Many people have experienced waking up in a good mood in the morning, only to feel drained by the end of the day. A new study confirms that this pattern is not just a personal feeling - it is a widespread trend. 



According to the research, mental health and wellbeing scores peak in the morning and decline as the day progresses, reaching their lowest point around midnight.



This study provides one of the most detailed analyses of how mental health fluctuates across the day. It also examines whether these variations depend on the day of the week, the season, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-health-and-the-internet-who-benefits-and-who-suffers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">broader social factors</a>. 



The findings offer valuable insights into daily mental health patterns, with implications for both public health and personal well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-is-better-in-the-morning">Mental health is better in the morning</h2>



Researchers found a strong connection between time of day and mental health. In the morning, people report feeling the happiest, most satisfied with life, and least lonely. These positive feelings gradually decline throughout the day. 



By midnight, mental health scores reach their lowest levels, with increased reports of depressive and anxiety symptoms.



This pattern suggests that mental health is not static but changes over short periods. While previous studies have explored long-term shifts in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-health-the-hidden-casualty-of-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mental well-being</a>, fewer have examined how people’s mood and well-being fluctuate throughout a single day.



This research fills that gap by analyzing mental health trends across different times, days, and seasons.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-daily-mood-patterns">Daily mood patterns </h2>



The research team used data from the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University College London</a> COVID-19 Social Study, which tracked mental health patterns from March 2020 to March 2022. 



The study included responses from over 49,000 participants, with a majority being women and degree-educated individuals. Since certain demographics were overrepresented, the data was weighted to reflect a more balanced population.



Participants answered direct questions about their happiness, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/doomscrolling-is-silently-ruining-our-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life satisfaction</a>, and sense of purpose. These responses were recorded with timestamps, allowing researchers to analyze mood variations across different hours. 



The experts also collected information about each participant’s age, gender, employment status, education level, and health conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-some-days-feel-better-than-others">Do some days feel better than others?</h2>



Beyond daily fluctuations, the study examined whether mental health varied across different days of the week. The results showed that well-being scores were generally higher on Mondays and Fridays compared to Sundays.



Interestingly, happiness levels were also relatively high on Tuesdays, while Sundays had some of the lowest well-being scores.



Loneliness, however, remained fairly stable across all days. The study found no clear evidence that people felt more isolated on specific days of the week. 



The researchers noted that these findings challenge common assumptions, such as the idea that weekends are always better for mental health than weekdays.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seasonal-effects-on-mental-health">Seasonal effects on mental health</h2>



The research also confirmed that mental health shifts with the seasons. Compared to winter, people generally reported lower levels of depression and anxiety during other times of the year. 



Happiness, life satisfaction, and a sense of purpose were all highest in the summer months.



Despite these seasonal variations, one surprising finding was that the daily pattern of mood remained consistent. Regardless of the season, people still felt best in the morning and worst at night. 



This suggests that while seasonal factors like daylight hours influence mood, they do not override the body’s internal clock.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-role-of-the-body-clock">Role of the body clock</h2>



The researchers suggest that the daily pattern in mental health could be explained by biological rhythms. Specifically, they point to the role of cortisol, a hormone linked to stress and energy regulation.



“For example, cortisol peaks shortly after waking and reaches its lowest levels around bedtime. However, it is important to acknowledge the differences between weekends and weekdays."



This means that while natural biological processes help regulate mood, external factors such as work schedules and daily routines also play a role. The fact that mental health fluctuates differently on weekends suggests that social and behavioral factors contribute to these changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-improved-after-2020">Mental health improved after 2020</h2>



Another key finding from the study was that overall mental health improved from 2020 onward. Since the research period covered the COVID-19 pandemic, this suggests that mental health gradually recovered after the initial crisis. 



However, the study does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, so other factors could also explain this improvement.



The researchers acknowledge some limitations in their study. Since participants completed the questionnaires voluntarily, the timing of their responses might have influenced the results.



The study also did not account for variables such as sleep patterns, geographical location, or daily weather conditions - all of which could affect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-health-crisis-half-of-the-worlds-population-will-be-affected-by-age-75/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mood</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-public-health">Implications for public health</h2>



Despite these limitations, the study highlights important trends that could influence mental health services. Understanding when people are most vulnerable can help improve support systems.



“Other drivers of the seasonal variation in [mental health and wellbeing] could include weather (temperature, precipitation, humidity) as well as various sociocultural cycles, including cultural holidays, norms, and employment patterns,” noted the study authors.



This research suggests that mental health services should consider these time-based trends when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprising-mental-health-benefits-of-living-near-green-spaces/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">planning resources</a>. If people tend to struggle the most around midnight, mid-week, and in winter, then additional support should be available during these times.



“Finally, in relation to public health, our findings indicate that people’s [mental health and wellbeing] tends to be lowest around midnight, mid-week, and in winter. This should be considered when planning service and resource provision," wrote the researchers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-recognizing-daily-mood-patterns">Recognizing daily mood patterns </h2>



This study reinforces the idea that mental health is constantly shifting throughout the day, with mornings generally bringing the best <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-of-americans-have-lost-years-of-time-to-poor-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mood</a>.



The findings highlight the importance of recognizing daily patterns in mood, rather than viewing mental health as a fixed state. While mornings seem to offer the best outlook, nights may present greater challenges.



These insights could encourage individuals to be more mindful of their mental health at different times of the day. They also provide valuable information for healthcare providers, policymakers, and researchers working to improve mental well-being on a broader scale.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1/e301418" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BMJ Mental Health</a>.



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Overall, people feel better about life in the morning

Many people have experienced waking up in a good mood in the morning, only to feel drained by the end of the day. A new study confirms that this pattern is not just a personal feeling - it is a widespread trend. According to the research, mental health and wellbeing scores peak in the morning and decline as the day progresses, reaching their lowest point around midnight. This study provides one of the most detailed analyses of how mental health fluctuates across the day. It also examines...

There has been a significant amount of research in both humans and animals that supports the importance of social connections for preserving the mind and improving quality of life. But the cause and effect is not very well known. Is it that having a group of friends helps us keep our minds intact, or is it that people with declining brain health tend to withdraw from human connection? Researchers from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> set out to answer these questions with an animal model.

Elizabeth Kirby, an assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience and member of the <a href="https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/neurological-institute/departments-and-centers/research-centers/center-for-chronic-brain-injury">Center for Chronic Brain Injury</a> at Ohio State, led research that determined mice living in groups had better memories and healthier brains than those that lived in pairs. In her study, some mice lived in pairs – which Kirby referred to as the “old-couple model,” while others were housed for three months with six other mice. According to the researchers, this scenario allowed for complex interactions.

The mice used in the study were between 15 and 18 months old, which is the time when their natural memory begins to decline. “It’s like mouse post-retirement age,” explains Kirby. “If they drove, they’d be forgetting where the keys are or where they parked the car more often.”

Researchers then ran the mice through a series of memory tests. One test looked to see if the mice recognized that a toy had been moved to a new location. 

“With the pair-housed mice, they had no idea that the object had moved,” says Kirby. “The group-housed mice were much better at remembering what they’d seen before and went to the toy in a new location.”

Another test was a common maze-based memory test. Mice were put on a well-lit table with holes, some of which led to escape hatches. The animals’ natural tendency is to look for dark, unexposed, safe escape routes. While both groups of mice improved their escape-route strategies over time, there were major differences in the groups’ response to repeated tests. When repeated over the course of a day, the “coupled” mice didn’t get any faster. But over many days, they came up with a “serial-searching strategy” in which they checked every hole as quickly as possible.

“It’d be like walking as quickly as possible through each row of a parking lot to look for your car rather than trying to remember where your car actually is and walk to that spot,” explains Kirby.

On the other hand, the group-housed mice improved with each trial. 

“They seemed to try to memorize where the escape hatches are and walk to them directly, which is the behavior we see in healthy young mice,” says Kirby. “And that tells us that they’re using the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is really important for good memory function.” The serial searching that the coupled mice employed is a much simpler strategy, and doesn’t require use of the hippocampus.

For humans and mice – as well as many other animals – brain function in the hippocampus declines with age. Exercise and social interaction are known to help preserve memory in this region in humans. 

When the tests were completed, the researchers analyzed the brain tissue of the mice, and found increased inflammation in the coupled mice, which is evidence of eroded cognitive health. 

“The group-housed mice had fewer signs of this inflammation, meaning that their brains didn’t look as ‘old’ as those that lived in pairs,” says Kirby.

This research gives us a good look at the effects of socialization on brain health. The authors state that people should consider their social choices as they age, and how they might impact their overall brain health.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Social connections found to help slow brain aging

There has been a significant amount of research in both...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-slow-heart-aging/">Exercise</a> has the benefit of not only helping you feel physically fit, but it’s well known that it can help keep you mentally fit as well. Although studies have shown that consistent exercise may improve thinking skills, it’s not known how much exercise is needed for there to be a benefit. In an effort to establish some guidelines, researchers performed review of all studies where older adults were asked to exercise for at least four weeks and perform tests of thinking and memory skills.

This review – published in the online issue of <a href="http://cp.neurology.org/">Neurology Clinical Practice</a> – compared the thinking and memory skills of older adults who exercised against those of people who did not have an exercise routine.

Researchers looked through 98 randomized, controlled trials with over 11,000 participants total, with an average age of 73. They collected data on exercise session length, intensity, weekly frequency, and amount of exercise over time. The most common form of exercise was aerobic exercise, such as walking, biking, or dancing. Some studies combined aerobic exercise and strength or resistance training, while others just did strength training alone. A few studies used mind-body exercises such as yoga or Tai chi. 

Analysis of the data showed that both healthy people and those with cognitive impairment had improved brain processing speed with longer term exposure to exercise (at least 52 hours over an average of six months). For healthy people, that same amount of exercise also improved executive function, which is the ability to manage time, pay attention, and achieve goals.

“These results suggest that a longer-term exercise program may be necessary to gain the benefits in thinking skills,” says study author Joyce Gomes-Osman, PT, PhD, of the <a href="http://med.miami.edu/">University of Miami Miller School of Medicine</a>. “We were excited to see that even people who participated in lower intensity exercise programs showed a benefit to their thinking skills. Not everyone has the endurance or motivation to start a moderately intense exercise program, but everyone can benefit even from a less intense plan.”

However, there was no link found between the amount of exercise and improved memory skills. “Only the total length of time exercising could be linked to improved thinking skills,” says Gomes-Osman. “But our results may also provide further insight. With a majority of participants being sedentary when they first enrolled in a study, our research suggests that using exercise to combat sedentary behavior may be a reason why thinking skills improved.”

Further studies may be able to determine which thinking abilities gain the greatest improvements with consistent exercise, as well as the short- and long-term effects of exercise in both physically fit and sedentary people.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Regular exercise found to improve memory and thinking skills

Exercise has the benefit of not only helping you feel...

Archaeologists have found evidence to dispute the commonly accepted theory of how the first-ever Americans arrived. Scientists now believe that this migratory route may have occurred along Alaska's coast by sea, which is a far cry from the concept that a route was trekked from Siberia to Canada on foot.

At the end of the last ice age, a major passageway opened up between huge ice sheets, exposing land that connected North America to Asia across the Bering Sea. This was believed to be the way the first Americans arrived, by crossing the Bering land bridge.

But now, a research team led by the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University of Buffalo</a> has analyzed rock sediment that reveals a coastal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-alaskan-hunters-advanced/">Alaskan</a> migration route had become accessible around 17,000 years ago. Recent studies suggest that new settlers may have traveled deeper into the Americas 16,000 years ago, which corroborates the new theory.

“People are fascinated by these questions of where they come from and how they got there,” said study lead author Dr. Jason Briner. “Our research contributes to the debate about how humans came to the Americas. It's potentially adding to what we know about our ancestry and how we colonized our planet.”

“Our study provides some of the first geologic evidence that a coastal migration route was available for early humans as they colonized the New World,” said study first author Alia Lesnek. “There was a coastal route available, and the appearance of this newly ice-free terrain may have spurred early humans to migrate southward.”


Ancient seal bones that date back approximately 17,000 years provide further evidence that the Alaskan coast could have supported human life at this time.

According to Dr. Briner, the path that had opened up in Canada did not develop enough biological diversity to support human life until about 13,000 years ago.

The new migration theory provides an alternative narrative, and may help to solve the mystery of how humans came to the Americas.

“Where we looked at it, the coastal route was not only open - it opened at just the right time,” said study co-author Dr. Charlotte Lindqvist. “The timing coincides almost exactly with the time in human history that the migration into the Americas is thought to have occurred.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Human migration to the Americas may have taken a different route

Archaeologists have found evidence to dispute the commonly accepted theory...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> have found that our sweet food cravings may be completely eliminated by manipulating a region of the brain which regulates emotions known as the amygdala.

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brains-fixated-social-lives/">brain</a> has a very complex system which produces memories and emotions, among other thoughts, when tasting food. The current study indicates that this system can be manipulated by isolating, modifying, or removing its units.

Study senior author Dr. Charles S. Zuker is a principal investigator at Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.


“When our brain senses a taste it not only identifies its quality, it choreographs a wonderful symphony of neuronal signals that link that experience to its context, hedonic value, memories, emotions and the other senses, to produce a coherent response,” explained Dr. Zuker.

A team led by Dr. Zucker has formerly demonstrated that specialized cells on the tongue send signals when they encounter one of the five tastes: sweet, bitter, salty, sour, or umami. Once a particular taste is identified by the brain, specific behaviors or reactions are triggered.

The amygdala is a region of brain that is associated with making value judgments about sensory information. The current study was focused on sweet and bitter taste regarding this specific area of the brain.
The previous research by Dr. Zuker confirmed that the amygdala is directly connected to the taste cortex.

Study first author Dr  Li Wang is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Zuker lab.

“Our earlier work revealed a clear divide between the sweet and bitter regions of the taste cortex,” said Dr. Wang. “This new study showed that same division continued all the way into the amygdala. This segregation between sweet and bitter regions in both the taste cortex and amygdala meant we could independently manipulate these brain regions and monitor any resulting changes in behavior.”


A study focused on mice showed that removing the animal’s capacity to crave or dislike certain foods had no influence on its ability to identify the taste.


The team manipulated the mice so that the sweet or bitter connections to the amygdala were turned on or off. When the sweet connections were turned on, the animals responded to water just as if it were sugar. 

By altering the same connections, the researchers discovered they could even change the way that a taste was perceived, turning a sweet taste into a bitter one, or vice versa.


On the other hand, when the experts turned the amygdala connections off, but left the taste cortex unaffected, the mice could still recognize and distinguish sweet from bitter. However, they no longer had a preference for either taste, suggesting that the emotional reaction to either taste had also been turned off.

“It would be like taking a bite of your favorite chocolate cake but not deriving any enjoyment from doing so,” said Dr. Wang. “After a few bites, you may stop eating, whereas otherwise you would have scarfed it down.”


The brain usually associates the identity of a food and the pleasure of its taste, but the study demonstrated that these components can actually be cut off from each other and can be controlled independently.


“Our goal is to piece together how those regions add meaning and context to taste,” said Dr. Wang. “We hope our investigations will help to decipher how the brain processes sensory information and brings richness to our sensory experiences.”

The research may have new implications for treating eating disorders including obesity and anorexia nervosa.

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists working to switch off brain cravings for sweet foods

Researchers at Columbia University have found that our sweet food...

A team of experts from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> have used natural dye extracted from blackcurrant waste to develop an effective new technology for coloring hair.

“We've made it possible to have great hair color, and to get it from nature in the most sustainable way possible,” said study co-author Professor Chris Rayner.

More people are coloring their hair all the time, and the industry brings in around ten billion dollars every year.

However, some of the ingredients found in the most commonly-used hair dyes are derived from petrochemicals, which are known to trigger severe allergic reactions and have even been suspected to cause cancer.

The ingredients used in permanent hair dyes, particularly those used to achieve darker colors, are the main concern. For example, some hair dye that is considered “natural” includes henna and its counterpart lawsone, which the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety has deemed toxic.

Another concern about hair dye is that up to 95 percent of it is believed to be washed down the drain, and the potential environmental impacts from this are not yet known.

Dr. Richard Blackburn is a color chemist who heads the Sustainable Materials Research Group in the School of Design. He teamed up with Professor Rayner, who is an organic chemist, to identify natural substitutes for the chemicals in hair dye. 

“Because of issues and concerns around conventional dyes, we wanted to develop biodegradable alternatives that minimize potential risks to health and offer consumers a different option,” explained Dr. Blackburn.

The team combined expertise in extraction technology, hair science, coloration, and natural products chemistry to create a method of extracting anthocyanins from blackcurrant fruit waste.

“Anthocyanins are pigments that provide color to most berries, flowers, and many other fruits and vegetables,” said Dr. Blackburn. “They are non-toxic, water-soluble and responsible for pink, red, purple, violet, and blue and colors and are widely used as natural food colorants all over the world.”

“We knew they bound strongly with proteins - hair is a protein - so we thought if we could find an appropriate source of these natural colors, we might be able to dye hair.”

Around 90 percent of British blackcurrants are used in the production of Ribena. The berries are harvested in late summer and then pressed for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/floridas-citrus-trees-struggle/">juice</a>.


“After being pressed, the skins remain as a waste product. They have very high concentrations of anthocyanins, and represent a sustainable supply of raw material because of how much blackcurrant cordial we drink.”

“The extraction technology is based on sustainable concepts - the color is extracted using a water-based process and special filters collect the anthocyanins that we want. We believe that if we are extracting natural and food-grade products, we should not use any toxic or hazardous chemicals to get them.”


Professor Rayner also explained that, in an upcoming paper, his team details all of the extract’s natural compounds.


“We wanted to identify all of the natural compounds present to improve our technology and to ensure safety, which cannot be said of most 'natural' cosmetic brands, where there is little understanding of what is in ‘natural extracts.’ Natural does not necessarily equal safe.”

The researchers have now patented their technology, and the sustainable hair dyes will soon be available on the market.

The research is published in the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jafcau">Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A new safe and sustainable hair dye developed from blackcurrants

A team of experts from the University of Leeds have...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/">University of Melbourne</a> have found that the world's wealthiest regions will not suffer the impacts of local climate change nearly as much as developing areas if global warming is not limited to the standards set by the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/country-paris-agreement/">Paris agreement</a>.

“The results are a stark example of the inequalities that come with global warming,” said study lead author Andrew King.

“The richest countries that produced the most emissions are the least affected by heat when average temperatures climb to just 2°C, while poorer nations bear the brunt of changing local climates and the consequences that come with them.”

The most temperate nations will be the least impacted, with the United Kingdom dodging the most negative impacts. The worst affected areas will be countries along the Equator, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.


Even if global temperatures are limited to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the outcome will remain the same.


The researchers used the signal-to-noise ratio for their analysis. In this case, the signal is the local change in average temperatures, while the noise is the variability of local temperatures.


Regions outside of the tropics have a greater year-to-year variability in temperature and will be much more adaptable compared to Equatorial regions, where there are already high average temperatures and less variation throughout the year. In the more vulnerable areas, even a small rise in temperatures will generate immediate, noticeable impacts.


This scenario worsens the future climate change burden of developing nations.

“Economically powerful nations, who are most responsible for the emissions that led to global warming, are going to have to pick up the slack if they want to maintain economic growth in developing countries,” said study co-author Luke Harrington.

“It's why we need to invest in limiting the worst impacts of climate change for developing nations today. By assisting developing nations to meet these challenges we help maintain their economic stability and security into the future and by extension, our own as well.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Developing countries will suffer the most from global warming

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have found that the...

Ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the workday to get everything done? Between meetings and appointments, it can sometimes seem like there’s just not an adequate amount of time to be productive. 

Research has now shown that there’s a good reason why meetings hinder productivity, and its because we self-consciously short ourselves on time if we have something scheduled in the near future. 

This was the conclusion of researchers from the<a href="https://fisher.osu.edu/"> Ohio State University Fisher College </a>who conducted a series of eight studies examining how people managed and viewed their time when they had an appointment, meeting, or obligation coming up. 

It turns out that even if there’s plenty of time to work on a project or assignment before a task, most people will do busy work, answer emails, or simply waste time. 

“We seem to take a mental tax out of our time right before an appointment,” said Selin Malkoc, a co-author of the study. “We figure something might come up, we might need some extra time, even when there's no need to do that. As a result, we do less with the available time.”

The studies took place both online and in real-life and in one of the experiments and 198 participants were given one of two situations. Some members of the group were told they had a friend coming over in an hour while others were told they had no plans.

The researchers then asked how much time over the course of the next hour each participant could spend reading, both subjectively and objectively. 

No matter which scenario the participants were given, each gave themselves less time to read than they really had. 

“Regardless of whether they had a friend coming by or not, participants said that they objectively had about 50 minutes available to read, said Malkoc. That's an amazing finding right there. Most people didn't think even objectively they had a full hour to read.”

The results of the experiments show that we equip our schedules with “just-in-case” time even when we don’t need to, according to Malkoc.

Even with just five minutes to spare, one study found that those who were consciously aware of something coming up did less than people who weren’t reminded of any upcoming tasks. 

The study shows that no matter how much time we truly have in the day, if there’s a meeting, appointment, or commitment in the near future, the time seems shorter than it is. 

To counter this phenomenon, the researchers suggest scheduling all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pope-francis-meeting-with-eco-friendly-mayors-at-vatican-3/">meetings</a> and appointments in the same block of time so that it feels like there’s more free time to be productive. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most people waste time before appointments, study finds

Ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the...

When it comes to a person's taste in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restaurant-music-affects-order/">music</a>, one’s preferences can be related to personal identity, but are music choices also indicative of personality traits? 

According to new studies conducted by psychologists from <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">Cambridge University</a>, they are. 

The results of the studies show opera lovers to be imaginative, preferring complex music that surprises, whereas extroverts and empathetic individuals are more drawn to simple acoustic music that has a good deal of emotion.

For the research, 200,000 participants took part in online surveys that assessed personality based on the five major traits: openness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness.

After analyzing the results, the researchers noticed two major trends. First, open personalities preferred sophisticated, complex, and classical music, possibly because open people like to learn new things. 

The second finding was that people who defined themselves as extroverts liked acoustic and relaxing music. 

Music tastes are linked to personality traits and brain patterns in a number of ways, according to the study authors. 

For example, participants with more agreeable personalities rated the music samples higher than people with high levels of neuroticism, according to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/27/link-personalities-music-taste-unearthed-opera-lovers-likely/">the Telegraph</a> who reported on the new findings. 

'What we've found using large numbers of participants is that our musical behaviours are linked to personality in all types of ways,” said David Greenberg, a member of the research team told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5779619/What-does-music-taste-say-YOU.html">Daily Mail</a>. “For example, we've found that musical preferences are linked to three brain types.”

Greenberg explained the three brain types saying that those who are empathetic prefer music that has a lot of emotion, whereas people who excel at identifying patterns and systems like music that is complex and surprising. 

Lastly, people who had a balance between empathetic and systematic thinking had a more broad preference of musical genres. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A person’s taste in music reflects their personality, study finds

When it comes to a person's taste in music, one’s...

Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island have been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-fissures-kilauea-evacuations/">evacuating</a> since the first fissures from the Kilauea volcano starting spewing up lava and sulfur dioxide earlier this month. 

After several eruptions, earthquakes, and even more fissures opening on the island, lava was recorded making its way to the ocean and sending clouds of toxic laze skyward. 

Laze occurs when hot lava meets the ocean and a dangerous mixture of hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles results. 

But now, residents have been warned of yet another hazard from Kilauea’s eruptions. Vog is another harmful mixture of gases and vapors that form a heavy volcanic smog. 

Vog is created by vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide gas released from Kilauea's vents. When the gases and vapor mix with sunlight, it creates a haze that can cause serious respiratory problems. 

Sulfur dioxide emissions <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-quality-kilauea-volcano/">have more than tripled</a> since Kilauea first started erupting. 

Tradewinds, which are expected to die down this weekend, have been blowing the vog offshore but with the increasing emissions from the volcano, more and more haze is being released and residents continue to be affected. 

“Everyone is having symptoms now on some level,” Josh Green, a state senator and emergency room physician, told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>. 

Those without respiratory or health issues may experience burning eyes, headaches, and sore throats, but people with asthma could be hospitalized. 

Although the trade winds are good news for Big Island, for Guam it’s a different story. Recent volcanic haze has stretched across the Pacific and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/us/hawaii-kilauea-homes-destroyed/index.html">according to CNN</a>, threatens people living on the Mariana Islands. 

Guam has issued air quality warnings to residents and mariners who could face visibility issues due to the volcano’s emissions. 

Big Island continues to deal with lava flow, ash, dangerous gases, earthquakes and now vog, and residents near lava flows have been warned to leave now or face getting trapped. 

Kilauea has been extremely active and its current eruption cycle has been going on since the 1980s. There’s no telling when the volcano’s activity will stop as Kilauea’s eruption is one of the longest-lived eruptions in recorded history, according to the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/havo/faqs.htm">National Park Service. </a>

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why vog from the Kilauea eruption poses such a health threat

Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island have been evacuating since the...

A new study shows that stronger alcohol policies limit the amount of alcohol-related car crash deaths every year. 

According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html">Centers for Disease Control</a> (CDC), in the United States, 29 people die every day from motor-vehicle crashes involving a drunk driver, and in 2016, 28 percent of all traffic-related deaths involved alcohol-impaired driving.

What’s more, not all alcohol-impaired car crashes have drivers with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit. Around 20 percent of vehicle crash deaths had drivers who weren’t legally impaired, with a BAC below the legal limit of .08 percent. 

There are many policies aimed at lowering the number of drunk drivers on the road including raising taxes on alcohol, but there exists very little research on the success of these policies and how exactly they limit drunk driving and drunk driving-related deaths. 

Now, a new study by <a href="https://www.bmc.org/">Boston Medical Center</a> in collaboration with <a href="http://www.bu.edu/">Boston University</a> reveals how stronger alcohol policies reduce the number alcohol-impaired driving deaths. 

The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine and the results calculate how many reduced numbers of alcohol-related crash deaths correlate with stronger restrictive state alcohol policies. 

The results call for a stronger impaired driving initiative with comprehensive policies implemented nationwide. 

For the study, the researchers used data on car crash deaths from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and measured state alcohol policies on a per year basis with the Alcohol Policy Scale, which was developed by Boston Medical Center.

The Alcohol Policy Scale assesses the current alcohol policy environment based on 29 alcohol control policies. 

After analyzing the data and policies, the researchers discovered that for every one percent increase in the restrictiveness of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-alcohol-biggest-threat/">alcohol</a> policies there was a one percent reduction in the number of alcohol-related crashes. 

The results also showed that a ten percent increase in policy restrictiveness would result in 800 fewer deaths per year.

“Given the risks involved with alcohol use, strengthening alcohol control policies could help prevent many crash deaths, including the 40 percent of deaths that affect victims who are not themselves driving while intoxicated,” said  Timothy Naimi, the study's lead author. “Although not reflected in our current laws, the risk of crashes starts to increase at BAC levels well below 0.08 percent, so stronger policies offer a way to reduce those deaths as well.” 

One potential policy is lowering the BAC limit to .05 percent or less to match most other developed nations. 

The study shows how influential stronger alcohol-impaired driving policies are in reducing the number of vehicle-crash deaths every year, and policy leaders nationwide could use the results to push for lower BAC limits and other restrictive measures to lower crash mortalities. 

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stronger alcohol policies reduce drunk driving car crashes

A new study shows that stronger alcohol policies limit the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> has found that dengue fever could be largely avoided in the future by combating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stopping-global-warming-save-species/">global warming</a>. The researchers are reporting that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could prevent around 3.3 million cases of dengue fever per year in Latin America and the Caribbean alone.

The dengue virus is spread by mosquitoes in over 100 tropical and subtropical countries, affecting 390 million people worldwide each year. An infection from the virus causes symptoms including fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and there is currently no vaccination or treatment for the disease.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are an estimated 54 million annual cases of dengue fever.

The mosquitoes that carry the virus thrive in warmer and humid conditions, and a rise in global temperatures by 3.7 degrees Celsius could cause 7.5 million additional cases per year by the middle of this century.

“There is growing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on human health,” said study lead author Dr. Felipe Colón-González. “While it is recognized that limiting warming to 1.5°C would have benefits for human health, the magnitude of these benefits remains mostly unquantified.” 

“This is the first study to show that reductions in warming from 2°C to 1.5°C could have important health benefits.”

The researchers analyzed cases of dengue fever in Latin America, and used computer models to project the impacts of the virus under different climate warming scenarios.

The team found that limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius could reduce dengue cases by up to 2.8 million per year by the end of the century, and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could prevent up to half a million additional cases.

Brazil would benefit the most if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, avoiding up to 1.4 million cases per year by 2100. The study also revealed that curbing global warming could prevent dengue from spreading to areas where incidence is currently low.

“Understanding and quantifying the impacts of warming on human health is crucial for public health preparedness and response,” said study co-author Dr. Iain Lake.

“Warming has already reached 1°C above pre-industrial levels, and the current trajectory, if countries meet their international pledges to reduce CO2, is around 3°C - so clearly a lot more needs to be done to reduce CO2 and quickly if we are to avoid these impacts.”

The research is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Slowing global warming can prevent millions of dengue fever cases

A new study led by the University of East Anglia...

According to a market study carried out by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry Research Foundation, 42.1 percent of American households buy wild bird feed at least sometimes.  That translates to 52.5 million households buying $59.73 million on bird feed annually and $37.88 million on wild bird feed annually.

Feeding wild birds has become commonplace and few consider the consequences.  On the face of it, feeding birds seems like a harmless, fun way to interact with wildlife.  Once allowing bears to eat from trash dumps at Yellowstone was seen in the same light, a fun way to easily view wild bears up-close.  A big part of the problem involved with feeding bears has to do with their danger to humans. If a bear associates people with food enough, the bear might endanger people in her quest for nourishment.  In the end bears that get too friendly with people usually have tragic ends. There are some other real problems with feeding birds though.

When my fiancé, Erin and I co-managed a nature reserve in Ecuador for three months, a part of our work involved inventorying hummingbirds that fed on the sugar water in feeders we put out.  Initially, I didn’t think too much about the feeders, but over the time we stayed at the reserve, I began to consider it more deeply. 

In the log left by other reserve managers, were accounts of hummingbirds weak when the managers couldn’t fill the feeders for a day or two due to a minor medical emergency.  I wondered if the hummingbirds could become so dependent on feeders, I wasn’t sure but it lead me to other questions. In the case of hummingbirds, I wondered if plants could suffer from having less pollinators.  We couldn’t identify individual hummingbirds but there were certainly species that were almost always at the feeders in numbers. I wondered if some birds gained a majority of their ‘nectar’ from feeders and barely visited flowers.  

It turns out, the effect of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hummingbirds-songs-tail-feathers/">hummingbird</a> feeders on plants isn’t so straight forward.  A 2008 study carried out in a park near Mexico City found that hummingbird feeders decreased visits to native plants.  The study, published by Maria Del coro Arizmendi, et al. in Ornitologia Neotropical, found that many plants are also visited by bees and so the impact of losing hummingbirds is minimal for many plants.  The study suggests that the increase in hummingbird numbers also offsets the less visits of each individual hummingbird.  

Still, one plant, Cardinal Sage (Salvia fulgens) was shown to produce less seeds, presumably due to less hummingbird visits.  I also found a paper written by Ilse van Duuren as an intern at Un Poco del Chocó, a private nature preserve and conservation organization.  Ilse van Duuren found that hummingbird feeders do in fact negatively impact plant reproduction rates, she also called for more research on a sadly neglected question.  I personally was rather shocked at how many nature preserves, conservation organizations and research stations in the neotropics promote the use of hummingbird feeders when so little research has been done on their effect.  

Of course, hummingbirds are just one of many types of bird.  I personally become a little irate seeing people feeding ducks in public parks where signs clearly say feeding isn’t allowed.  It’s not just that people are feeding ducks, but it’s that they’re so apparently thoughtless about what they’re feeding them. I’ve seen people throwing Cheetos to ducks as well as the more standard bread.  Rarely do you see people feeding ducks the types of seeds that they evolved with. 

A study by W. Herbert Wilson Jr. in Journal of Field Ornithology showed that the placement of bird feeders can significantly impact habitat selection of wintering birds in Maine.  <a href="https://feederwatch.org/">Feederwatch.org</a> notes that diseases such as House Finch Eye Disease can be spread by some bird feeder types.  Tube type feeders that require birds to stick their heads inside contact bird’s eyes and can spread disease that way.  Feederwatch recommends cleaning feeders regularly with dilute bleach and taking feeders away for a couple of weeks to encourage bird dispersal if a diseased individual is noticed.  

Other sources note that cats or hawks may gather near bird feeders to prey on large populations of feeding birds.  

Feeding birds in the US originated with the idea of helping birds through hard winters.  The US and UK differ from Australia, where feeding birds is generally looked down upon. In the US, many conservation organizations encourage feeding birds as a way to promote understanding and a feeling of closeness to nature.  Feeding birds is certainly a good way to observe and learn about your avian neighbors, less certain is if feeding helps birds. 

A study in Conservation Physiology by Travis E. Wilcoxen et. al, found that overall physiology of birds at feeders was improved when compared to birds that didn’t use feeders.  There were more cases of disease found in birds at feeders, but the birds receiving supplemental feed seemed to have better fat reserves and immune responses.  In other words, the birds being fed were better equipped to handle disease than those not being fed.

The main reason many people give for feeding birds is to give them a helping hand.  Seeing birds die of apparent starvation in the winter is hard. I remember a yellow song bird that flew into a tent I shared with two other climbers on a mountaineering trip on Denali.  The bird sat in our vestibule, ate some of our granola and other snacks, even landing on our heads. The bird on Denali had unfortunately been blown there by a storm and was unable to find his way back to his normal habitat.  A day later the bird was found dead in the snow. Instances like this happen nearer to people’s homes, birds sometimes die of exposure to elements and starvation, and winters are sometimes especially hard. Feeding, it seems, can help individual birds.

An added complexity to feeding birds is migration.  Many of the birds seen at feeders and elsewhere in North America travel far south, even to South America in the winter.  The reasons for migrating are complex but there is actually often more food for birds in the spring and summer in North America than in the tropics.  The tropics always has a small supply of food, a few things are almost always in fruit but spring in the temperate region means a bonanza of many things in fruit all at once.   Feeding birds can change their migration patterns. 

The American Robin is a perfect example.  Due to an increase in not only feeders but crops and planted shrubs, a larger percentage of robins stay north for the winter.  A bird that normally winters further south can suffer more from feeding by being in a colder environment than the one it evolved for.  An article in <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/">Science Daily</a> points out an additional benefit to migration for bird populations.  Especially sick or parasitized birds are less likely to survive migrations; a migration can be a way to stop the spread of disease and protect healthy animals from the exposure of parasites.  Birds that migrate may also miss out on prime breeding grounds and other resources already taken by those that stay year round. Birds just finishing a migration also have a much greater need for food as they expend serious amounts of energy during long migrations.

Sandhill Cranes stopping in Nebraska to gorge on food in the midst of an incredible and long journey by wing now depend on leftover corn crops.  The cranes travel from wintering grounds in Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico to breeding grounds in the arctic. According to <a href="http://outdoornebraska.gov/">OutdoorNebraska</a>, 90 percent of the crane’s diet is corn while in Nebraska, 10 percent being made up by invertebrates.  Overall, it’s estimated that the cranes consume 1,600 tons of corn while passing through Nebraska. Clearly corn is important to the Sandhill Crane but it’s important to note that corn is only important because natural grasslands and marsh areas have become developed.  Cranes stopped in Nebraska long before corn was planted there, for native plants and animals. Fields with the residue of agriculture allow the continuation of an ancient migration pathway in a way that other forms of development would not. However, it’s easy to see that human intercession didn’t make things better for cranes, rather, we replaced one food with another.          

Bird feeding is here to stay.  I doubt this article will convince anyone to stop feeding birds, but I hope it can encourage a thoughtful approach.  Cleaning feeders often can help stop the spread of disease. Watching carefully for sick individuals and removing feeders for a couple of weeks can also help prevent disease transmission.  Trying your best to keep cats away from feeders or making bird feeders inaccessible to them can help. If a cat does start stalking birds near a feeder, it’s a simple thing to bring the feeder in, it may be harder to convince the cat’s owner to keep their animal indoors.  Bringing feeders in when the weather starts to get cold can also make a difference in encouraging normal, natural migration patterns. We all desire to be closer to nature, to have a real connection with the animals we share the planet with. 

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Are bird feeders really helping birds in the long run?

According to a market study carried out by the Wild...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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



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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



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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...