plant-based eating.&nbsp;



In one <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33599941/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>, men who followed a plant-based dietary plan or an omnivorous plan experienced similar gains in muscle mass when the diet was paired with resistance training. 



Similar protein amounts produced comparable results, regardless of the protein source. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-protein-supports-better-aging">Plant protein supports better aging</h2>



Midlife nutrition habits can set the stage for quality of life decades later. An <a href="https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)66282-3/fulltext#tbl2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">investigation</a> led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (<a href="https://hsph.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HSPH</a>) suggests that higher intake of plant protein in midlife may support healthy aging in women.



Participants in that study showed better physical and cognitive outcomes over the years when they relied on beans, nuts, and other plant-based staples. 



The findings indicate that animal protein may have a few benefits for mobility, but plant protein aligns with improved overall well-being.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-practical-protein-needs">Practical protein needs</h2>



The minimum daily requirement for an adult is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram (0.01 ounces per pound) of body weight. 



That’s about 56 grams for a 70-kilogram (2 ounces for a 155-pound) man and 46 grams for a 58-kilogram (1.6 ounces for a 128-pound) woman.



Those who exercise heavily may need up to 2 grams per kilogram (0.07 ounces per pound), especially if they’re doing strength training. 



Keeping track of these figures can guide individuals toward balanced dietary choices that nourish muscle growth and support overall health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-maintaining-muscle-with-age">Maintaining muscle with age</h2>



“As we age, it’s important to consume enough protein to maintain our muscle mass so we can avoid frailty. Plant protein sources, which contain no artery-clogging cholesterol and are low in saturated fat, should be the go-to,” said Dr. Becker. 



Older adults might lose muscle mass over time, so feeding the body with enough protein is wise.&nbsp;



Many plant-based options are naturally free of animal fats, which can help with <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.117.006659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heart health</a> in the long run. These foods are also linked to lower cholesterol levels.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ways-to-replace-animal-protein">Ways to replace animal protein</h2>



Busy schedules might make it tricky for some people to figure out a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/futuristic-food-supply-transforming-co2-into-protein/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant-friendly</a> menu that supplies adequate protein. 



Tofu, beans, lentils, peas, nuts and tempeh are familiar to many who want to load up on muscle-building nutrients without relying on animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-are-suffering-from-declining-plant-quality/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">products</a>.



“Unlike animal-based protein, these foods contain zero cholesterol and tend to be low in saturated fat, making them a smart choice for long-term health. Getting enough protein is as easy as enjoying meals you already know and love,” said Xavier Toledo, a registered dietitian with the Physicians Committee.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wider-acceptance">Wider acceptance</h2>



The survey revealed that more than half of respondents felt it was possible to gain muscle on a plant-based eating plan. 



This marks a change from older attitudes that portrayed animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-changes-in-diet-can-greatly-reduce-your-carbon-footprint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">protein</a> as the gold standard.



Despite strong acceptance among younger adults, the broader public still lags behind on the facts. That gap could close as research keeps highlighting the flexibility and benefits of plant-based <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-based-meat-less-protein-lacks-certain-nutrients/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diets</a>.



The study is published in the <a href="https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)66282-3/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Journal of Clinical Nutrition</a>.



-----



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



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



-----

Do humans need to eat animal protein to build muscle? Science has the answer

Nearly 90% of adults in the United States believe they must eat meat, dairy, or eggs to get enough protein. This finding comes from a poll of 2,203 people who were surveyed in January 2025, and it highlights the lingering confusion around animal protein and plant-based eating. Women and Gen Z participants were most likely to push back against the idea that animal products are required for adequate nutrition. Dr. Roxanne Becker, MBChB, DipIBLM, who is with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, notes that some consumers...

Millions of people use <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dating-digital-age-perfect-match/">online dating websites and dating apps</a> to find potential matches, and now a new study has found that location, more than anything else, drives online interactions. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dating-digital-age-perfect-match/">University of Michigan</a> and the <a href="https://www.santafe.edu/">Santa Fe Institute</a> conducted “a big dating” study to examine the role of geographic distance in messaging patterns for online dating. 

The study was published in the journal Sociological Science, and while the researchers expected location to somewhat factor into messaging trends, the results revealed it to be a surprisingly big factor.

15 million two-way interactions among heterosexual users of a popular online dating site in the US were analyzed for the study, and the researchers used an algorithm to help group interactions together based on location. 

Two-way messages were deemed a more reliable indicator of interest in the study given that many users can send messages and never receive a reply. 

“A crucial aspect of the analysis is that we were looking not just at who sent messages to whom, but who sent messages and got a reply,” said Mark Newman, a co-author of the study. “In other words, at least one message went in both directions between two people. We did this because we felt that that was a more reliable indicator of mutual [romantic] interest.”

After analyzing the interactions, the algorithm generated 19 distinct communities that were markedly similar to geographic regions and state boundaries in the lower 48. 

“Even though everyone's on the same dating site, there's a distinct clustering to who interacts with whom,” said Elizabeth Bruch, the lead author of the study. “It's not surprising that the dating markets were geographically clustered. But the precise boundaries of those markets were a little surprising to us.”

The researchers then mapped these clusters using zip codes from the messages. Some messages were sent to users within state lines, but other users were more liberal about reaching out to people in other nearby states. 

For example, California was divided into several messaging clusters, and Texans only messaged other Texans. People in Kansas and Arkansas had no problem messaging users from a different state. 

The researchers then took their analysis one step further and focused on city clusters rather than state messages in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Seattle. 

In these smaller city submarkets, the researchers found that age played a significant role in messaging. 75 percent of reciprocated messages were between users of the same age group in these cities.

[caption id="attachment_1870661" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/dating-map.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870661" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/dating-map.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="437" /></a> Colors represent clusters of reciprocal messages mapped to the three-digit zip codes of the senders. Image Credit: Bruch and Newman/Sociological Science[/caption]

Depending on the city, a user in a particular demographic or age group may have a lot of luck or find the market extremely limited. 

The study results help provide a more detailed look at online dating and the factors that go into deciding which users to message and choosing whether or not to respond. 

“The patterns suggest that men and women in different American cities are strategizing about who they message based on both race and age very differently,” said Bruch. “Dating markets are something we talk about all the time, but the way that we talk about them makes them out to be sort of an undifferentiated city-level phenomenon. What we've shown, in this analysis, is that that's just not true.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Location plays a major role in driving online dating connections

Millions of people use online dating websites and dating apps...

Much of the Neolithic Era is a mystery, but the rapid spread of a violent society across Europe during this time has created a complicated and storied puzzle that geneticists and archeologists are only just beginning to piece together. 

Between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago, Europe was conquered and colonized by the Yamnaya tribe and their descendants. Archeologists identify the emergence of Yamnaya in Europe with a drastic and violent cultural shift. 

So violent, in fact, that Kristian Kristiansen from the <a href="https://www.gu.se/english">University of Gothenburg</a> believes there is a case to be made placing the Yamanya as one of the most brutal and aggressive societies to history. 

The Britons who built Stonehenge were nearly all wiped out and, in their place, rose a warrior class of people and new customs. 

The Yamnaya originated from Eurasia, and before they migrated into Europe, the people of Neolithic Europe were said to be a communal and innovative society. 

Great “mega-settlements,” as Kristiansen dubs them, housing thousands of people were erected, and it’s possible that roads were built connecting the settlements. 

It was these large settlements that may have led to the rapid invasion and spread of Yamnaya people through Europe. 

The Yamnaya had a unique burial custom, and people were buried alone in single “pit graves,” as archeologists have come to call them. Before burial, the Yamnaya would paint the body with red pigment and cover the grave with wooden beams and a mound of dirt. 

Starting 5,000 years ago, these burial mounds began spreading through Europe and the European genome started to change as the Yamnaya fostered new generations and interbred with European Neolithic woman. 

Researchers have linked a group called the Corded Ware people to the Yamnaya because the Corded Ware shared many of the same customs. 4,9000 years ago, Corded Ware people spread to Northern Europe. 

How the customs and culture of the Yamnaya spread so far and so fast is a question that Kristiansen and his colleagues are trying to tackle. 

In 2015, genetic research revealed that Corded Ware people shared more in common in terms of DNA with the Yamnaya than previously realized, suggesting that the shift in cultural practices wasn’t just the result of the spread of ideas and information, but people as well. 

This is where history gets muddled because it doesn’t make sense that a migrant society would be able to so successfully and quickly wipe out and take over Neolithic Europe. The unfamiliar environments and native tribes should have created some major roadblocks. 

But Kristiansen  has a reasonable explanation involving the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oldest-plague-neolithic-europeans/">spread of disease</a>. Because many Neolithic Europeans congregated in mega-settlements, living in close proximity to each other and livestock, disease would have easily spread. 

Last year, Kristiansen even found evidence of an early relative of plague-causing bacteria on 5,000-year-old teeth found in Sweden.  Disease and mass casualties would have resulted in these settlements being abandoned and burned down, leaving a considerably weakened population. 

However, a weak population alone doesn’t explain the quick shift, and Kristiansen theorizes that young, male warriors on horseback had a considerable advantage over the Neolithic Europeans they encountered. 

The majority of these Yamnaya were men, according to one<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1704308114"> 2017 study</a>, and further evidence of can be found in grave sites of Yamnaya men and local Neolithic European women who each held their own traditional burial customs. 

It’s believed that the Yamnaya killed the males of a tribe and sired future generations with local women to ensure their genetics would be passed on. 

“It looks like they lived mostly on meat and milk products,” Kristiansen told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132230-200-story-of-most-murderous-people-of-all-time-revealed-in-ancient-dna/">New Scientist</a>. “They were healthier and probably physically quite strong.”

It’s important to note that researchers can’t create a clear picture from just a few grave sites scattered across Europe. 

Still, it can’t be denied that the genetic legacy of the Yamnaya and the Corded Ware people as well as another group, the Bell Beaker people who appeared in Europe after the Corded Ware, lived on, but the Britons who built Stonehenge suffered a different fate and little remains of their genes today.

Kristiansen is convinced that the fate of the Britons is due to genocide at the hands of the Yamnaya and their descendants, further proving their ruthlessness. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How one of the most violent tribes of all time conquered Europe

Much of the Neolithic Era is a mystery, but the...

Climate change is making <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seasonal-allergies-climate-change/#.XJ5cR5hKhPY">allergy season more miserable</a>, according to new research focused on how climate change impacts human health and wellbeing.

The weather extremes prompted by a changing climate coupled with overall rising temperatures are affecting the seasons. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://sph.umd.edu/department/miaeh">Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health</a> reviewed survey data from over 300,000 people between 2002 and 2013.

Next, the researchers combined the allergy data with satellite data from the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s</a> Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to identify how allergy burden was influenced by when spring started across the US.

The results, published in the journal PLOS ONE, show that in the US, allergies increase when the season changes earlier or later than normal.

“We found that areas where the onset of spring was earlier than normal had 14% higher prevalence of hay fever,” said Amir Sapkota, a member of the research team. “Surprisingly, we also found similar risk in areas where the onset of spring was much later than what is typical for that geographic location.

The study is the first of its kind to provide national-level quantitative data proving that climate change impacts the allergic disease burden.

Hay fever affects 25 million adults in the US every year, and so understanding how climate change impacts seasonal allergies is important to help lessen the disease burden and lower related medical costs.

When spring comes early, it increases the length of pollen season, and when spring comes late, a sudden burst in flowering and budding increases the amount of pollen allergy sufferers are suddenly exposed to.

“We show that such climate change-driven ecological changes are directly linked to allergic disease burden in the United States,” said Dr. Chengsheng Jiang, a co-author of the paper. “Even a relatively small change in the timing of tree flowering can have a significant economic impact given that 25 million American adults already suffer from hay fever each year.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change is making allergy season longer and more severe

Climate change is making allergy season more miserable, according to...

The stresses of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chocolate-cookies-evaluation-scores/">teaching</a> are hard enough, especially in political and economic climates where resources and funding for schools and salaries have been a low priority. Many teachers today find themselves unable to provide an adequate learning environment for their classes. 

Now, a new study shows that these stresses may be bringing teachers to their breaking point and that many new teachers consider leaving within ten years of starting out due to the nature of the workload and the emphasis on accountability. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/">University College London (UCL) Institute of Education</a> conducted the study, and the results were published in the British Journal of Educational Studies. 

“The general response from government is that teaching will be improved by reducing workload, removing unnecessary tasks and increasing pay,” the researchers said. “This may help, and our study does continue the discourse that workload is key. However, it also indicates that part of the problem lies within the culture of teaching, the constant scrutiny, the need to perform, and hyper-critical management.”

1,200 new teachers who had graduated from the UCL Institute of Education were surveyed on their attitudes toward teaching, what motivated them to start teaching, and why they left or if they were considering leaving the profession in future. 

69 percent of the participants said that wanting to make a difference helped them choose teaching as a career, 64 percent said they were motivated to work with children, and 50 percent said they did it for the love of a subject.

Unfortunately, once the participants started teaching, between 40 and 50 percent said they had left or were considering leaving within ten years of teacher training. 

The drive and passion to teach were quickly overpowered by a challenging workload and constant pressure from assessments, exam preparation, and inspections. 

71 percent of the participants listed workload as a reason for leaving or wanting to leave and 75 percent said they wanted a better work/life balance. 

“It's not as if they weren't aware that teaching was going to be demanding. However, they feel that the demands of the job outstrip their capacity to adapt,” the researchers said in their study. “This raises the question: what can be done to arrest this trend?”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nearly 50 percent of new teachers consider quitting within 10 years

The stresses of teaching are hard enough, especially in political...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.ua.edu/">The University of Alabama</a> has revealed that smugglers who move illegal drugs through Central America are responding to law enforcement activity by finding new routes and methods for drug trafficking. The research has revealed that government strategies aimed at intercepting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cure-cocaine-addiction/">cocaine</a> are actually making a larger geographic area available for trafficking, as the drug continues to reach the United States.  

“This work demonstrates that supply-side counterdrug strategies alone are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, intensifying the trafficking problem,” said study lead author Dr. Nicholas Magliocca. “These networks have demonstrated their ability to adapt to interdiction efforts, identifying and exploiting new trafficking routes in response.”

In the last few decades, efforts by the United States to prevent illegal narcotics from getting into the country have been costly and ineffective. Drug traffickers have responded by adapting their networks across Central America, adjusting their smuggling routes and modes of transit.

As a result, the space drug smugglers use has expanded from roughly 2 million square miles in 1996 to 7 million square miles in 2017, according to Dr. Magliocca. He explained that current approaches to studying or modeling the cocaine supply chain overlook the transit zone between production in South America and drug users in North America.

The team developed a geographic agent-based model to investigate the processes smugglers use to make their decisions and how the cocaine trafficking networks adapt to interception efforts.

“This model gives us the tools to look within the transit zone to see the consequences of interdiction,’ said Dr. Magliocca. “It provides a virtual laboratory for exploring alternative interdiction strategies and scenarios to understand the unintended consequences over space and time.”

The model showed just how widespread cocaine trafficking has become. The researchers also determined that interdiction will continue to spread traffickers into new areas, allowing them to continue to move drugs north. Dr. Magliocca explained that a wider network becomes more costly to monitor and enforce, and increased efforts to stop trafficking increase the risk and, thus, the profits of smugglers.

“The adaptive responses of narco-traffickers within the transit zone, particularly spatial adjustments, must be understood if we are to move beyond reactive counterdrug interdiction strategies.”

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

Drug smugglers find new routes based on law enforcement activity

A new study led by The University of Alabama has...

There exists an unfortunate stigma around lower-income families and individuals who are heavily <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nice-people-money-problems/">in debt</a>. Many people associate irresponsible choices and bad habits with debt, and so seeking debt relief can be challenging given these problematic assumptions and biases.

The truth is that financial hardships put a huge mental tax on people who are unable to get out of debt, and a new study has revealed that this psychological burden can actually impede cognitive function and decision making.

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/ssr/">Social Service Research Centre at the National University of Singapore</a> and is the first of its kind to explore how debt relief impacts the psychological well being and cognition of lower-income, indebted individuals. 

“One challenge with poverty alleviation policies is the bedrock belief that the poor are indebted because of personal failings,” said Dr. Ong Qiyan, a joint-author of the study. “However, our study shows that because debt impairs psychological functioning and decision-making, it would be extremely challenging for even the motivated and talented to escape poverty.”

For the study, 196 chronically in-debt low-income individuals in Singapore were given up to 5,000 Singapore dollars for debt relief through the Getting Out of Debt Program run by Methodist Welfare Services, a Singapore-based charity. 

The program is meant to benefit individuals and households who have a monthly income of less than 1,500 Singapore dollars with chronic debts owed for at least six months. 

In the study, the average monthly income for the participants was S$364.

“Although our study is based on the poor, many non-poor Singaporeans also have debts,” said co-author Walter Theseira. “Why are some people able to handle debts easily, while others find them stressful and taxing? One difference is that the non-poor have the financial resources to manage their debts conveniently and at low cost.”

The debt relief payments were used to help pay off mortgages, utility bills, and other accruing debts but not all the participants had the same amount of debt. 

The researchers surveyed the participants before and after they were given debt relief and the surveys helped measure anxiety, financial decision making, and cognitive functioning. 

Once some of the debts were paid off, the participants reported less anxiety and were able to make smarter financial decisions three months after being given debt relief. These improvements were greater for individuals who had more of their debts paid off. 

“The findings in this study opens a pragmatic case for designing good debt relief programmes for low-income households,” said Irene Ng, a co-author of the study. “As it is the pile up of debt accounts (more than the amount of debt) that affects functioning, interventions should focus on decreasing the mental load on low-income households, whose minds are already highly stressed.” 

The findings of the study were published in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/19/1810901116">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The psychological burden of debt found to impair decision making

There exists an unfortunate stigma around lower-income families and individuals...

Researchers have discovered that heavy drinking during adolescence significantly reduces the rate of brain growth. Supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the research could inform future studies on how these changes may influence problematic <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-drug-treat-alcoholism/">drinking</a> later in life among humans.

Previous studies have linked excessive alcohol consumption to reduced brain volume in both humans and rodents. One study from the University of Oxford, which followed up with individuals after 30 years, showed that the amount of brain shrinkage in the hippocampus was directly related to the amount of alcohol consumed by the participants. For example, those who had the equivalent of four or more drinks a day had nearly six times the risk of shrinkage in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is critical for memory and reasoning. 

The current study from the <a href="https://www.sfn.org/">Society for Neuroscience</a> was based on drinking behavior in a non-human primate model of voluntary alcohol use. A team of experts from the Oregon National Primate Research Center and Oregon Health &amp; Science University used this model to investigate how drinking may affect the brain development that takes place during late adolescence and early adulthood in male and female rhesus monkeys. 


The study revealed that different levels of alcohol consumption affected the growth of the brain to varying degrees. Monkeys who were classified as heavy drinkers based on their alcohol consumption and blood samples had substantially reduced brain growth. The team noted that the development of white matter and the thalamus were particularly affected by alcohol consumption. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.eneuro.org/">eNeuro</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Heavy alcohol consumption during adolescence slows brain development

Researchers have discovered that heavy drinking during adolescence significantly reduces...

A team of neuroscientists at <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">The University of Texas at Austin</a> have identified a set of neurons that allow disturbing memories to resurface. The discovery could ultimately lead to methods for the treatment of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/damage-brain-anxiety-disorders/">anxiety</a>, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to the researchers, the “extinction neurons” suppress fearful memories when they are activated. When these brain cells are not activated, however, frightening memories can re-emerge. While experts have been well aware of the potential for disturbing memories to pop up, the underlying cause has remained a mystery. 

“There is frequently a relapse of the original fear, but we knew very little about the mechanisms,” said study senior author Professor Michael Drew. “These kinds of studies can help us understand the potential cause of disorders, like anxiety and PTSD, and they can also help us understand potential treatments.”

Since fear has been traditionally associated with the amygdala, the team was surprised to find that the neurons linked to fear memories were located in the hippocampus. This brain region, which is responsible for many aspects of memory, seems to play an important role in compartmentalizing fear.


“Extinction does not erase the original fear memory but instead creates a new memory that inhibits or competes with the original fear,” said Professor Drew. “Our paper demonstrates that the hippocampus generates memory traces of both fear and extinction, and competition between these hippocampal traces determines whether fear is expressed or suppressed.”

Using a tool called optogenetics, the scientists were able to artificially activate the fear and suppress the extinction trace memories by turning the extinction neurons on and off again. This suggests that new pathways for drug development should be explored.

“Artificially suppressing these so-called extinction neurons causes fear to relapse, whereas stimulating them prevents fear relapse,” said Professor Drew. “These experiments reveal potential avenues for suppressing maladaptive fear and preventing relapse.”

The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/neuro">Nature Neuroscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: University of Texas at Austin

Why certain scary memories can suddenly resurface in your brain

A team of neuroscientists at The University of Texas at...

People certainly have strong opinions about <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gluten-free-not-healthier/">gluten</a>, as a sensitivity or intolerance to the substance is blamed for a variety of health problems. 

Gluten has serious adverse effects for some people. However, many cases of “gluten intolerance” may actually be something else, and it’s possible that some people should be more worried about a group of sugars called fructans.  
<h2>Why do people avoid gluten?</h2>
Celiac disease is a severe immune response to gluten that has been known for over a century. However, it only occurs in less than 1% of the population. 

Wheat allergies are another severe response to gluten and other proteins present in wheat. These are even rarer, occurring in ~0.2% of the population.

These conditions are very serious and can be life-threatening, and so naturally, people with these conditions avoid gluten out of necessity.

But these conditions only account for a small portion of reported gluten intolerance. These diseases are relatively easy to definitively diagnose, and people with these conditions probably would not benefit from excluding fructans.

<h2>Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity</h2>
Reports of non-celiac gluten sensitivity are on the rise. Patients with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and other digestive issues have begun excluding gluten from their diets. Some people even claim improvements in mood and energy from a gluten-free diet. Self-reported improvements from a gluten-free diet are common.

The rise in gluten-free diets has led to some dubious claims. 63% of consumers believe that a <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/01/will-a-gluten-free-diet-really-make-you-healthier/index.htm">gluten-free diet will improve their health</a>. Many products proudly state they are “gluten-free” to attract health-conscious consumers. 

Even coffee and other products that should never contain gluten sometimes advertise that they are “gluten-free.” In reality, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gluten-free-not-healthier/">gluten-free foods do not provide any benefits</a> to people who aren’t sensitive to gluten. 

Despite patient reports, the cause of <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/is-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-a-real-thing-041615#2">non-celiac gluten sensitivity is not known</a>. This has caused some uncertainty about the legitimacy of these claims. Studies have found these issues may occur in anywhere from <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.13155">0.5-13% of the population</a>. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27523634">One study</a> found that only 16% of those who experience improvements from a gluten-free diet actually have a gluten intolerance. 

But a recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(17)36302-3/fulltext">Gastroenterology</a> may clear up the confusion, revealing how large sugar molecules called fructans could be the culprit, not gluten. 
<h2>What is a fructan?</h2>
Fructans are a group of sugars produced by plants. They are polysaccharides made up of many fructose molecules, and their size and complexity make them more difficult for some people to digest. 

Fructans are part of a larger group of sugars called FODMAPs. This stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di, Mono-saccharides, and Polyols. This group includes lactose, fructose, and xylitol. 
<h3>Why do they cause problems?</h3>
These sugars cause two major issues. First, they draw water into the intestines causing bloating. Additionally, these sugars cannot be digested by our natural enzymes. Instead, gut bacteria ferment these sugars producing gas.

Both of these effects are normal parts of digestion. However, some people are more sensitive to fructans. This can cause gas, bloating, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. 

Fructans can be healthy in the right quantities. They are “prebiotics” that help <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/fructans-not-gluten-might-cause-wheat-sensitivity-heres-what-you-need-to-know/2018/11/05/fcee5f2c-dbb3-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html?utm_term=.e907fc94be93">feed a healthy gut microbiome</a>. Even fructan sensitive people should consume some fructans. It is recommended to slowly increase the amount in your diet. This will help determine how much your body can tolerate. 
<h3>What foods do they occur in?</h3>
<a href="https://www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org/-/media/Brochures/TuftsMC/Patient%20Care%20Services/Departments%20and%20Services/Allergy/Chinese/Fructan%20Intolerance.ashx">70% of the fructans in American diets</a> come from wheat, which is why people may misidentify fructan intolerance as gluten intolerance. 

Fructans are present in many other foods as well. A few common ones are listed below.
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Oats</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Barley</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Garlic</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Onions</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Chickpeas</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Dates and prunes</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Asparagus</li>
</ul>
<h2>The main differences between gluten and fructan intolerance</h2>
The symptoms of gluten and fructan intolerance can be very similar, so it is worth considering both causes when experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms. 

Eliminating fructans and gluten from your diet independently can help. When starting an elimination diet, consult with your doctor. It is important to get all your nutrients, so you want to be cautious that eliminating all foods with fructans or gluten won’t also eliminate essential nutrients.

Fructan intolerance can be identified with a breath test. This is done by eating large amounts of fructans. Gas production and symptoms are then measured over a period of time. 

This is not a standardized diagnostic test. However, it can be helpful in understanding your digestion. If you suspect you have a fructan intolerance, consult your doctor.

--

By <a href="mailto:casey.hofford@gmail.com">Casey Hofford</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Some who think they’re gluten intolerant are actually sensitive to fructans

People certainly have strong opinions about gluten, as a sensitivity...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller University</a> have discovered a set of brain cells that may be the key to limiting how much we want to eat. While exploring the hippocampus region of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-storage-learn-language/">brain</a> in mice, the team identified neurons that act as an appetite suppressant.

The hippocampus is involved in memory, and previous studies have shown that defects in this region can disrupt feeding behavior. This suggests that, somehow, the hippocampus influences an animal’s impulse to eat based on past experiences with food. 

With this in mind, postdoctoral research associate Estefania Azevedo pinpointed a group of hippocampal cells, known as hD2R neurons, which become activated whenever a mouse begins to eat. The team found that the mice ate less when hD2R neurons were stimulated, and ate more when their activity was turned off.

Ultimately, the experts determined that hD2R neurons react to food by deterring animals from eating it. Azevedo explained that even though animals usually benefit from eating, it is useful to exercise restraint in some cases. For example, if an animal has just eaten, it would be unnecessarily risky to go out searching for more food.

“These cells keep an animal from overeating,” said Azevedo. “They appear to make eating less rewarding and, in that sense, are tuning the animal's relationship to food.”

Experiments with mice showed that hDR2 activation diminished memories that linked food to particular locations.

“Mental connections between food and location are important for survival, and the strength of these connections is regulated by how rewarding an experience is,” said  Azevedo. “Because hD2R neurons affect an animal's relationship with food, it also ends up affecting these connections.”


The researchers also discovered a previously unidentified brain circuit in which hD2R neurons receive input from a part of the brain that processes sensory information before sending output to a brain region involved in feeding. According to the researchers, this suggests that the neurons promote a healthy balance between sensing food and eating it.


The research also indicates that the brain has complex ways of controlling appetite, which may lead to the development of therapies to curb overeating.

“Our study shows that brain areas involved in cognitive processing and memory formation affect feeding behavior,” said Azevedo. “So it is possible that, with training, people may be able to learn to change their relationship to food.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists identify key brain cells that stop us from overeating

Researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered a set of brain...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> are reporting that just an hour of swift walking is enough to prevent disability in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/older-adults-new-brain-cells/">older adults</a> with arthritis pain. The same preventive effect was also seen in patients with stiffness or aching in a knee, hip, ankle, or foot.

Study lead author Dorothy Dunlop is a professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

“This is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It's very doable,” said Professor Dunlop. “This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity.”


Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis is the most common type of osteoarthritis, and the condition affects about 14 million older adults in the United States alone. Overall, 40 percent of people with osteoarthritis develop some form of physical impairment that limits their activity. 

The researchers found that one hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week helped older adults maintain their ability to perform daily tasks such as getting dressed. This level of exercise reduced the risk of daily living disability by 45 percent and mobility disability by 85 percent.

The investigation was focused on four years of data from more than 1,500 adults in the national Osteoarthritis Initiative. When the study began, the participants all had pain, aching, or stiffness in lower extremity joints, but were not experiencing disability. Accelerometers were used to measure physical activity among the adults during the study period. 

“Our goal was to see what kind of activity would help people remain free of disability,” explained Professor Dunlop.

Federal guidelines recommend that older adults participate in at least 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity activity for a reduced risk of heart disease and many other chronic diseases. However, Professor Dunlop said this level of activity can be daunting for inactive older adults with lower extremity pain.

“We hope this new public health finding will motivate an intermediate physical activity goal,” said Professor Dunlop. “One hour a week is a stepping stone for people who are currently inactive. People can start to work toward that.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/">American Journal of Preventive Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

One hour of brisk walking helps older adults keep their independence

Researchers at Northwestern University are reporting that just an hour...

Spring is here and it’s time to get growing in the garden. If you’re looking for some gardening hacks to up your plant game, look no further than social media.
<h3>1. Find fascinating plant tips on Blossom</h3>
The DIY Instagram account recently served up three handy growing tips in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvW3cZaAwIN/">video</a>. 

First, gardeners looking for biodegradable seed-starters don’t need to head to their nearest nursery. Instead, grab a package of ice cream cones at the grocery store. They’re just the right size for a seed’s first home, and they fall apart around when the new plant is ready to put down roots in a larger space.

Second, save the root ends of those green onions. A clear plastic egg container becomes the perfect planter to regrow your own, and save a few cents when grocery shopping.

Third, don’t throw out those rusty nails. The iron they contain can be mixed with water and become plant food.

Another recent video shows how to make a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOXuvqB_Tf/">self-watering planter</a> out of a glass bottle.
<h3>2. Check out Twitter</h3>
Have an old T-shirt you don’t want? <a href="https://twitter.com/WeirdLifeHacks/status/1094702614426603520">Turn it into a plant hanger</a> in a few easy steps with this video from DIY Hacks.

Other Twitter accounts offer gardening hacks from <a href="https://twitter.com/CupidHacks/status/1111772036194398208">plants that repel mosquitoes</a> to why you should grow <a href="https://twitter.com/NatureHacks/status/1111611512576188417">marigolds alongside your tomatoes</a>. (Hint: It has to do with a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marigolds-common-tomato-pest/">chemical released by marigolds</a> that fends off tomato-munching insects.)
<h3>3. Pop over to Pinterest</h3>
The Mother Lode of helpful gardening tricks is Pinterest. The virtual pinboard is a favorite of DIYers, who link helpful infographics, blog posts and more. Check out The Prairie Home’s <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/ThePrairieHome/gardening-tips/">Gardening Tips</a> board to start with, or just search for “gardening hacks.”
<h3>4. Now on video</h3>
And don’t forget YouTube, where you can find helpful videos such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lJwr8KaXU">15 Plants You Can Easily Grow in Your Own Kitchen</a>, teaching you how to regrow celery, onions and even pineapples from your grocery store, along with turning old banana peels and eggshells into fertilizer. 

Head over to your favorite social media site and get growing! 

—

By <a href="mailto:kyla.cathey@gmail.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

How to find loads of helpful gardening hacks on social media

Spring is here and it’s time to get growing in...

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



---



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



---



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



---



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



---



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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

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



Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



---



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

News coming your way