The stereotype that women outtalk men persists across many cultures. Yet, a prominent study in 2007 challenged that notion by finding that men and women each speak around 16,000 words per day, on average.



A new, larger investigation revisits this topic and offers a more nuanced view: women may indeed be more talkative - but only during a specific stage of life.



Study co-lead author Colin Tidwell is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Arizona </a>(U of A).&nbsp;



“There is a strong cross-cultural assumption that women talk a lot more than men,” said Tidwell. “We wanted to see whether or not this assumption holds when empirically tested.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-talking-varies-by-age-and-gender">Talking varies by age and gender</h2>



Analyzing data from nearly 2,200 participants, the researchers found that women aged 25 to 65 speak about 3,000 more words per day than men in the same age bracket.&nbsp;



However, in adolescence (10-17), emerging adulthood (18-24), and older adulthood (65 and up), they observed no notable gender gap in daily word count.



The study also suggests that people overall might be talking less than before, which the researchers suspect could be linked to growing reliance on digital communication.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-claim-that-women-talk-more">The claim that women talk more</h2>



In 2007, University of Arizona psychologist Matthias Mehl investigated the common claim that women are significantly more talkative than men.&nbsp;



Participants in that study - about 500 men and women - wore a device called the EAR (Electronically Activated Recorder), which periodically recorded brief clips of their everyday <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-have-20-minute-conversation-with-a-humpback-whale-named-twain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conversations</a>.



After estimating each participant’s total daily word count, the researchers concluded that no significant gender difference existed - a finding that appeared in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1139940?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D90780648708216300104417575982572668868%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1738666255&amp;adobe_mc=MCMID%3D90780648708216300104417575982572668868%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1738667536" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a> and garnered national headlines.&nbsp;



Nevertheless, critics pointed out that most participants were college-aged and all lived in Austin, Texas, limiting the study’s diversity.



Almost two decades later, Mehl collaborated with Tidwell, Valeria Pfeifer, a postdoctoral researcher at the U of A, and Alexander Danvers, a former U of A postdoctoral fellow, to repeat the experiment on a larger scale.&nbsp;



The new work incorporates 630,000 EAR recordings from 22 separate studies across four countries, covering individuals aged 10 to 94 - a total of 2,197 participants, which is four times the original sample size.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-do-women-talk-more">Why do women talk more?</h2>



Among all age groups studied, a significant difference between men’s and women’s word counts emerged only in early to middle <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lifestyle-choices-in-young-adulthood-impact-cognitive-ability-in-midlife/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adulthood</a> (25-64). During these years, women spoke about 21,845 words per day, while men spoke about 18,570.



The researchers remain unsure exactly why women might talk more during this period, but they propose that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parent-children-relationships-are-key-to-lifelong-well-being/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parenting</a> responsibilities could be one contributing factor.



“Gender-linked differences in child rearing and family care are one possibility that could account for this difference,” said Mehl, the senior author of the study and a professor in the U of A Department of Psychology.&nbsp;



“If biological factors like hormones were to be the main cause, a sizable gender difference should have also been present among emerging adults. If societal generational changes were to be the driving force, there should have been a gradually increasing gender difference with older participants. Neither, though, was the case.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-talking-trends-across-time">Talking trends across time</h2>



While the data suggest that women do speak more than men during early and middle adulthood, Mehl highlighted that individual differences can overshadow such group patterns.&nbsp;



The least talkative person in the entire study - a man - spoke roughly 100 words a day, while the most talkative participant - also a man - exceeded 120,000 words.



“We humans are so much more different individually than the two genders systematically,” Mehl said.



Another revealing finding was that the average word count across participants has been declining since 2005, slipping from about 16,000 words per day to about 13,000.



“We did a full analysis looking at what year the data were collected and found that, indeed, 300 spoken words on average per year go missing,” noted study co-lead author Pfeifer.



Although the exact cause for this decline is not fully established, researchers suspect that digital technologies - such as texting, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spending-less-time-on-social-media-improves-your-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social media</a>, and online chats - could be supplanting spoken conversations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conversation-as-a-health-behavior">Conversation as a health behavior</h2>



Mehl emphasized the need for further inquiry into the effects of talkativeness and social engagement on overall health. He is currently co-developing a device called SocialBit, akin to a Fitbit, that tracks the duration of daily conversations without recording their content. Instead, it relies on an algorithm to detect whether ambient sounds contain speech.



“I'm fascinated by the idea that we know how much we need to sleep, we know how much we need to exercise, and people are wearing Fitbits all the time, but we have no idea how much we're supposed to socialize,” he said.&nbsp;



“The evidence is very strong that socializing is linked to health, at least to the same extent as physical activity and sleep are. It's just another health behavior.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions-nbsp">Future research directions&nbsp;</h2>



Overall, the follow-up study offers a refined perspective on the question of whether women speak more than men. While the gap exists during early and middle adulthood, no significant difference emerges in adolescence, emerging adulthood, or older age.&nbsp;



Beyond that, both genders may be speaking fewer words over time - possibly due to a shift toward digital forms of communication.



As researchers continue to investigate the intersection between conversation, well-being, and modern technology, novel tools like SocialBit may shed light on just how much human dialogue contributes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-activity-may-delay-the-onset-of-dementia-by-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">health</a>, reinforcing the importance of face-to-face interactions in an increasingly digital era.



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Do women really talk more than men? A new look at the debate

The stereotype that women outtalk men persists across many cultures. Yet, a prominent study in 2007 challenged that notion by finding that men and women each speak around 16,000 words per day, on average. A new, larger investigation revisits this topic and offers a more nuanced view: women may indeed be more talkative - but only during a specific stage of life. Study co-lead author Colin Tidwell is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona (U of A).&nbsp; “There is a strong cross-cultural assumption...

A new study has found that people who are genetically susceptible to Alzheimer's disease also face a greater risk of lower cognition from sleep-disordered breathing.

According to the study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.atsjournals.org/toc/annalsats/current">Annals of the American Thoracic Society</a>, individuals with the ε4 allele, an alternative form of the APOE gene that supports injury repair in the brain, have a higher chance of Alzheimer's disease. An estimated 20 percent of people carry the ε4 allele.

The new study evaluated whether the APOE-ε4 allele gene also influences the link between sleep-disordered breathing and cognition. The authors defined sleep-disordered breathing based the number of stopped or shallow breaths per hour.

Poorer attention and memory and daytime <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/perfect-meal-sleep-better-night/">sleepiness</a> were more strongly associated with APOE-ε4 carriers, the new study found.

Screening and treating sleep-disordered breathing could help reduce a person's risk of dementia, especially if they carry APOE-ε4, said the study’s senior author, Susan Redline of <a href="https://hms.harvard.edu/">Harvard Medical School</a>.

“Our study provides further evidence that sleep-disordered breathing negatively affects attention, processing speed and memory, which are robust predictors of cognitive decline,” Redline said. “Given the lack of effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease, our results support the potential for sleep-disordered breathing screening and treatment as part of a strategy to reduce dementia risk."

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.thoracic.org/">American Thoracic Society</a>

Sleep disorders could cause cognition problems due to this gene

A new study has found that people who are genetically...

For most people, maintaining a steady supply of energy while also burning fat is an ideal way for their body to function. This generally means eating healthy foods, exercising, and avoiding some of the less-nutritious food and drink pitfalls. Sugary drinks such as soda and many fruit juices are just one of these pitfalls, but recent research points to some additional negative effects of these beverages. 

According to a study published in the open access journal <a href="https://bmcnutr.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Nutrition</a>, indulging in a sugar-sweetened drink while eating a high-protein meal may negatively affect energy balance, alter food preferences, and cause your body to store more fat.

Researchers discovered that sugar-sweetened drinks decrease fat oxidation, which is what initiates the breakdown of fat molecules after a meal. Furthermore, the higher the protein content of the meal, the greater the decrease in fat oxidation – averaging out to a roughly 8% decrease. Even though drinking a sugary beverage increases the amount of energy expended in metabolizing a meal, this does not even out the consumption of additional calories from the drink.

“We found that about a third of the additional calories provided by the sugar-sweetened drinks were not expended, fat metabolism was reduced, and it took less energy to metabolize the meals,” says Shanon Casperson, the lead author of the study from <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/gfnd/gfhnrc/">USDA-Agricultural Research Service Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center</a>. “This decreased metabolic efficiency may ‘prime’ the body to store more fat.”

The consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks also increased the participants’ desire to eat savory and salty foods for as much as four hours after previously eating.

“Our findings suggest that having a sugar-sweetened drink with a meal impacts both sides of the energy balance equation,” explains Casperson. “On the intake side, the additional energy from the drink did not make people feel more sated. On the expenditure side, the additional calories were not expended and fat oxidation was reduced.”

Given that sugary drinks are the largest source of sugar in the average American’s diet, these findings are very telling of the role that these drinks play in the American <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/appetite-human-obesity-drug/">obesity</a> epidemic. Hopefully, furthering the understanding of the impact these dietary choices have on people’s weight and overall health may lead to individuals making better lifestyle choices in the future.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.biomedcentral.com/">Biomed Central</a>

Sugary drinks with a high-protein meal could be ruining your diet

For most people, maintaining a steady supply of energy while...

A new study reveals that do-it-yourself (DIY) toy manufacturing could have a multi-million dollar impact on the overall toy industry. The availability of low-cost 3D printers gives consumers ample opportunity to make toys at home and save a lot of money.

Engineers from<a href="http://www.mtu.edu/"> Michigan Technological University</a> and the London-based company <a href="https://www.myminifactory.com/">MyMiniFactory</a> teamed up to calculate how much desktop 3D printers could save consumers. 

MyMiniFactory is an online stock of free 3D printable designs. The team focused on the 100 most popular designs from the repository, and used three different materials to estimate the costs of creating the designs with a 3D printer. All three filament types were proven to save consumers at least 75 percent. One material, a recyclebot filament, saved more than 90 percent compared to the cost of commercially available <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/parents-addicted-smartphones-kids/">toys</a>. 

With the data collected from just 100 toys, which represents less than one percent of the MyMiniFactory repository, DIY toy projects would offset the costs of commercial toy purchases by $60 million dollars in a single year. 

The research team was led by Joshua Pearce, a professor of Materials Science and Electrical Engineering at Michigan Tech. Pearce pointed out another benefit of owning a 3D printer is the ability to create toys and games that are not commercially available.

"It's one thing to buy a toy from a store or get a commodity toy for your children," said Pearce. "It's perhaps more valuable to get that exact, specific toy that your kid really wants that you can either design yourself or download and customize on your computer and print at home."

The team established that a 3D-printed block using recyclebot filament costs only half a cent, yet the cost of a Lego block is 6 cents.

"Speaking as a parent, Legos are expensive. All parents know you can't find them at garage sales; everyone hoards them like they're gold," said Pearce. "Now you can make custom compatible blocks and have that same kind of fun while playing with something you make yourself."

Pearce's team also discovered significant savings with more complex toys such as board games and action figures. According to the research, DIY manufacturing of these types of toys could save consumers between 40 and 90 percent. 

Pearce said that the use of 3D printing will become more widespread and will have a growing impact on the toy industry.

"One way toy companies might adapt is open-sourcing some of the designs of the toys themselves and focusing on currently unprintable components or openly encouraging the maker community and open-source community to design accessories or add-ons to commercial toys to make their toys more valuable," said Pearce.

The results of the study are published this week in the journal Technologies.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.mtu.edu/">Michigan Technological University</a>

Image: Joshua Pearce

3D printing becoming major competition for the toy industry

A new study reveals that do-it-yourself (DIY) toy manufacturing could...

Simply thinking you don’t exercise enough can harm your health, according to a new study.

The <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> study found that people who felt they weren't as active as their peers turned out to be 71 percent more likely to die during the study's follow-up period than those who believed they had a more active lifestyle. 

The results took into account actual amounts of physical activity, chronic illnesses, and age.

"Most people know that not exercising enough is bad for your health," said Octavia Zahrt, a doctoral candidate at the <a href="http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/">Stanford University Graduate School of Business</a>. "But most people do not know that thinking you are not exercising enough can also harm your health."

Study participants answered questions about their actual level of activity and their perceived level of physical activity compared to others their age. 

Strangely, the perceptions about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-pill-form/">physical activity</a> did not always reflect their actual exercise.

“Our perceptions about how much exercise we are getting and whether or not we think that exercise is adequate are influenced by many factors other than how much exercise we are actually getting," said Zahrt. "For example, if you live in an area where most of your peers are really fit, you might perceive yourself as relatively inactive, even though your exercise may be sufficient. Or if you believe that only running or working out at the gym count as real exercise, you may overlook the exercise you are getting at work or at home cleaning and carrying kids around."

The “placebo effect” could account for the changes in mortality based on perceptions of exercise. For example, different studies have shown that drugs are actually less effective when the patient doesn’t know they’ve taken them.

“Following this logic, someone who does not believe that she is exercising enough may get fewer physiological benefits from activity than someone who believes she is exercising enough," said Alia Crum, assistant professor of psychology at Stanford.

Another explanation is that when people think that they are doing worse than their peers, they become depressed, fearful and less active, which could worsen health, the authors said.

"Our research suggests that perceiving everyday activities as good exercise is almost as important as doing the activities in the first place,” Crum said. “In the pursuit of health and longevity, it is important not only to adopt healthy behaviors but also healthy thoughts."

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/hea/">Health Psychology</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a>

Study: Negative thinking on exercise harmful to health

Simply thinking you don’t exercise enough can harm your health,...

Roughly 47 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, a number that is expected to more than double by 2050. However, a new study by the first Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care reports that managing lifestyle factors such as hearing loss, smoking, hypertension, and depression may be able to prevent one-third of the global cases.

Among those previously mentioned lifestyle factors, the report also highlights the benefits of nonpharmacologic interventions such as social contact and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-pill-form/">exercise</a>. 

“There’s been a great deal of focus on developing medicines to prevent dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease,” explains Dr. Lon Schneider, professor of psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. “But we can’t lose sight of the real major advances we’ve already made in treating dementia, including preventive approaches.”

The Lancet Commission consisted of 24 international experts on dementia, who reviewed previously published research and presented evidence-based recommendations for treatment and prevention. They report that roughly 35% of cases is directly linked to nine risk factors found in early, mid, and late life.

The panel reports that increasing early life education and combating hearing loss, obesity, and hypertension in midlife could result in as much as a 20 percent reduction in dementia cases. Preventing late life risk factors such as smoking, depression, diabetes, and decreased physical activity while increasing social contact may further reduce the incidence of dementia by about 15 percent.

“The potential magnitude of the effect on dementia of reducing these risk factors is larger than we could ever imagine the effect that current, experimental medications could have,” Schneider says. “Mitigating risk factors provides us a powerful way to reduce the global burden of dementia.”

The commission also looked at the issue of antipsychotic drugs being used as treatment for dementia patients. They found that there is significant concern surrounding these drugs, as they are linked to an increased risk of death, infections, and cardiovascular adverse events.

Ultimately, the experts report that psychological, environmental, and social interventions like social contact and activities were more beneficial than antipsychotic medications in treating dementia-related agitation and aggression.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.scuhs.edu/">University of Southern California – Health Sciences</a>

Study: 1 in 3 cases of dementia preventable through treatment

Roughly 47 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, a number...

The modern dogs we know and love emerged 20,000 to 40,000 years ago in Europe from the domestication of a population of gray wolves, according to a new study.

An international research team led by Krishna R. Veeramah of <a href="http://www.stonybrook.edu/">Stony Brook University</a> analyzed DNA from two prehistoric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/test-predicts-best-guide-dogs/">dogs</a> from Germany. The genomes of the dogs were the probable ancestors of modern European dogs, the study concluded.

In 2016, an <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford University</a> research team used emerging paleogenomics techniques on DNA from a dog that lived 5,000 years ago in Ireland. The Oxford scientists suggested dogs were domesticated not once, but twice. An indigenous dog population domesticated in Europe was replaced by incoming migrants domesticated independently in East Asia sometime during the Neolithic era, they suggested.

The new study reached a different conclusion.

“Contrary to the results of this previous analysis, we found that our ancient dogs from the same time period were very similar to modern European dogs, including the majority of breed dogs people keep as pets,” Veeramah said. “This suggests that there was no mass Neolithic replacement that occurred on the continent and that there was likely only a single domestication event for the dogs observed in the fossil record from the Stone Age that we also see and live with today.”

Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans, the study said. The oldest dog fossils that can be clearly distinguished from wolves are from the region of what is now Germany from around 15,000 years ago.

The new study found evidence that the 5,000-year-old dog from Ireland was a mixture of European dogs and something that resembles current central Asian/Indian dogs. This may reflect that people moving into Europe from the Asian Steppes at the beginning of the Bronze Age brought their own dogs with them, the study said.

The research was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.stonybrook.edu/">Stony Brook University</a>

Study: Modern day dogs developed from wolves in Europe

The modern dogs we know and love emerged 20,000 to...

Maintaining a healthy heart at an early age through diet, exercise, and not smoking could stop the brain from shrinking later in life, according a new study.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University’s</a><a href="http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/"> Feinberg School of Medicine</a> analyzed data on 518 people with an average age of 51 who had been followed for 30 years. Participants were asked about diet and exercise habits and received follow-up exams every 2 to 5 years along with brain scans 25 years after starting the study.

Researchers evaluated how each on how well they followed the <a href="http://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association’s</a> steps to heart health at the start of the study, and 25 years later. The scale ranged from 0 for poor adherence, to 14 for ideal performance. The steps included maintaining healthy blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, being active, eating better, losing weight, and not smoking. 

At the beginning of the study, 5 percent had poor adherence to the steps, 62 percent intermediate, and 33 percent ideal. By the 25th year, 26 percent had poor adherence, 58 percent had intermediate, and 16 percent had ideal.

The data revealed that participants with better heart health scores at the beginning of the study also had a higher average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crossword-puzzles-improve-brain-function/">brain</a> volume in middle age.

Every point increase in the score was roughly equivalent to one year of aging in the amount of brain shrinkage that occurred, the study said.

Smoking had the strongest association with smaller brain volume than any of the other factors.

"These findings are exciting because these are all changes that anyone can make at a young age to help themselves live a long and healthy life," said the study’s author, Michael Bancks of Northwestern. "This may mean that heart health may have an impact on brain function in early life, but more study needs to be done to confirm this theory."

The study is published online in <a href="http://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>, the medical journal of the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology </a>

Keeping a healthy heart when young will help your brain later on

Maintaining a healthy heart at an early age through diet,...

In an effort to lay the groundwork for better management of sustainable materials, a team of researchers calculated the total amount of plastics ever produced. According to the study, humans have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics since the early 1950s, and almost 80 percent of it has accumulated in landfills or elsewhere in the natural environment.

Scientists from the <a href="http://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a>, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Sea Education Association teamed up to develop the first global assessment of how much plastic has been produced, how it was used, and where it ended up. 

According to the research, 6.3 of the 8.3 billion metric tons of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-bottle-threatens-environment/">plastics</a> had already become waste by 2015. 9 percent of the plastic waste was recycled, 12 percent was incinerated, and 79 percent was piled up in landfills or in the natural environment. At the current rate, approximately 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will be in landfills or the natural environment by 2050. This amount of waste would be around 35,000 times as heavy as the Empire State Building.

"Most plastics don't biodegrade in any meaningful sense, so the plastic waste humans have generated could be with us for hundreds or even thousands of years," said co-author Jenna Jambeck. 

The study revealed that production of plastics increased from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to over 400 million metric tons in 2015. This is more than most other man-made materials with the exception of construction materials like steel and cement. The largest demand for plastic is packaging, and most of what is used for packaging is thrown away after a single use.

"Roughly half of all the steel we make goes into construction, so it will have decades of use - plastic is the opposite," said lead author Roland Geyer. "Half of all plastics become waste after four or fewer years of use."

This research team worked together previously on a study that investigated the amount of plastic waste in the Earth’s oceans. The analysis revealed that 8 million metric tons of plastic made its way into the oceans in 2010.

"There are people alive today who remember a world without plastics," Jambeck said. "But they have become so ubiquitous that you can't go anywhere without finding plastic waste in our environment, including our oceans."

The results of the study, published today in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>, show that plastic production continues to speed up. Almost half of plastics produced from 1950 to 2015 were generated in the last 13 years. The researchers recommend better control of plastic use and closer examination of its recyclable value.

[caption id="attachment_718699" align="aligncenter" width="218"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/145629.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-718699" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/145629-218x300.jpg" alt="" width="218" height="300" /></a> Credit: Janet A Beckley[/caption]

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a>

Image: Janet A Beckley

Billions of tons of plastic have been made, most of it thrown out

In an effort to lay the groundwork for better management...

Imprinted genes regulate fetal growth and development. These genes are expressed by either the egg or the sperm, and the gene that is not expressed must be silenced by cells in the body in order to prevent complications such as developmental or neurological disorders. Scientists have now discovered a new way that cells manage to turn off imprinted genes - by chemically tagging histones, proteins that organize DNA into units called nucleosomes.

According to a report published today in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature,</a> Yi Zhang of <a href="http://www.hhmi.org/">Howard Hughes Medical Institute</a> and Harvard Medical School led a team of researchers in the study. The team managed to turn off the activity of imprinted genes in mice by modifying the histone known as H3K27. Zhang explained that this discovery could provide insight into developmental disorders associated with assisted reproduction practices such as in vitro fertilization, which scientists have noted are occurring more frequently. This finding may also be used to improve the process of cloning animals.

Humans obtain two working copies of most genes during reproduction, inheriting one from each parent. For a small number of genes known as imprinted genes, however, people receive only one working copy. The other copy is turned off or deactivated. The mechanism involved in this imprinting process has long been a central focus of gene regulation research, according to Zhang.

Until now, scientists were aware of only one cellular mechanism that keeps these genes inactive by supplying the DNA with small molecules called methyl groups. Zhang and his team have found that cells can also silence imprinted genes by adding methyl groups to histones. The research identified 76 genes in mice that may belong to this class of developmental genes.

Imprinting problems can lead to developmental abnormalities. These include Angelman syndrome, which causes learning difficulties, speech problems, and seizures. Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome is also a risk of imprinting issues, and can cause overgrowth of the baby during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/behavioral-problems-boys-obese-mothers/">pregnancy</a> and lead to various birth defects. 

Zhang explained that researchers still have much to learn about the imprinting process and the genes involved. He added that the discovery of a new mechanism for shutting down imprinted genes also raises many provocative questions. 

"We believe our study will open up a new field of research," said Zhang.

--

By<a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com"> Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.hhmi.org/">Howard Hughes Medical Institute</a>

Scientists discover how to silence genes, could prevent disorders

Imprinted genes regulate fetal growth and development. These genes are...

Time “windows" that collectively alter the state of the brain turn short-term memories into long-term ones, according to a new study.

The process is similar to how humans process sound, the <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> study said.

"Much like sound is broken down by the auditory system into many discrete bins of frequencies that are perceived simultaneously, an experience as a whole is parsed by the brain into many 'time windows' that collectively represent the past," said Thomas Carew, a professor at NYU.

Most memories vanish in a few seconds but some last a lifetime, the authors said. At each given moment both kinds of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/good-memory-bored-sooner/">memory</a> coexist on the same terms. 

Living organisms have the ability to represent experience on many timescales, simultaneously recalling events occurring over years, hours, and milliseconds, the authors said. A disruption in the state of the organism opens a "time window" that is eventually closed when the state returns to equilibrium. Neural memory is then composed of a vast repertoire of interacting time windows.

"Changes occurring on the fastest time scales combine with other changes to produce more lasting, emergent changes, creating a 'temporal hierarchy' of time windows that collectively alter the state of the brain at each given instant," the authors said.

Memory timescales represent past experience and must be simultaneously available to the organism to be useful, according to the research.

“Time is the only physical variable that is 'inherited' by the brain from the external world," the scientists said. "Thus, memories must be 'made of time,' or, more precisely, of temporal relationships between external stimuli.”

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a>

Time “windows” convert short-term memories to long-term ones

Time “windows" that collectively alter the state of the brain...

Fig01_15_170412

Millions of people own fitness trackers as new and improved features continue to emerge. These devices can be used to monitor activities such as sleep, heart rate, and footsteps. According to a report published in the journal <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/journal/ascefj">ACS Sensors</a>, researchers have now developed a 3D printed tracker that is worn on the ear to detect core body temperature.

Core body temperature is one of the key indicators of a person’s overall health. An elevation or decline in core body temperature can signal a broad range of health conditions. A fever most often indicates there is an infection, while fluctuations in temperature are also caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insomnia-biological-psychological/">insomnia</a>, depression, and other medical problems.

There are trackers that are capable of detecting skin temperature, but these temperatures rise and fall with a person’s external environment. Oral thermometers are also available, but they are not designed for long-term monitoring. A research team led by Ali Javey set out to construct a monitor that could continuously track core body temperature in real time.

The researchers fused data processing circuits, a wireless module, and an infrared sensor in a 3-D printed device. The sensing mechanism measures ear temperature, while the disk-like design covers the ear. This structure can be tailored to fit the contours of an individual’s ear for comfort. 

The researchers included a microphone to capture and transmit outside sounds to the inner ear to make certain that hearing is not obstructed by the device. A Bluetooth component transmits temperature data to a custom app for smartphones. Testing of the newly-developed trackers revealed that temperature measurements are comparable to those of ear thermometers currently available on the market.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/journal/ascefj">ACS Sensors</a>

Image: American Chemical Society

New wearable tracker can monitor body temperature in real time

Millions of people own fitness trackers as new and improved...

Farmers in North Dakota say the state’s drought is the worst they've seen in many years and mere survival has become their focus.

"We've never been in this sort of boat, honestly," Dawn Martin told the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APFN_US_NORTH_DAKOTA_DROUGHT_NDOL-?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-07-15-10-37-27">AP</a>. Martin raises beef cattle with her family in the southwestern part of the state, which is currently experiencing what the U.S. Drought Monitor calls “extreme drought.”

The Martins sold about one-third of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cow-drama-herd-behavior/">cattle</a> because the grass in their pastures is brown and dying.

The impact will also affect consumers, state Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said.  Agriculture is a huge part of the North Dakota economy as the state leads the country in the production of many crops.

"Dry beans - navies, pintos - are going to be affected to a degree,” Goehring told the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">AP</a>. “Canola, that production is going to be cut, and that's going to have an effect on vegetable oil."

Most of North Dakota is now in severe or extreme drought, which has also affected northern South Dakota and northeastern Montana.

John Weinand’s farm northwest of Bismarck has gotten less than 2.5 inches of rain since the beginning of May.

Weinand expects his wheat crop will be half its normal yield. His field pea crop will be 100 pounds per acre instead of the typical 3,000 pounds.

"If we get some rain we'll have some corn and soybeans, but at this point it doesn't look very promising," he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over one-third of North Dakota's spring wheat crop and almost three-fourths of the state's pasture and rangelands are in poor or very poor condition.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/ stories/A/APFN_US_NORTH_ DAKOTA_DROUGHT_NDOL-?SITE=AP&amp; SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp; CTIME=2017-07-15-10-37-27">AP</a>

Severe drought plagues North Dakota farmers

Farmers in North Dakota say the state’s drought is the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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"

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

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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