Scientists shed new light on viruses' role in coral bleaching

by Oregon State University

Pocillopora corals from Mo'orea. Credit: Andrew Thurber, OSU

Scientists at Oregon State University have shown that viral infection is involved in coral bleaching—the breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and the algae they rely on for energy.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the research is important because understanding the factors behind coral health is crucial to efforts to save the Earth's embattled reefs—between 2014 and 2017 alone, more than 75% experienced bleaching-level heat stress, and 30% suffered mortality-level stress.

The planet's largest and most significant structures of biological origin, coral reefs are found in less than 1% of the ocean but are home to nearly one-quarter of all known marine species. Reefs also help regulate the sea's carbon dioxide levels and are a vital hunting ground that scientists use in the search for new medicines.

Since their first appearance 425 million years ago, corals have branched into more than 1,500 species. A complex composition of dinoflagellates—including the algae symbiont—fungi, bacteria, archaea and viruses make up the coral microbiome, and shifts in microbiome composition are connected to changes in coral health.

The algae the corals need can be stressed by warming oceans to the point of dysbiosis—a collapse of the host-symbiont partnership.

To better understand how viruses contribute to making corals healthy or unhealthy, Oregon State Ph.D. candidate Adriana Messyasz and microbiology researcher Rebecca Vega Thurber of the OSU College of Science led a project that compared the viral metagenomes of coral colony pairs during a minor 2016 bleaching event in Mo'orea, French Polynesia.

Also known as environmental genomics, metagenomics refers to studying genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples, in this case samples taken from a coral reef.

For this study, scientists collected bleached and non-bleached pairs of corals to determine if the mixes of viruses on them were similar or different. The bleached and non-bleached corals shared nearly identical environmental conditions.

"After analyzing the viral metagenomes of each pair, we found that bleached corals had a higher abundance of eukaryotic viral sequences, and non-bleached corals had a higher abundance of bacteriophage sequences," Messyasz said. "This gave us the first quantitative evidence of a shift in viral assemblages between coral bleaching states."

Bacteriophage viruses infect and replicate within bacteria. Eukaryotic viruses infect non-bacterial organisms like animals.

In addition to having a greater presence of eukaryotic viruses in general, bleached corals displayed an abundance of what are called giant viruses. Known scientifically as nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, or NCLDV, they are complex, double-stranded DNA viruses that can be parasitic to organisms ranging from the single-celled to large animals, including humans.

"Giant viruses have been implicated in coral bleaching," Messyasz said. "We were able to generate the first draft genome of a giant virus that might be a factor in bleaching."

The researchers used an electron microscope to identify multiple viral particle types, all reminiscent of medium- to large-sized NCLDV, she said.

"Based on what we saw under the microscope and our taxonomic annotations of viral metagenome sequences, we think the draft genome represents a novel, phylogenetically distinct member of the NCLDVs," Messyasz said. "Its closest sequenced relative is a marine flagellate-associated virus."

The new NCLDV is also present in apparently healthy corals but in far less abundance, suggesting it plays a role in the onset of bleaching and/or its severity, she added.


Explore further  A factor limiting recovery from bleaching in corals
More information: Adriana Messyasz et al, Coral Bleaching Phenotypes Associated With Differential Abundances of Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses, Frontiers in Marine Science (2020). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.555474
Provided by Oregon State University

Study: Health systems, govt responses linked to virus tolls

by Frank Jordans

A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance to Belfast City Hospital, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Northern Ireland introducing the tightest COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, closing schools for two weeks and pubs and restaurants for a month. "This is not the time for trite political points," First Minister Arlene Foster told lawmakers at the regional assembly in Belfast. "This is the time for solutions." 

(Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

Scientists say a comparison of 21 developed countries during the start of the coronavirus pandemic shows that those with early lockdowns and well-prepared national health systems avoided large numbers of additional deaths due to the outbreak.

In a study published Wednesday by the journal Nature Medicine, researchers used the number of weekly deaths in 19 European countries, New Zealand and Australia over the past decade to estimate how many people would have died from mid-February to May 2020 had the pandemic not happened.

The authors, led by Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London, then compared the predicted number of deaths to the actual reported figure during that period to determine how many likely occurred due to the pandemic. Such models of 'excess mortality' are commonly used by public health officials to better understand disease outbreaks and the effectiveness of counter-measures.

The study found there were about 206,000 excess deaths across the 21 countries during the period, a figure that conforms to independent estimates. In Spain, the number of deaths was 38% higher than would have been expected without the pandemic, while in England and Wales it was 37% higher.

Italy, Scotland and Belgium also had significant excess deaths, while in some countries there was no marked change or even—as in the case of Bulgaria—a decrease.

While the authors note that there are differences in the compositions of populations, such as age and the prevalence of pre-existing conditions that contribute to mortality rates, government efforts to suppress transmission of the virus and the ability of national health systems to cope with the pandemic also played a role.

People wear mouth and nose protection as they walk through the city center in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP)

Amitava Banerjee, a professor of clinical data science at University College London who wasn't involved in the study, said it was well designed and had used standardized methods.

He noted that the comparison between death rates in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, where the age of the population and the rates of pre-existing conditions such as obesity are similar, supports the argument that other factors contributed to the differing mortality figures.

"Even if vaccines and better treatments for severe (COVID-19) infection are developed, the way to minimise excess deaths is to reduce the infection rate through population level measures," said Banerjee.

These include lockdowns, protecting high risk groups,and establishing effective "test, trace and isolate" systems, he said.

Germany, which like the United States was not among the 21 countries examined in the study, has seen fewer deaths so far in 2020 than in some recent years, according to the head of the country's disease control agency.

While the reasons for this are complex and may take time to fully understand, a decline in hospital infections and the absence of any reported measles cases in Germany since March indicate that social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing play a role.

"The measures that were introduced because of COVID have further effects, and they're positive, that much is clear" Lothar Wieler, who heads the Robert Koch Institute, told reporters in Berlin.


Explore further

Coronavirus 'excess deaths': Why England and Wales have been hardest hit in Europe
More information: Vasilis Kontis et al. Magnitude, demographics and dynamics of the effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality in 21 industrialized countries, Nature Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1112-0
Journal information: Nature Medicine
© 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Popularity of COVID-19 conspiracies and links to vaccine 'hesitancy' revealed by international study

by University of Cambridge

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new study of beliefs and attitudes toward COVID-19 in five different countries—UK, US, Ireland, Mexico and Spain—has identified how much traction some prominent conspiracy theories have within these populations.

The research reveals "key predictors" for susceptibility to fake pandemic news, and finds that a small increase in the perceived reliability of conspiracies equates to a larger drop in the intention to get vaccinated.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge gathered data from national samples in each country, and asked participants to rate the reliability of several statements, including six popular myths about COVID-19.

While a large majority of people in all five nations judged the misinformation to be unreliable, researchers found that certain conspiracy theories have taken root in significant portions of the population.

The conspiracy deemed most valid across the board was the claim that COVID-19 was engineered in a Wuhan laboratory. Between 22-23% of respondents in the UK and United States rated this assertion as "reliable". In Ireland this rose to 26%, while in Mexico and Spain it jumped to 33% and 37% respectively.

This was followed by the idea that the pandemic is "part of a plot to enforce global vaccination", with 22% of the Mexican population rating this as reliable, along with 18% in Ireland, Spain and the US, and 13% in the UK.

The notorious 5G conspiracy—that some telecommunication towers are worsening COVID-19 symptoms—holds sway over smaller but still significant segments: 16% in Mexico, 16% in Spain, 12% in Ireland, and 8% in both the UK and US. The study is published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

"Certain misinformation claims are consistently seen as reliable by substantial sections of the public. We find a clear link between believing coronavirus conspiracies and hesitancy around any future vaccine," said Dr. Sander van der Linden, co-author and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab.

"As well as flagging false claims, governments and technology companies should explore ways to increase digital media literacy in the population. Otherwise, developing a working vaccine might not be enough."

Earlier this week, the Social Decision-Making Lab launched a project with the UK Cabinet Office: Go Viral!, a short online game that helps "inoculate" players against fake news by lifting the lid on common misinformation techniques.

For the new study, the team—including Cambridge's Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication—looked at correlations between certain beliefs and demographic categories and the perceived reliability of misinformation.

Scoring highly on a series of numeracy tasks given as part of the study, as well as declaring high levels of trust in scientists, are "significantly and consistently" associated with low levels of susceptibility to false information across all nations.

"Numeracy skills are the most significant predictor of resistance to misinformation that we found," said Dr. Jon Roozenbeek, lead author and Postdoctoral Fellow in Cambridge's Department of Psychology.

"We all now deal with a deluge of statistics and R number interpretations. The fostering of numerical skills for sifting through online information could well be vital for curbing the 'infodemic' and promoting good public health behaviour."

Moreover, and despite 'boomer' memes, the team found that being older is actually linked to lower susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation in all nations except Mexico (where the opposite is true).

Identifying as more right-wing or politically conservative is associated with higher likelihood of believing COVID-19 conspiracies and falsehoods in Ireland, Mexico and Spain—but less so in the UK or US.

Trusting that politicians can effectively tackle the crisis predicts higher likelihood of buying into conspiracies in Mexico, Spain and the US, but not in the UK and Ireland. Exposure to information about the virus on social media is linked to misinformation susceptibility in Ireland, the UK and US.

Researchers asked participants about their attitude to a future coronavirus vaccine. They were also asked to rate the reliability of conspiratorial COVID-19 claims on a scale of one to seven.

On average, an increase by one-seventh in someone's perceived reliability of misinformation is associated with a drop of almost a quarter—23% - in the likelihood they will agree to get vaccinated.

Similarly, a one-point increase on the conspiracy reliability scale is linked, on average, to a 28% decrease in the odds of someone recommending vaccination to vulnerable friends and family.

Conversely, on average, a one-seventh increase in trust in scientists is associated with a 73% increase in the likelihood of getting vaccinated and a 79% increase in the odds of recommending vaccination to others.

The researchers controlled for many other factors—from age to politics—when modelling levels of "vaccine hesitancy", and found the results to be consistent across all countries except Spain.


Explore further

Game 'pre-bunks' COVID-19 conspiracies as part of UK's fight against fake news
More information: Susceptibility to misinformation about COVID-19 around the world, Royal Society Open Science (2020). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201199
Journal information: Royal Society Open Science
Provided by University of Cambridge

Political leaders' views on COVID-19 risk are highly infectious in a polarized nation

by Wanyun Shao, The Conversation

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

When President Donald Trump announced he was leaving the hospital after being treated for COVID-19, he sent his supporters a message: "Don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life," he tweeted. A few hours later at the White House, he pulled off his mask in dramatic fashion for the cameras and stuffed it in his pocket.

That message on Oct. 5 and his subsequent words and actions—including telling supporters at a Florida campaign rally on Oct. 12, "if you want to get out there, get out there," and that he and wanted to kiss everyone in the tightly packed audience—flew in the face of health professionals' warnings.

Over 215,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S., and the country faces a high risk of a surge in cases this fall. Wearing face masks and social distancing can help stop the virus's spread.

Coming from a political leader, Trump's words and behaviors downplaying the risks are potent. My research as a professor who studies risk perception shows that in a highly polarized environment, political leaders' rhetoric can play a significant role in shaping risk perceptions among their loyal followers.

If the leader deems the risk to be small, his or her supporters will be more likely to share that view. If the leader does not strictly follow rules on wearing masks and social distancing, the supporters are more than likely to follow suit.

This pattern has been confirmed in recent months by evidence that U.S. counties with more Trump voters see fewer people social distancing. It also echoes what I and other researchers have found with the politicization of climate change.

Echoes of climate change

Climate change is another area where politics can influence the perception of risk and how to respond to it. Two decades of social science research has tracked the politicization of the issue.

While most Democrats and liberals recognize the human role in climate change and the harms it is causing, many Republicans and conservatives say they are not so sure. The conservative movement, alongside the oil industry, helped to make climate change into a politically contentious issue.

The U.S. has seen a rise in extreme weather events in recent years, and more Americans have experienced the impact of climate change firsthand. Some observers believe this increase in personal experiences can move the needle in American public opinion.

But the strong countervailing force from Trump tends to offset those effects. The more Republicans and conservatives approve of the president, the lower their perceptions of climate change risk are as the president continues to deny the evidence.

Filling a void with conspiracy theories

A parallel seems to dominate the public conversation around COVID-19 today.

Although great amounts of scientific effort have been dedicated to understanding various aspects of COVID-19, a lot remains unknown as this pandemic continues to evolve.

The virus causing COVID-19 is new and widely believed to have started in bats and jumped to humans. With the early lack of knowledge, however, various conspiracy theories were disseminated, and belief in these conspiracies still hinders mask-wearing and other behaviors that can prevent the spread of the disease.

Personal experiences, which the public often relies on to form judgments about risks, were largely absent at this initial stage of the pandemic. Confronted with such uncertainties, the public had to turn to authorities for information and assurance.

Republican and Democratic leaders sent drastically different messages from the beginning, and loyal partisans fell in line.

Surveys consistently show conspicuous gaps between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans perceive lower risks of COVID-19 than Democrats and say they engage in social distancing behaviors to a lesser extent than Democrats.

Moreover, conservatives who have more confidence in the current national political leadership are even less likely to perceive threats of COVID-19 than conservatives who have less confidence. In other words, the politicization process can even be amplified within one political camp.

Hope for shrinking the power of misinformation

The success of slowing the spread of COVID-19 hinges largely on people taking precautions, particularly wearing face masks and social distancing, until a safe and effective vaccine is widely available.

One study on attitudes toward climate change offers some hope. It found that a large number of Republicans and conservatives actually hold more unstable views about climate change over time. This instability may mean they could be more open to listening to the evidence and changing their minds.

If this is also the case with COVID-19, strategic science communications and community engagement activities may be able to make a difference and stop the rising death toll.


Explore furtherFacebook pulls Trump post for minimizing Covid-19 danger
Provided by The Conversation

Wolves attached: Adult wolves miss their human handler in separation similar to dogs

by Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Faculty of Science

By studying the dog's closest living relative, the grey wolf, we can have an insight - though indirectly - how the common ancestor's social system might have affected the early domestication process of the dog. Credit: Paula Pérez Fraga

Based on a new study published in Scientific Reports by researchers of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, adult, intensively socialized wolves form individualized social bonds with their human handlers.


One of the key features of dogs' success is that they show attachment towards their owners. However, the origin of the ability to form these interspecies bonds is still unclear. To uncover this bond we need to investigate the attachment-related behaviors, but to understand its origins it is not enough to take a closer look at the dog's behavior. Though it is widely accepted that the common ancestor of the dog and the gray wolf probably was a highly social species, what had an important role during the domestication and the emergence of the dog as a new species, we still know nothing about the evolutionary origin of the dog-human attachment. By studying the dog's closest living relative, the gray wolf, we can gain insight—though indirectly—how the common ancestor's social system might have affected the early domestication process of the dog.

"Attachment is a so-called behavior-complex, that has several manifestations. For instance, dogs seek protection from their owners in threat or they are calmer in new situations when their owner is present, but they show signs of stress in their absence. We were wondering whether intensively socialized adult wolves show at least some features of the attachment behavior towards their handlers," explained Rita Lenkei, the first author of the publication.

The researchers tested hand-raised wolves and family dogs in a separation test, where the subjects were left alone by their handler or by a stranger for three minutes at an unfamiliar place.

Based on the new study published in Scientific Reports by researchers of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, adult, intensively socialized wolves form individualized social bonds with their human handlers. Credit: Adam Leeb

"We were surprised how little difference there was between the wolves' and dogs' behavior during the test. When their handler—or owner in case of the dogs—was present they were calmer, they spent their time exploring their vicinity and sniffing around. But when they were left by their handler, they became stressed, whined and pulled the leash towards her hiding place. However, when the stranger disappeared these behaviors were barely present," explained Tamás Faragó, leading author of the study.

Naturally, the researchers also found species-specific differences, whereas besides the domestication, the artificial selection and also rearing conditions markedly shaped the dog's behavior. For instance, dogs showed more interest towards humans, regardless of their familiarity. This result is in line with earlier findings that dogs are generally more attracted towards humans from early puppyhood, and this might be caused by genetic differences between dogs and wolves. Also, wolves pulled the leash more persistently, in behavior that the researchers explained by the assumption that owners usually teach their dogs not to pull it from their early age.


Though the dog-human relationship resembles the offspring-parent bond from several aspects, based on earlier studies wolf puppies do not show attachment towards their human caregivers. In this experiment the subjects were adult individuals and their handler was not their original caretaker, so these results raise the possibility that the evolutional origin of the human-dog attachment is the social bond between the members of the pack. Wolves live in families, usually consisting of a mating pair and their offspring of different ages. Presumably the common ancestor also lived in a similar complex social environment that might have provided a good basis for developing abilities to easily integrate into human social groups.

"It is important to emphasize the hand-rearing and the intensive socialization of our wolf subjects. Without this process they would never show these behaviors towards humans. Contrary to them, as a result of genetic changes, dogs are able to form attachment easily from their puppyhood and they can develop it thorough their whole life. Thus, we must keep in mind that though during our test they showed similar behavior, we are talking about separate species and the dog is not just a tame wolf, while the wolf will never became a pet," added Lenkei.


Explore further  Comparing the controllability of young hand-raised wolves and dogs
More information: Rita Lenkei et al, Adult, intensively socialized wolves show features of attachment behaviour to their handler, Scientific Reports (2020).  

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74325-0 

Journal information: Scientific Reports

Provided by Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Faculty of Science

Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket
By MARCIA DUNN

October 11, 2020

This Sept. 20, 1966 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum shows an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA's leading asteroid expert, Paul Chodas, speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually a Centaur upper rocket stage that propelled NASA’s Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. (Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection/San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The jig may be up for an “asteroid” that’s expected to get nabbed by Earth’s gravity and become a mini moon next month.

Instead of a cosmic rock, the newly discovered object appears to be an old rocket from a failed moon-landing mission 54 years ago that’s finally making its way back home, according to NASA’s leading asteroid expert. Observations should help nail its identity.

“I’m pretty jazzed about this,” Paul Chodas told The Associated Press. “It’s been a hobby of mine to find one of these and draw such a link, and I’ve been doing it for decades now.”

Chodas speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually the Centaur upper rocket stage that successfully propelled NASA’s Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. The lander ended up crashing into the moon after one of its thrusters failed to ignite on the way there. The rocket, meanwhile, swept past the moon and into orbit around the sun as intended junk, never to be seen again — until perhaps now.

A telescope in Hawaii last month discovered the mystery object heading our way while doing a search intended to protect our planet from doomsday rocks. The object promptly was added to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center’s tally of asteroids and comets found in our solar system, just 5,000 shy of the 1 million mark.

The object is estimated to be roughly 26 feet (8 meters) based on its brightness. That’s in the ballpark of the old Centaur, which would be less than 32 feet (10 meters) long including its engine nozzle and 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter.

What caught Chodas’ attention is that its near-circular orbit around the sun is quite similar to Earth’s — unusual for an asteroid.

“Flag number one,” said Chodas, who is director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The object is also in the same plane as Earth, not tilted above or below, another red flag. Asteroids usually zip by at odd angles. Lastly, it’s approaching Earth at 1,500 mph (2,400 kph), slow by asteroid standards.

As the object gets closer, astronomers should be able to better chart its orbit and determine how much it’s pushed around by the radiation and thermal effects of sunlight. If it’s an old Centaur — essentially a light empty can — it will move differently than a heavy space rock less susceptible to outside forces.

That’s how astronomers normally differentiate between asteroids and space junk like abandoned rocket parts, since both appear merely as moving dots in the sky. There likely are dozens of fake asteroids out there, but their motions are too imprecise or jumbled to confirm their artificial identity, said Chodas.

Sometimes it’s the other way around.

A mystery object in 1991, for example, was determined by Chodas and others to be a regular asteroid rather than debris, even though its orbit around the sun resembled Earth’s.

Even more exciting, Chodas in 2002 found what he believes was the leftover Saturn V third stage from 1969′s Apollo 12, the second moon landing by NASA astronauts. He acknowledges the evidence was circumstantial, given the object’s chaotic one-year orbit around Earth. It never was designated as an asteroid, and left Earth’s orbit in 2003.

The latest object’s route is direct and much more stable, bolstering his theory.

“I could be wrong on this. I don’t want to appear overly confident,” Chodas said. “But it’s the first time, in my view, that all the pieces fit together with an actual known launch.”

And he’s happy to note that it’s a mission that he followed in 1966, as a teenager in Canada.

Asteroid hunter Carrie Nugent of Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts, said Chodas’ conclusion is “a good one” based on solid evidence. She’s the author of the 2017 book “Asteroid Hunters.”

“Some more data would be useful so we can know for sure,” she said in an email. “Asteroid hunters from around the world will continue to watch this object to get that data. I’m excited to see how this develops!”

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Jonathan McDowell noted there have been “many, many embarrassing incidents of objects in deep orbit ... getting provisional asteroid designations for a few days before it was realized they were artificial.”

It’s seldom clear-cut.

Last year, a British amateur astronomer, Nick Howes, announced that an asteroid in solar orbit was likely the abandoned lunar module from NASA’s Apollo 10, a rehearsal for the Apollo 11 moon landing. While this object is likely artificial, Chodas and others are skeptical of the connection.

Skepticism is good, Howes wrote in an email. “It hopefully will lead to more observations when it’s next in our neck of the woods” in the late 2030s.

Chodas’ latest target of interest was passed by Earth in their respective laps around the sun in 1984 and 2002. But it was too dim to see from 5 million miles (8 million kilometers) away, he said.

He predicts the object will spend about four months circling Earth once it’s captured in mid-November, before shooting back out into its own orbit around the sun next March.

Chodas doubts the object will slam into Earth — “at least not this time around.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Washington state again fails to live-track murder hornet
By SALLY HO

October 12, 2020


In this Oct. 7, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a live Asian giant hornet is affixed with a tracking device before being released near Blaine, Wash. Washington state officials say they were again unsuccessful at live-tracking an Asian giant hornet while trying to find and destroy a nest of the so-called murder hornets. The Washington State Department of Agriculture said Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, that an entomologist used dental floss to tie a tracking device on a female hornet, only to lose signs of her when she went into the forest. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state officials said Monday they were again unsuccessful at live-tracking a “murder” hornet while trying to find and destroy a nest of the giant insects.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture said an entomologist used dental floss to tie a tracking device on a female hornet, only to lose signs of her when she went into a forest.

The hornet was captured on Oct. 5 and kept alive with strawberry jam, which she seemed to enjoy, said Sven Spichiger, a department entomologist.

Scientists then tied a tracking device onto her body and released her two days later onto an apple tree. They lost track of her after she went through some blackberry bushes, though officials believe the tracker was still attached at the time of its last signal.

“This one was a lot feistier,” Spichiger said.

A total of 18 hornets have been found in the state since they were first seen last year near the U.S.-Canadian border, the agriculture department said.

Officials earlier in the month reported trying to glue a radio tag to another live hornet so they could follow it back to its nest, but the glue did not dry fast enough. The radio tag fell off and the hornet ultimately could not fly.

In this Oct. 7, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a live Asian giant hornet with a tracking device affixed to it sits on an apple in a tree where it was placed, near Blaine, Wash. Washington state officials say they were again unsuccessful at live-tracking an Asian giant hornet while trying to find and destroy a nest of the so-called murder hornets. The Washington State Department of Agriculture said Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, that an entomologist used dental floss to tie a tracking device on a female hornet, only to lose signs of her when she went into the forest. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)

The Asian giant hornet — the world’s largest at 2 inches (5 centimeters) — can decimate entire hives of honeybees and deliver painful stings to humans. Farmers in the northwestern U.S. depend on those honey bees to pollinate many crops, including raspberries and blueberries.

Despite their nickname, the hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asia, and experts say it is probably far less. Hornets, wasps and bees typically found in the United States kill an average of 62 people a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

The real threat from the ”murder” hornets is their devastating attacks on honeybee hives, and the time of year when they attack those hives is nearing, Spichiger said. He called it the “slaughter phase.”

2 remote Japan towns seek to host nuclear waste storage site
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

October 9, 2020


Masayuki Takahashi, head of Kamoenai Village, speaks during a press conference at the village on the northeastern coast of Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. A pair of remote northern towns struggling with rapidly graining and shrinking populations signed up for a preliminary government studies to possibly build a final repository site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear plants as a way of surviving.(Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Two remote towns in northern Japan struggling with rapidly graying and shrinking populations signed up Friday to possibly host a high-level radioactive waste storage site as a means of economic survival.

Japanese utilities have about 16,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel rods stored in cooling pools or other interim sites, and there is no final repository for them in Japan — a situation called “a mansion without a toilet.”

Japan is in a dire situation following the virtual failure of an ambitious nuclear fuel recycling plan, in which plutonium extracted from spent fuel was to be used in still-unbuilt fast breeder reactors. The problem of accumulating nuclear waste came to the fore after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Finding a community willing to host a radioactive dump site is difficult, even with a raft of financial enticements.

On Friday, Haruo Kataoka, the mayor of Suttsu town on the northwestern coast of Hokkaido, applied in Tokyo for preliminary government research on whether its land would be suitable for highly radioactive waste storage for thousands of years.

Later Friday in Kamoenai just north of Suttsu, village chief Masayuki Takahashi announced his decision to also apply for an initial feasibility study.

Suttsu, with a population of 2,900, and Kamoenai, with about 800 people, have received annual government subsidies as hosts of the Tomari nuclear power plant. But they are struggling financially because of a declining fishing industry and their aging and shrinking populations.

The preliminary research is the first of three steps in selecting a permanent disposal site, with the whole process estimated to take about two decades. Municipalities can receive up to 2 billion yen ($19 million) in government subsidies for two years by participating in the first stage. Moving on to the next stage would bring in more subsidies.

“I have tried to tackle the problems of declining population, low birth rates and social welfare, but hardly made progress,” Takahashi told reporters. “I hope that accepting research (into the waste storage) can help the village’s development.”

It is unknown whether either place will qualify as a disposal site. Opposition from people across Hokkaido could also hinder the process. A gasoline bomb was thrown into the Suttsu mayor’s home early Thursday, possibly by an opponent of the plan, causing slight damage.

Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and local fisheries groups are opposed to hosting such a facility.

One mayor in southwestern Japan expressed interest in 2007, but faced massive opposition and the plan was spiked.

High-level radioactive waste must be stored in thick concrete structures at least 300 meters (yards) underground so it won’t affect humans and the environment.

A 2017 land survey map released by the government indicated parts of Suttsu and Kamoenai could be suitable for a final repository.

So far, Finland and Sweden are the only countries that have selected final disposal sites.

___

Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Torlonia Collection of ancient marbles displayed in Rome
October 12, 2020


In this undated photo made available Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, ancient Greek and Roman marble statues are seen prior to going on display in the newly refurbished Villa Caffarelli, one of the Capitoline Museum’s exhibition spaces overlooking the ancient Roman Forum, in Rome. One of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble sculptures is going on display Monday as part of the Eternal City’s 150th anniversary celebrations. (Fondazione Torlonia via AP)

ROME (AP) — One of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble sculptures is going on display in Rome as part of the Eternal City’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The 90 works from the Torlonia Collection were opening Monday in the newly refurbished Villa Caffarelli, one of the Capitoline Museum’s exhibition spaces overlooking the ancient Roman Forum. Organizers said there were plans to offer to lend the works to other museums, but said the coronavirus pandemic had put those plans on hold for now.



The 620-piece Torlonia Collection is considered one of the greatest private collections of classical art, featuring marble busts, reliefs, sarcophagi and statues. It was begun by one of Rome’s 19th century patricians, Prince Alessandro Torlonia, and was created in part from archaeological excavations of the Torlonia family’s various estates in Rome.

The selections presented in the new exhibit recount the history of the collection’s growth itself and include the 1884 catalogue the prince commissioned to show off his collection when he opened his own museum to house it.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini told a press conference Monday that it was unfortunate that COVID-19 restrictions would limit the number of people who can visit as well as the show’s near-term lending prospects. But he said the works “take your breath away.”

The new exhibit, which is open until June 29, is the fruit of a public-private collaboration among the culture ministry, the city of Rome, the Torlonia Foundation and key sponsor Bulgari, the Roman jeweler.

Young whales looking to dine flock to waters off NYC
By PATRICK WHITTLE and TED SHAFFREY October 7, 2020

An adolescent Humpback whale designated "Whale 0140," identified through patterns on the whale's fluke, is seen from the vessel American Princess during a cruise offered by Gotham Whale, as the cetacean is spotted off the northern New Jersey coast line Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. According to Paul Sieswerda, President and CEO of Gotham Whale, sightings are up nearly a hundred fold from just a decade ago, with an abundance of menhaden seemingly driving the whale resurgence. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) 

MORE PHOTOS https://apnews.com/article/new-york-new-york-city-whales-fish-environment-0c338c0b07001a03424d1e50efdf2cf3/gallery/52ee241fa7c1461389a606377a0fa071

NEW YORK (AP) — If you’re young and hungry, the place to go is New York City — even if you weigh 25 tons and have a blowhole.

Whale watch captains and scientists around America’s most populous city say recent years have seen a tremendous surge in the number of whales observed in the waters around the Big Apple. Many of the whales are juvenile humpbacks, and scientists say they’re drawn to New York by an abundance of the small fish they love to eat.

There are numerous theories about why whales are suddenly flocking to the city, but one of the most widely held is that the menhaden population has grown around New York and New Jersey. Menhaden are small, schooling fish that humpbacks relish, and environmentalists believe cleaner waters and stricter conservation laws have increased their numbers near New York City.

Gotham Whale, a New York City-based whale research organization, made more than 300 observations of 500 total whales in 2019, said Paul Sieswerda, the nonprofit’s president. That’s up from three sightings of five whales in 2011, after which a steady climb began, he said.

“Somehow or other more and more whales seem to be getting the message that New York is a good place to dine,” Sieswerda said. “That kind of magnitude of increase is just phenomenal.”





The resurgence of whales in the New York-New Jersey Bight, a triangle-shaped indentation in the Atlantic coast, has attracted tourists who want to see and photograph the giant marine mammals. But the concentration of whales near New York City also poses risks to the mammals, as they ply some of the most heavily traversed waters on the planet.

The whales are essentially “playing in traffic” by feeding so close to busy shipping lanes, Sieswerda said. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already declared an “unusual mortality event” for humpback whales from Maine to Florida in recent years due to an elevated number of deaths.

Since 2016, NOAA records show 133 humpback whales have died on the beaches and waters of the Atlantic coast. The 29 in New York were the most of any state. Of the dead whales examined, half had evidence of human interaction, such as a ship strike or entanglement in fishing gear.

The appearance of so many whales near New York City calls for environmental stewardship, said Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ocean Giants Program. Environmental safeguards, such as the Clean Water Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, likely helped bring the whales back to New York’s bustling waterways, and more protection can help keep them safe there, he said.

That will take nongovernmental organizations and state and federal agencies working together “to minimize the risk to animals that are using these habitats to feed,” Rosenbaum said. That could include implementing new regulations to protect the mammals from ship strikes, he said. Such rules have sometimes included speed reductions in areas where whales travel and feed.

The increased sighting of whales off New York City isn’t necessarily evidence that the total whale population is growing, said Danielle Brown, the lead humpback whale researcher with Gotham Whale and a doctoral student at Rutgers University.

The New York whales aren’t a standalone population, but rather members of feeding populations that mostly live farther north, such as in the Gulf of Maine, Brown said. And it’s unclear whether the whales are in New York because the larger population is growing.

Brown and other scientists have observed that the presence of the giant whales off New York City could take mariners by surprise, and that could put the mammals at risk of ship strikes or other hazards. Increasingly clean water and a growing diversity of fish to feed on could keep the whales in the New York area for the foreseeable future, she said.

“This is most likely going to continue, and we have to find a way to coexist with these large animals in our waters,” Brown said.

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

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On Twitter follow Patrick Whittle: @pxwhittle and Ted Shaffrey: @TedShaffrey