Recent studies indicate that visceral fat (the concealed belly fat located deep within the abdomen) may contribute to the accelerated aging of your heart.
In contrast to subcutaneous fat, which resides just beneath the skin, visceral fat envelops vital organs like the stomach, liver, and intestines. Individuals with elevated visceral fat levels might present as slimmer or even possess a healthy body mass index (BMI) and weight.
“Staying active is crucial, but our findings reveal that this hidden fat can pose risks even for those who seem healthy,” states Professor Declan Olegan, who led the research.
Two MRI scans, showcasing more visceral fat (red) and subcutaneous fat (blue) in the left subject – Photo credit: AMRA Medical
This research has been published in European Heart Journal. Scientists at the Medical Research Council of London (MRC) Institute of Medical Sciences examined data from 21,241 participants in the UK Biobank.
Whole-body imaging was utilized to analyze fat distribution, along with an in-depth investigation of the heart and blood vessels. Artificial intelligence was implemented to estimate a “heart age” for each participant, reflecting signs of organ aging, such as hardened or inflamed tissue.
The study identified notable differences between genders. Men are prone to accumulating visceral fat in the abdomen, often resulting in expedited heart aging.
Conversely, women have a genetic tendency to store fat around the waist and thighs, resulting in a “pear shape,” which may decelerate heart aging. Elevated estrogen levels in premenopausal women are linked to reduced heart aging, indicating that hormones might play a significant role in organ protection.
Blood analyses revealed a correlation between visceral fat and increased inflammation, suggesting another factor that could contribute to premature aging.
Utilizing whole-body MRI scans to analyze fat distribution and examine the heart in detail (credit: MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences)
Professor Brian Williams, Chief Science Officer and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation, stated: “We are already aware that excess visceral fat around the heart and liver can result in increased blood pressure and high cholesterol, which may further accelerate heart and blood vessel aging.”
“The typical pattern of fat distribution observed in women is influenced by estrogen, suggesting that hormones could be pivotal in developing future treatments for cardiac aging.
“Adopting healthier eating habits and increasing physical activity can aid in lowering visceral fat levels.”
Teams of astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the US, and France observe and bring in 128 additional moons orbiting gas giant Saturn The total number of confirmed months has reached 274. International Astronomy confirmed its discovery on March 11, 2025.
This image from Webb's Nircam Instrument shows some of Saturn, Rings and Moons. Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/M. Tiscareno, Seti Institute/M. Hedman, University of Idaho/M. Elmutamide, Cornell University/M. Shorterter, SETI Institute/L. Fletcher, University of Leicester/H. Hammel, AURA/J. DEPASQUALE, STSCI.
Dr. Edward Ashton, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Academia Cynthia, and his colleagues used the Canadian French Hawaii Television Scope (CFHT) to repeatedly monitor the sky around Saturn between 2019 and 2021, combining multiple images with details to enhance the astronomical object.
This first run produced 62 months. And there are even more other objects that were not available at that time.
“I revisited the same empty fields for the third consecutive month in 2023, knowing that these are probably moons and are likely waiting more to be discovered,” Dr. Ashton said.
“Of course, we found 128 new moons. I don’t think Jupiter will catch up based on our predictions.”
All 128 new moons are irregular moons, objects photographed by host planets in the history of the solar system.
“These moons are several kilometers in size and could be all fragments of the originally captured moon that have been broken by violent collisions with other Saturn’s moons and passing comets.”
“The mystery within Saturn’s irregular lunar system was a key motivation for the latest search. Given the small numbers compared to the larger moons, it is possible that there has been a collision somewhere within the Saturn system within the last 100 million years.”
“If not, these moons would have now collided with each other and been blown away by the blacksmith.
In fact, most of the newly discovered moons are located near the Mundirfari subgroup of Saturn’s moon, and may be the location of the collision, taking into account its size, number, and orbital concentration.
“Our carefully planned, multi-year campaign has brought us a new moon jackpot that tells us about the evolution of Saturn’s irregular natural satellite populations,” Dr. Ashton said.
“I don’t think using current technology is much better than what’s already done for the moons around Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.”
NASA has released a stunning new image of the active center of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 106, taken with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
This Webb image shows Messier 106, a spiral galaxy 20 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Image courtesy of NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Glenn.
Located more than 20 million light years from Earth in the small northern constellation Canes Venatici, Messier 106 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies and closest to our Milky Way Galaxy.
Also known as M106 or NGC 4258, the galaxy was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier's observational assistant, Pierre Méchain.
“Despite its name, Messier 106 was neither discovered nor catalogued by the famous 18th century astronomer Charles Messier,” astronomers Webb said in a statement.
“This galaxy was discovered by his assistant Pierre Méchain, but was not catalogued during his lifetime.”
“Messier 106, along with six other objects they discovered but did not record, Messier Catalogue In the 20th century.”
Messier 106 is similar in size and brightness to our galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
Messier 106 measures more than 130,000 light-years from end to end, but because of its great distance from the Milky Way galaxy, it appears very small from Earth's perspective.
At the center of Messier 106 lies an extremely active supermassive black hole with a mass about 40 million times that of the Sun.
Unlike the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, which only occasionally sucks in gas particles, Messier 106's black hole is actively consuming material.
“As the gas spirals toward Messier 106's black hole, it heats up and emits powerful radiation,” the astronomers said.
“The observations were made as part of a dedicated program to study active galactic nuclei – luminous central regions of galaxies dominated by light emitted by dust and gas falling into a black hole,” the researchers said.
“The blue areas in this image reflect the distribution of stars throughout the central region of the galaxy.”
“Orange areas indicate warmer dust, while more intense reds represent cooler dust.”
“The blue-green, green and yellow tones near the center of the image represent the various gas distributions across the region.”
Messier 106 also has a notable feature: it has two “unusual” extra arms that are visible in radio and x-ray wavelengths, rather than visible light.
“Unlike normal arms, these are made up of hot gas rather than stars,” the scientists said.
“Astronomers think these extra arms are the result of black hole activity, a feedback effect that has been seen in other galaxies.”
“These could be caused by outflows of material produced by the violent churning of gas around the black hole, creating a phenomenon similar to waves rushing out of the ocean when they hit rocks near the shore.”
When picturing a smoker, the image of a slender and stylish individual like Audrey Hepburn may come to mind. However, recent research indicates that even slim smokers could be harboring unhealthy fat hidden deep within their abdomens.
Despite the common belief that smoking can suppress appetite and the fear of weight gain upon quitting, a new study reveals that smokers are more likely to be underweight. Not only that but smokers also tend to accumulate more harmful deep abdominal fat, known as “visceral fat,” which is linked to increased risks of heart attack, diabetes, and dementia. This type of fat can be challenging to detect, leading to a false sense of fullness even with a flat stomach.
To investigate the relationship between lifelong smoking and belly fat, researchers at the University of Copenhagen utilized a statistical analysis tool called Mendelian randomization. This tool categorizes individuals based on their genetic information to identify causal connections between exposures like smoking and outcomes such as abdominal fat distribution.
The study involved analyzing genetic data from numerous studies on smoking habits and body fat distribution among individuals of European ancestry. By identifying specific genes associated with smoking behaviors and body fat distribution, the researchers were able to determine the impact of smoking on belly fat independent of other influencing factors like alcohol consumption and socio-economic background.
The lead author, Dr. Germán D. Carrasquilla, emphasized the importance of large-scale efforts to prevent and reduce smoking in light of their findings published in the journal Dependence. He believes that reducing smoking prevalence can indirectly decrease the prevalence of abdominal fat and ultimately improve public health outcomes.
FACEBOOK users used to have more friends. Social networking sites pursue a commercial strategy of trying to “friend” as many people as possible. However, at some point around 2007, users began to wonder who the people they had befriended were. Then someone pointed out to us that he can only manage about 150 relationships at any given time. A series of cullings of “friends” followed, and the number 150 has since become known as “Dunbar's number.” Thank you, Facebook!
Modern technology may have given it some notoriety, but Dunbar's number has roots in evolutionary biology. Humans are a highly social species, but we don't easily manage relationships, and like other primates, the size of our social networks is limited by the size of our brains. My research 20 years ago revealed that this means we are unable to meaningfully interact with more than about 150 other people. No matter how social you are, that's your limit. In this respect we are all the same. However, recent research on friendship has revealed some interesting individual differences.
My colleagues and I explore how much time people spend cultivating different members of their social networks, how friendships form and disappear, and what we look for in a friend. I have made some eye-opening discoveries about it. What really surprised us was that each person has a unique “social fingerprint,” or idiosyncratic way of allocating social effort. This pattern is completely independent of who is in your friendship circle at any given time. But it can reveal a lot about your own identity and even affect how well you can cope with social restrictions…
NIST researchers studied VOC emissions from living Christmas trees and their interaction with ozone. They found that monoterpenes were the main VOCs emitted, decreasing over time and reacting with ozone to produce low levels of formaldehyde. The study concludes that Christmas trees have minimal impact on indoor air quality for most people. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Living Christmas trees emit chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Some of these VOCs can react with ozone, a reactive gas, to create chemical irritants in your home.
Levels of chemical irritants are low, but may be a potential concern for people who are sensitive to chemical irritants.
Every year during the holiday season, Americans purchase approximately 30 million live Christmas trees. Many families enjoy not only having a live tree in their home, but also smelling the fresh scent it produces. That odor comes from chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, little is known about how much is excreted and whether it affects health.
“Our noses are excellent chemical sensors,” says Dustin Poppendieck, an environmental engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “We know these trees are emitting something, but the question is how big is the source? We are investigating which chemicals and how much they are emitting. “We wanted to compare that to other chemical sources in the home,” he said.
To answer these questions, Poppendieck and his colleagues at NIST took a common type of Christmas tree (Dog pine) and sealed it inside a room. They then measured the amount and type of VOCs emitted over a 17-day period. They also investigated whether VOCs react with other components of indoor air to form new compounds.
The team’s findings were published in the journal indoor environment.
NIST researchers placed a common type of Christmas tree in a sealed room for 17 days and monitored and measured the chemicals released from it. These chemicals are called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which give the smell of pine and can react with ozone to produce byproducts. Researchers found low amounts of these chemicals, which could be a potential concern for people who are sensitive to chemicals. Credit: M. King/NIST
The refreshing scent commonly associated with Christmas trees comes from a group of VOCs called . monoterpenesIt is also found in air fresheners, candles, and some personal care products. In the outdoors, conifer, a group of plants, including most Christmas trees, emit monoterpenes and can affect outdoor air quality. However, little is known about how much monoterpene is released when trees are cut down and placed indoors.
Research also shows that monoterpenes can react with ozone. Ozone in the upper atmosphere acts as a protective barrier against the sun. On the ground, chemical reactions with light produce ozone, which can cause symptoms such as coughs and throat irritation. Ozone also easily reacts with other chemicals in the air to form new compounds. Researchers were therefore interested in observing the effects of ozone in the presence of indoor trees.
They placed it inside an environmentally controlled room so they could measure the chemicals released by the tree in real time. Using a technique that can detect airborne organic compounds, known as proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), they measured the VOCs emitted over a 17-day period.
In the experiment, the researchers simulated a home environment. They decorated the tree with a typical holiday lighting setup and illuminated it with bright lights to mimic the day/night cycle. They turned off the lights every 12 hours and watered the tree daily. They brought in outside air at rates typical of a typical home and constantly measured chemicals in the indoor air.
Monoterpenes were the most abundant VOCs emitted by trees. They peaked on the first day and then decreased significantly by the third day. Poppendieck said the concentrations were initially similar to those found in plug-in air fresheners and new homes, but quickly dropped to nearly 10 times the original concentration. Researchers detected 52 different monoterpenes.
The researchers then injected ozone into the chamber to see how it affected indoor air chemistry. They found that ozone reacts with monoterpenes, producing byproducts such as formaldehyde, another type of VOC, and other reactive chemicals. It was found that the introduction of ozone further reduced monoterpene concentrations and increased formaldehyde levels, affecting indoor air chemistry. However, the amount of formaldehyde produced was relatively small at approximately 1 ppb. Formaldehyde concentrations in typical homes in the United States range from 20 to 30 ppb.
For people who are sensitive to VOCs, Christmas trees can be another source of watery eyes and noses, especially if you first bring them indoors. In that case, Poppendieck suggests opening a window near the tree to reduce exposure. In addition, the emission intensity naturally decays over time, so a newly cut tree can be left outdoors or in the garage for three days before bringing it into the house.
“But for most people, this shouldn’t be a big concern,” Poppendieck says. I will continue to decorate the Christmas tree at home. ”
Reference: “Jingle Bells, what do they smell like?” Indoor VOC Emissions from Living Christmas Trees,” by Dustin Poppendieck, Riley Robertson, and Michael F. Link, December 22, 2023. indoor environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2023.100002
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
