Different,Types,Of,Non-dairy,Milk

Vegans who replace cow's milk with soy, almond, or other plant-based alternatives may face a higher chance of mental issues like depression and anxiety than individuals who drink cow’s milk regularly.



This finding emerged from a recent investigation of lifestyle patterns and mental health outcomes among hundreds of thousands of adults in the United Kingdom.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-well-being-of-milk-drinkers">Mental well-being of milk drinkers</h2>



Scientists explored how different milk types might be linked to mental and emotional well-being over more than a decade. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/engineered-gmo-plants-make-baby-formula-healthy-as-breast-milk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Milk</a> is consumed by <a href="https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/products/milk-and-milk-products/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">billions of people</a> worldwide, making it a major part of daily diets.&nbsp;After reviewing participants’ intake habits, researchers noted intriguing contrasts in mental health. 



One group that stood out was semi-skimmed milk drinkers. According to data, they had lower rates of both anxiety and depression when compared to those who either consumed full-fat or plant-based alternatives. 



This observation piqued the interest of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chunyan-Wu-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Chunying Wu</a> from <a href="https://portal.smu.edu.cn/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Southern Medical University</a>, who authored the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-to-non-dairy-beverages">Shifting to non-dairy beverages</h2>



In recent years, many individuals have turned to non-dairy beverages. They cite environmental, health, or ethical concerns in their decision to avoid traditional cow’s milk. 



Yet <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-General/Trade-Market-reports/Milk-alternatives-popularity-growing-in-the-US-February-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> suggests some of these milk alternatives may not provide the same mental health benefits. One explanation involves nutritional content.&nbsp;



“Milk is a rich source of nutrients such as lactose, lipids, protein, and minerals, which are essential for maintaining human health,” wrote the scientists from Southern Medical University. 



Plant-based options, on the other hand, often differ in protein levels and might include added ingredients that influence mood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calcium-and-serotonin">Calcium and serotonin</h2>



Researchers found that cow’s milk <a href="https://www.adsa.org/About-ADSA/Media/Serotonin-found-to-be-an-important-factor-in-calcium-homeostasis-in-dairy-cows-November-16-2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">delivers calcium</a> in a form that supports pathways involved in serotonin production. Serotonin, sometimes called the body’s “feel-good” molecule, helps regulate mood and stress responses.&nbsp;



“Serotonin is a chemical that plays a role in the brain with respect to mood and mental health. The most popular group of antidepressant medications promotes the absorption of serotonin,” the authors explained.&nbsp;



As a result, consistent calcium intake can potentially improve these natural coping mechanisms. Some plant-based milks also offer calcium, but the level and bioavailability may vary.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saturated-versus-unsaturated-fats">Saturated versus unsaturated fats</h2>



Milk is rich in saturated fats. Semi-skimmed milk reduces the proportion of these fats but still retains valuable fatty acids that might help protect the <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11211382/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brain</a>. 



Compared to the full-fat version, semi-skimmed appears to occupy a middle ground of moderate fat content without the potential drawbacks of excess saturated fat.&nbsp;



Meanwhile, plant-based milk alternatives can sometimes include added sugars or other compounds that may have unexpected effects on mental well-being. 



These additives, while often enhancing taste or texture, may inadvertently interfere with the body's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breast-milk-lowers-asthma-risk-in-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural hormone regulation</a>, potentially impacting emotional stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-impact-on-dopamine">Potential impact on dopamine</h2>



In addition to serotonin, <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/dopamine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dopamine</a> plays a key part in focus and reward-related behavior. <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4850606/#:~:text=Recent%20research%20has%20shown%20that,to%20be%20vulnerable%20to%20dysregulation." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Studies</a> have suggested that high levels of certain saturated fats can alter dopamine signaling, which may contribute to mood disorders.&nbsp;



Semi-skimmed milk, with its reduced saturated fat, may avoid some of these mental effects and maintain a healthier balance of essential nutrients. 



Scientists suggest this balance could hold the key to the lower rates of depression and anxiety seen among semi-skimmed milk consumers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-varied-mental-health-benefits-of-milk">Varied mental health benefits of milk</h2>



While findings point to fewer mood challenges for people who choose semi-skimmed over other varieties, each individual’s mental health picture depends on much more than beverage choice. 



Genetics, life stressors, sleep, and socioeconomic circumstances all contribute.&nbsp;



Researchers emphasize that food-related decisions are just one facet of psychological well-being. They recommend that people remain mindful of their overall habits and consult healthcare professionals when making major dietary shifts.



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



Experts often promote a balanced diet that combines fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and moderate dairy. Semi-skimmed milk could fit neatly into many people’s meal plans.&nbsp;



Individuals who prefer plant-based options may benefit from checking labels for calcium and protein levels, as well as added substances. 



Though no single approach will suit everyone, looking at subtle dietary factors might pay off for those hoping to support a healthy outlook.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-on-milk-s-mental-benefits">Future research on milk's mental benefits</h2>



Additional research may help clarify whether semi-skimmed milk truly provides extra mental health benefits.



Controlled clinical trials could investigate how this option affects depression or anxiety in different subgroups, such as older adults or those with pre-existing conditions.&nbsp;



Researchers also <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7178197/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">note</a> that genetics can make some people more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/raw-milk-could-carry-deadly-flu-viruses-for-days/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vulnerable</a> to certain dietary impacts. A closer look at these details might inform tailored recommendations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-ahead">Looking ahead</h2>



Many are interested in how small tweaks to daily meals might lift or lower spirits. 



This study urges people to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-raw-milk-health-hazard-pasteurization-important/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pay attention to milk</a> choice, especially if they already feel down or tense. Substituting semi-skimmed for full-fat or plant-based beverages could make a subtle difference for some.&nbsp;



Experts look forward to future work that explores how simple changes in milk type and eating patterns might support better mental well-being. Further investigation of these connections may help people shape diets that support mental balance.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1435435/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Nutrition</a>.



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Some types of plant-based milk are linked to mental disorders like depression

Vegans who replace cow's milk with soy, almond, or other plant-based alternatives may face a higher chance of mental issues like depression and anxiety than individuals who drink cow’s milk regularly. This finding emerged from a recent investigation of lifestyle patterns and mental health outcomes among hundreds of thousands of adults in the United Kingdom.&nbsp; Mental well-being of milk drinkers Scientists explored how different milk types might be linked to mental and emotional well-being over more than a decade. Milk is consumed by billions of people worldwide,...

Early this morning, Hurricane Florence began to make landfall along the coast of North Carolina and is now making slow and steady progress inland towards the central parts of the Carolinas. 

Already images and video footage posted to social media show flooded streets and fast-moving currents of water and debris. 

High winds, dangerous storm surges, and catastrophic flooding have all been reported with Hurricane Florence, and residents have been cautioned to leave as soon as possible if they live in evacuation zones. 

Yesterday, over 200,000 people in North Carolina had no power due to the high winds and flooding as Hurricane Florence began to make landfall, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/160000-power-hurricane-florence-lashes-north-carolina-coast/story?id=57791726">ABC News</a>.

The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/09/14/hurricane-florence-sweeps-across-carolinas-bringing-life-threatening-rainfall/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.8d81de0e115a">Washington Post</a> reported that the number of power outages on Friday had skyrocketed to 500,000. 

Even though the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 1, weather reports have said that the downgrade doesn’t mean Florence will be any less intense.

Instead, residents in the area have been told to prepare for days of rain and potentially 40 inches of rainfall in some areas of North and South Carolina. 

Like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-harvey-slams-texas/">Hurricane Harvey</a> last year, what makes Florence so potentially dangerous is the amount of rainfall the storm could produce if it just sits over the Carolinas. 

“It's getting worse,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/us/hurricane-florence-south-east-coast-wxc/index.html">CNN</a>. “The storm is going to continue its violent grind across our state for days.”

CNN also reported that more than 200 people had been rescued from the rising waters and storm surges reached as high as ten feet. The hurricane produced some of the highest wind gusts that the state has experienced since Hurricane Helene in 1958. 

Another huge cause for concern with Hurricane Florence is the potential environmental hazards that could arise with flooding and storm damage. As per protocol, a nuclear power plant in Brunswick, North Carolina has been shut down but there are five other nuclear plants in the hurricane’s path, according to CNN. 

There are also risks of toxic pollution from agricultural operations, coal ash pits, and livestock. 

“This one is pretty scary,” Jamie Kruse, director of the Center for Natural Hazards Research at East Carolina University told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/12/hurricane-florence-north-carolina-nuclear-plants-prepare">The Guardian</a>. “The environmental impacts will be from concentrated animal feeding operations and coal ash pits. Until the system gets flushed out, there’s going to be a lot of junk in the water.”

Thousands have evacuated their homes to emergency shelters in North and South Carolina and by all accounts, this is only the beginning of the worst of it. 

---

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: ESA/NASA–A. Gerst

Hurricane Florence slams Carolinas, remains dangerous

Early this morning, Hurricane Florence began to make landfall along...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are non-biodegradable compounds used to manufacture a wide variety of consumer products and are pollutants that are found all over the environment. But now, a new study has found that they may cause kidney damage and poor kidney function. 

The likelihood of PFAS exposure is extremely high due to how much of the pollutants have contaminated the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-in-33-states/">environment, water, and atmosphere. </a>

Researchers from <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> recently conducted a study reviewing 74 studies on PFAS exposure and kidney health to better understand how the pollutants affect our health and wellbeing. 

The results of the Duke University analysis were published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 

Given how prevalent PFAS are in the environment, it’s important to know if they contribute to health problems or increase the risk of certain diseases and health problems.

“The kidneys are very sensitive organs, particularly when it comes to environmental toxins that can get in our bloodstream,” said John Stanifer, the lead author of the study. “Because so many people are now exposed to these PFAS chemicals, and to the newer, increasingly-produced alternative PFAS agents such as GenX, it is critical to understand if and how these chemicals may be contributing to kidney disease.”

Of the 74 studies, the researchers found PFAS exposure correlated with a deterioration of kidney function, derangements in the proximal tubules (the resorptive structure of the kidney), and unregulated metabolic pathways linked to kidney disease.

The researchers also found that children are more exposed to PFAS than adults and in greater quantities. 

“By searching all the known studies published on the topic, we concluded that there are several potential ways in which these chemicals can cause kidney damage,” said Stanifer. “Further, we discovered that there have already been multiple reports suggesting that these chemicals are associated with worse kidney outcomes.”--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Very common environmental pollutants damage kidney health

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are non-biodegradable compounds used to...

A recent study published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10071">Animal Cognition</a> has found that toddlers use some of the same gestures as chimpanzees and gorillas to communicate. Of the 52 limb and body movements used by one and two year olds to communicate, many of these movements are also observed in great apes.

“'Wild chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans all use gestures to communicate their day-to-day requests,” says Dr. Catherine Hobaiter of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">St. Andrews University</a>. “But until now there was always one ape missing from the picture – us.”

In a first of its kind study, Hobaiter’s international team of researchers used the same method of recording gestures for both species. They filmed <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-learn-tools/">chimpanzees</a> in the Budongo Forest in Uganda, and recorded 13 young children interacting with their peers, caregivers, and relatives at home, in nurseries, and during shopping trips in Germany and Uganda.

According to Hobaiter, chimpanzees and humans are the only species that have a system of communication where they intentionally send messages to another individual. Analysis of the chimpanzees and children found that, of the 52 distinct gestures used by children, 46 of them are present in the chimpanzees’ communication as well. This included actions such as reaching with an outstretched palm, raising, waving, or shaking the arm, clapping, and shaking or throwing objects.

“‘Of the six remaining, four of the gestures used by children: “Hit self,” “Object on head,” “Rub” and “Tapping self,” are present in the gorilla repertoire and two gestures: “Arm bend” and “Hand wave,” were specific to children,” explains Hobaiter. “Like chimpanzees, children used them both singly, and in sequences, and employed individual gestures flexibly towards different goals. We thought we might find a few of these gestures – reaching out your palm to ask for something or sticking your hand up in the air. But we were amazed to see so many of the “ape” gestures used by the children.”

The researchers found that children used these motions in a similar way to young apes when communicating with parents or peers, and even used combinations to ask for different things. However, there were some distinct differences. For example, children point significantly more than young apes, and it appears that hand waving to say “hello” or “goodbye” is unique to humans.

“Since chimpanzees and humans shared a common ancestor around five to six million years ago, we wanted to know whether our evolutionary history of communication is also reflected in human development,” says first author Dr. Verena Kersken of the <a href="http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Gottingen</a>.

While we humans would go on to develop a complex language, these findings show that we still share an ancient gestural heritage. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Toddlers and chimps share many of the same gestures to communicate

A recent study published in Animal Cognition has found that...

While efforts to improve access to proper <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/war-urbanization-global-malnutrition/">nutrition</a> in the developing world have improved over the years, there are still about 2 billion people on the planet who are affected by micronutrient malnutrition – also known as “hidden hunger.” Currently, the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/">United Nations’</a> second Sustainable Development Goal aims to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. But new research has found that we may need a different approach to assessing the nutrient sufficiency of the global food system.

In the first study to quantitatively map the flow of energy, protein, fat, essential amino acids, and micronutrients from “field-to-fork” on a global level, a report published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a> highlights the complexities that are part of delivering a balanced food system.

“There are two main issues with how we currently talk about food systems,” says <a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/501115/overview">Hannah Ritchie</a> of the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a>, who led the study. “The first is that we focus our measure of food security in terms of calories (energy), when micronutrient malnutrition (‘hidden hunger’) affects more than ~2 billion people across the world. The second issue is that aspects of our food system are reported in tonnes or kilograms, and it’s very hard to put these numbers in the context of how many people this could feed.”

The researchers aimed to assess the full food system by looking at average nutrients per person across a wide array of nutrients that are necessary for good health. Through using food balance and nutrient composition datasheets from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to quantify digestible protein, fat, calories, amino acids and micronutrients across the supply chain, they calculated food and nutrient losses from FAO regional waste data. 

Their results showed that all nutrients – not just calories – exceeded average requirements. 

“Previous studies have shown that we produce much more than we need in terms of calories (5,500-6,000 kilocalories per person per day), but I was not expecting this for protein and essential micronutrients. Some nutrients were up to five times the average requirement,” says Ritchie.

However, although nutrients exceeded requirements, food wastage and nutrient losses in the supply chain made it so by the time some nutrients reached households, they barely made the nutrition requirements.

“This would be okay in a perfectly equitable food system,” says Ritchie. “But with large inequalities in food availability, we know that many people will be deficient in several essential nutrients.”

 One of the biggest complexities is that these losses don’t happen in the same place for each nutrient. The most significant micronutrient losses occur in post-harvest waste of fruits and vegetables, while the largest losses of energy and protein happen in the allocation of crops to animal feed and biofuel. Beyond this one complication, there are many other issues that arise when attempting to remedy nutrient loss.

“This study is just the start,” says <a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/484235/overview">Professor David Reay</a>, a supporting researcher from the University of Edinburgh. “In the future, this replicable framework can be used to map food pathways for specific regions and countries. Our hope is that governments and development agencies can use it to assess food security risks and develop locally specific solutions.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nutrient loss leaves billions of people at risk of “hidden hunger”

While efforts to improve access to proper nutrition in the...

Previous research has shown that people often interpret new information in a way that supports their pre-existing beliefs, which is known as confirmation bias. A new study by researchers at the <a href="https://www.uke.de/english/index.html">University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf</a> (UKE) and <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> has demonstrated that a tendency toward confirmation bias prevails even when <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/people-decisions-intuition-logic/">decisions</a> are as trivial as choosing the direction of dots running across a screen. 

“Confirmation biases have previously only been established in the domains of higher cognition or subjective preferences,” said study co-author Tobias Donner. “It was rather striking for us to see that people displayed clear signs of confirmation bias when judging on sensory input that we expected to be subjectively neutral to them.”

The findings of the study suggest that confirmation bias is linked to selective attention, a process in which people react to certain pieces of information and not others when several are presented at the same time.

Although the phenomenon of confirmation bias is well-established, it has not been entirely determined what drives this tendency. One theory is that, after making a decision, people like to find ways to confirm they made the right choice. Another theory is that people become less sensitive to new information after making an important decision.

To investigate, the researchers instructed study participants to look at two videos that featured a cloud of small white dots on a white computer screen. The individuals were asked to report the direction of the moving dots, which was difficult because the dots were embedded in many more dots that moved sporadically.  

After the first video, the participants were asked to decide whether the motion of the dots pointed clockwise or counterclockwise from a reference line drawn next to the cloud. After the second video, the volunteers were asked to drag the mouse over the screen to represent their best estimate of the average direction that they had observed in both videos. 

The study revealed that after making an initial call based on the first video, the participants were more likely to use subsequent evidence that was consistent with this initial choice when making their final decision. This discovery indicates that the initial choice acts as a cue, selectively directing attention toward any incoming information that supports it.


“Contrary to a common phrase, first impression does not have to be the last impression,” said study first author Bharath Talluri. “Such impressions, or choices, lead us to evaluate information in their favor. By acknowledging the fact that we selectively prioritize information agreeing with our previous choices, we could attempt to actively suppress this bias, at least in cases of critical significance, like evaluating job candidates or making policies that impact a large section of the society.”


The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People interpret new information to back their existing beliefs

Previous research has shown that people often interpret new information...

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily helping humans for centuries. Today, donkeys fill many roles for humans from agricultural animals to beloved pets. But now, donkeys are increasingly filling an unexpected role as a medicinal good.

The market for donkey skins is driven by demand for ejiao, a medicine made from donkey skins that is used for a wide variety of purposes, from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/anti-aging-hormone/">anti-aging</a> to increased libido and cancer treatment. Ejiao has been around for 2,500 years, but its popularity has recently grown as a result of marketing campaigns and new uses for the product. 

According to a<a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sites/uk/files/2017-11/under_the_skin_report.pdf"> 2017 report</a> by The Donkey Sanctuary, an estimated 1.8 million donkey skins are traded every year. Like many animal products used for traditional medicine, ejiao is seen as a luxury good.

Sadly, the lives of the donkeys used for their skins is often far from luxurious. Donkeys are either killed in illicit slaughterhouses or taken to legal operations to be slaughtered and skinned.

These donkey slaughterhouses are often marked by poor living conditions including lack of food and water, exposure to infectious diseases and inhumane slaughter techniques. Some donkeys are even skinned while they are still alive, likely enduring extreme pain and distress. After the donkeys are skinned, their carcasses are sometimes simply dumped in a pile or buried outside creating potential public health concerns.

The National Council of SPCAs notes one especially horrific case at a donkey slaughterhouse, “The Bloemfontein SPCA investigated an issue involving 70 sick, weak and emaciated donkeys on a plot outside the city. According to workers, the donkeys had been on the property for two weeks without food or water. Some had aborted and dead foetuses were found on the ground.”

 Now, certain regional donkey populations are dwindling as donkeys cannot keep up with demand. China, who is a large consumer of donkey skin products, experienced a decline in donkey populations from<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-22/ejiao-threatens-donkey-populations/9282138"> 11 million in 1990 to 3 million in 2017</a>. To help with this decline, donkeys are exported to China from developing countries where donkeys are common.

The sudden and overwhelming demand for donkeys adversely affects farmers who depend on donkeys for their livelihood. Since the donkey skin market has exploded, the price for donkeys has increased in countries such as Niger and Kenya.<a href="https://spana.org/"> SPANA</a>, the international working animal charity, states that the price of a donkey in some African countries has inflated up to four times its normal price. If farmers can still afford to buy donkeys, they risk having their donkeys stolen for the donkey skin trade. Almost 1,000 donkeys were stolen in Kenya from December 2016 to April 2017 alone.

Farmers in countries such as Tanzania and Kenya are now receiving help from non-profits groups such as <a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/">The Donkey Sanctuary</a> and <a href="https://www.thebrooke.org/">The Brooke</a> in protecting their donkeys and preventing theft. 

In addition to community level actions, some African and Asian countries are fighting back and banning donkey skin exports from their countries. As illegal donkey slaughterhouses continue to proliferate, country-wide bans of donkey exports should be followed by increased enforcement efforts.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Increased demand for donkey skins has created a horrific market

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily...

Our eyesight is an integral part of the survival of our species, as it allows us to identify both food and predators – two of the most important things for a species’ survival. Identifying the presence and direction of a moving object helps animals find <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bats-echolocation-hunt-prey/">prey</a>, and also avoid being prey. 

Vertebrate retinas have four kinds of motion-sensitive cells to help with this task, with each being responsive to a motion that is up, down, right, or left. But in the nighttime, our retinas have a good deal of difficulty detecting motion. A new study in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a> reports findings on how the retina is able to reprogram itself for dealing with low light.

Retinal circuits were believed to be unchanging, programmed for specific tasks and unable to be reprogrammed. Cells programmed to respond to upward motion were thought to only deal with movement in the up direction, as were cells programmed for the other three directions. It’s known that when an object is moving exactly in one of those directions, that population of neurons fires strongly. If the motion is halfway between two directions – such as going up and to the right – both populations of cells will fire, just not quite as strongly.

These directional neurons make up roughly 4 percent of the cells that send signals from the retina to the brain in humans. In rodents, these neurons make up about 20 to 30 percent, as motion detection is even more important for an animal that is constantly being hunted. Because they are always at risk of being attacked by a predator, rodents tend to forage at night, most likely because it’s harder for predators to see. “But of course, nature is an arms race,” explains Greg Field, an assistant professor of neurobiology and biomedical engineering at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a>. 

“Owls and cats have developed highly specialized eyes to see at night. The prey have altered what they have to survive.”

One of these potential alterations was found by Xiaoyang Yao, a graduate student in Field’s lab who looked at mouse retinas under a microscope equipped with night vision in a very dark room. She found that the retinal cells programmed for upward movement actually change their behavior in low light. These “up” neurons will fire when they detect any kind of movement – not just upward motion. This was shown through placing a small sample of mouse retina on an electrode array that measures the individual firing of hundreds of neurons at once. The researchers then showed it movies, and assessed the firing of the neurons in daytime and nighttime conditions.

They found that only the “up” cells become reprogrammed for all motion in low light. Although the researchers don’t know the exact reasons for this, Fields believes it is because up is the most important direction for a prey animal to spot a predator, as it may loom upwards while it approaches prey. While they haven’t refined exactly why this adaptation occurred, the discovery that large populations of retinal neurons adapt their function for low light conditions is an important finding. Because it is driven by both the circuitry and chemical signals between cells, there may be many other adaptations like this one that can be found with further research.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How our eyes adapt and reprogram to see at night

Our eyesight is an integral part of the survival of...

Researchers have identified a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/amish-people-live-longer/">gene mutation</a> that triggered changes in humans more than two million years ago, and ultimately shaped the physical capacity of modern humans. According to the study, the loss of a single gene called CMAH may have contributed to the ability of humans to run long distances. 

Around the same time as the CMAH mutation, early humans were making the  transition from living in the forest to living primarily in the arid savannahs of Africa. Human bodies and their abilities were evolving dramatically, particularly changes in physiology that resulted in long legs, big feet, and powerful gluteal muscles. 

Study senior author Dr. Ajit Varki is the Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at <a href="http://som.ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego School of Medicine</a>.

“We discovered this first clear genetic difference between humans and our closest living evolutionary relatives, the chimpanzees, more than 20 years ago,” said Dr. Varki.


The team set out to investigate the loss of CMAH in mice to examine how the genetic difference may have contributed to physiological changes and the origin of Homo.

“Since the mice were also more prone to muscle dystrophy, I had a hunch that there was a connection to the increased long distance running and endurance of Homo, but I had no expertise on the issue and could not convince anyone in my lab to organize this long-shot experiment,” said Dr. Varki.


The challenge was ultimately taken on by graduate student Jon Okerblom, who built mouse running wheels and borrowed a mouse treadmill. 

“We evaluated the exercise capacity (of mice lacking the CMAH gene), and noted an increased performance during treadmill testing and after 15 days of voluntary wheel running,” said Okerblom.

The team found that the mice displayed greater resistance to fatigue, increased mitochondrial respiration and hind-limb muscle, and more capillaries to increase blood and oxygen supply.

Dr. Varki said that these findings suggest CMAH loss contributed to improved skeletal muscle capacity for oxygen utilization. “And if the findings translate to humans, they may have provided early hominids with a selective advantage in their move from trees to becoming permanent hunter-gatherers on the open range.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Gene mutation made humans capable of running long distances

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that triggered changes in...

Anyone who has ever <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/anxiety-logical-decisions/">gambled</a> knows that it can give you quite the rush, and requires a fair amount of analysis, whether you’re betting on poker, a sporting event, or how many slices of pizza you can eat in one sitting. Analysis of brain activity during betting can give insight into how we make decisions and assess the choices we’ve made. 

A new study from the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> has found that once a gambler places a bet, they immediately begin experiencing regret about past bets – both won and lost.

“Right after making a choice and right before finding out about the outcome, the brain is replaying and revisiting nearly every feature of what happened during the previous decision,” says senior author Ming Hsu, an associate professor in the Haas School of Business and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. “Instead of ‘I just gambled but maybe I shouldn’t have,’ it is, ‘Last round I gambled and that was a really good choice.’ Or, ‘I played it safe last time but should have gone for it.’”

For their study, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, the researchers focused on the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, which is involved in reward processing and social interactions. Past research has found that this area of the brain is involved in how people value their choice options, how much regret they feel, how valuable their choice is, and how much risk they are willing to take. These feelings have influence over future choices, and help an individual determine how good or bad an outcome may have been.

The researchers recorded fast human brain activity at a thousand measurements per second to reveal the complex array of activity underlying decisions being made by study participants. They used electrodes to record this activity, and did so while participants were presented with a betting opportunity and deciding whether or not to bet. They also recorded brain activity once the individual placed the bet and then learned the outcome. Their recording allowed the researchers to track the activity moving through the orbitofrontal cortex on a millisecond by millisecond basis.

&nbsp;

“It turns out that the most prevalent information encoded in the orbitofrontal cortex was the regret subjects experienced from their previous decision,” says first author Ignacio Saez, a former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow, now an assistant professor at UC Davis.

Brain activity showed that gamblers were second-guessing their earlier decision based off whether they won or lost, even before they discovered whether or not they had won their current bet.

“After the subject has made a decision, the brain, far from idly waiting to find out the outcome, was busy revisiting what occurred during the previous decision – everything from whether they gambled and how much was won or lost, to how much regret they felt from their earlier decision,” says Hsu. “From our subjects we get a better picture of the brain and what it is doing during decision-making, but it also gives some ground-truth for the type of signals we might look for in people with dysfunctions in decision-making,” Hsu said. “There is a lot more going on under the hood than is represented in our elegant but overly-simplified models and theories.”

The researchers see an opportunity to better understand both addictive and antisocial behavior, as well as compare regret in normal brains versus injured brains. Future findings may help improvement treatment for individuals with disorders or injuries related to the orbitofrontal cortex.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

When betting, gamblers mainly feel regret over past wagers

Anyone who has ever gambled knows that it can give...

A new study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> has revealed that more than one-third of college freshmen suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. The investigation involved first-year <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/college-students-thought-suicide/">university students</a> in eight industrialized countries worldwide. 

Dr. Randy P. Auerbach of <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> is the study's lead author.

“While effective care is important, the number of students who need treatment for these disorders far exceeds the resources of most counseling centers, resulting in a substantial unmet need for mental health treatment among college students,” said Dr. Auerbach. “Considering that students are a key population for determining the economic success of a country, colleges must take a greater urgency in addressing this issue.”

The research team analyzed data from the World Health Organization's World Mental Health International College Student Initiative, which involved nearly 14,000 students from 19 colleges in eight countries. The participants reported on symptoms associated with common mental disorders, including major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

Overall, 35 percent of the respondents suffered from symptoms that were consistent with at least one mental health disorder. The most common ailment was found to be major depressive disorder, followed by generalized anxiety disorder.

“The finding that one-third of students from multiple countries screened positive for at least one of six mental health disorders represents a key global mental health issue,” said Dr. Auerbach.

According to previous research, only 15 to 20 percent of students will address their issues with local psychologists or at their school counseling center. For those who will not seek out help in person, Dr. Auerbach recommends Internet resources, such as online cognitive behavioral therapy.

“University systems are currently working at capacity and counseling centers tend to be cyclical, with students ramping up service use toward the middle of the semester, which often creates a bottleneck,” said Dr. Auerbach. “Internet-based clinical tools may be helpful in providing treatment to students who are less inclined to pursue services on campus or are waiting to be seen.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/abn/">Journal of Abnormal Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

One in three college freshmen suffer from mental health disorders

A new study published by the American Psychological Association has...

When researchers investigated a potential connection between personality traits and Christmas shopping habits, they found that people who are more emotionally stable spend more money during the holidays. People who are less stable, particularly those who have higher levels of neuroticism, were found to spend less money on Christmas shopping.

For retailers, holiday sales can represent 20 percent of revenue for the entire year, which means that understanding how consumers spend money during this time is of particular interest. The research team set out to find personality traits that may predict holiday spending.

“We've known for a while that personality is related to what we call ‘broad outcomes:’ how much money you make or how happy you are or how long you live, but we know less about why personality is related to those things,” explained co-lead author Sara Weston of <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a>.

The team, which also included co-lead author Joe Gladstone of the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> and colleagues, determined that personality traits are related to specific spending behaviors.

The study was focused on more than two million individual transactions from the bank accounts of over 2,000 participants. The researchers compared the relationship between the Big 5 personality traits and spending over the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/christmas-sex-september-births/">Christmas</a> season.

The study revealed that people who are more emotionally stable spend more during the holidays, while those high in neuroticism spend less. The experts also found that individuals with more artistic interests and more active imaginations spend less during the holiday season compared to people who are less artistic and imaginative. In addition, individuals who are highly conscientious spend more during the holidays.

This research provides a guide for examining how large scale information combined with personality traits can create an overview of consumer habits.

“By providing objective measures of both annual and holiday spending, the data allow for a truly ecological study of the relationship between personality traits and consumer behavior,” said Gladstone.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/home/spp">Social Psychological and Personality Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who are emotionally stable spend more during the holidays

When researchers investigated a potential connection between personality traits and...

According to recent estimates, as much as 70 percent of all the world's freshwater is used for crop irrigation. 

Global agricultural has placed a huge burden on water resources and there is growing concern that climate change and population increases will strain already precariously low watersheds too thin. 

The world’s population is projected to increase from <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/Key_Findings_WPP_2015.pdf">7.4 billion to 9.725 billion </a>by 2050, and the big question that arises is how will agriculture meet the food demands of a growing population?

Moreover, will there be enough water to meet the new agricultural demands? Assessing the world’s water consumption, particularly in terms of agriculture, is difficult because many areas do not report water consumption levels for agriculture. 

The <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/SMOS/How_much_water_is_used_for_irrigation">European Space Agency (ESA)</a> recently reported on a new study published in the journal International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation that discussed the possibility of using ESA <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/smap-satellite-will-measure-moisture-in-earths-soil/">satellites to measure soil moisture</a>. 

If researchers have a better idea of how much water is being used for crops than that information could inform water conservation and management in the future. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.cnr.it/en/institute/066/research-institute-for-geo-hydrological-protection-irpi">CNR Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection</a> in Italy proposed the satellite soil moisture measurement application. 

“As a first step to demonstrating how this type of satellite measurements could be used, we chose nine sites in all – sites in the US, Europe, Africa and Australia,” Luca Brocca, the study’s lead author, told the ESA. “We took four satellite missions that observe soil moisture and we were able to measure the amount of water applied for irrigation between two consecutive soil-moisture measurements from space.”

The researchers propose that satellite data from different missions like the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission as well as <a href="https://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive mission</a>, could record accurate soil moisture measurements and help show how much water is used for crops around the world. 

“This really is a first step, but we can anticipate that higher resolution data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions offer further potential,” said Brocca. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Agricultural irrigation places massive burden on freshwater supply

According to recent estimates, as much as 70 percent of...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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