discovered

A study has discovered a much more efficient activity for your brain than writing by hand or walking: sewing

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We spent the day with hurry to finish tasks pending, accumulating stress and with an excess of dopamine caused by the Infinite social media scroll that, in the long term, ends up undermining our Capacity for concentration. For this reason, neuroscientists recommend performing activities that give a breath to the brain and reduce stress levels. One of the most popular activities to get the body and mind down It is walkingbut a team of researchers from the University of Cardiff have found A curious alternative that, in fact, it has been put Very fashionable worldwide: sew or weave. The relaxing power of sewing In the midst of that maelstrom of things to do to what they call adult life, the brain needs to find A PEACE OF PEACE in relaxing activities capable of reducing daily stress levels. The hobbies They are not just hobbiesbut they are also valuable tools to exercise the brain activating areas related to creativity, psychomotor skills, coordination and even memory. Either sew, Write to Manoo readthese activities offer a healthy escape for stress and a way of exercising our brain in a pleasant way. An investigation of the Faculty of Occupational Therapy of the University of Cardiff published in the magazine Journal of Occupational Science He points out that sewing or weaving, is not only a mechanical movement, but an exercise that stimulates the brain and exercises the ability to concentrate in a single activity. This ability to focus all the attention on a precision motor activity makes stress levels reduce. For its part, the coordinated and constant movement of the hands activates neurotransmitters, keeping neurons working and our dynamic mind. This activity, far from being only for grandmothers, is a valuable therapy that improves the quality of life and helps to achieve a state of mental calm. As with other activities that involve Coordination skills Eye hand, sew or weaving favors the activation of different areas of the brain and releases neurotransmitters associated with well -being. In fact, the effects of weaving or sewing described by researchers at the University of Cardiff are very similar to those discovered by another group of researchers from Florida State University When washing the dishes. It is true that, after an exhausting day at work, the least can feel like it is to wash the dishes. However, the Study data They revealed that carrying out this monotonous and repetitive activity plunged the brain in a state of full attention that increased up to 25% the abstract thinking activity for the generation of new ideas and reduced by up to 27% the levels of stress and anxiety. In fact, as confessed in a Round of Questions in Redditthis is one of Bill Gates’s favorite activities to get rid of stress. Additional benefits for well -being Apart from the obvious mental benefits, sewing and weaving offer physical advantages that can improve the quality of life. These types of repetitive and mechanical activities provide effects similar to meditation: Reduce stress. When concentrating all the attention on the hands and in the creative process, it is possible to reduce blood pressure, which at the same time decreases the risk of cardiovascular problems. This physical and mental relaxation effect helps to disconnect from the accelerated rhythm of daily life. Analytical thought. Measure fabrics or threads, design garments, choose colors, plan projects, etc. All this contributes to strengthening analytical thinking and developing logical processes by establishing an order of priorities in the steps. Increase concentration. The activity requires attention to details, so the capacity for mental approach and attention is enhanced. Immediate tangible reward. Unlike other activities such as meditating, sewing or knitting provides a reward at the end of the work, which contributes to improving self -esteem. In addition to all that, sewing will allow you to repair the damage of your clothes, so, in addition, you are going to save some money while you relax. How much they knew Our mothers and grandmothers. In Xataka | Feeling over at work is normal, but it is not ideal: six techniques to avoid it and be much more productive Image | Pixabay (Wal_172619), Freepik

The Webb Telescope observed the black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Has discovered a chaotic light show

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Three years ago we saw for the first time The Supermassive Black Hole that inhabits the center of our galaxy. Now the James Webb space telescope has opened a window to study its surroundings. And it has turned out to be a chaotic show of lights that never stops. Context. In the center of the Milky Way inhabits A gigantic black hole called Sagittarius a*. Astronomers have managed to unravel the extreme dynamics of their accretion disk, the spiral of gas and dust that turns around it. To do this, they observed it for 48 hours (distributed in several periods of 2023 and 2024) using the Nircam instrument of the Webb Telescope. A disco ball. The observations revealed that sgr a* emits A continuous game of lights and flashes which is characterized by constant blinking interspersed with a series of intense eruptions. These emissions have a weak and continuous component, probably originated in the internal turbulence of the disc, and a bright and short -term component, eruptions associated with magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic fields collide and release huge amounts of energy. Fluctuations can occur in seconds or as changes that extend for days, weeks and months. The explanation. The study of these variable emissions, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letterssuggests that fluctuations intensify at major scales. According to researchers, the small internal disturbances of the disk, associated with fluctuations in density and magnetic field, generate the faint flashes, while large eruptions are related to specific events of magnetic reconnection, comparable to the solar flares, but at levels much older energy. “In our data we observe a constantly changing luminosity,” Farhad Yusef-Zadeh explainsmain author of the study. “Suddenly, Boom! A great explosion of brightness appears suddenly and then calms down, without following a fixed pattern.” This nature, apparently random, demonstrates that the accretion disc is regenerated all the time, causing between five and six and six Great daily rashes, in addition to multiple intermittent outbreaks. The lags. An advantage of the NIRCAM instrument of the Webb Telescope is its ability to observe two infrared wavelengths simultaneously (2.1 and 4.8 micrometers). This allowed researchers to compare how the brightness of eruptions with each wavelength changed. Surprisingly, they discovered that the events observed in the shortest wavelength changed shine a little before the events of the longest. “It is the first time that we see a delay in the measurements of these wavelengths,” said Yusef-Zadeh. “We notice that the longest wavelength is delayed between three and 40 seconds.” This finding is a key clue that energy particles lose energy as they cool, a process known as syncrotron cooling. New observations. Researchers now plan to make a continuous observation of up to 24 hours from SGR A* using the Webb Telescope, which will help them determine if eruptions follow repetitive patterns or if they are truly random. Each flash and every flicker on the accretion disk of the supermassive hole offers us a deeper understanding of physics on the events horizon, one of the most extreme environments in the universe. In other words, it helps us discover how space-time and matter behave under the influence of overwhelming gravity. Image | NASA, ESA, CSA, RALF CRAWFORD (STSCI) In Xataka | The Webb Telescope has managed to penetrate the nucleus of a neighboring galaxy, home to a furiously active black hole In Xataka | Telescopes from all over the world worked together in this image: the black hole of the Milky Way and its magnetic fields

We have been growing lettuce in space for years. Now we have discovered that they are more likely to get sick

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Bad news for astronauts who usually eat healthy. That is, for all astronauts. The crew members ago of the International Space Station consume the vegetables that they themselves cultivate in microgravity: lettuce, peppers, radishes. Some spicy Chile. More recently, vegetables have joined the autoconsumo astronauts of the Chinese Space Stationwhich already has lettuce, cherry tomatoes and chivesalthough it does not carry so much in orbit. The problem is that space salads They are not as safe for consumption as we thought. A team of researchers from the University of Delaware has discovered that lettuce and others Microgravity cultivated vegetables They are more Pollution prone by bacteria such as Salmonella. The study, funded by NASA, shows that under conditions of microgravity, plants tend to open their stomata (the small pores of their leaves and stems) instead of closing them to prevent the invasion of pathogens. To reach this conclusion, the team created a simulated microgravity atmosphere in the laboratory with a device called clinostat, which rotates plants as a chicken in an grill. The results showed that, under these conditions, the salmonella more easily infects the tissue of the leaves. Friendly bacteria also lose their protective effect The researchers explored the use of a friendly bacterium, B. Subtilis, as a solution to the problem. However, bacteria, which on earth helps plants fight pathogens, He failed to protect them in it Simulated microgravity environmentwhich suggests that space changes significantly the interaction between plants and microbes. The finding is important. Not only because he doubts that the salads of the International Space Station are totally safe, but also because it helps to understand the challenges of agriculture in future space colonies. With population growth on earth and the loss of agricultural land, space is an increasingly realistic option for food cultivation. But if they want Avoid an outbreak of salmonellosisthe future farmers of space be worth the future farmers to wash their hands well with soap and water. Image | NASA/Cory Huston In Xataka | The space dream was to spend billions of euros to go to Mars to end eating crickets In Xataka | The food knows very different in space. The reason is more intriguing than it seems: confinement *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2024

We have discovered the largest underground thermal lake in the world. It is at the bottom of a more than 100 meters aser in Albania

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Albania has just been crowned on the world geological map. And big. There, on the border with Greece, a tens of meters deep, an expedition has identified the largest underground thermal lake on the planet. His name, Neuron. Its figures: more than 183 m long, 42 wide and sufficient water to fill A few Olympic pools. The finding confirms the scope of a discovery that dates back several years ago but whose relevance has only been confirmed now, with the help of a Lidar scanner. Its history is as curious as its size. “A steam column”. To understand the scope of the discovery you have to go back a few years ago, at 2021 and 2002, when a team of Czech scientists launched Vromoner, in southern Albania, near the border with Greece. The area resulted especially interesting For geologists because for years the convulsive political context of Balkans had hindered that scientists could thoroughly examine it. There the experts found a vast underground system of thermal sources thanks to a curious track: a steam stream. “From the high vapor column that rose from the limestone massif we managed to locate a chasm of more than one hundred meters deep,” Marek Audy tellsHead of the expedition. They called her atmos. When exploring it, they took an even greater surprise (literally): they found an intense thermal activity and a “great lake.” How large and broad it was, however, it became an unknown that then, for technical issues, they could not clarify. A (huge) suspicion. Which I was clear Audy team was that it had found something big, huge. And again both words can be understood in their most literal sense. The team suspected that the water extension that had been located in Albania was the largest underground thermal lake in the world, at least among those known today. Hence, later the researchers returned to the Sima in a new expedition provided with a reinforced technical arsenal. Thanks to the support of the Neuron Foundation, which contributed funds, the geologists achieved a special lidar scanner and the software necessary to measure the area. The objective of the researchers –The Neuron Foundation reported Before the expedition left – it was to make a map, a 3D model of the underground cave and the lake and even collect samples of animals from the banks. The result of that incursion has been waiting, but it was worth it: today those responsible presume having identified the largest underground thermal lake in the world. A “unique” lake. In a wink to the foundation that supported the project to the lake, Neuron has been baptized. What surprises however is not its name, but its size: 138.3 meters in length by 42 wide with a circle of 345 m. Inside it hosts around 8,335 m3 of thermal mineral water and those who have had the opportunity to visit it highlight the show of its dome, three times greater than that of the main room of the Prague National Theater. “The phenomenon has been subject to a thorough hydrogeological study to confirm its singularity,” The Foundation stands outwhich emphasizes that it is a “unique” lake. And how did they measure it? The team did not start from scratch. Richard Bouda, photographer and member of the expedition, Explain to Euronews that during the first visit they had already prepared a “basic map” with the resources they had. When they returned they did it, however, with a mobile lidar scanner and the system Geoslam which allowed them to precisely probe the cave and the lake. Not just that. They also traced a detailed map of Atmos, including other caves, such as sulfur. “We believe that this discovery will help protect the area and to better understand hydrological flows. Until now, nobody knew precisely how these groundwater connect to the surface,” Bouda comments. The team also trusts that the finding has an impact on the hydrological and geological studies of the region. Images | Neuron 1 and 2 In Xataka | A cave in France hid a strange rock formation. Some researchers believe that it could be a 3D map

We have discovered (again) the secret of Roman concrete. Is less impressive than it seems

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It does not fail. It seems mathematical. From time to time, the world rediscovers the Roman concrete and hallucin with the durability of a material that allows the Pantheon of Agrippa to have 2,000 years standing (while modern concrete cracks within a few decades). Incidentally, almost with the same regularity, there is some scientist or engineer who claims to have found the key secret that this is. The last occasion He has touched the Massachusetts Technological Institute And, as usual, the story is not exactly what it seems. What does the study say? MIT researchers They have studied Small pieces of lime that are usually found in Roman concrete: the ‘calcium oxide’ clasts. These types of structures have been studied a lot in romas infrastructure located in maritime contexts and, for years, has been related to some “self -regime” capacity of the material. Understanding what it means. According to some scientiststhe water that would enter through the concrete cracks would drag the calcium ions of the Classos in a process that would end up calcitating and sealing the cracks. The work of the MIT of recent days, also studies those clasts in the terrestrial concrete and theorizes that they are the result of the Romans added living lime to the mixture of the concrete (instead of the dull lime – calcium hydroxide – key of the Puzolenic reactions). Beyond that, researchers They made several mixtures With living lime and verified that, according to their theory, in these new mixtures lime clasts were generated (and was calcited that repaired the cracks). As Brian Potter saysthe discovery is interesting at the historical level. But, despite the attempts to sell it as something revolutionary, it is potentially useless. Useless? Yes, useless. When talking about Roman concrete, a lot of mistakes are usually made, but there are two recurring: the first, As Manuel F. Herrador always reminds usStructural concrete professor at the University School of the University of Coruña, is “the survivor’s bias.” The idea of ​​the extraordinary quality of Roman concrete comes from studying, precisely, the best structures they did, which have best been preserved. On the other hand, most of what the Romans built has already disappeared completely and cannot be studied. The second error. We are comparing ‘churras with merinas’ at a functional level. For being clear, with the Roman concrete we could not make a tenth of the things we do with modern concrete. The clearest example is reinforced concrete (that is, the mixture of concrete with reinforcement steel). These materials allow us to solve many of the structural problems presented , We have to pay a cost. The most obvious: the structures run before. We make the concrete we want to do. This is perhaps the most important to consider when we talk about Roman concrete: we do not “concrete to the Roman” because we do not want; Because it is not worth what we want to get. The same potter It puts examples (the Hindu temples and Buddhists built to “last more than 1000 years”) that show that current science and technology allow authentic virguerías. The question is if we want to do them in a world that changes so quickly and not, no matter how much we like the Romans, we do not want. Luckily: that allows us to go much further. In Xataka | Glass is a more everyday material but its physics does not. We are not even clear if it is really a solid In Xataka | Cheaper, durable and ecological: a new material with the help of ruthenium wants to change the rules of green hydrogen Image | Renzo Vanden Bussche *An earlier version of this article was published in January 2023

The new hope against Alzheimer’s is a simple protein. We have discovered it thanks to a tiny worm

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Many of the processes that happen in our body depend on proteins. All if we take into account the processes that do it indirectly. Sometimes proteins fail. Then, the function of cleaning these “defective” proteins falls, yes, on other proteins. MANF. A new study He has revealed The importance of MANF protein (Mesencephalic Astrocyte-Derned Neurotrophic Factor) For our aging or, to be more precise, when avoiding some of the problems that arise at the cellular level and that we usually associate with age. Doing cleaning. In principle, that a cell badly codifies a protein does not have to generate major problems in our body. Cell homeostasis, the process that discards proteins after use, is a cellular “maintenance” process that deals with this type of problem. However, with age our cells lose efficacy when keeping the house in order. “Defective” proteins can end up accumulating and generating protein clots. This is What we believe occurs with diseases such as Parkinson or Alzheimer’s. When the cell detects these problems, it can stop synthesizing new proteins until the problem is solved. If it does not, the cell dies. Cleaning work. The new study has observed that MANF protein It plays an important role in this cleaning process inside the cell. His work consists in breaking protein clusters to facilitate the expulsion of these and thus maintaining our healthy cells. The team observed that this protein also served to “activate” the intracellular cleaning system. C. Elegans. In his work, the team turned to a unique worm, the Caenorhabditis Elegansa usual microscopic size nematode in laboratories around the world. The team altered the genetics of these worms to increase the presence of the MANF protein in their cells. The worms C. Elegans They are transparent, which facilitates the work of researchers when visualizing the changes that induce their genes. The team managed to see the effects of MANF on cells and tissues. Protein, They pointwas present in the lysosomas (some cell organelles linked to longevity and protein aggregation). In this way they could appreciate how the protein broke cell clusters and activated the cleaning system. The details of the experiment were published In an article In the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Beyond worms. What is true for the biology of a small worm does not have to be in that of humans, but the team points out that this would be a universal process, at least in animal cells since Manf is a common protein to all species of this kingdom. The fight against Alzheimer’s. The big issue is now how to transform this new knowledge into therapies to fight some of the diseases that we associate with aging, such as Alzheimer’s, or against aging itself. Alzheimer is an important since the dominant hypothesis to explain this disease part precisely of the appearance of intracellular clusters such as those that fight the Manf protein. As explained by those responsible for the new study, transforming this protein into a treatment will require better understanding its role in our body and other possible interactions between it and cellular functions beyond cell homeostasis. In Xataka | We have been listening to the benefits of Omega-3 for years. Now we know that it also rejuvenates us Image | McMaster University

Communicating with our cats has always been a complex task. A study has discovered the key: flashing

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The Human-Perro communicationand vice versa, it’s really simple. After thousands of years of domestication and coexistence, dogs and humans understand each other almost effortlessly. In fact, they have even Evolved your facial muscles and eyesTo be more expressive and communicate better with us. With cats, the thing changes. We continue unraveling cat domestication And, although they are fully integrated into our homes, it is evident that there are still some Understanding problems. If you have a cat, you will know ‘talk’ with him and read his intentions, but that penetrating look is sometimes a mystery. And that is when we blink slowly. And the cat imitates us. And the magic is done. The reason is that it is the equivalent of the human smile, at least that indicated in a study. The cat smile In 2020, a study called ‘The role of blinking of cats in communication between cats and humans’ explored how this usual gesture in felines is an interspecies communication method. If you have a cat, you will know what we are talking about: that moment in which the cat stares at you and, suddenly, flashes very slowly, as almost falling asleep to, then, to open your eyes fully. He is not sleeping (well, sometimes yes), but trying to communicate with you. Karen McComb is a psychologist at Sussex University and commented that “it is something that many cat owners already They suspectedso it is exciting to have found evidence of it. ” To have that evidence, the team of psychologists did two experiments. The first experiment included 21 cats (11 females and 10 males, aged between four months to 16 years) of 14 different homes. Its owners – 14 humans participated and the instruction was clear: when the cat had eaten in their family environment, the owners had to sit a meter away and slowly blink when the cat stared at them. In the second, another 24 cats of eight different homes were included and there were two differences. The first and most obvious is that the owners were not on this occasion those who performed the flicker: it was the researchers. In addition, after blinking, they extended their hand towards the cats. The tests were recorded, analyzed and the researchers They concluded that cats slowly blin into the initial flickering of humans and, in the case of flickers by the researchers, after the same, they used to approach them to interact with their hand. If they did not blink first, they were less likely to approach in a friendly way. In addition, in the analysis of the recordings, they realized that the cats did not blink in the same way when they were alone or between them and when they were with a human who has slowly blink first. McComb’s conclusion is that it is something we can try with our cats at home, since “it is a great way to improve the link you have with it.” But … why? Three reasons are considered. The first is pure and hard survival: a fixed look is a symptom that it is alert. The cat can also consider that you are, or you can be a threat, if you stare at it, without blinking or flickering quickly, so a slow blink interprets it as you are relaxed and, at the same time, he also lowers his guard. It’s like a friendly smile. On the other hand, the researchers considered that it could be a form of imitation. It is not a secret that cats often imitate their owners and have actions that we consider funny, but that it is simply an attempt to copy human movements and actions. There are always doubts when it comes to animals such as cats and, above all, domesticatedbecause it is always possible that cats have developed that expression because humans respond emotionally when they do. The third reason is that it may have been a technique that cats themselves have perfected to cut an intense, penetrating and potentially threatening look. If they blink slowly and returned the gesture, they interrupted an awkward situation. Whatever, the researchers affirm that, whether it works as if not, it is interesting game hours or petting. And, evidently, it also has practical implications. If we know that cats feel more comfortable in environments in which they feel that the human is not a threat, it is easier to work with them in shelters or veterinary centers. Although, of course, this depends a lot on the character of each feline. As a contribution: I’ve been trying with my three cats for years. None have even paid me. Of course, as soon as I open a little latically, they magically communicate perfectly Images | Nature, Sabri Tuzcu In Xataka | Cats are not as apathetic as we thought. This is what demonstrates its wide repertoire of facial expressions

The Euclid telescope has discovered a ring in space-time

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He Euclid Telescope of the European Space Agency He has discovered his first Einstein ring. Not only is it one of the most impressive examples of gravitational lenses predicted by Albert Einstein, but a window through which astronomers can study more precisely the distribution of dark matter in distant galaxies. A unique gravitational lens. The NGC 6505 galaxy is located about 590 million light years from Earth. Although in cosmic terms this distance is relatively short, the ring -shaped light that surrounds the galaxy that is 4.4 billion light years. The perfect alignment between the NGC 6505 galaxy and the background light source formed a complete Einstein ring, a type of gravitational lens so rare that ESA does not expect the Euclid space telescope find more than 20 throughout your useful life. This first could be baptized as Altieri’s ring in tribute to the researcher who has discovered it: Bruno Altieri. What is an Einstein ring. Albert Einstein predicted with his Theory of general relativity of 1915 Something that even today, 110 years later, it is hard for us to understand: gravity can curve the space-time, causing the light to go through very massive objects. When a galaxy aligns almost perfectly between us and another galaxy that is more at the bottom, the light of the distant galaxy is curved so symmetrically that, instead of seeing a unique image, we observe a light circle. This phenomenon, formally known as strong gravitational lens, is what is called an Einstein ring. A powerful tool. Thanks to Einstein’s ring, scientists can “weigh” the NGC 6505 galaxy and study how its mass is distributed, including the portion of dark matter that would otherwise be invisible. Modeling how light folds, astronomers have discovered that in the center of this galaxy, dark matter represents approximately 11% of the total mass. It is interesting because, although dark matter constitutes about 85% of the total matter of the universe, in the central regions of the galaxies, the influence of visible matter (the stars) is much greater. A map of the universe. The Euclid space telescope is not limited to looking for gravitational lenses. Launched by ESA in July 2023, has the mission of Create the most precise 3D map of the universe Never done. It is expected to end up covering 14,000 square degrees of the sky and contains more than 100,000 gravitational lenses, which will help to better understand the Visible and dark matter distribution Throughout cosmic history. Image | ESA/EUCLID/EUCLID CONSORTIUM/NASA In Xataka | The new telescopes are taking us to places that we did not even imagine: comets orbiting other stars

An Australian company has discovered “very encouraging” lithium and rubidium amounts in Salamanca. The potential is huge

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West of the province of Salamanca, near the border of Spain with Portugal, a finding that the Berkeley Australian company He has cataloged “very encouraging”. Significant amounts of lithium, essential for the manufacture of batteries, and rubidium, a scarce and strategic metal. The news. The Berkeley Energy mining group has found important concentrations of lithium and rubidium in a site in the province of Salamanca. These explorations are part of the Conchas project, which covers an area of ​​31 kilometers covered by sediments of the Cenozoic in the Ciudad Rodrigo region. The announcement, cataloged as “very encouraging” by the company, has fired its price 21% In the Australian bag. Why it is important. Lithium is the gold of the 21st century: an essential metal for the manufacture of batteries that has gone from feeding our electronic devices to boost electric vehicles and energy storage from renewable sources, so its demand is still increasing. But rubidium, in particular, is a metal of enormous strategic value. Because it is scarce and the time critical for sectors such as defense, medicine, telecommunications, Quantum computing and renewable energies. It is in atomic watches (GPS, missile guidance), photoelectric cells (night vision systems, Perosvkita solar panels), tomographies, ionic propulsion, data transmission … and its production is dominated by China. Now what. Berkeley has identified thick and shallow areas of lithium and rubidium, which facilitates its possible extraction, but not everything is said. The company will expand the polls and test the samples extracted to evaluate its metallurgical potential, a key step when determining the economic viability of the project. The results of these tests are expected to know this same quarter to define the following steps. It is not the only project. The Essential Metals Limited Australian company (Australia is one of the leading countries in lithium extraction) found high grade lithium to Villasrubias, a town in Salamanca that historically dedicated itself to tin extraction. “Perhaps it is the region, not only of Spain, but of Europe, which has the greatest number of critical raw materials identified, and that are listed by the European Union, due to their economic importance for the development of green energy and for the risk of dependence on third countries “, A project spokesman said. The environmental impact. Known for claiming one billion dollars in damages to the Spanish government after this prohibit the research and use of uraniumBerkeley has the support of the markets in the face of the discovery of lithium and rubidium, but will have to detail the environmental impact of its extraction if the project will continue. The extraction of lithium, in addition to altering the landscape, requires large amounts of water and can release heavy metals and acids in the soil. It would not be the first time that a project is filed for the risk for neighboring peoples, as has happened Until twice in Ávila Duela denunciation of environmental associations. Image | Bybyk (CC BY-CC 4.0), DNN87 (CC BY 3.0) In Xataka | In Salamanca there is a high -tech nuclear fuel bars factory that exports to all of Europe: we have visited it

We have just discovered one of the best kept secrets of the Mediterranean diet: its compounds

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There is little we can say that we have not already been told about the virtues of the Mediterranean diet. However, some scientists still persist in studying this diet and its components, with questions about what makes this diet more beneficial or what we can learn from it. A recent study led by researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona tries to answer this second question. Very present compounds. To do this, the team performed an analysis focused on a selection of key compounds that we can find in plants such as garlic, saffron, olive or rosemary, among others. These are plants closely related to the Mediterranean diet since they provide some of the most used ingredients and condiments in it. The team responsible for the study points out that some of these active components are “promising” when considering treatments for diseases such as atherosclerosis. They also indicate that they could help reduce the risk of problems such as myocardial infarction or stroke. Plants and Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet is closely linked to a series of ingredients and condiments, many of them extracted from plants that we can find in the regions adjacent to the sea that bathes the coasts of European, Asian and African countries. The team It started from six “representative” plants: garlic (Allium sativum), the hawthorn bush (Crataegus monogyna), saffron (Crocussativus), the olive tree (Olea europaea), rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), and the vine (Vitis vinifera). The study focused, however, on fifteen bioactive compounds present in these plants: diallyl trisulfide, allicin and S-allyl (cysteine) (in garlic); quercetin, apigenin and chlorogenic acid (in the hawthorn bush); crocina and safranal (in saffron); oleic acid, oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and oleacein (in olive); rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid (in rosemary); and resveratrol (in the vine). Analyzing the literature. The team carried out a review of the scientific literature focusing on these compounds and their potential properties in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. That is, we searched among previously published studies for those that analyzed the potential benefits of these compounds. Details of the process were published in an article in the magazine Food Bioscience. Mixtures and dosage. The team explains that extracts based on these compounds are “promising,” but also points out some factors to consider. For example, the so-called “matrix effect”. This refers to the fact that the combined ingestion of these compounds with others can alter the effectiveness of their therapeutic effects, both to improve and diminish these effects. This, together with the greater or lesser amount of a compound contained in a food, means that it is not always possible to extrapolate the benefits of a compound to the food that contains it. Understanding the interactions between different compounds, the team highlights, is “essential” to optimize their therapeutic application. One last detail that the team focuses on is the need not to equate “natural” with the best, even in these contexts. “The ‘natural’ label does not guarantee safety, and this emphasizes the need to prioritize pharmacokinetic, toxicological and clinical studies to evaluate its effectiveness, safety and efficiency compared to existing medicines,” They emphasize in their press release. In Xataka | Two new studies reinforce something we already suspected: our diet has a lot to do with cancers of the digestive system Image | Angeleses

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