Buzz
Salt is often overlooked, tucked away in its shaker, but this white, crystalline substance has some surprising properties. From strange bodily reactions to its role in the death of stars, salt is much more than it seems.
Salt has the power to uncover mysteries, assist in space exploration, and even reveal the secrets of Earth’s history. Its most captivating trait is sodium's dual nature: it causes millions of deaths annually yet also serves as an affordable defense against infections and climate change.
10. Salt Outperforms Soap
When a patient arrives at the hospital, they undergo debridement, a process where wounds are cleaned with soap and water. However, thousands of people still develop infections after their injuries are treated.
In 2015, a study was launched by doctors to investigate whether saltwater could prevent these infections. They took a bold approach, using saline not just for minor cuts but to clean serious open fractures on patients from five different countries.
Approximately 2,400 individuals were treated with either saline solution or soap and water. The patients were observed for a year to track any infections. Over time, those who required follow-up surgeries were mostly those who had soap used on their wounds. In contrast, those treated with saltwater had fewer infections, and their wounds healed more effectively.
The results were so striking that adopting this salty treatment could offer an affordable way to disinfect serious wounds. This breakthrough could be especially beneficial in developing nations, where 90 percent of global traffic-related fatalities occur.
9. Salt Triggers Brain Inflammation
In 2018, researchers fed mice a high-salt diet, and the results were alarming. Despite being highly intelligent creatures, the sodium caused cognitive decline. The mice performed poorly in maze tests, and their reactions to new objects or whisker stimulation were dull.
Previously, it was thought that salt-related cognitive problems were caused by high blood pressure. However, this study revealed that salt can disrupt key brain functions even without affecting blood pressure.
Reduced blood flow to the cortex and hippocampus hindered learning and memory. This occurred due to an unusual response from the immune system, which, upon detecting excess salt in the gut, sent inflammatory signals to the brain, impairing blood vessels and cognitive function.
The gut’s signaling system is already known to be linked to several diseases caused by poor brain blood vessels, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease. This was the first time salt was recognized as a trigger for such harmful inflammation.
On a brighter note, the mice regained their cognitive abilities after being switched to a low-sodium diet or when drugs interrupted the gut signals.
8. The Salt Craving Gene
While many people are known to have a sweet tooth, recent evidence suggests that some individuals may also possess a genetic 'salt tooth'.
In 2016, a study followed 400 Kentucky residents at risk for heart disease. The participants kept food diaries and provided DNA samples. Among them were individuals who carried a gene variation known as TAS2R48. Previously linked to increased sensitivity to bitterness, this gene also seemed to make some people crave salt.
In fact, the participants with the TAS2R48 gene were twice as likely to consume more than the recommended daily amount of salt compared to those without the gene. Even worse, this gene might explain why people who are particularly sensitive to bitterness (and dislike it) tend to add even more salt to improve the taste of their food.
The discovery of the 'salt tooth' gene marks a critical first step in helping individuals with TAS2R48 make healthier food choices that avoid blood pressure problems, which could lead to heart disease or shorten life expectancy.
7. Salty Stars Have Shorter Lifespans
When Simon Campbell, an astrophysicist from Australia, came across old research papers from the 1980s, he noticed they contradicted a long-standing belief. It was widely accepted that all stars in a particular cluster evolved in a similar manner.
However, the research from the 1980s described discrepancies within a cluster known as NGC 6752. The older study suggested that sodium was the cause. At that time, observational technology wasn't as advanced as it is today. To verify the findings, Campbell used Chile's advanced Very Large Telescope to observe the cluster, located 13,000 light-years away. The results confirmed the theory.
Campbell's team also discovered that sodium caused stars to burn out faster than their low-sodium counterparts. The stars with less salt followed a typical evolutionary trajectory, burning hydrogen and helium before shedding gas and dust, ultimately becoming white dwarfs.
Their heavily salted counterparts skipped the shedding phase and transitioned directly into white dwarfs. This was an unexpected finding, as it was believed that all stars should first lose mass in their final stages. While salt is undoubtedly a factor, the exact reason why it eliminates an entire life phase remains unclear.
6. Morphine for a Warming Planet
In 2018, scientists from the Planetary Science Institute proposed a radical idea: to salt the air like a cured ham. The goal? To cool down Earth. As humanity's reliance on fossil fuels continues to raise global temperatures, the idea was to release large amounts of table salt (perhaps from a salt mine) into the troposphere. Its reflective properties might bounce incoming heat back into space.
This approach falls under geoengineering, a practice of manipulating the environment to counteract climate change. However, it is still a developing field, and its full consequences cannot be precisely predicted.
Salt may be harmless to humans and even more reflective than other proposed dust options, but it contains chlorine. This substance, which damages the ozone layer, could further degrade Earth's protective shield against harmful radiation. While salt might help cool the planet, it could also disrupt the chemistry of both the troposphere and stratosphere.
Researchers acknowledge that this approach is a desperate attempt to address a problem that requires a better solution. They compare salt seeding to using morphine in a medical context—helping temporarily, but not solving the underlying issue.
5. A Glimpse into Extraterrestrial Life
Beneath Antarctica’s surface lie hidden pockets containing ecosystems entirely isolated from the rest of the world. These underground lakes are highly saline. In 2018, scientists discovered two such saline lakes in Canada. For now, they are unable to explore or sample the water, as both lakes are located over 610 meters (2,000 ft) beneath the Devon Ice Cap.
What makes these lakes particularly fascinating is that they have been sealed off for millennia. Previous discoveries of other subglacial lakes revealed microbial communities thriving in complete darkness, isolated from the rest of the world.
The Canadian lakes are unique. Estimates suggest their salt content is up to five times higher than that of the oceans, making them the most hypersaline bodies on Earth.
They even have a bit of a cosmic connection. Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is believed to have an icy shell over a saltwater ocean, a key requirement for life. If the Canadian lakes harbor life, it could suggest that similar ecosystems might exist in salty oceans across the solar system.
4. Salt Creates Spots on Ceres
Ceres is a dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt of our solar system, situated between Mars and Jupiter. For a long time, the presence of around 130 unusual bright spots on its surface remained a mystery to scientists.
In 2015, NASA's Dawn spacecraft orbited Ceres and transmitted data that provided a likely explanation. The analysis of the data revealed that these bright spots were made up of hydrated magnesium sulfates—commonly known as Epsom salt, a favorite among footbath enthusiasts.
The majority of these spots were located within impact craters, and the presence of water ice appeared to play a role in their formation. Some craters produced a haze at sunrise, likely from water vapor escaping from the spots. The reflectivity of some spots resembled that of polar ice sheets, suggesting that Ceres might have large ice reservoirs beneath its crust.
The origin of these peculiar features on Ceres remains uncertain, but it’s likely that impacts uncovered underlying ice and salt layers beneath the planet’s crust.
3. It Could Be Regulated as a Controlled Substance
At the 2012 World Nutrition conference in Rio, researchers suggested that salt should be regulated by either companies or governments. Overconsumption of sodium, a primary contributor to premature deaths, has become a global issue. It's not just a few thousand deaths—millions lose their lives each year due to high blood pressure exacerbated by excess salt in food.
Humans require just 350 milligrams of sodium daily for survival, yet the average American consumes a staggering 3,500 milligrams per day. A major culprit is the hidden sodium found in processed foods. For instance, a single slice of store-bought bread contains 250 milligrams, while a can of vegetables holds about 1,000 milligrams. One fast-food meal can easily double that amount.
Researchers are now considering removing the responsibility from companies who add salt to enhance flavor in subpar food and use saltwater to increase the weight of meat. Since salt causes thirst, beverage companies have little motivation to reduce its use. With sodium hidden in foods and industrial overuse, it's difficult for individuals to cut back on their intake. Therefore, government intervention to regulate salt may be the only viable solution.
2. The Birth of Oxygen
The Earth remained a suffocating environment until the Great Oxidation Event, when oxygen first began to appear. This monumental shift occurred when bacteria evolved to perform photosynthesis, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
The exact timing of this event was a mystery until 2018, when the world’s oldest salt was discovered. The salt, extracted from a 2-kilometer-deep (1.2 mi) shaft in Russia, offered a crucial clue.
These salt crystals, chemically identical to table salt, formed 2.3 billion years ago after an ancient ocean evaporated. The presence of sulfate in the sample confirmed that oxygen had reacted with sulfur in seawater. This not only pinpointed the timing of the Oxidation Event but also revealed that it spread rapidly.
The swift pace at which oxygen flooded the atmosphere was unexpected, but it also answered another question: did bacteria take millions of years to raise the atmospheric oxygen to 20 percent? The Russian salt demonstrated that the process was far from gradual—it was more akin to a sudden surge, like the blast from a fire hose.
1. Worst Droughts In History
In 2017, while drilling for samples in the Dead Sea, researchers made a chilling discovery—two massive droughts capable of bringing civilization to its knees, should they ever occur again. The team had been searching for salt deposits to track past rainfall, reasoning that drier periods would leave more salt behind, while wetter years would wash it away.
When the drill reached depths corresponding to 10,000 and 120,000 years ago, the salt deposits were overwhelming. Found about 305 meters (1,000 ft) below the seabed, they revealed unprecedented droughts. During both periods, the Middle East experienced severe aridity, with rainfall dropping to just 20 percent of normal levels. Humans and Neanderthals lived through the first drought, while by the second, Neanderthals had vanished.
Scientists fear that a similar event today could lead to widespread suffering, with climate predictions suggesting the region will become increasingly dry. These salt deposits confirmed that these devastating droughts occurred without human influence. However, with current climate change driven by human activity, the critical freshwater supply could again disappear.
