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 stressful childhood is a common occurrence that seems to lead to a more difficult future. A new study reveals this is not the case. Adversity in early life can actually help develop a skill set that is not learned by more privileged children.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">the University of Utah </a>studied cases of people who had endured childhood trauma. The team discovered many of these individuals adapted to their situations by becoming exceptionally aware of the stressful circumstances they endured. As a result, they have improved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-trained-improve-memory/">memory</a> function. The team derived this adaptation could be a way of avoiding the same type of emotional hardship in the future.

Bruce Ellis, a psychology professor at the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> explained, “We have been documenting deficits in children from high-stress backgrounds forever. We fill libraries with all the things that are wrong with them. But this paper was the first systematic attempt to understand what was right with them.”

The study, which will be published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, found that children have a much better memory of negative interactions than positive ones. The research suggests that these individuals evolve to protect themselves from experiencing these types of negative encounters later in life. 

The research also concludes that individuals who witness verbal abuse early in life become much more capable of recognizing emotions. This prepares them to better cope with stressful situations. The research team refers to this as a type of “cognitive survival mechanism” that could be helpful in creating a school curriculum that will help build on the strengths of children that may otherwise be considered weak.

“We're not arguing that stress is good, or that it's good for kids to grow up in poverty or under harsh conditions,” said Dr Ellis. “What we're arguing is that [the detrimental effects of stress] are real, and that's half the story.” 

--

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="https://www.utah.edu/">The University of Utah</a>

A tough childhood could lead to smarter decisions in adulthood

A stressful childhood is a common occurrence that seems to...

Would you believe me if I told you that a team of mechanical engineers from <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> just came out with a study to show why your shoelaces may keep coming untied? Well, like it or not you’re going to have to believe me – because it’s true and it’s on the cutting edge of shoelace science.

The study shows that the reason behind this annoying inconvenience is the combined factors of stomping and whipping forces that act like an invisible hand (not Adam Smith’s invisible hand- sorry, economics majors) and loosens the knot while pulling on the free ends of the shoelaces. 

So that’s it, right? Mystery solved and now we can all go about our day with a better understanding of our shoelace physics. Well… this study goes beyond just the laces on our shoes. The researchers believe that this study on knot mechanics could also lead to a better understanding of how knotted structures as a whole fail under a number of forces.

“When you talk about knotted structures, if you can start to understand the shoelace, then you can apply it to other things, like DNA or microstructures, that fail under dynamic forces," says Christopher Daily-Diamond, co-author and a graduate student at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley</a>. “This is the first step toward understanding why certain knots are better than others, which no one has really done.”

Previous studies have shown how knotted structures fail under sustained loads, but not much research has been done on how the dynamic pressures of changing forces and loads affects a knotted structure.

“We are trying to understand knots from a mechanics perspective, such as why you can take two strands and connect them in a certain way that can be very strong, but another way of connecting them is very weak,” explains Oliver O'Reilly, a <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley</a> professor of mechanical engineering.

And while you may ask the opinion of your closest sailor friend on which knots are the toughest and strongest, you’ll need to read about this study to find out the mechanics behind their strength.

This study tested the two most common bowtie knots used to lace up shoes. One version is based on a square knot, with two lace crossings of opposite handedness on top of each other. The other version is based on a false knot, where the two lace crossings have the same handedness, which causes the knot to twist instead of lying flat when it is tightened.

The researchers found that both knots failed in the same way, and surmised that weak knots will always fail – which shouldn’t be surprising – but a strong knot will also fail over a certain time scale. However, they are still unsure as to why there is a fundamental mechanical difference between the two most common shoelace bowtie knots. 

Although this may all seem very trivial, the mechanics and physics behind this research have applications elsewhere. And if nothing else, reading this study may help you learn to tie your shoes.

More information on this study can be found in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

--

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.berkeley.edu/">University of California – Berkeley</a>

The real reason your shoelaces are always coming undone

Would you believe me if I told you that a...

How would you use a warning of a few seconds – or possibly as much as a minute – before an earthquake struck? It’s not much time, but maybe you could get out of a building or at least stay out of that elevator whose doors have just opened. If you live on the U.S. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unusual-blob-ocean-water/">west coast</a>, you might start giving it some thought because you soon might get that early earthquake warning safeguard.

According to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>, Oregon and Washington State are about to join California in the launch of ShakeAlert, an earthquake warning system under development by the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Society</a> (USGS) and university partners.

Officials with <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">USGS</a>, the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> and others held a news conference Monday in Seattle to announce the system's rollout across the west coast. California has been testing the production prototype since early last year.

The <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/">Seattle Times</a> reported that RH2 Engineering, a Washington state firm, signed on as a pilot user. The firm develops municipal water and sewage tank plants and hopes the alert system can help prevent spills in the event of a quake.

“The advantage of earthquake early warning is that it gives us forewarning that the shaking will occur, and we can be sure the valve is fully closed by the time the shaking starts,” RH2’s Dan Ervin told the newspaper.

The company is developing software and hardware to process the warning signals and automatically close valves.

The warning system works through a network of ground motion sensors. The amount of warning time depends on distance from an earthquake's epicenter. It might provide little or no warning to locations close to the epicenter, but spots farther away could get seconds or minutes depending on distance.

The <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">USGS</a> says it will cost $38.3 million in capital investment to complete the ShakeAlert system to the point where it can begin issuing alerts and about $16.1 million per year to operate and maintain.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.apnews.com/be7d5ed5a3904d3cba5dc013fd1ec38d/Early-quake-warning-system-expands-to-Oregon,-Washington"> Associated Press</a>

Could this new earthquake warning system save lives?

How would you use a warning of a few seconds...

Neuroscientists have recently made new breakthroughs in understanding how the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-store-memories/">brain</a> works while we're dreaming. Researchers from the Center of Sleep and Consciousness at the <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> and the <a href="http://centerforsleepandconsciousness.med.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institute of Sleep and Consciousness</a> (WISC) published insights gained from recent sleep experiments in the latest issue of Nature Neuroscience.  

“This study has managed to identify the brain regions that are involved in dreaming,’’ says one of the study’s lead authors, Dr. Francesca Siclari, of the <a href="https://www.unil.ch/central/en/home.html">University of Lausanne</a> and the WISC lab. “We’ve also been able to identify the brain areas that correspond to specific dream contents (like faces, spatial setting, movement and speech) during well-established sleep.”

One finding contradicts prevailing thought that the dream state was only activated during REM sleep, our deepest sleep cycle. The searchers found that dreams and a lack of dreaming can both occur in REM sleep and in non-REM sleep, or NREM.  

They also found that the type of dreams experienced by test subjects were related to activity in the area of the brain that would control that process in the waking hours. For instance, if the awakened participant reported a dream that involved hearing someone speak, it corresponded to electrical impulses in the part of the brain that controlled communications skills.

The experiments involved a total of 46 volunteers sleeping at the institute while wearing nets with 256 electrodes covering their scalps and parts of their faces. The electrodes created a high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) report when electrical activity was detected in their brains. When that happened, the volunteers were awakened by a tone and asked to report whether they’d been dreaming or not.

The first experiment showed that in both REM and NREM sleep, sleepers reported dreams when the ‘posterior hot zone’ in the back of the brain was activated, regardless of what the rest of the cortex was doing. Siclari said that dreaming can occur in the different sleep stages because the occurrence depends on this brain region being active, not on the stage of sleep.

In subsequent tests, subjects were awakened and asked to describe the content of their dreams. It was in this test that researchers found a correlation between the dream and the waking-life area of the brain, ie the dream about hearing someone corresponding to electrical activity in the language skills region of the brain.

“This suggests that dreams recruit the same brain regions as experiences in wakefulness for specific contents,” Siclari said. “This also indicates that dreams are experiences that truly occur during wakefulness, and that they are not ‘inventions’ or ‘confabulations’ that we make up while we wake up.”

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/activity-in-the-brains-hot-zone-predicts-dreams-during-sleep/50715"> University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health</a>

Scientists identify how the brain works while dreaming

Neuroscientists have recently made new breakthroughs in understanding how the...

We usually think of our adult-selves as more perceptive and focused than we once were as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dog-kids-health/">kids</a>, and while this is mostly true, new research shows that children may be better at noticing things most adults miss.

Researchers at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a> performed two studies comparing the focus and attention of adults versus that of children. Not surprisingly, they found that adults were better at remembering information they were told to focus on, while ignoring any outside information. However, because of the grownups’ enhanced selective attention, they tended to miss information that children picked up on.

Vladimir Sloutsky, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State</a>, conducted both studies with Daniel Plebanek, a graduate student in psychology. 

The first study included 35 adults and 34 children who were 4 to 5 years old. The participants were shown two shapes on a computer screen, with one shape overlaying the other. One shape was red while the other was green. Individuals were told to pay attention to a shape of a particular color.

The shapes then disappeared and another screen with shapes appeared. Both the children and adults had to decide whether the shapes in the new screen were the same as in the previous screen.

Results showed that adults performed better than children at deciding whether the target shape had changed. Children only got this correct 86 percent of the time compared to the grownups’ 94 percent. But Sloutsky made an interesting observation:

“…The children were much better than adults at noticing when the non-target shape changed.” In fact, children noticed that change 77 percent of the time, compared to 63 percent of the time for adults.

Sloutsky says that what they discovered was “children were paying attention to the shapes that they weren’t required to. Adults, on the other hand, tended to focus only on what they were told was needed.”

The researchers performed a second study – this time asking participants to notice certain shapes on drawings of artificial creatures. Once again, they found that children were significantly more accurate than adults at remembering features they weren’t asked to pay attention to. The results showed that 72 percent of children correctly made these identifications while only 59 percent of adults could do the same.

“The point is that children don’t focus their attention as well as adults, even if you ask them to,” Sloutsky explains. “They end up noticing and remembering more.” Adults were only able to do well at noticing and remembering the ignored information in the studies if they were told to pay attention to everything.

This difference in the abilities of children and adults to focus their attention has both positives and negatives. “The ability to focus attention is what allows adults to sit in two-hour meetings and maintain long conversations, while ignoring distractions,” Sloutsky said – although some may look at that as a negative. On the other hand, in their ability to distribute their attention, children are able to “learn more in new and unfamiliar settings by taking in a lot of information.”

These results could have important implications for understanding how children can learn better in a classroom environment. If you ask any teacher, you’ll find that getting kids to sit still and pay attention is the hardest part of the job. Gaining insight into how their distributed attention can become more focused could be key in developing an education system around the intricacies of a child’s mind.

More information on this study can be found in <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/home/pss">Psychological Science</a>.

--

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.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>

Children pick up on things that adults don’t catch

We usually think of our adult-selves as more perceptive and...

It’s perfectly understandable if your thoughts drift at work today and you find yourself imagining sitting under a hot sun, in a hammock strung up between two palm trees, drinking Pina coladas. But if you’re serious about getting any real work done, shift your thoughts. Get out of the hot sun and think about a polar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-ice-caps/">ice cap</a>. Or set your mind on a toboggan run after a fresh fall of snow. Later, when it’s time for relaxing, feel free to return to those warm climate scenes either through photos or just your own meandering mind.

That’s according to scientists studying cognitive control – the brain’s ability to ignore our impulses and focus in on making decisions that benefit our long term. Their research has indicated that images of cold temperatures trigger greater cognitive control. 

“Previous research focused on the actual effect of temperature on the psychological phenomenon known as ‘cognitive control,’” said Dr. Idit Shalev, from Ben-Gurion <a href="http://in.bgu.ac.il/en">University of the Negev</a> (BGU) in Israel. “But this is the first time we were able to measure the effects of perceived temperature.”

Shalev’s team recruited 87 students and asked them to stare at one area of a screen while motion occurred elsewhere on the screen. Those who did the best job of ignoring the movement were judged as having the best cognitive control abilities.

Working with this group of 28 students, the research team showed them a winter scene image as well as a sun-drenched landscape and one that was temperature-neutral. The participants were asked to imagine themselves in each of those environments, and then retook the cognitive control test.

“The result indicated that those viewing the cold landscape did better and that even without a physical trigger (the photo), cognitive control can be activated through conceptual processes alone,” said Shalev. “While signals of warmth induce a relaxed attitude, cool signals trigger alertness and a possible need for greater cognitive control.”

So think of a warming sun – or a cold walk through a winter landscape – depending on your tasks at hand.

The study was published in the February issue of Psychological Research.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295899347_Keep_it_cool_temperature_priming_effect_on_cognitive_control"> Psychological Research</a>

How hot and cold imagery control your mind

It’s perfectly understandable if your thoughts drift at work today...

Blackfish (2013)

“A whale has eaten one of the trainers.”

The shaky-voiced 911 call in Orlando in 2010 wasn’t accurate, but the killer whale Tilikum had indeed pulled veteran SeaWorld whale trainer Dawn Brancheau into the water and drowned her. Brancheau’s death would be the third associated with the orca, or killer whale.

As a cause-oriented documentary, Blackfish did indeed make a splash upon its 2013 release. It took on the entire SeaWorld business model of holding and training the whales for the entertainment of audiences. It made a case for the practice as being a risk to trainers and a tragedy for whales snatched from their social pods and contained in space too small for the needs of marine mammals who might travel a hundred miles or more in a single day in the wild. 

The film was certainly effective. SeaWorld stock dropped after its 2013 release, audience numbers plummeted and the entertainment company went out of its way to defend its treatment of the killer whales and the training and safety protocol of the animals’ trainers.  In 2014, SeaWorld announced that it would build larger enclosures with more natural elements for the whales. Two years later, the company announced that they were going to phase out its killer whale shows and build its first park without a killer whale presence from the start (in Abu Dhabi UAE). 

Whale hunt

Early in the film, we see 1970 footage of a heartbreaking whale capture off the coast of Washington State conducted on behalf of another orca show – not SeaWorld. Pursuers in boats and by air drop explosives into the water to drive the whales to a capture point, then separate mothers from their young. The whale show only wants the younger and lighter marine mammals to hold down shipping costs. We can hear the mother whales wailing as their panicky young are caught. Three whales are accidentally killed during the hunt. A grizzled contemporary diver who hired on for the roundup briefly loses his composure as he calls it one of the worst things he’s ever done. 

The film establishes the fact that killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/false-killer-whales-danger-extinction/">whales</a> are intensely social creatures who stay within visual sight of their mothers for life. Later in the film, when we learn of two instances of SeaWorld separating mother and child, and the company responds that no calves were taken away – that, in fact, the younger animals were twelve and four-and-a-half years of age – Blackfish viewers might wonder if that softens the impact.

Psychotic whale

When Washington State forbad further orca capture in its waters, the whale hunters moved to Iceland. That’s where the killer whale known as Tilikum was captured as a two-year-old in 1983. It was taken to Sealand of the Pacific, a dismal Canadian water show.

That’s where, in 1991, a trainer named Keltie Byrne was pulled into the water and drowned. There were several witnesses, but court testimony disagrees as to which of several orcas actually grabbed and drowned the trainer. However, two grown sisters who witnessed the events two decades in the past tell the camera it was definitely the male – Tilikum.

Later, when Sealand went under, Tilikum was sold to SeaWorld Orlando. Living in close quarters with two females out of his natural social pod, one of the many disdainful former SeaWorld trainers interviewed said that he was frequently bullied, his flesh raked bloody by the teeth of the others. 

In 1999, a man named Daniel Dukes apparently hid away in the park and was found dead the next morning, his nude lifeless body on Tilikum’s back. As with the previous death, it was impossible to conclusively state that the big orca had caused the fatality, but evidence pointed that way. 

The documentary points toward the capture, the training methods, the lack of freedom and unnatural social structure turning the mammal into a killer. Is that a too-easy anthropomorphic explanation – a way of attributing human characteristics to animals who can’t actually form thoughts or emotions that complex? 

SeaWorld responds

In its response to the popularity of Blackfish and the subsequent hit on its business, SeaWorld Entertainment responded to several key points. One key argument is that the critical former whale trainers hadn’t been with the company for many years, and some had little whale-training experience while with SeaWorld. 

The company also said that the scientists interviewed on-air had no captive whale experience and were active animal rights activists who brought a one-sided perspective. On the other hand, the Blackfish director said that SeaWorld refused involvement in the project.

Here’s where you can read the <a href="https://seaworldcares.com/the-facts/truth-about-blackfish/">SeaWorld rebuttal on Blackfish</a>. 

Blackfish has a definite point of view, and expresses it eloquently.  

--

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth.com Film Review, Blackfish (2013)

Blackfish (2013) “A whale has eaten one of the trainers.”...

A new study shows that in U.S. states where the income gap is wide, the carbon footprint is larger.

The new research, conducted by sociologists at <a href="http://www.bc.edu/">Boston College</a>, looked at environmental and economic data collected between 1997 and 2012. The researchers discovered that when the top 10 percent in each state controlled a larger percentage of the wealth, carbon emissions rose. In states with lower income inequality, carbon emissions were lower.

The study echoes others conducted on a global scale, which found that in countries with wider income gaps, carbon emissions were higher.

“First, income concentration leads to concentrated political power and the ability to prevent regulations on carbon emissions,” study co-author Dr. Juliet Schor said in a press release. “Second, high income consumers are disproportionate carbon polluters.”

The sociologists looked beyond just the income gap. They also took into account population size, urbanization, manufacturing, each state’s gross domestic product, fossil fuel use and state-level environmental regulations in their analysis.

The common denominator in states with a larger carbon footprint, however, was the income gap.

“This suggests a holistic view of sustainability, equalizing income distribution within the U.S. can have social and environmental benefits,” said lead author Dr. Andrew Jorgenson. “And they can have a global benefit too, since the U.S. is such a significant contributor to climate change.”

The findings could lend support to several states’ declarations that, in light of loosening federal regulations, they would enforce their own environmental programs. For example, California Gov. Jerry Brown has pledged to keep the state’s stringent environmental policies in place.

“We think it is safe to say, in terms of environmental policy and action, it is going to be much more active at the state level than the federal level,” Jorgenson said.

However, the researchers point out that their study indicates working to decrease the income gap could be the key to lowering carbon emissions. 

Taking action to decrease inequality could benefit public health and other areas beyond the environment, too, Jorgenson said.

“Equalizing incomes has all kinds of potential benefits,” he said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916308345">Ecological Economics</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Carbon emissions may grow along with income gap

A new study shows that in U.S. states where the...

Ancient human bone fossils have been found in numerous excavations with bite marks that align with human teeth. This is widely accepted as evidence that our early ancestors resorted to cannibalism at times, and most researchers believe the practice occurred as a result of other food sources running low.  

But research by Dr. James Cole, an archeologist from England’s <a href="https://www.brighton.ac.uk/">University of Brighton</a>, suggests that the relative lack of caloric content of humans points the motive in another direction – social or cultural ritual.

Cole arrived at that conclusion by examining nine sites where bone fossils exhibiting signs of cannibalism had been found. The sites conformed to the Paleolithic period, some 14,000 to 900,000 years ago, and reflected the dietary behavior of modern man as well as Neanderthals and two other extinct branches of human evolution.

He estimated that the caloric value of a human is no higher than that of many other meat sources that would have been available. And why would it be worth the risk of trying to add one of their own kind to the menu? Cole wondered.

“You're dealing with an animal that is as smart as you are, as resourceful as you are, and can fight back in the way you fight them,” he said.

He figured that most would of our ancestors would have figured it was less risky and much more of a feast to take down a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-woolly-mammoths-extinction/">woolly mammoth</a> instead. Cole recognized that a certain amount of the human feasting could have been done out of convenience. Perhaps some meal sources consisted of tribe members who’d died and it was easier to consume them than to go on the hunt. But he didn’t feel that such a decision would be made frequently, and that most of the cannibalistic evidence we see through fossil study was motivated by factors beyond calories. It was more often a matter of choice, he wrote.

For instance, in some cases they might have been prisoners taken in battle and consumed for ritualistic reasons.

Cole’s paper was published in Scientific Reports.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep44707"> Scientific Reports</a>

Why early man might have practiced cannibalism

Ancient human bone fossils have been found in numerous excavations...

Our current understanding of the brain and memory is that when something happens it’s stored as a short-term memory in the hippocampus, and then transferred to long-term storage in the cortex.  Now, new research from <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> suggests that our memories are stored simultaneously in short- and long-term memory chambers, but the memory isn’t activated in long-term for a period of perhaps two weeks.  

To illustrate, lab <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zombie-killer-mice/">mice</a> undergoing brain scans by MIT researchers were given mild shocks. They immediately remembered the shock in the hippocampus, the part of the brain where researchers already know short-term memory is temporarily stored. But then something unexpected happened: the shock simultaneously triggered a memory response in another part of the mouse brain, the prefrontal cortex.

The mice would freeze the next day when in the corridor where the shock occurred, and researchers could see the memory being activated in the hippocampus. That same memory, however, went ‘silent’ in the cortex. That means the memory was present there, but it didn’t spur a response. The mice only froze when the researchers reactivated that part of the brain with light. Furthermore, after the shock memory was fully transferred to the cortex, and the memory went silent in the hippocampus, it could be reactivated here too, making the mouse freeze.

To researchers, this availability of memory in two brain locations suggested the possibility of turning memories on or off by activating or silencing this mechanism to benefit the patients.

“If we identified a mechanism for the overactive memory in PTSD to be switched back to silent, we may find a way to treat the disease,” lead author Dr. Takashi Kitamura told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>. “Additionally, we could potentially activate the frozen, silent memories of amnesiac patients to retrieve their past.”

-- 

By <a href="mailto:dsearls@earth.com">David Searls</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4387392/Is-memories-stored-brain.html"> Daily Mail</a>

How does the brain store and recall memories?

Our current understanding of the brain and memory is that...

For some people, getting enough high-quality sleep has always been difficult. Disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea can leave you feeling fatigued during the day but somehow restless at night. Unfortunately, these types of sleep problems tend to only get worse as we age, even though we are less likely to notice the symptoms as we get older.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> have found that the lack of good sleep experienced by the elderly can actually increase their risk of memory loss and a number of mental and physical disorders. In fact, sleep deterioration has been linked to conditions such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and stroke.

The article’s senior author – Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> – explains further, “Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep. We've done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that.”

The shift from restful, healthy sleep when we’re young to fitful, restless sleep can start as early as your 30s, leading to sleep-related cognitive and physical ailments in middle age.

While a doctor may prescribe you medication to help you fall asleep, Walker believes these pills are not a good substitute for our natural sleep cycle, saying, “Don’t be fooled into thinking sedation is real sleep. It’s not.”

In their study, Walker and fellow researchers Bryce Mander and Joseph Winer, show that the aging brain has trouble generating the necessary slow brain waves that lead to deep and beneficial sleep. Our brains may also struggle to produce the neurochemicals that help us make the switch from sleep to wakefulness.

“The parts of the brain deteriorating earliest are the same regions that give us deep sleep,” says Mander – the study’s lead author. The aging process can also lead to a decline in deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) or “slow wave sleep.” The characteristic brain waves associated with NREM – such as fast bursts of brain waves known as “sleep spindles” as well as slow waves – occur less frequently as we get older.

When our brains exhibit healthy slow waves and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-gene-helps-explain/">sleep</a> spindles, it increases the brain’s ability for short-term memory storage, as these waves help transfer memories and information from the hippocampus. As the waves decrease, it can lead to a decline in memory later in life, says Winer.

Furthermore, the resulting fatigue that many of the elderly feel during the day can be related to the inability of the aged brain to regulate specific neurochemicals that stabilize our sleep and ease the transition to wakefulness. 

Luckily, not everyone will experience these sleep issues later in life. Mander explains, “Just as some people age more successfully than others, some people sleep better than others as they get older, and that's another line of research we'll be exploring.”

The focus now is providing alternatives to prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids. There is already an effort to explore non-pharmaceutical remedies, such as electrical stimulation to amplify brain waves during sleep and acoustic tones that may help slow brain rhythms, almost like a brain-metronome.

Quality sleep cannot be attained simply by sedating yourself for the recommended eight hours. The science of sleep points to a variety of factors that lead to true and healthy restfulness – not just being unconscious for a period of time. As Walker explains, “we need both quantity and quality.”

--

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.berkeley.edu/"> University of California – Berkeley</a>

Our quality of sleep declines as we age

For some people, getting enough high-quality sleep has always been...

The horrifying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/group-epa-waited-seven-months-intervene-flint-water-crisis/">Flint</a> water crisis has led many scientists to take a closer look at what exactly is in our drinking water. Now, new research has shown an abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and pet waste is polluting urban water sources. 

A new study from the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> is the first to compare urban watershed concentrations of nitrogen in phosphorus, leading to results that can be applied to urban watersheds around the world that experience an influx of excess nutrients.

The researchers – led by Sarah Hobbie, a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution &amp; Behavior – found that households tend to be the main source of nutrient pollutants in the Twin Cities urban watershed. In particular, household nitrogen fertilizer use is exceeds that of commercial fertilizer use by golf courses, college campuses, and other non-residential locations by a factor of ten. Furthermore, pet waste is the leading source of phosphorus in the seven sub-watersheds of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The calculated network of streets and storm drains that whisk away water from the landscape to avoid flooding are actually a major factor in this nutrient pollution. Most of the phosphorus that is found in these watersheds is carried away by stormwater that drains into surface waters – such as rivers and lakes – and ends up contributing to pollution and eutrophication.

Unlike phosphorus, nitrogen tends to disperse through a wider array of pathways. Only one-fifth of nitrogen is transported through stormwater into surface water, while the majority ends up being released into the atmosphere or seeping through soil into groundwater.

Hobbie explains, “Not only is this a concern for water resource managers tasked with cleaning up urban pollution, but also urban and downstream residents who depend on clean water for drinking water, recreation and aesthetic value.”

In order to curtail this nutrient pollution, the researchers want to focus on reducing excessive nitrogen fertilizer use and controlling the erosion and excessive pet waste that releases phosphorus into the watershed. Picking up after your dog – or your cat, as some people actually do walk their cats believe it or not – is not just your civic duty for aesthetic reasons. Rather, your pet’s waste has consequences that lead further down stream, no pun intended. 

--

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://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a>

Fertilizers and pet waste could be polluting your drinking water

The horrifying Flint water crisis has led many scientists to...

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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

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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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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