A nationally representative, wearables-based study has tracked Americans who said they did not do structured exercise. It found that short energy bursts - a median of just 1.1 minutes per day of brief, vigorous effort - was linked with a lower risk of death over roughly seven years.



The pattern was simple. People who racked up about five or six energy bursts per day, each usually around 10 seconds and all under one minute, tended to fare better than those who did none.



This work was led by Emmanuel Stamatakis at the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Sydney</a>. The team focused on vigorous activity, meaning effort that makes breathing hard and raises heart rate clearly for short spans.



Researchers looked at death from any cause. The curve of benefit rose quickly at low amounts, then flattened, which means the biggest change showed up when going from zero to a little. 



That is important for people who find it hard to schedule <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-can-slow-aging-right-down-to-your-dna/">workouts</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-study-was-done">How the study was done</h2>



The sample came from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NHANES</a> (the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), a long-running U.S. program that links health records with device-measured movement. 



Participants wore a wrist accelerometer - a sensor that records motion dozens of times per second - for about a week.



The authors studied what they call Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity (<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2807734" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VILPA</a>). 



That is the short, sharp effort that happens during normal life, like a very fast walk uphill, a quick run to catch a bus, or carrying heavy items up stairs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-short-energy-bursts-mean">What short energy bursts mean</h2>



Two findings stood out. First, daily time VILPA showed a near-linear link with lower risk, and the median of 1.1 minutes per day corresponded to a hazard ratio of about 0.61 in models that accounted for many other factors. 



Second, doing roughly five to six short bursts per day captured most of the observed benefit in this group.



“VILPA is a bit like applying the principles of High <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-feels-better-when-its-matched-to-your-personality/">Intensity</a> Interval Training to your everyday life," Stamatakis explained. 



"We need to further investigate this link through robust trials, but it appears that VILPA may be a promising, cost free recommendation for lowering cancer risk in people who find structured exercise difficult or unappealing."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-with-other-studies">Comparing with other studies</h2>



Earlier U.K. Biobank <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02100-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> reported that a sample median of 4.4 minutes per day of VILPA was associated with noticeably lower risks of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. 



The U.S. study’s median dose is smaller, which may reflect differences in age, fitness, or baseline activity.



Cancer findings from the U.K. Biobank add useful context. 



A 2023 <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2807734" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> of non-exercisers found that about 4.5 minutes per day of VILPA was linked to lower incident cancer risk, with the steepest gains when moving from none to a little.



A hazard ratio compares rates of an outcome between groups over time. Values below 1.0 indicate a lower rate in the more active group, values above 1.0 indicate a higher rate, and the confidence interval shows the range of uncertainty.



These numbers do not prove that short energy bursts caused the lower risk. They show a strong association after adjusting for many measured factors, which is informative for public health while we wait for further trials.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-energy-bursts-and-health">Energy bursts and health</h2>



Only about one quarter of U.S. adults meet both aerobic and strength targets, notes a CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db443.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>. 



Finding health linked to very short, vigorous effort embedded in daily life could help reach people who are not hitting those goals.



The signal shows up at low doses. That matters because many people cite time, cost, or access as barriers to regular exercise.



The U.S. cohort’s median VILPA time was just over a minute per day, and the median burst count was about five per day. 



Most bursts lasted around 10 seconds, which aligns with the way people actually move when life gets busy.



The dose-response curve rose quickly at first, then flattened around eight bursts per day in this dataset. That pattern supports the idea that small, repeatable effort may offer a meaningful step up from doing none.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-energy-bursts-and-future-health">Energy bursts and future health</h2>



Wearable sensors let scientists capture movement in 10-second windows, which makes it possible to study these micro patterns. That is a big advance over older surveys that missed very short efforts.



Future trials need to test whether nudging VILPA upward changes health markers directly. Those tests could use prompts during chores, commuting, or short work breaks.



This was an observational analysis, so unmeasured differences could still explain part of the link. People who feel better might move more, and some health risks are hard to measure perfectly at baseline.



Device limits matter too. Wrist sensors can misread certain tasks, and any single week of tracking may not reflect a person’s full year of movement.



Public health groups already say that all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-form-of-exercise-is-shown-to-improve-sleep-the-most-according-to-studies/">movement</a> counts. VILPA adds a sharp, practical edge to that message by focusing on brief, intense efforts that do not require special gear or set times.



If ongoing work shows cause and effect, simple cues could help people add a handful of short energy bursts to tasks they already do. 



That kind of shift would be especially useful for those who do not visit gyms or prefer not to schedule workouts.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.05.25333017v1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medRxiv</a>.



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Just one minute of this exercise every day can literally add years to your life, says a new study

A nationally representative, wearables-based study has tracked Americans who said they did not do structured exercise. It found that short energy bursts - a median of just 1.1 minutes per day of brief, vigorous effort - was linked with a lower risk of death over roughly seven years. The pattern was simple. People who racked up about five or six energy bursts per day, each usually around 10 seconds and all under one minute, tended to fare better than those who did none. This work was led...

A report published today in the online journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> reveals that scientists have identified brain cells that control aging. Stem cells have been located in the hypothalamus that control how fast the aging process occurs in mice. This revelation could be used to prevent age-related diseases and reverse many aspects of aging in humans. 

The hypothalamus is known to regulate key processes such as growth, development, and reproduction. In 2013, researchers from <a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a> made a breakthrough discovery that the hypothalamus also regulates aging throughout the body. The scientists have now managed to narrowly define a tiny population of adult neural stem cells which are responsible for age regulation.

Dr. Dongsheng Cai is a professor of Molecular Pharmacology at Einstein and senior author of the study. 

"Our research shows that the number of hypothalamic neural stem cells naturally declines over the life of the animal, and this decline accelerates aging," said Dr. Cai. "But we also found that the effects of this loss are not irreversible. By replenishing these stem cells or the molecules they produce, it's possible to slow and even reverse various aspects of aging throughout the body."

The researchers conducted an evaluation to observe the hypothalamic stem cells in healthy mice as they began to age. The cells started to decline when the animals reached approximately 10 months old, which is a few months before signs of aging typically appear in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mice-capable-empathy/">mice</a>.

"By old age-about two years of age in mice- most of those cells were gone," said Dr. Cai.

The scientists then set out to determine whether the loss of stem cells was actually causing the mice to age or if the loss of cells was more simply associated with the process of aging. They disrupted hypothalamic stem cells in some middle-aged mice to make this distinction.

"This disruption greatly accelerated aging compared with control mice, and those animals with disrupted stem cells died earlier than normal," explained Dr. Cai.

For the next phase of the study, the research team injected normal mice and mice whose brain cells they had previously disrupted with hypothalamic stem cells to see if this would counteract aging. The treatment slowed or reversed signs of aging in both groups of mice. 

The researchers discovered that molecules released from the hypothalamic stem cells called microRNAs (miRNAs) were responsible for the anti-aging effects. These molecules, which play a key role in gene expression, were contained in tiny particles called exosomes and released by the hypothalamic stem cells into the cerebrospinal fluid of the mice.

The team removed MiRNA-containing exosomes and injected them into the cerebrospinal fluid of the same two test groups of mice. The researchers used tissue analysis and behavioral assessments that tested coordination, muscle endurance, and cognitive ability to see how the exosomes affected various aspects of aging. Both groups exhibited significantly slowed aging.

The researchers are now taking a closer look at microRNA populations in an effort to better understand their anti-aging properties so the effects may be used to curb complications of aging in humans. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists identify brain cells that control aging

A report published today in the online journal Nature reveals...

A study from a group of researchers at the <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/">Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology &amp; Neuroscience at King's College London</a> and the <a href="http://icahn.mssm.edu/">Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai</a> looked at the connection between bipolar disorder and its link to faster biological aging. The main goal of the study was to see if those people predisposed to bipolar disorder were also predisposed to faster aging, and if there was any way to reverse these effects. 

The study was published in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology, and was lead by Dr. Timothy Powell from New Kings College and Dr. Sophia Frangou from Icahn School of Medicine. 

Researchers gathered information on 217 people, some were patients diagnosed with the disease, some were relatives of those with bipolar disorder, and some were unrelated and unaffected by the disease. 

In order to look at the aging process specifically in these subjects, the study examined telomeres and MRI scans that measured these telomeres and their connection to brain structure. Telomeres act like ‘caps’ on the ends of our DNA strands that protect chromosomes and are an essential part of the aging process. 

Telomere length is a definable measure of biological age as a telomere shortens each time cell division occurs. The study found that those who had no connection to bipolar disorder had longer telomeres than those who were relatives or directly diagnosed with the disease. These findings are particularly interesting because they show that genetics can put an individual at risk for faster <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/best-handling-aging-population/">aging</a>.

Another interesting result of the study was the relation between faster aging and the drug lithium. Lithium is a very common drug used to treat bipolar disorder, and it may actually reverse the aging process that bipolar disorder causes. 

Co-senior author Dr. Gerome Breen, also from King's College, said, “Up to now it has been unclear whether or not bipolar disorder patients are at risk of accelerated aging. This study shows that they are at greater risk of faster aging and drugs commonly used to treat the disorder may actually mask or reverse this effect.”

With these findings, further studies may be able to create new treatments for bipolar disorder and decrease its effect on the biological aging process.  

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Risk of bipolar disorder linked to faster aging

A study from a group of researchers at the Institute...

Researchers have developed a new model by which to calculate how countries are adapting to their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-low-use-of-neighborhood-parks-by-adults-seniors-and-females/">aging</a> populations. The Hartford Index is comprised of five social and economic indicators that measure the status and wellbeing of older persons in a country.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/">Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health</a> and <a href="http://healthpolicy.usc.edu/">University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy &amp; Economics</a> developed the tool. The index includes an evidence-based metric which can be used to track data over time and draw comparisons across nations.

Dr. John Rowe is a professor of Health Policy and Aging at the Mailman School of Public Health who led the research team.

"Now that previously unimagined numbers of older persons are living longer it is critical that we shift from our prior sole focus on the characteristics of individuals and their immediate environments to one that includes a strategy for the entire society to successfully adapt to an aging population" said Dr. Rowe.

The Hartford Index was initially developed for 30 countries and can track national sources of data for countries with aging populations including the United States and Western Europe. Sample analysis of the data shows that the five countries in the index managing their aging populations the best are Norway, Sweden, the United States, the Netherlands and Japan. 

"Interestingly, the Index demonstrates that the United States - despite general problems with inequity and social cohesion - has done well in keeping older Americans financially secure, productive, and engaged," noted Dana Goldman, PhD, of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy &amp; Economics.

The John A. Hartford Index is comprised of five indicators that create a new gauge for measuring the health of aging populations. Earlier indexes excluded nations such as the United States and did not fully encompass all aspects of aging societies.

"The Index provides an accurate look at how well societies are adapting to this aging challenge," said Goldman. "Utilizing reliable and sensitive economic and social indicators that are widely available, the tool allows countries to take a broader view of both current conditions and likely future demographic realities."

The social and economic indicators measured by The Hartford Index include productivity and engagement, overall well-being, equity, cohesion, and security.

"Failure to adapt to aging is a risky strategy for a country," noted Rowe. "If we neglect to develop and implement effective policies we will be left with a society rife with intergenerational tensions, characterized by enormous gaps between the haves and the have-nots, and unable to provide needed goods and services for any of its members--especially a progressively older and more dependent population. The good news is this gloomy scenario is avoidable."

[caption id="attachment_722207" align="aligncenter" width="182"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/146230.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-722207" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/146230-182x300.jpg" alt="" width="182" height="300" /></a> Image Credit: John A. Hartford Foundation Index of Societal Aging[/caption]

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: John A. Hartford Foundation Index of Societal Aging

Norway, Sweden, United States best handling aging population

Researchers have developed a new model by which to calculate...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/">Binghamton University</a> and <a href="https://www.suny.edu/">State University of New York</a> have developed a UV skin protection coating that is made out of DNA. The effectiveness of the formula actually improves as it is exposed to sunlight.

Guy German is an assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at Binghamton University.

"Ultraviolet (UV) light can actually damage DNA, and that's not good for the skin," said German. "We thought, let's flip it. What happens instead if we actually used DNA as a sacrificial layer? So instead of damaging DNA within the skin, we damage a layer on top of the skin."

German teamed up with other experts to formulate thin and optically transparent crystallized DNA films. They exposed the film to UV light and discovered that the more the DNA film was illuminated, the better the film got at absorbing the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-solar-cells-absorb-sunlight/">light</a>. 

"If you translate that, it means to me that if you use this as a topical cream or sunscreen, the longer that you stay out on the beach, the better it gets at being a sunscreen," said German.

The DNA coatings are also extra moisturizing due to the fact that skin covered with the DNA films can more effectively store and hold water. When applied to skin, they slow water evaporation and prolong hydration.

Next, German will test the DNA coating to see if it may be used as an improved method of covering wounds. The material would allow the wound to be visible while it is healing, protected from the sun, and may promote faster healing.

"Not only do we think this might have applications for sunscreen and moisturizers directly, but if it's optically transparent and prevents tissue damage from the sun and it's good at keeping the skin hydrated, we think this might be potentially exploitable as a wound covering for extreme environments," said German.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New DNA sunscreen works better the more you wear it

Researchers at Binghamton University and State University of New York...

Herbicide-resistant weeds are increasing in dramatic numbers, which doesn’t bode well for farmers. Now, a new study from <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/">Cambridge University</a> has found that “superweeds” are on the rise in the Midwest where farming and agriculture are a core part of the economy. 

It’s not all bad news though. The research also found that it’s not just about what you put on your weeds, it’s when you till the soil that has a huge impact on weed growth.

Tillage is the process of preparing the land for seeds and planting through digging, turning, and mixing up the soil. And the time tillage occurs may play a crucial role in hindering weeds from taking over. 

The study, published in the journal Weed Science, looked at tillage and weed growth in the Northeastern United States. Researchers examined 196 random plots and monitored tillage that occurred every two weeks through the growing season on these sites, later coming back to test weed growth on the plots.

The research team discovered that if tillage happens early in the season, there is an increase in weed growth. More than 50 percent more weeds grew in soil tilled early compared to later season tilled soil.

And it’s not just the number of weeds that are affected by timed tillage. Scientists found that early tilling produced an uneven distribution of species, with some particular weeds holding sway over the soil. Late tilling had an even amount of the types of weeds represented.

This is great news for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/severe-drought-plagues-north-dakota/">farmers</a> who are frustrated by weed growth, thanks to herbicide resistance increasing. 

Mathew Ryan, a member of the research team from Cornell University said, “Our results suggest that farmers may be able to better manage weed communities and to mitigate the impact of weeds on crop yields by adjusting the timing of their tillage, crop rotation, and other cultural management practices.”

&nbsp;

Despite the fact that “superweeds” are on the rise, science is working on finding ways to help farmers manage their crops and cutting back on weed density via timed tillage could be hugely beneficial.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Timing is everything for stopping pesky weeds

Herbicide-resistant weeds are increasing in dramatic numbers, which doesn’t bode...

We all know we shouldn’t stereotype, but as pattern recognition is one of our habitual core human traits, it’s sometimes inevitable despite our best efforts. Now, a new study has shed some light on how and why we stereotype and more importantly could showcase how to train our brain to deconstruct those stereotypes we recognize quickly.

The results found that people with higher cognitive function were more likely to recognize patterns and making stereotypes based on that, but also more likely to correct those assumptions.

The study authored by assistant professor Jonathan Freeman of the <a href="http://www.cns.nyu.edu/">NYU’s Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science</a> and a postdoctoral researcher David Lick used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program to conduct experiments that looked at how we stereotype.

For one experiment, the research team used Mechanical Turk to show study participants a set of images, each image containing some sort of description of past behavior. They could be positive or negative, such as sending flowers or rude to a homeless person.

The images were purposely doctored so that negative descriptors had similar facial characteristics or were affiliated with negative connotations, thereby establishing a negative stereotype or pattern.  

Freeman says of his findings, “Finding that higher pattern detection ability puts people at greater risk to detect and apply stereotypes, but also to reverse them, implicates this ability as a cognitive mechanism underlying stereotyping.”

The results of the study helped researchers look at those thought processes that lead us to stereotype and, in turn, could show more efficient ways to challenge and curb those prejudices.

-- 

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study: Smarter people quicker to draw conclusions, stereotypes

We all know we shouldn’t stereotype, but as pattern recognition...

A report published today in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humupd">Human Reproduction Update</a> reveals a significant decline in sperm count and sperm concentration among men of Western countries. The sweeping study reveals a 59.3 percent decline in total sperm count of men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and a 52.4 percent decline in sperm concentration.

Researchers from the <a href="http://new.huji.ac.il/en">Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a> and the <a href="http://icahn.mssm.edu/">Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai</a> conducted the investigation. The comprehensive survey takes into account the results of 7500 previous studies, and includes a meta-analysis of 185 studies conducted between 1973 and 2011. 

According to the research, the overall drop in sperm count has progressed rapidly and is not showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. Declines in sperm count have been reported since 1992, but limitations in past studies left the results questionable. The current evaluation, however, is comprised of scrupulous meta-regression methods and has a much more extensive reach than previous studies.

"Given the importance of sperm counts for male fertility and human health, this study is an urgent wake-up call for researchers and health authorities around the world to investigate the causes of the sharp ongoing drop in sperm count, with the goal of prevention," said lead author Dr. Hagai Levine.

The risk of subfertility or infertility in Western men is increasing as sperm counts decline. However, evidence from recent studies which links reduced sperm count to increased morbidity and mortality suggests the findings of this research may have even more serious health implications for men.

Some of the environmental and lifestyle influences associated with a decrease in sperm count include chemical or pesticide exposure, stress, smoking, and obesity. The experts believe sperm count may reflect the impact of the environment on male health. 

Dr. Shanna H. Swan is a professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

"Decreasing sperm count has been of great concern since it was first reported twenty-five years ago,” explained Dr. Swan. “This definitive study shows, for the first time, that this decline is strong and continuing. The fact that the decline is seen in Western countries strongly suggests that chemicals in commerce are playing a causal role in this trend.” 
--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why is the sperm count of Western men significantly declining?

A report published today in Human Reproduction Update reveals a...

Dr. Tatia Lee and Dr. Robin Shao of <a href="http://www.hku.hk/">The University of Hong Kong</a> conducted an evaluation during which they trained individuals how to lie. The study revealed that people with high levels of psychopathic traits learn how to lie more effectively than individuals with low levels of psychopathic traits.

“High psychopathy is characterized by untruthfulness and manipulativeness but the evidence so far was not clear on whether high-psychopathic individuals in the general population tend to lie more or better than others,” explained Dr. Shao. “Our findings provide evidence that people with high psychopathic traits might just be better at learning how to lie."

The study focused on 23 students who displayed few psychopathic characteristics and 29 students who had many psychopathic traits. The participants were shown a sequence of images containing familiar and unfamiliar faces. They were given cues to respond either honestly or dishonestly when asked if they recognized a person featured in each photograph.

The response times of the students were noted  while their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging methodology (fMRI). The students were then given a training session before repeating the task.

The individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits performed better on the tasks with notably shorter response times after the training exercises. Individuals with low psychopathic traits, however, showed no significant changes after training. 

“The stark contrast between individuals with high and low levels of psychopathic traits in lying performance following two training sessions is remarkable, given that there were no significant differences in lying performance between the two groups prior to training,” said Dr. Lee.

According to the researchers, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-brains-sync-conversations/">brains</a> of the two groups have contradicting ways of processing lies which may explain the results of the experiment.

"During lying, the 'true' information needs to be suppressed and reversed. Thus, lying requires a series of processes in the brain including attention, working memory, inhibitory control and conflict resolution which we found to be reduced in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits,” explained Dr. Lee. 

“By contrast, in individuals with low levels of psychopathic traits this lie-related brain activity increased. The additional 'effort' it took their brains to process untruthful responses may be one of the reasons why they didn't improve their lying speed."

The researchers say that further research is needed to examine individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits outside of the student population. The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/tp/">Translational Psychiatry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="http://www.nature.com/tp/">Translational Psychiatry</a>

People with psychopathic tendencies are better at lying

Dr. Tatia Lee and Dr. Robin Shao of The University...

A new study that appeared in the journal, Child Development, from researchers at the <a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/">University of Birmingham</a> and <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/">Durham University</a> in the United Kingdom looked at both bonobos and human children and their ability to mimic actions. The results found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/friendly-bonobos-aggressive-mating/">bonobos</a> and children imitate the world around them very differently. 

For example, children would mimic things that had no purpose. Zanna Clay, the lead author of the study said: “Children's tendency to imitate in this way likely represents a critical piece of the puzzle as to why human cultures differ so profoundly from those of great apes."

One of the ways the team discovered this was to show both bonobos and children a box with a reward in it. Researchers would then perform some unnecessary action before opening the box, the children tried to copy whatever actions they saw and the bonobos did not. The results showed that imitating for simply the sake of imitating may be singularly human. 

The reason bonobos were chosen, besides being our closest living relative, is that they tend to be better with sociocognitive undertakings when compared to another close relative, the chimpanzees.

The study was on the smaller side, looking at 77 children aged 3-5 in the UK and 46 bonobos living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Clay and the research team’s findings still shed light on the difference in behavioral development between bonobos and children. Pointing out social and cultural differences in regards to our reactions to the world around us.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/earth/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans and bonobos mimic in very different ways

A new study that appeared in the journal, Child Development,...

Nothing gets your pooch’s tail wagging and excitement up like the w-word, walk. That and maybe seeing you after a long absence. Well, let’s face it, dogs are pretty easily pleased overall. That’s why we love them. But one study out of the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> and Center for Diet and Activity Research at the <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> showed that owning a dog and walking them regularly had a hugely positive impact on keeping older adults more active.

The results were found using data from the EPIC Norfolk cohort study, which currently looks at the health of residents of Norfolk. 

The study particularly focused on those who were less likely to be active later in life and in climates with bouts of bad weather. Research teams looked at over 3,000 adults who were asked if they owned a dog and were given an accelerometer to wear for seven days to measure physical activity. 

The end results found that those who owned a dog were far more active than those who weren’t (30 minutes more), even if the weather was poor. After all, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rainfall-carbon-emissions-soil-microbes/">rain</a> or shine, Rover has to go. In fact, this is one thing professor and project lead Andy Jones mentioned in his findings.  He said, “Being driven by something other than our own needs might be a really potent motivator and we need to find ways of tapping into it when designing exercise interventions in the future."

The confirmed findings, although not suggesting that everyone get out and buy a puppy, were helpful to show even small ways that can counter inactivity later in life no matter the weather. According to the study, bad weather was one of the biggest hindrances to regular exercise.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dog walking found to keep older adults more active

Nothing gets your pooch’s tail wagging and excitement up like...

Time is money, that’s what they say. And they also say money can’t buy happiness, however, a new study by research teams at <a href="http://www.hbs.edu/">Harvard Business School</a> and the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> show that time, money and happiness are all linked together with surprising results. The study seemed to show that people who bought time ended up with greater happiness.

The study surveyed over 6,000 adults in the United States, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Researchers wanted to see who was buying time for themselves and if that created a greater sense of happiness overall. Buying time in this study refers to those who might outsource tasks like house cleaning, mowing the lawn, etc, and hire someone to do those jobs leaving more free time.

It might seem like a luxury to be able to pay to have someone do our chores for us. But the study surveyed all income levels and found the results the same “across the income spectrum,” according to BC psychology professor and the study's senior author Elizabeth Dunn.

In one experiment, a group of individuals were given 80 dollars, split evenly over two weekends. The first weekend they were asked to spend on a time-saving task and the other weekend a material item. And the time-saving task ultimately made people more content. 

It’s not how much you make, or the number of vacation days you have, or the things you possess, it’s about your time and how you spend it. 

Another part of the study talked about how few people actually reserve their money for time-saving tasks, even if they could afford it.  Next time you’re looking at your lawn with that weighing sense of, “needs to get done but when?”, consider budgeting your time elsewhere and hiring someone for the job. Your wallet might take a bit of a hit but the time you free up to spend on yourself will more than makeup for it.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study: How money actually can buy happiness

Time is money, that’s what they say. And they also...

A new study out of <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> demonstrated the effect violence has on memory and cognitive functions. 

Showing that those exposed to bouts of violence and crime were more likely to perform poorly in schools, have their short-term memory and cognitive functions hindered, and open them up to a wide range of issues such as PTSD and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extra-virgin-olive-oil-protects-brain/">Alzheimer’s</a> later on in life.

The study looked at over 500 civilians in Colombia, which has been notorious for its high crime rate and violence. It also looked at two different groups, those in rural areas and those in urban. Pietro Ortoleva, who co-authored the study, studied both short term memory and cognitive functions because “they are important determinants for individual well-being and societal development".

Ortoleva would ask some members of test groups in both rural and urban areas to recall an event that caused emotional distress, violence being a very likely cause, and the remaining members were asked to recall a happy memory. Then each individual was set to perform a series of easy tests meant to highlight memory and cognitive functions. Unsurprisingly, those who were asked to remember a distressing or violent memory performed poorly on the tests. 

The study will hopefully help to further show the impact violence, especially long-term exposure, has on individuals and their ability to function in society. 

The cycle of violence is easily continued when there is a stark lack of resources for those who have experienced trauma in their lives, just leading the way to further “poverty and violence,” as Ortoleva noted. There are lots of possibilities with this study as it relates to not just Columbia, but any group that is exposed to violence, crime, and war. Looking at how to introduce the most effective therapy and techniques to help those who are affected better cope.

-- 

By: <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Exposure to violence blocks short-term memory

A new study out of Princeton University demonstrated the effect...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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?

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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



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

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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