11/10/23: Wild Golf Course, Hot Yoga, And Urban Murals

Planet Health

• 🐘 MEGAFAUNA MARVELS: Large animals— like moose, bison, and elephants— are critical to ecosystems, and in a new study, regions with their presence "have a greater variety of tree cover, which is expected to be beneficial to overall biodiversity," which "promotes carbon sequestration and a diversity of habitats,” says the study's lead author.

• 🌊 POLLUTION WIN: A 1940s-era Navy fuel storage facility on O'ahu will finally be closed and cleaned up after Hawaiian grassroots activists have spoken out about the 93k people exposed to jet fuel-laced water in 2021. The mishandling of 17k gallons of fuel leaking from the tanks resulted in official rebukes for five Navy admirals, and the outcry of environmentalists and locals to "empty the tanks."

• 🌲 GOLF COURSE REWILDED: An abandoned golf course in Ohio has been "rewilded" into a 1.9k-acre refuge to include a meandering river, plenty of native and endangered vegetation, and a variety of animals. “Prior to our work, we documented about 200 species of plant and wildlife that were living on the golf course at the time we acquired it. Today we have documented over 900 species of fish and wildlife that have returned to this area,” says the chief of conservation at Summit Metro Parks.

   

Human Health

• 🧫 MICROBIAL MYSTERIES: The hidden world of microbial communities continues to delight scientists. In a new study, researchers looked at 1.3B proteins across 26k datasets, creating a "Novel Metagenome Protein Families Catalog," which doubles our known protein diversity. This highlights the "unknown unknowns" in microbial ecosystems and could open new doors for potential health applications and biotech discoveries. "This is the first time protein structures have been used to help characterize the vast array of microbial dark matter," the study states.

• 😴 SLEEP STRUGGLES: In a recent survey of over 1k American adults, researchers discovered nearly half have suffered from insomnia in 2023. While many participants name general worries contributing to sleep disturbance like the increase in cost of living and violence in the world, many also practice poor "sleep hygiene" habits— going to bed at inconsistent times and looking at screens in bed. Since 89% of adults polled have "at least one" electronic device in their bedroom, let this survey remind us to shut off electronics early and often, for sleep's sake!

• 🧘‍♂️ HOT YOGA: Could even one heated yoga class per week help reduce depression symptoms? A recent eight-week trial of 80 participants led by Massachusetts General Hospital indicates that "yoga and heat-based interventions could potentially change the course for treatment for patients with depression by providing a non-medication-based approach with additional physical benefits as a bonus," says lead author Maren Nyer, PhD.

A little reminder...

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Creature Feature

• 🦎 REAL LIFE POKÉMON: This adorable but critically endangered underwater amphibian is called an "axolotl" (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) and some say it resembles a Pokémon character. It lives in channels and small lakes near Mexico City, and has intrigued scientists with its unique ability to regenerate lost limbs and a "rare trait of neoteny, which means they retain larval features throughout life."

   

Nutrition 101

• 🏋️‍♀️ LEUCINE: This branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is critical for building and repairing muscle, and can assist with insulin response and managing blood sugar. Leucine can be found in navy beans, cottage cheese, eggs, and lentils, among many other easy-to-incorporate foods. Learn more here.

Last poll’s results

Are you concerned about cellphone or EMF exposure?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, too many unknowns (95.8%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ No, it's safe (4.2%)