Wintering bird communities track climate change faster than breeding communities in Europe and North America

UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Research News

 

IMAGE: IN FINLAND, WINTERING BIRD COMMUNITIES IN PARTICULAR HAVE CHANGED DUE TO THE RAPID INCREASE IN ABUNDANCE OF SOUTHERN SPECIES, SUCH AS THE TUFTED DUCK, THE BLACKBIRD AND THE GOLDFINCH. view more 

CREDIT: ALEKSI LEHIKOINEN

A study recently completed in Europe and North America indicates that the composition of wintering and breeding bird communities changes in line with global warming. However, wintering bird communities are considerably faster at tracking the changing climate compared to breeding communities.

Climate change is driving species' distribution towards the poles and mountaintops, resulting in changes to bird communities. As a considerable share of birds are migratory species, with the distance they travel varying by species, the rate of change in bird communities is different in the breeding season and in the winter. A new Finnish-led study demonstrates for the first time that changes in bird communities are significantly faster in the winter than in the breeding season.

"Climate change is reshaping bird communities so that abundance of southern species increase, while the abundance of northern species is reduced," says Senior curator Aleksi Lehikoinen from the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus, which is part of the University of Helsinki.

The faster change of bird communities in the winter is most likely results from the birds being less sedentary in their wintering areas than in their breeding areas. Some species are capable of migrating also in mid-winter, if the weather gets colder. In fact, a rise in temperature increased the annual rate of change for wintering bird communities. During the breeding season, individual birds are bound to a specific environment for several months, preventing them from migrating in the middle of breeding even if the weather changes.

"In Finland, wintering bird communities in particular have changed due to the rapid increase in abundance of southern species, such as the tufted duck, the blackbird and the goldfinch. As winters become warmer faster than summers, our winter bird communities will continue to change rapidly also in the future," Lehikoinen explains.

The study examined changes in bird communities in eight countries in Europe as well as in the United States and Canada since the 1980s. While the dataset encompasses over 1,200 bird species and a broad range of bird communities, the results were largely similar for both continents.

"Overall, the study included observations of almost three billion birds. Without keen birdwatchers contributing on a voluntary basis, collecting such a dataset would be impossible," Lehikoinen says, offering praise.

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The market advantage of a feminine brand name

News from the Journal of Marketing

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

 NEWS RELEASE 17-FEB-2021

Research News

 

Researchers from University of Calgary, University of Montana, HEC Paris, and University of Cincinnati published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that explores the linguistic aspects of a name that can influence brand perceptions without people even realizing it.

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Is Nestlé a Lady? The Feminine Brand Name Advantage" and is authored by Ruth Pogacar, Justin Angle, Tina Lowrey, L. J. Shrum, and Frank Kardes.

What do iconic brands Nike, Coca-Cola, and Disney have in common? They all have linguistically feminine names. In fact, the highest-ranking companies on Interbrand's Global Top Brands list for the past twenty years have, on average, more feminine names than lower-ranked companies. How can you tell if a name is linguistically feminine? Easy--does it have two or more syllables and stress on the second or later syllable? Does it end in a vowel? If so, then it is a feminine name. Linguistically feminine names convey "warmth" (good-natured sincerity), which makes people like them better than less feminine names.

A brand's name is incredibly important. In most cases, the name is the first thing consumers learn about a brand. And a brand's name does the work of communicating what the brand represents. For instance, Lean Cuisine conveys the product's purpose. Others, like Reese's' Pieces, have rhyming names that promise whimsy and fun. Making a good first impression is critical, so it is not surprising that the market for brand naming services is booming. Boutique naming fees can run as much as $5,000 - $10,000 per letter for brand names in high-stakes product categories like automobiles and technology.

Specifically, the number of syllables in a name, which syllable is stressed, and the ending sound, all convey masculine or feminine gender. People automatically associate name length, stress, and ending sound with men's or women's names because most people's names follow certain rules. Women's names tend to be longer, have more syllables, have stress on the second or later syllable, and end with a vowel (e.g., Amánda). Men's names tend to be shorter with one stressed syllable, or with stress on the first of two syllables, and end in a consonant (e.g., Éd or Édward).

We often relate to brands like people--we love them, we hate them, we are loyal to certain brands but sometimes we cheat. We associate brands with masculine or feminine traits based on the linguistic cues in the name. So, attributes associated with gender - like warmth - become attached to a brand because of its name. "Warmth" is the quality of being good-natured, tolerant, and sincere. Researchers believe that warmth is incredibly important because deep in our evolutionary past, primitive people had to make a quick, critical judgment whenever they encountered someone new--is this stranger a threat or not? In other words--is this stranger dangerous or warm? If the newcomer was not warm, then a fight or flight decision might be called for. People still rely on warmth judgments every day to decide whether someone will be a good partner, employee, or friend.

So, it is no surprise that warmth is an important characteristic of brand personality. And because linguistically feminine names convey warmth, features like ending in a vowel are advantageous for brand names. As Pogacar explains, "We find that linguistically feminine brand names are perceived as warmer and are therefore better liked and more frequently chosen, an effect we term the Feminine Brand Name Advantage."

But does all this matter in terms of dollars and cents? Yes, according to the Interbrand Global Top Brand rankings, which is based on brand performance and strength. Angle says that "By analyzing the linguistic properties of each name on Interbrand's lists for the past twenty years, we find that brands with linguistically feminine names are more likely to make the list. And even more, the higher ranked a brand is, the more likely it is to have a linguistically feminine name."

After observing this feminine brand name advantage, the researchers conducted a series of experiments to better understand what is happening. Participants reported that brands with linguistically feminine names seemed warmer and this increased their purchase intentions. This pattern occurred with well-known brands and made-up brands that study participants had no prior experience with.

There are limitations to the feminine brand name advantage. When a product is specifically targeted to a male audience (e.g., men's sneakers), masculine and feminine brand names are equally well-liked. Furthermore, people like linguistically feminine names for hedonic products, like chocolate, but may prefer masculine names for strictly functional products like bathroom scales.

It is important to note that results may vary based on the linguistic patterns of name gender in the target market country. Lowrey summarizes the study's insights by saying "We suggest that brand managers consider linguistically feminine names when designing new brand names, particularly for hedonic products."

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Full article and author contact information available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242921993060

About the Journal of Marketing

The Journal of Marketing develops and disseminates knowledge about real-world marketing questions useful to scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders around the world. Published by the American Marketing Association since its founding in 1936, JM has played a significant role in shaping the content and boundaries of the marketing discipline. Christine Moorman (T. Austin Finch, Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University) serves as the current Editor in Chief. https://www.ama.org/jm

About the American Marketing Association (AMA)

As the largest chapter-based marketing association in the world, the AMA is trusted by marketing and sales professionals to help them discover what is coming next in the industry. The AMA has a community of local chapters in more than 70 cities and 350 college campuses throughout North America. The AMA is home to award-winning content, PCM® professional certification, premiere academic journals, and industry-leading training events and conferences. https://www.ama.org

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!

Helping behavior may mitigate academic risk for children from low-income neighborhoods

SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Research News

 

Children raised in neighborhoods with low socio-economic status are at risk for low academic achievement. A new longitudinal study followed young children from such neighborhoods from birth until age seven to explore whether children's capacity to act kindly or generously towards others (prosocial behavior) - including peers, teachers, and family - is linked to their ability to perform well in school. The study showed that prosocial behavior may mitigate academic risk across early childhood.

The findings were published in a Child Development article written by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Leeds, and the Bradford Institute for Health Research.

"Identifying factors that can help children achieve academic success is a crucial step to informing interventions that may reduce educational disparities between children," said Emma Armstrong-Carter, doctoral candidate in the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. "This research turns our attention to the connections between social and academic outcomes for children. It suggests that supporting positive social behavior may be one way to foster children's academic success where the odds are against them."

The study included 1,175 children and their families from Bradford, England, who were predominantly of White European or South Asian ancestries. Children were followed from birth until the age of seven with measurements taken at four times from 2007 to 2010.

The researchers used the following methods:

• Governmental indices of neighborhood-level socioeconomic status,
• Teacher observations of prosocial behaviors (e.g., "This child is considerate of other people's feelings," or "This child is helpful if someone is hurt"), at ages 4-5
• Direct assessments of three academic outcomes: teachers' observations of children's progress towards early learning goals at ages 4-5 years, teachers' assessment of phonic skills (ability to correlate sounds with letters or groups of letters in an alphabetic writing system) at ages 5-6 years, and academic performance assessed on a standardized school-based assessment, including math, reading and science, at ages 6-7.

Low neighborhood socioeconomic status was associated with poor academic outcomes only for children who displayed low levels of prosocial behavior and not among children who displayed high levels of prosocial behavior. This pattern was consistent across the three measures of educational progress taken from ages 4 to 7. The authors note that stronger prosocial behavior may act as a protective factor for educational outcomes in a number of ways. For example, children who are perceived as more helpful may be more likely to be liked by their teachers and receive more positive attention compared to their peers who tend to help less. When helping others, children may also have opportunities for cognitive stimulation by practicing skills such as taking the perspective of others and communicating with them.

"Our research suggests that fostering prosocial behavior during early childhood may be one way to protect against academic risk for those living in low- income neighborhoods," said Armstrong-Carter. "It is possible that teachers, parents and mentors may be able to help children achieve academic success by modeling, teaching, and fostering the development of helping behaviors."

The authors recognize that they were unable to measure the specific relationships between parents and teachers, and experiences when helping peers. The authors also acknowledge the need to replicate this study in other samples outside of Bradford, England, to see if the results are generalizable across different geographic and cultural contexts. This study was correlational, so future research should explore whether prosocial behavior causes children to be protected from academic risk that occurs in neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status; for example, by randomized interventions designed to increase children's prosocial behavior.

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The current work is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (United States) and by the Research Mobility Award grant. Born in Bradford (BiB) receives funding from Welcome Trust (United Kingdom), National Institute for Health Research (United Kingdom), Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), National Institutes of Health (United States), and the European Research Council.

Summarized from Child Development, Young Children's Prosocial Behavior Protects Against Academic Risk in Neighborhoods with Low Socio-Economic Status by Armstrong-Carter, E. (Stanford University), Miller, J.G. (Stanford University), Hill, L.J.B. (University of Leeds and Bradford for Institute for Health Research), Dominigue, B.W. (Stanford University). Copyright 2021 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

Latinx youth's helping behavior tied to cultural processes as well as parenting practices

SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Research News

 

Although interest in studying prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latinx individuals has increased recently, there is still limited existing research with this population. Evidence shows that prosocial behaviors (actions intended to benefit others) are a marker of healthy social functioning and can both support positive development (such as academic achievement) and mitigate problematic outcomes (such as anxiety and depression). An important question is whether prosocial behavior is fostered by parents in ways that are specific to their cultural groups or through more universal aspects of parenting. A new longitudinal study in the United States examined relations among parenting, culture, and prosocial behaviors in U.S. Mexican youth.

The findings were published in a Child Development article written by researchers at the University of New Mexico, University of California at Irvine, Arizona State University, and University of Missouri.

The results point to the importance of both cultural practices and aspects of parenting seen across cultural groups, such as acceptance and harshness. They also underscore the importance of both fathers and mothers in supporting prosocial behavior.

• Results showed that fathers' but not mothers' acceptance predicted youth's prosocial behaviors (helping others when asked, helping in emergency situations, and comforting others when upset).
• Similarly, paternal but not maternal harshness predicted less helping in situations where there was no expectation of benefit from others, but also predicted more helping in front of others (perhaps when acknowledgement or rewards might be anticipated).
• In addition, ethnic socialization practices by both mothers and fathers predicted more prosocial behaviors by fostering youth's ethnic identity and familism values (supporting the family emotionally, physically, and financially; having a sense of obligation; and incorporating the family as part of the self).
• Both parents' ethnic socialization practices were important to youth sense of ethnic identity in 10th grade, but with maternal behavior showing a greater influence earlier in development (at 5th but not 7th grade) and paternal behavior later (in 7th but not 5th grade).

"Researchers have often emphasized the role of parenting in fostering youth's prosocial development," said Cara Streit assistant professor in the Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education at the University of New Mexico. "Our findings suggest the need for integrative, culturally-sensitive theories that focus on the relations between culture-related mechanisms (such as ethnic socialization and familism), and parenting practices that are more universal (such as acceptance and harshness) to successfully promote positive youth development among U.S. Latinx youth."

Participants were recruited from diverse communities in a metropolitan area of the U.S. Southwest and included 462 Mexican adolescents (48 percent female) and their mothers and fathers. The families participated in four waves of data collection at the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th grades and were assessed through the following measures:

• Acceptance and harsh parenting (5th and 7th grade): parents were asked to review statements such as "You made [child] feel better after talking over his/her worries with him/her" or "You lost your temper with [child] when s/he didn't help around the house" using a scale ranging from "almost never" or to "almost always or always."
• Parental ethnic cultural socialization (5th and 7th grade): using a scale ranging from "almost never" to "a lot of the time (frequently)," parents were asked to review statements such as "How often do you: tell your child to be proud of his/her Mexican background."
• Ethnic identity (7th grade): adolescents were asked to review statements such as "You have attended events that have helped you learn more about your Mexican/Mexican American background" using a scale ranging from "not at all true" to " very true."
• Familism values (10th grade): adolescents were asked to review statements such as "A person should share their home with relatives if they need a place to stay" using a scale ranging from "not at all" to "strongly agree."
• Prosocial behaviors (12th grade): using a scale ranging from "does not describe me well at all" to "describes me greatly," adolescents reported their prosocial behaviors by reviewing statements such as "You never wait to help others when they ask for it." The study separated out different types of prosocial behavior, such as helping in emergency situations, comforting others when upset, and helping others when there is no expectation of benefit to self.

"Family support programs can best promote positive youth development among U.S. Latinx youth if they include both fathers and mothers and incorporate a focus on ethnic heritage, ethnic identity, and traditional cultural values," said Gustavo Carlo, professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine.

The authors recognize that the study relies entirely on participant self-reports. They also recommend that future studies should consider bidirectional and fully reciprocal study designs to allow for more stringent tests of direction of effects as well as a sample that includes more recent emigrants.

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Funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and The William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program

Summarized from Child Development, Relations among Parenting, Culture, and Prosocial Behaviors in U.S. Mexican youth: An Integrative Socialization Approach by Streit, C. (University of New Mexico), Carlo, G. (University of California, Irvine), Knight, G.P. (Arizona State University), White, R.M.B. (Arizona State University), Maiya, S. (University of Missouri). Copyright 2021 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ceramic fuel cells: Reduced nickel content leads to improved stability and performance?

GOOD NEWS FOR US

BAD NEWS FOR SUDBURY

Nickel content is reduced to 1/20 of conventional amount through a thin-film deposition technology; ensures both suppression of reduction-oxidation failure and high performance of ceramic fuel cells

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Research News

 

IMAGE: CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAM OF OXIDATION-REDUCTION CYCLE OF CERAMIC FUEL CELLS AND COMPARISON OF NEW CONCEPT VS. DETERIORATION RATE OF CONVENTIONAL FUEL PLATES view more 

CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (KIST)

A research team in Korea has developed a ceramic fuel cell that offers both stability and high performance while reducing the required amount of catalyst by a factor of 20. The application range for ceramic fuel cells, which have so far only been used for large-scale power generation due to the difficulties associated with frequent start-ups, can be expected to expand to new fields, such as electric vehicles, robots, and drones.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a team led by Dr. Ji-Won Son at the Center for Energy Materials Research, through joint research with Professor Seung Min Han at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has developed a new technology that suppresses the deterioration brought on by the reduction-oxidation cycle, a major cause of ceramic fuel cell degradation, by significantly reducing the quantity and size of the nickel catalyst in the anode using a thin-film technology.

Ceramic fuel cells, representative of high-temperature fuel cells, generally operate at high temperatures - 800 °C or higher. Therefore, inexpensive catalysts, such as nickel, can be used in these cells, as opposed to low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells, which use expensive platinum catalysts. Nickel usually comprises approximately 40% of the anode volume of a ceramic fuel cell. However, since nickel agglomerates at high temperatures, when the ceramic fuel cell is exposed to the oxidation and reduction processes which accompany stop-restart cycles, uncontrollable expansion occurs. This results in the destruction of the entire ceramic fuel cell structure. This fatal drawback has prevented the generation of power by ceramic fuel cells from applications which require frequent start-ups.

CAPTION

Schematic of design and fabrication processes for proposed anode

CREDIT

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

In an effort to overcome this, Dr. Ji-Won Son's team at KIST developed a new concept for an anode which contains significantly less nickel, just 1/20 of a conventional ceramic fuel cell. This reduced amount of nickel enables the nickel particles in the anode to remain isolated from one another. To compensate for the reduced amount of the nickel catalyst, the nickel's surface area is drastically increased through the realization of an anode structure where nickel nanoparticles are evenly distributed throughout the ceramic matrix using a thin-film deposition process. In ceramic fuel cells utilizing this novel anode, no deterioration or performance degradation of the ceramic fuel cells was witnessed, even after more than 100 reduction-oxidation cycles, in comparison with conventional ceramic fuel cells, which failed after fewer than 20 cycles. Moreover, the power output of the novel anode ceramic fuel cells was improved by 1.5 times compared to conventional cells, despite the substantial reduction of the nickel content.

Dr. Ji-Won Son explained the significance of the study, stating, "Our research into the novel anode fuel cell was systematically conducted at every stage, from design to realization and evaluation, based on our understanding of reduction-oxidation failure, which is one of the primary causes of the destruction of ceramic fuel cells." Dr. Son also commented, "The potential to apply these ceramic fuel cells to fields other than power plants, such as for mobility, is tremendous."

CAPTION

Dr. Ji-Won Son at the Center for Energy Materials Research, KIST

CREDIT

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST

This study was financially supported through the Global Frontier Center for Multiscale Energy Systems R&D Program, an Institutional Research Project by KIST, and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) Midcareer Researcher Project. The research results were published in "Acta Materialia", a highly recognized journal in the field of metallurgy.

 

Plastic recycling results in rare metals being found in children's toys and food packaging

UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

Research News

 

Some of the planet's rarest metals - used in the manufacture of smartphones and other electrical equipment - are increasingly being found in everyday consumer plastics, according to new research.

Scientists from the University of Plymouth and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tested a range of new and used products including children's toys, office equipment and cosmetic containers.

Through a number of detailed assessments, they examined levels of rare earth elements (REEs) but also quantities of bromine and antimony, used as flame retardants in electrical equipment and a sign of the presence of recycled electronic plastic.

The results showed one or more REEs were found in 24 of the 31 products tested, including items where unregulated recycling is prohibited such as single-use food packaging.

They were most commonly observed in samples containing bromine and antimony at levels insufficient to effect flame retardancy, but also found in plastics where those chemicals weren't present.

Having also been found in beached marine plastics, the study's authors have suggested there is evidence that REEs are ubiquitous and pervasive contaminants of both contemporary and historical consumer and environmental plastics.

The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, is the first to systematically investigate the full suite of REEs in a broad range of consumer plastics.

While they have previously been found in a variety of environments - including ground water, soils and the atmosphere - the study demonstrates the wide REE contamination of the "plastisphere" that does not appear to be related to a single source or activity.

Dr Andrew Turner, Associate Professor (Reader) in Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth and the study's lead author, said: "Rare earth elements have a variety of critical applications in modern electronic equipment because of their magnetic, phosphorescent and electrochemical properties. However, they are not deliberately added to plastic to serve any function. So their presence is more likely the result of incidental contamination during the mechanical separation and processing of recoverable components.

"The health impacts arising from chronic exposure to small quantities of these metals are unknown. But they have been found in greater levels in food and tap water and certain medicines, meaning plastics are unlikely to represent a significant vector of exposure to the general population. However, they could signify the presence of other more widely known and better-studied chemical additives and residues that are a cause for concern."

The research is the latest work by Dr Turner examining the presence of toxic substances within everyday consumer products, marine litter and the wider environment.

In May 2018, he showed that hazardous chemicals such as bromine, antimony and lead are finding their way into food-contact items and other everyday products because manufacturers are using recycled electrical equipment as a source of black plastic.

His work was part of a successful application by the University to earn the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its pioneering research on microplastics pollution.

It also builds on previous work at the University, which saw scientists blend a smartphone to demonstrate quantities of rare or so-called 'conflict' elements in each product.

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Volcanoes and Earthquakes: 

The Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire is aptly named. It's a string of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean, and the region is prone to earthquakes. In fact, most earthquakes strike within the ring. Here's five facts.

    

How big is the Pacific Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire dominates the Pacific Ocean. It's a string of at least 450 active and dormant volcanoes that form a semi-circle, or horse shoe, around the Philippine Sea plate, the Pacific Plate, Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates, and the Nazca Plate. There is a lot of seismic activity in the area.

About 90 percent of all earthquakes strike within the Ring of Fire. This means people's lives are under almost constant threat in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and other island nations like the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and many more in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, all the way east to the western seaboard of the North and South Americas. Although levels of threat differ depending on local factors like your proximity to the quake's epicenter, whether it's out to sea or on land - and standards of housing.

Why so many volcanoes in the Ring of Fire?

The tectonic plates move non-stop over a layer of partly solid and partly molten rock. This is called the Earth's mantle. When the plates collide or move apart, for instance, the Earth moves, literally. Mountains, like the Andes in South America and the Rockies in North America, as well as volcanoes have formed through the collision of tectonic plates.

Many volcanoes in the Ring of Fire were created through a process of subduction. And most of the planet's subduction zones happen to be located in the Ring of Fire. 

What is subduction?

Subduction happens when tectonic plates shift, and one plate is shoved under another. This movement of the ocean floor produces a "mineral transmutation," which leads to the melting and solidification of magma - that is, the formation of volcanoes. Basically, when a "downgoing" oceanic plate is shoved into a hotter mantle plate, it heats up, volatile elements mix, and this produces the magma. The magma then rises up through the overlying plate and spurts out at the surface.

If, however, the overlying plate is ocean, it can produce a chain of volcanic islands like the Marianas. This is also where we see the Earth's deepest trenches and deepest Earthquakes.

When and where were the worst earthquakes in the Ring of Fire?

The worst earthquake in the Ring of Fire - and, with it, the world - struck Chile on May 22, 1960. It was a 9.5-magnitude quake. That's according to the US Geological Survey's list of the "Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900."

It's closely followed by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 (magnitude 9.2), the Northern Sumatra earthquake - also known as the Indian Ocean Tsunami - on December 26, 2004 (magnitude 9.1), and one off the East Coast of Honshu, Japan, on March 11, 2011 (magnitude 9.0), which led to a tsunami and ultimately the nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

Most of the earthquakes on the list are strictly within the Ring of Fire, and they range from magnitude 9.5 to 8.5.

Given all this activity, can't we predict earthquakes in the Ring of Fire?

No. Most experts will tell you it's (so far) been impossible to predict earthquakes. Even if two happen within the ring in close succession, it is hard to say the one had anything to do with the other. One earthquake will not necessarily cause another.

Some seismologists are cautiously open to the idea that whatever we do as humans - whether it's testing nuclear explosives or deep-sea drilling - all has a potential impact. But there's little or no hard, scientific proof.

As for the Ring of Fire specifically, the region is under constant tension. When a quake strikes, that tension is temporarily relieved, but it soon starts to build again. So all that is left for the people who live around the Ring of Fire is to be aware of the danger, perhaps to live further inland, build safer, earthquake resistant housing, and for nations everywhere to improve oceanic and land-based early-warning systems to help minimise the risk to life. 

This article has last been updated on February 15, 2021

HEY KENNEY THE FUTURE IS NOW

Chevy finally reveals what its Bolt EUV with hands-free driving looks like
BOLT SELLS MORE THAN TESLA

It's like the Chevy Bolt EV but bigger.
IMAGE: CHEVY
BY SASHA LEKACH

The Chevy Bolt EUV was revealed Sunday and it looks like a pumped-up Chevy Bolt EV.

On the Chevy website, the new Bolt EUV electric car was unveiled during a 15-minute video, pre-recorded at Walt Disney World in Florida.

The EUV is an SUV-sized version of the smaller hatchback Chevy Bolt with more legroom in the backseat. "EUV" stands for "electric utility vehicle" which is Chevy's play on SUV as it markets a tougher, heftier EV. The Bolt EV came out in 2017 as the first all-electric vehicle from General Motors, which now plans to produce only EVs by 2035.

The EUV is also longer, heavier, taller, and wider with more space in the trunk. But since it's a bigger car, the range on the battery is lower at 250 miles instead of the 259 for the smaller Bolt.



The Bolt EV compared to the Bolt EUV.
IMAGE: CHEVY

Chevy also revealed a revamped Bolt EV, with a new grille front-end design and a fresh look inside. The 2022 Bolt EV has a lower starting price than older models: $31,995 instead of $36,500. The EUV starts at $33,995. A special launch edition of the EUV is $43,495 and comes with General Motors' Super Cruise (a hands-free driver assistance system), special badging, and other flashy features like charging port lighting.

Chevy's EUV will be competing with a growing list of all-electric SUVs. Tesla's Model Y SUV starts at $41,990 with a 244-mile range, but the upgraded $49,990 version offers up to 326 miles on a single charge. The Ford Mustang Mach-E starts at $42,895 with 300-mile range. Volkswagen's first electric SUV, the ID.4, starts at $39,995 with 250-mile range.

Because General Motors has sold so many Chevy Bolts in the past four years, new Bolt buyers no longer qualify for an EV federal tax credit. It's the same issue for Tesla, which also hit the 200,000-EV threshold and no longer can offer the subsidy.

The Chevy Bolt EV had a battery recall last year for models between 2017 and 2019 because of fire risk. Chevy has yet to provide a permanent solution for the recall, but it's advised owners to cap charging at 90 percent as a precaution. Newer 2020 models and the upcoming EUV and 2021 versions use a different battery supplier for the lithium-ion 65-kWh capacity batteries.

The EUV will make its first television ad appearance during Sunday's American Idol season premiere on ABC. The commercial features the car with some familiar Disney characters.

Both cars will be available this summer, but online reservations opened Sunday afternoon for both the new Bolt EV and bigger Bolt EUV. TOPICS: CHEVY BOLT, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, TECH, TRANSPORTATION

SLAAP

Nigeria: Shell Reports Nigeria to World Bank Panel Over Oil Spill Dispute


Amnesty International
Pastor Christian Lekoya Kpandei's hand covered in oily mud, Bodo Creek, in 2011 (file photo).

15 FEBRUARY 2021
This Day (Lagos)By Emmanuel Addeh and Peter Uzoho

\
Royal Dutch Shell Plc along with its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), has launched arbitration proceedings against the federal government over a long-running dispute with a Rivers community.

The oil major's Netherlands-registered holding company and SPDC filed the case at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on February 10.

This is coming as the Joint Venture (JV) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Total E & P targets to hit first oil in the $500 million Ikike Oilfield from the last quarter of 2021.

A post on the website of the Washington-based World Bank dispute resolution body, indicated that the hearing of the case marked "Shell Petroleum N.V. and The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (ICSID Case No. ARB/21/7)" was still pending.



It listed the claimant's representative as Debevoise & Plimpton, London, UK and New York, NY, U.S.A, while the respondents representatives were named as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abuja, Nigeria, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, Nigeria as well as the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The World Bank's arbitration body is a leading institution devoted to international investment dispute settlement, having administered the majority of all international investment as agreed to by participating states.

It was set up under a multilateral treaty formulated by the executive directors of the World Bank to further its objective of promoting international investment. It was established in 1966 by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention) and has handled over 700 cases.



According to the organisation, Shell brought its claim against Nigeria under the bilateral investment treaty between the governments of The Netherlands and Nigeria.

Bloomberg reported that the decision to drag the country to the arbitration panel followed the Anglo-Dutch energy giant's unsuccessful efforts last year to reverse a court order instructing the company to pay compensation to a community for polluting its land.

While the case's victors say they are now owed more than N183 billion ($479 million), Shell contests that valuation and denies being responsible for the decades-old oil spill.

"Given the history of this particular case, we are seeking protection of our legal rights from an international tribunal," Bloomberg quoted a spokeswoman for Shell's Nigerian subsidiary as saying in an emailed statement, without providing further details about the oil major's case.



All of Shell's appeals against the ruling have been dismissed, most recently by Nigeria's Supreme Court in November.

Shell operates the oil block at the heart of the dispute, which is known as Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11, in a joint venture with the NNPC, Total SE and Eni SpA.

THISDAY's checks showed that it's the same oilfield that has been in contention between the people of Ejema/Ebubu in Eleme, the Rivers State government and the SPDC.



NNPC, Total target first oil in Ikike field October

The joint venture between the NNPC and Total E & P is targeted to hit first oil in the $500 million Ikike Oilfield well from the last quarter of 2021.

The Managing Director of Total E & P, Mr. Mike Sangster, stated this at the weekend when he visited the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, at its headquarters in Bayelsa.

The Ikike oilfield is located in a water depth of 20m in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 99, approximately 20 kilometres offshore Nigeria and is owned by a JV comprising Total E&P Nigeria (40 per cent, operator) and NNPC (60 per cent).

Total is expected to invest $500 million in the project, which is forecast to produce 32,000 barrels of oil per day when fully operational while the coating project would be executed by 100 per cent Nigerians workforce of over 300 direct personnel.

Sangster said: "The company has made significant progress with the development of the Ikike oilfield and would record first oil before the end of 2021.

"It had been difficult developing the project, particularly with the pandemic", but added that "we are making progress and we appreciate the support from the NCDMB."

He stated that the company had operated in Nigeria for 60 years and is the only International Oil Company (IOC) that operates in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.


According to him, the company developed the last three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platforms in Nigeria and Egina created new records, one of which is recording 40 million man-hours in-country.

Commenting on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which underwent public hearing in the National Assembly in January, Sangster, who is also the chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), the umbrella body of major oil producers, urged federal legislators and policy makers to ensure that the fiscal provisions in the law are fair to key stakeholders, so as to stimulate new investments in the industry.

Wabote, in his comments, charged the International oil and gas companies to emulate Total E&P in sponsoring new projects and refuse to be deterred by the delayed passage of PIB.

Wabote said Total E&P was the only international operating company that had taken Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) and sanctioned major oil and gas projects in recent times in Nigeria despite the delayed PIB.

While expressing confidence in the determination of the National Assembly to pass the PIB after being delayed for over 15 years, Wabote encouraged other IOCs to forge ahead with their new projects.




Read the original article on This Day.

SLAAP

Huge Legal Victory for Environmental 

Activism in South Africa

A series of defamation lawsuits brought by Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC) and its local subsidiary, against six environmental activists, is an abuse of the legal process, the South African High Court has ruled. MRC and its subsidiary sued the defendants for approximately U.S.$ 980 000. In her judgment, Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath found that SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) was a viable defence for the activists and public interest lawyers against the mining companies' claims. As the environmental and climate justice movement grows in response to the climate crisis and ecological breakdown, environmental activists who criticise corporations that contribute to climate change and destruction of biodiversity are facing growing threats and intimidation. The defendants in this case have hailed the judgment as a victory for free speech.

GO HERE FOR MORE STORIES ON ENVIRONMENTALISM 

IN SOUTH AFRICA

Huge Legal Victory for Environmental Activism in South Africa - allAfrica.com