Rewilding: Cheetahs to be reintroduced to India 70 years after last one was killed

Reintroduction hoped to preserve undervalued ecosystems and promote recognition of carbon-storing potential of grasslands

Harry Cockburn
THE INDEPENDENT

MAY 25,2021

African cheetahs will be reintroduced after Asian cheetah was hunted to near extinction in 20th century
(Getty)

More than 70 years after the last cheetahs were hunted to local extinction in India, eight are to be relocated from Namibia and South Africa to a national park in the north of the country.

The return of the world’s fastest land animal will be India’s first international big cat reintroduction project, and will help ensure the species’ long term survival, following ruthless hunting which by the 20th century meant they had been wiped out from over 90 per cent of their historical range.

It is hoped the reintroduction could also have a broader positive ecological impact – helping to preserve grasslands and spur a wider understanding and recognition of the value of wild spaces which have largely been undervalued.

The cats will be released in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, 200 miles south of New Delhi, 130 miles southeast of Jaipur, which has a blend of grassland and forested areas.

Five male cheetahs and three females will be donated by Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) of South Africa.

The EWT’s national cheetah metapopulation manager Vincet Van Der Merwe visited Kuno National Park to assess the preparations and suitable habitat for cheetahs this month and said it was highly suitable.

An official from Madhya Padesh’s state government told the Hindustan Times: “The expert, Merwe, said Kuno has a perfect grassland and prey base for cheetahs. We have started preparation for translocation.”

India’s central government has allocated 140m rupees for the project (£1.3m), which will be used for fencing at the park, transportation of the animals, training for staff at the park and other preparatory work

“We don’t want to take any risk because it is a matter of pride for our country and the success of this project will decide the fate of translocation of more cheetahs in India,” the official said.

However, the reintroduction is controversial, as the African cheetahs are a different subspecies from those which lived in India (until the last one was killed in 1948).

The asiatic cheetah is critically endangered with small numbers of individuals living in fractured habitats in Iran.

The species, which is slightly smaller and sleeker, once roamed from Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula to Iran, central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and India

However while populations in areas of Africa are relatively stable, in Iran, populations are too small to relocate any of the cats.

The reintroduction project has been delayed due to the current Covid-19 pandemic which has hit India hard, but officials said they hope to have the cheetahs in the park by September.

The hoped boost in recognition of the carbon-storing capabilities of grasslands comes as India grapples with lowering its emissions and meeting its own climate targets.

In 2018 coal accounted for 74 per cent of India’s energy production, and the country is the third largest consumer of energy in the world.

And between 2005-2015, the country lost almost a third, 31 per cent, of its grasslands, mostly to agriculture, as well as 19 per cent of its common lands, such as grazing grounds, forest, ponds, and rivers, mostly to agriculture and industrialisation.

William Shakespeare, 

Dead at 81

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

First UK Man to Get COVID-19 Vaccine,

William "Bill" Shakespeare, 81,  receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to patient at University Hospital in Coventry, central England, on Dec. 8, 2020.  (Jacob King/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OK HOW COULD I NOT POST THIS IT'S HISTORIC 

WILLIAM SHAESPEARE DIES TWICE

"Smart" tampons and pads could detect yeast infections

By Ben Coxworth
May 19, 2021

Stained Candida albicans from a vaginal swab – C. albicans is a yeast, which is in turn a type of fungus
Graham Beards/C.C. 4.0

Although women in First World countries are routinely diagnosed with and treated for vaginal yeast infections, doing so isn't always possible for their counterparts in impoverished nations. New fungus-detecting hygiene products, however, could make things much easier.

There are at least two challenges for women living in poor countries, who suspect they might have a yeast infection. For starters, they may lack access to healthcare facilities where a vaginal swab could be taken and antifungal medicine could be dispensed. Additionally, societal taboos may prevent them from telling other people about their symptoms.

With these limitations in mind, a team of Indian scientists set out to develop tampons and sanitary napkins that would allow users to self-diagnose such infections. Led by Dr. Naresh Kumar Mani from the Manipal Institute of Technology, the researchers started with store-bought multifilament cotton threads. A heptane solution was used to remove the existing waxes and binders from those threads, increasing their wicking capabilities.

Next, the threads were coated with a molecule known as L-proline β-naphthylamide, which binds with an enzyme secreted by the infection-causing Candida albicans yeast. Those coated threads were then embedded in specific spots within the inner layers of ordinary tampons and napkins.


One of the experimental napkins, with its color-changing spots
Adapted from ACS Omega 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c00806

When simulated vaginal fluid spiked with C. albicans and an indicator solution was applied to those items, the thread-containing spots reacted to the presence of the yeast by turning bright pink. What's more, they did so within only 10 minutes of exposure – by contrast, lab tests typically take 24 to 72 hours to provide results.

The scientists state that the technology should only cost about 22 to 28 cents per tampon or napkin. Additionally, it could be adapted to check for other problems, such as urinary tract infections.

The study is described in a paper that was recently published in the journal ACS Omega.

Source: American Chemical Society

Study suggests sea squirts could be used to track microplastics
By Ben Coxworth
May 21, 2021

The tunicate Clavelina robusta – also known as the sea squirt
Bernard DUPONT/C.C. 2.0

The problem of marine microplastics pollution is steadily getting worse, so it's vitally important to monitor the amount of such plastic waste that's currently present in the world's oceans. According to a new study, a simple sea creature may better allow scientists to do so.

Microplastics are created when larger pieces of discarded plastic degrade and fall apart. The resulting particles are very small – even microscopic – and make their way into the flesh of fish that eat them. When people eat those fish, they in turn consume those microplastic particles, potentially leading to health problems.

Because the particles are so tiny, it's difficult to efficiently gather them from the ocean. However, scientists recently discovered that microplastics readily accumulate in marine invertebrates known as tunicates. Found in plentiful numbers throughout the world, these creatures continuously draw in and expel large amounts of water, since they're filter feeders.

A diagram depicting the water circulation within a C. Robusta – red dots signify larger particles while green dots are smaller ones
A. Valsesia et al. via Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), adapted by N. Hanacek/NIST

In lab tests, tunicates by the scientific name of Clavelina robusta (aka sea squirts) were kept in tanks containing polystyrene nanoparticles, then "harvested" and put through a chemical digestion process. That process broke down the tunicates' tissue, leaving the microplastics and other residual organic compounds behind. A technique known as asymmetrical-flow field flow fractionation was then used to separate the microplastics from those compounds.

Next, the plastic nanoparticles were placed on a custom-designed chip that caused them to cluster together, making them easier to detect and quantify. Finally, Raman spectroscopy was utilized to determine their chemical structure.

Although the scientists knew that these particles were polystyrene, samples gathered in the wild could consist of numerous types of plastic. Knowing which ones were most common, and in what amounts, could help identify their source.

The research was carried out by a team from the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. It is described in a paper that was recently published in the journal Microplastics and Nanoplastics.

Source: NIST

Research team investigates ride-sharing decisions

Between financial incentive and limited convenience

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT DRESDEN

Research News

 

IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTIANE KUNATH

In ride-sharing, trips of two or more customers with similar origins and destinations are combined into a single cab ride. The concept can make a significant contribution to sustainable urban mobility. However, its acceptance depends on human needs and behavior. For example, while shared rides typically offer a financial advantage, passengers might suffer drawbacks in terms of comfort and trip duration. These factors give rise to different adoption behaviors that explain usage patterns observed in 360 million real-world ride requests from New York City and Chicago in 2019. The study has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Ride-sharing (or ride-pooling) is most efficient in places with high demand and a large number similar ride requests. Still, it has been difficult to answer if and under what conditions people are actually willing to adopt ride-sharing. In their study, the researchers decipher the complex incentive structure underlying the decision of whether or not to adopt ride-sharing. In a game-theoretic model, they describe the sharing adoption of all users who book rides from the same location.

The researchers demonstrate how interactions between those individuals lead to two qualitatively different patterns of acceptance. In one, willingness to share rides is consistently high. In the other case, however, the willingness to share rides decreases as the overall demand for rides increases. If there are only few users in the system, the number of ride-sharing bookings increases with the number of ride requests, yet if there are many users, the usage levels out. The relative amount of shared ride requests therefore decreases - despite optimized routing with shorter detours for the passengers when demand is high.

"Passengers speculate on being able to take advantage of the cheaper fare when sharing a ride, but they actually hope to be transported alone and thus directly from A to B due to low demand for rides," explains David Storch, a doctoral student at the Chair of Network Dynamics and lead author of the study. When demand is high, for example during typical rush hours, the prospect of being transported as a single passenger is lower - "Passengers almost certainly lose comfort as they share a ride. They tend to book the more expensive fare more often to travel alone."

In an analysis of more than 360 million real trip requests in New York City and Chicago, the researchers were able to identify the demand patterns they had previously found in their model, supporting the validity of their findings. The analysis shows that, depending on the starting point of the trip, both adoption patterns exist in parallel in the two cities. Malte Schröder, research associate at the Chair, interprets the results as follows: "Since both adoption patterns coexist in cities, a moderate increase of the financial incentives is probably already sufficient to strongly increase the acceptance of ride-sharing in other places and for other user groups."

###

Publication:
Title: Incentive-driven transition to high ride-sharing adoption.
Authors: David-Maximilian Storch, Marc Timme, Malte Schröder
Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23287-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23287-6

About the Chair of Network Dynamics
The Chair of Network Dynamics headed by Prof. Marc Timme was created in 2017. The aim of this TU Dresden Strategic Professorship affiliated with both the former Cluster of Excellence "Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden" (cfaed) and the Institute for Theoretical Physics is to connect insights from Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics with applications in Biology and Engineering. It is the first chair of network dynamics of this cross-disciplinary kind in Central Europe. Since networks are almost everywhere around us the research team aims for a unifying understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the collective dynamics of large, nonlinear interconnected systems by combining first principles theory with data-driven analysis and modelling. A substantial part of their work focuses on investigating emergent phenomena and developing conceptually new perspectives on complex systems as well as the theoretical computational tools necessary to understand these systems. This fundamental understanding forms the basis to predict, and eventually control, the dynamics of complex networked systems across disciplines. http://www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de/cfnd-about

About cfaed
cfaed is a research cluster at TU Dresden (TUD). As an interdisciplinary research center for perspectives of electronics it is located at the TUD as a central scientific unit, but also integrates nine non-university research institutions in Saxony as well as TU Chemnitz as cooperating institutes. With its vision, the cluster aims to shape the future of electronics and initiate revolutionary new applications, such as electronics that do not require boot time, are capable of THz imaging, or support complex biosensor technology. These innovations make conceivable performance improvements and applications that would not be possible with the continuation of today's silicon chip-based technology. In order to achieve its goals, cfaed combines the thirst for knowledge of the natural sciences with the innovative power of engineering. http://www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de

Even the Earth wanted 2020 to be over in a hurry: Our planet spun faster than normal last year, scientists say.

 

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As noted on LiveScience, the Earth's 28 fastest days on record (since 1960) all occurred in 2020, with Earth completing its revolutions around its axis milliseconds quicker than average.

Usually, the Earth is an excellent timekeeper, according to TimeandDate.com. On average, with respect to the sun, it rotates once every 86,400 seconds, which equals 24 hours. This is known as a mean solar day.

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"But it is not perfect," write Graham Jones and Konstantin Bikos on TimeandDate.com. "When highly accurate atomic clocks were developed in the 1960s, they showed that the length of a mean solar day can vary by milliseconds (1 millisecond equals 0.001 seconds)."

The Earth's rotation can change slightly because of the movement of its core and also, surprisingly, because of weather and ocean patterns.

"Changes in the atmosphere, specifically atmospheric pressure around the world, and the motions of the winds that may be related to such climate signals as El Niño are strong enough that their effect is observed in the Earth’s rotation signal," David A. Salstein, an atmospheric scientist from Atmospheric and Environmental Research, said in 2003.

2020 was an extreme year for Earth's temperatures. But was it the hottest on record?

El Niño is a periodic natural warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean, while La Niña, which was observed toward the end of 2020, is a natural cooling of the same part of the Pacific. According to NOAA, while El Niño results in a decrease in the earth's rotation rate, La Niña tends to have the opposite effect.

The recent acceleration in Earth's spin has scientists talking for the first time about a negative leap second, LiveScience said. Instead of adding a leap second, which has been done several times before to make up for a slowing of the Earth's rotation, they might need to subtract one.

"It's quite possible that a negative leap second will be needed if the Earth's rotation rate increases further, but it's too early to say if this is likely to happen," physicist Peter Whibberley of the National Physics Laboratory in the U.K., told The Telegraph.

"There are also international discussions taking place about the future of leap seconds, and it's also possible that the need for a negative leap second might push the decision towards ending leap seconds for good," he said.

Because of the earth's inconsistent speed, scientists in the 1950s created an atomic clock to keep precise track of time. However, as the Earth's rotation can vary, the atomic clock continued steadily ahead and the two time indicators grew farther apart.

To fix that inconsistency, scientists then created UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to help bridge the gap between Earth time and the atomic clock. However, the atomic clock continued to race ahead, so at least once every 10 years scientists added an extra leap second to the UTC to keep them closer together. It's particularly important for things like GPS navigation.

"In everyday life, this extra second has practically no importance," Wolfgang Dick, a spokesman for the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, the organization that maintains global time, told USA TODAY in 2016. "However, in every field where exact time is needed (astronomy, navigation, spaceflight, but also computer networks for stock markets or energy supply, and much more) this second is of great importance," Dick said.

The most recent leap second was added in 2016.

Discovery of new listeria species prompts call for food safety test changes

By Rich Haridy
May 19, 2021


Listeria cossartiae, one of the newly discovered species shown above, is named for Pascale Cossart, a bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute of Paris
Catharine Carlin/Cornell University

Scientists from Cornell University have discovered five previously unknown species of listeria, a pathogenic bacteria known to cause food poisoning and in some cases lead to death. One species was found to present novel behaviors, unlike any other type of listeria, resulting in the researchers calling for changes to food safety regulations.

As part of separate research assessing listeria in soil and agricultural water sources food scientists at Cornell encountered a number of samples that could not be classified as listeria to a species level. From these samples the researchers have catalogued five novel species of the pathogen, and characterized some unique practical attributes.

Listeria is known to be a highly motile pathogen. Under a microscope the bacterial cells can easily be seen moving about with a characteristic tumbling motion. In fact, one listeria detection method looks for exactly this kind of motility.

A crucial finding in the study is one of the new species discovered lacks this characteristic motility. The researchers specifically named the new species L. immobilis. They warn against using motility as a sole characteristic to identify listeria in food safety tests.

“This paper describes some unique characteristics of listeria species that are closely related to listeria monocytogenes, which will be important from an evolutionary perspective and from a practical standpoint for the food industry,” explains study co-author Martin Wiedmann. “Likely, some tests will need to be re-evaluated.”

There are now 26 species in the Listeria genus. Wiedmann’s research group has discovered half of those species just in the last 10 years.

Catharine Carlin, a doctoral student working in the research group and lead author on the new study, says it is crucial these pathogens are accurately catalogued so food production environments can better monitor their products.

“This research increases the set of listeria species monitored in food production environments,” says Carlin. “Expanding the knowledge base to understand the diversity of listeria will save the commercial food world confusion and errors, as well as prevent contamination, explain false positives and thwart foodborne outbreaks.”

The new study was published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

Source: Cornell University

AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS
Milrem combat robots support live-fire exercise in Estonia
By David Szondy
May 20, 2021


The THeMIS Combat robot
Milrem Robotics
VIEW 4 IMAGES



In a glimpse into the battlefield of the future, the Estonian Defence Force has carried out a live-fire exercise where two Milrem Robotics THeMIS combat robots provided troops with situational awareness, support fire, and casualty evacuation.


The April 2021 exercise involved ground troops carrying out a maneuver to counter a simulated incoming armor attack – represented by a white delivery van that has seen better days. With the main force remaining in defensive positions 1 km from the hostile force, a THeMIS Combat UGV integrated with FN Herstal’s deFNder Light Remote Weapon System moved to a forward point 430 m ahead.

The task of the THeMIS Combat Support robot was to transport anti-tank team ammunition and provide support fire using a 7.62 mm machine gun for the anti-tank and observer teams as they advanced. Meanwhile, a THeMIS Observe UGV deployed an Acecore tethered drone behind the main force for situational awareness and gathering targeting information for artillery. In addition to combat performance, the drone also acted as a live-fire safety monitor.

The THeMIS Observe deploying a tethered drone
Milrem Robotics

Later, after the primary target was destroyed, the THeMIS Combat acted as a field ambulance to evacuate simulated casualties to the rear. Through these maneuvers, the robots were controlled by the troops through a hand-held interface and an augmented reality headset.

"We found several benefits in including UGVs into our battle scenario," says Lieutenant Mari-Li Kapp, Commander of operations and training section (S3) in the Artillery Battalion. "Having UGVs as a part of the reconnaissance force that prepares the arrival of the main unit, the UGVs could secure the indirect fire and anti-tank teams by providing direct fire support during an engagement and whilst some units are withdrawing. UGVs could also act as front guards all by themselves since they can provide situational awareness and act as forward observers for indirect fire."

The video below shows the Milrem robots in action.

UPDATE

Virgin Galactic reaches space from Spaceport America for the first time
By Nick Lavars
May 23, 2021

The view from space for Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spaceplane
Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic has put a recent setback behind it to reach space for only the third time in its history, and the first time since relocating to its new Spaceport America base in New Mexico last year. The company's successful test flight over the weekend marked another step forward in its plans to launch tourists into space, while also carrying some important research payloads along for NASA.

Virgin Galactic had originally set its sights on reaching space for a third time last December, following successful attempts in 2018 and 2019. The company's dual-fuselage VMS Eve mothership carried the VSS Unity spaceplane to orbit and released it as planned, though its rocket failed to fire, which brought a swift but safe end to the mission.

After carrying out its investigations into the cause for the failure, the company had originally planned to make another attempt in February, though this was then pushed back to May as it completed a maintenance review of the VMS Eve mothership. The company also introduced a third-generation spaceship in March, called VSS Imagine, with its first glide tests expected to take place this US summer.

The successful spaceflight flight took place on Saturday, marking the first ever spaceflight from the state of New Mexico. VMS Eve carried the spaceplane into the air and released it at altitude, with the VSS Unity then igniting its rocket engines and blasting its way to an altitude of 55.45 miles (90 km), with both vehicles making it back to Earth for a safe landing.


The VSS Unity ignites its rockets after separating from the VMS Eve mothership
Virgin Galactic

“Fifteen years ago, New Mexico embarked on a journey to create the world’s first commercial spaceport," said Sir Richard Branson. "Today, we launched the first human spaceflight from that very same place, marking an important milestone for both Virgin Galactic and New Mexico. I am proud of the team for their hard work and grateful to the people of New Mexico who have been unwavering in their commitment for commercial spaceflight from day one. Their belief and support have made today’s historic achievement possible.”

The flight offered Virgin Galactic a chance to test out upgraded stabilization systems, flight controls and technology to reduce electromagnetic noise. But the spaceplane also carried with it research experiments for NASA's Flight Opportunities program, which aims to rapidly test and develop new technologies for space exploration. The company is now reviewing the flight data and will inspect the spaceplane and mothership ahead of their next outing.

“Today’s flight showcased the inherent elegance and safety of our spaceflight system, while marking a major step forward for both Virgin Galactic and human spaceflight in New Mexico," says Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic. "Space travel is a bold and adventurous endeavor, and I am incredibly proud of our talented team for making the dream of private space travel a reality. We will immediately begin processing the data gained from this successful test flight, and we look forward to sharing news on our next planned milestone.”

Source: Virgin Orbit

World's first battery-electric locomotive cuts freight train fuel use by 11%
By Nick Lavars
May 19, 2021

Wabtec's FLXDrive locomotive is described as the world’s first 100-percent battery locomotive
Wabtec

Rail technology company Wabtec has demonstrated an electric locomotive that could help lessen the environmental footprint of heavy-haul freight services. The company's battery-powered FLXdrive locomotive was used as part of a hybrid system over a three-month trial, where it reduced the fuel consumption of the entire vehicle by 11 percent.
Wabtec's FLXdrive is described as the world's first 100-percent battery-powered locomotive, drawing on 18,000 lithium-ion battery cells to power all four axles and using an intelligent energy flow management to optimize efficiency. The 2.4-megawatt hour system can be recharged at the depot much like an electric vehicle, but also uses a regenerative braking system to top itself up when on the move. The top spec Tesla Model 3, by way of comparison, has a capacity of 75 kWh – that's 32 times smaller than the FLXdrive. Needless to say, this system will require a serious charging station.

The FLXdrive was put to the test as part of a hybrid system with conventional diesel powertrains across a three-month trial in San Joaquin Valley, California, where it covered more than 13,320 miles (21,400 km) of hilly terrain. According to Wabtec, the 11-percent average reduction in fuel consumption for the entire train is equivalent to 6,200 gallons of diesel saved, or around 69 tons of CO2.

“The FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive is a defining moment for freight rail and will accelerate the industry toward low- to zero-emission locomotives,” says Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec Chief Technology Officer. “It builds upon the rail industry’s position as the most efficient and sustainable mode of transportation. Building on our long history of pioneering train energy management technologies, this demonstration of coupling 2.4 megawatt hours of battery storage into the mix fully validated our assumptions for the potential for this next generation technology to further drive efficiencies and greenhouse gas reductions."

Wabtec is looking to build on these promising results with an even bigger and better version, upping the capacity to more than 6 MWh which its expects could cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions by as much as 30 percent. It says it plans to commercialize this second generation FLXdrive locomotive, with hopes of rolling it out into freight routes in the coming years.

Source: Wabtec