The powerhouse future is flexoelectric

'Giant flexoelectricity' breakthrough in soft elastomers paves way for improved robots and self-powered pacemakers

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Research News

 

IMAGE: KOSAR MOZAFFARI IS A GRADUATE STUDENT AT THE CULLEN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Researchers have demonstrated "giant flexoelectricity" in soft elastomers that could improve robot movement range and make self-powered pacemakers a real possibility. In a paper published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the University of Houston and Air Force Research Laboratory explain how to engineer ostensibly ordinary substances like silicone rubber into an electric powerhouse.

What do the following have in common: a self-powered implanted medical device, a soft human-like robot and how we hear sound? The answer as to why these two disparate technologies and biological phenomena are similar lies in how the materials they are made of can significantly change in size and shape - or deform - like a rubber band, when an electrical signal is sent.

Some materials in nature can perform this function, acting as an energy converter that deforms when an electrical signal is sent through or supplies electricity when manipulated. This is called piezoelectricity and is useful in creating sensors and laser electronics, among several other end uses. However, these naturally occurring materials are rare and consist of stiff crystalline structures that are often toxic, three distinct drawbacks for human applications.

Man-made polymers offer steps toward alleviating these pain points by eliminating material scarcity and creating soft polymers capable of bending and stretching, known as soft elastomers, but previously those soft elastomers lacked significant piezoelectric attributes.

In a paper published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kosar Mozaffari, graduate student at the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston; Pradeep Sharma, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor & Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston and Matthew Grasinger, LUCI Postdoctoral Fellow at the Air Force Research Laboratory, offer a solution.

"This theory engineers a connection between electricity and mechanical motion in soft rubber-like materials," said Sharma. "While some polymers are weakly piezoelectric, there are no really soft rubber like materials that are piezoelectric."

The term for these multifunctional soft elastomers with increased capability is "giant flexoelectricity." In other words, these scientists demonstrate how to boost flexoelectric performance in soft materials.

"Flexoelectricity in most soft rubber materials is quite weak," said Mozaffari, "but by rearranging the chains in unit cells on a molecular level, our theory shows that soft elastomers can attain a greater flexoelectricity of nearly 10 times the conventional amount."

The potential uses are profound. Human-like robots made with soft-elastomers that contain increased flexoelectric properties would be capable of a greater range of motion to perform physical tasks. Pacemakers implanted in human hearts and utilizing lithium batteries could instead be self-powered as natural movement generates electrical power.

The mechanics of soft elastomers generating and being manipulated by electrical signals replicates a similar function observed in human ears. Sounds hit the ear drum that then vibrates and send electrical signals to the brain, which interprets them. In this case, movement can manipulate soft elastomers and generate electricity to power a device on its own. This process of self-generating power by movement appears as a step up from a typical battery.

The advantages of this new theory stretch beyond just that. In the process of research, the capability to design a unit cell that is stretch invariant - or remains unchanged under unwanted stretch transformation - emerged.

"For some applications we require certain amounts of electricity to be generated regardless of the stretch deformation, whereas with other applications we desire as much electricity generation as possible, and we have designed for both of these cases." said Mozaffari.

"In our research, we discovered a method to make one unit cell stretch invariant. The tunable nature of the flexoelectric direction can be useful for producing soft robots and soft sensors."

In other words, the amount of electric power generated from various physical stimulation can be controlled so that devices perform directed actions. This can moderate the functioning of electronic devices that are self-sufficient.

Next steps include testing this theory in a lab using potential applications. Additionally, efforts to improve on the flexoelectric effect in soft elastomers will be the focus of further study.

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CUTE AUTONOMOUS WEAPON

Similarity of legs, wheels, tracks suggests target for energy-efficient robots

U.S. ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE LEGGED LOCOMOTION AND MOVEMENT ADAPTATION, OR LLAMA, IS AN AUTONOMOUS QUADRUPED MOBILITY RESEARCH PLATFORM SYSTEM PATTERNED AFTER A WORKING DOG AND SIMILAR ANIMALS. ARMY RESEARCHERS DESIGNED IT TO WORK... view more 

CREDIT: U.S. ARMY PHOTO

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - A new formula from Army scientists is leading to new insights on how to build an energy-efficient legged teammate for dismounted warfighters.

In a recent peer-reviewed PLOS One paper, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory's Drs. Alexander Kott, Sean Gart and Jason Pusey offer new insights on building autonomous military robotic legged platforms to operate as efficiently as any other ground mobile systems.

Its use could lead to potentially important changes to Army vehicle development. Scientists said they may not know exactly why legged, wheeled and tracked systems fit the same curve yet, but they are convinced their findings drive further inquiry.

"If vehicle developers find a certain design would require more power than is currently possible given a variety of real-world constraints, the new formula could point to specific needs for improved power transmission and generation, or to rethink the mass and speed requirements of the vehicle," Gart said.

Inspired by a 1980s formula that shows relationships between the mass, speed and power expenditure of animals, the team developed a new formula that applied to a very broad range of legged, wheeled and tracked systems - such as motor vehicles and ground robots.

Although much of the data has been available for 30 years, this team believes they are the first to actually assemble it and study the relationships that emerge from this data. Their findings show that legged systems are as efficient as wheeled and tracked platforms.

"In the world of unmanned combat aerial vehicle and intelligent munitions, there is a growing role for dismounted infantry that can advance, often for multiple days, and attack in the most cluttered terrain such as mountains, dense forests and urban environments," said Kott who serves as the laboratory's chief scientist. "That's because such terrain provides the greatest cover and concealment against the unmanned aerial vehicles. That, in turn, demands that dismounted infantry should be assisted by vehicles capable of moving easily in such a broken terrain. Legged vehicles - possibly autonomous-would be very helpful."

One of the problems with legged robots, Kott said, is they seem to have poor energy efficiency, which limits teaming with Soldiers in austere battlefields.

"For the past 30 years, U.S. military scientists have addressed a number of challenges in developing autonomous vehicles," said Kott. "Ground vehicles that maneuver on wheels or tracks, and air vehicles that resemble small airplanes which we call fixed wing and small helicopters, which are rotary wing, are now quieter and easier to integrate in troop formations. But for legged platforms, many hurdles remain elusive, and a huge one is making them energy efficient."

Soldiers cannot afford to carry fuel or batteries for "energy-thirsty legged robots," he said.

The paper explores whether artificial ground-mobile systems exhibit a consistent trend among mass, power, and speed.

As a starting point, the team investigated a scaling formula proposed in the 1980s for estimating the mechanical power expended by an animal of a given mass to move at a given speed, and compared this to a range of artificial mechanical systems varying in size, weight and power that are autonomous or driven by humans.

The team found the answer to their research question: a similar, consistent relationship does in fact apply also to ground-mobile systems including vehicles of different types over a broad range of their masses.

Kott said this relationship surprisingly turned out to be essentially the same for legged, wheeled and tracked systems. These findings suggest that human-made legged platforms should be as efficient as wheeled and tracked platforms, he said.

To conduct this study, the team collected diverse ground mobile system data from a literature review of previous studies and published data sets.

They studied wide ranges of sizes and morphologies within a data set that combined systems that included for example a 17th century British canon, the Ford Model T, the M1 Abrams tank and an ACELA train.

Gart said their research is relevant to designing ground mobile systems because it helps designers determine tradeoffs among power, speed and mass for future terrestrial robots for defense applications.

One Army goal is to develop new types of autonomous, or partly autonomous, ground vehicle to deliver supplies to Soldiers in challenging terrains, he said.

"To haul supplies, it must be able to carry a certain weight, or mass, at a certain time, or speed," Gart said.

The formula can approximate the amount of power that vehicle will need, researchers said.

"The Army must develop feasible yet ambitious targets for tradeoffs among the power, speed, and mass of future terrestrial robots," Kott said. "It is undesirable to base such targets on current experience, because military hardware is often developed and used for multiple years and even decades; therefore, the specifiers and designers of such hardware must base their targets-competitive yet achievable-on future technological opportunities not necessarily fully understood at the time of design."

The formula developed in this paper gives such a target and could enable the Army to make predictions of future performance of ground platforms such as legged robots given design constraints like vehicle and motor weight and desired speed, he said.

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As the Army's corporate research laboratory, ARL is operationalizing science to achieve transformational overmatch. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, DEVCOM leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more successful at winning the nation's wars and come home safely. DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the Army Futures Command.

A speedy trial: What it takes to be the fastest land predator

Researchers from Japan develop and validate a model exploring the dynamics governing high-speed movement in cheetahs

NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS FROM JAPAN DEVISED A SIMPLE ANALYTICAL MODEL EMULATING VERTICAL HOPPING AND SPINE BENDING MOVEMENT DISPLAYED BY CHEETAHS DURING RUNNING AND OBTAINED CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING FLIGHT TYPES... view more 

CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY: TOMOYA KAMIMURA FROM NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

What makes cheetah the fastest land mammal? Why aren't other animals, such as horses, as fast? While we haven't yet figured out why, we have some idea about how--cheetahs, as it turns out, make use of a "galloping" gait at their fastest speeds, involving two different types of "flight": one with the forelimbs and hind limbs beneath their body following a forelimb liftoff, called "gathered flight," while another with the forelimbs and hind limbs stretched out after a hind limb liftoff, called "extended flight" (see Figure 1). Of these, the extended flight is what enables cheetahs to accelerate to high speeds, and it depends on ground reaction forces satisfying specific conditions; in the case of horses, the extended flight is absent.

Additionally, cheetahs show appreciable spine movement during flight, alternating between flexing and stretching in gathered and extended modes, respectively, which contributes to its high-speed locomotion. However, little is understood about the dynamics governing these abilities.

"All animal running constitutes a flight phase and a stance phase, with different dynamics governing each phase," explains Dr. Tomoya Kamimura from Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, who specializes in intelligent mechanics and locomotion. During the flight phase, all feet are in the air and the center of mass (COM) of the whole body exhibits ballistic motion. Conversely, during the stance phase, the body receives ground reaction forces through the feet. "Due to such complex and hybrid dynamics, observations can only get us so far in unraveling the mechanisms underlying the running dynamics of animals," Dr. Kamimura says.

Consequently, researchers have turned to computer modeling to gain a better dynamic perspective of the animal gait and spine movement during running and have had remarkable success using fairly simple models. However, few studies so far have explored the types of flight and spine motion during galloping (as seen in a cheetah). Against this backdrop, Dr. Kamimura and his colleagues from Japan have now addressed this issue in a recent study published in Scientific Reports, using a simple model emulating vertical and spine movement.

The team, in their study, employed a two-dimensional model comprising two rigid bodies and two massless bars (representing the cheetah's legs), with the bodies connected by a joint to replicate the bending motion of the spine and a torsional spring. Additionally, they assumed an anterior-posterior symmetry, assigning identical dynamical roles to the fore and hind legs.

By solving the simplified equations of motion governing this model, the team obtained six possible periodic solutions, with two of them resembling two different flight types (like cheetah galloping) and four, only one flight type (unlike cheetah galloping), based on the criteria related to the ground reaction forces provided by the solutions themselves. Researchers then verified these criteria with measured cheetah data, revealing that cheetah galloping in the real world indeed satisfied the criterion for two flight types through spine bending (see Figure 2).

Additionally, the periodic solutions also revealed that horse galloping only involves gathered flight due to restricted spine motion, suggesting that the additional extended flight in cheetahs combined with spine bending allowed them to achieve such great speeds!

"While the mechanism underlying this difference in flight types between animal species still remains unclear, our findings extend the understanding of the dynamic mechanisms underlying high-speed locomotion in cheetahs. Furthermore, they can be applied to the mechanical and control design of legged robots in the future," speculates an optimistic Dr. Kamimura.

Cheetahs inspiring legged robots! Who would've thought?

Figure 2. (Top) Impulse positions in a cheetah's body 

(Below) Criterion for flight types against measured cheetah data 

(IMAGE)

NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

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Solutions obtained from the model yielded two determining criteria for flight type: the position and magnitude of impulse (ground reaction force) to the cheetah's body. Researchers identified the impulse positions for their model and compared them with measured data.

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Image courtesy: Tomoya Kamimura from Nagoya Institute of Technology

About Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan

Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech) is a respected engineering institute located in Nagoya, Japan. Established in 1949, the university aims to create a better society by providing global education and conducting cutting-edge research in various fields of science and technology. To this end, NITech provides a nurturing environment for students, teachers, and academicians to help them convert scientific skills into practical applications. Having recently established new departments and the "Creative Engineering Program," a 6-year integrated undergraduate and graduate course, NITech strives to continually grow as a university. With a mission to "conduct education and research with pride and sincerity, in order to contribute to society," NITech actively undertakes a wide range of research from basic to applied science.

Website: https://www.nitech.ac.jp/eng/index.html

About Dr. Tomoya Kamimura from Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan

Dr. Tomoya Kamimura is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech), Japan, and he has been working there since 2020. He specializes in intelligent mechanics/mechanical systems and his research interests include quadruped robot, simple model, and locomotion. As a young and vibrant researcher, he has 5 publications under his belt.

Juvenile white-tailed sea eagles stay longer in the parental territory than assumed

Nest protection periods in Germany are not sufficient and need to be extended

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH (IZW)

Research News

 

The white-tailed sea eagle is known for reacting sensitively to human disturbances. Forestry and agricultural activities are therefore restricted in the immediate vicinity of the nests. However, these seasonal protection periods are too short in the German federal States of Brandenburg (until August 31) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (until July 31), as a new scientific analysis by a team of scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) suggests. Using detailed movement data of 24 juvenile white-tailed sea eagles with GPS transmitters, they were able to track when they fledge and when they leave the parental territory: on average, a good 10 and 23 weeks after hatching, respectively. When forestry work is allowed again, most of the young birds are still near the nest. In a publication in the journal IBIS - International Journal of Avian Science, the scientists therefore recommend an extension of the currently existing nest protection periods by one month.

Between 2004 and 2016, bird of prey specialist Dr Oliver Krone and his team from the Leibniz-IZW fitted a total of 24 juvenile white-tailed eagles with GPS transmitters during ringing, which usually takes place between four and six weeks after hatching. The aim was to precisely record and analyse the movements of the younglings in the important life span between the first flight and leaving the parents' territory. "On average, the juvenile white-tailed sea eagles leave the nest for the first time at the age of 72 days for their maiden flight and, on average, leave their parental territory another 93 days later," Krone summarises. During this period, the juvenile birds are very active and undertake frequent excursions from the nest, which vary greatly in length and distance. However, the activity in this phase varies greatly from bird to bird and influences the time of departure from the parental territory. "The more frequently a young eagle makes such reconnaissance flights, the later it leaves the territory for good," explains biologist Marc Engler. The same applies to the quality of this territory: if it offers at least one body of water that is suitable for foraging, the young birds stay with their parents almost four weeks longer.

Both correlations strongly suggest that juvenile white-tailed sea eagles stay as long as possible in the parental territories, provided the conditions are favourable. "If there is more disturbance at a nest, the possibilities of reconnaissance flights for the young eagles are limited and they seem to be forced to disperse earlier," Krone and Engler conclude. On average, they fledge between the end of May and the beginning of July, so the period until dispersal often extends into September or October. "An extension of the nest protection periods of at least one month is therefore advisable in order to avoid disturbances of juvenile eagles in the nest area and thus prevent early dispersal with possible negative effects on their survival. This applies in particular to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where forestry work and hunting around the white-tailed sea eagle nests can be resumed starting with the beginning of August - when almost two thirds of the younglings still have their centre of life in the parental nest."

Intensive protection efforts over the last 100 years have saved the sea eagle from extinction in Germany. They were placed under protection in the 1920s, after hunting in particular had reduced the population to a critical level. Meanwhile the population of white-tailed sea eagles has grown back to a stable level. Currently there are about 950 breeding pairs of the white-tailed sea eagle in Germany, projections assume a potential of 1200 breeding pairs for Germany. However, the use of leaded ammunition in hunting still has a negative effect on the birds, which in winter feed on the carcasses of animals left behind by hunters. In addition, a team led by Oliver Krone showed that not only forestry work is a burden for the white-tailed sea eagles, but also the proximity to roads especially paths with pedestrians and cyclists. The team measured concentrations of the hormone corticosterone and its metabolic products in white-tailed sea eagles in northern Germany and correlated these values with potential causes of "stress". They found that the levels of corticosterone in the birds' urine are higher the closer a breeding pair's nest is to trails, paths or roads. This paper was published in October 2019 in the scientific journal ""General and Comparative Endocrinology".

IMAGE: JUVENILE WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE IN THE PARENTAL NEST. view more 

CREDIT: MARC ENGLER/LEIBNIZ-IZW

 

The best strawberries to grow in hot locations

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Research News

 

It's strawberry season in many parts of the U.S, and supermarkets are teeming with these fresh heart-shaped treats. Although the bright red, juicy fruit can grow almost anywhere with lots of sunlight, production in some hot, dry regions is a challenge. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry have identified five cultivars that are best suited for this climate, which could help farmers and consumers get the most fragrant, sweetest berries.

Most strawberries commercially grown in the U.S. come from California and Florida. With the expansion of local farmer's markets and people's excitement about fresh berries, growers in other states are trying to increase production. In Texas, for example, current commercial operations grow a few of the "day-neutral" and "spring-bearing" varieties that have a potentially high fruit output. But there are hundreds of options, including some that are more heat tolerant, and many factors to consider when choosing cultivars to grow that will produce strawberries appealing to consumers. So, Xiaofen Du and colleagues wanted to determine which ones grow well in Texas' semi-arid, hot environment and have the most desirable berry characteristics -- information that could help growers in similar climates.

The researchers grew 10 common strawberry cultivars in northwest Texas, comparing seven spring-bearing and three day-neutral varieties. First, they monitored plant growth and yields and found eight of the cultivars had plant survival rates of more than 96% before the first harvest. Overall, the day-neutral varieties had the lowest total berry weight per plant. Then, the team measured ripe berries' characteristics, including color, sugar content, acidity and aroma compounds. Their results showed red intensity was not linked to berry sweetness; in fact, the redder varieties had more citric acid, which made them taste more sour than sweet. Taste tests on berry purees showed that desirable flavors were related to the varieties' sugar content and 20 aroma compounds. Perhaps surprisingly, tasters ranked the two varieties that grew the fewest and smallest fruits as having the most intense flavors. The researchers concluded that five cultivars -- Albion, Sweet Charlie, Camarosa, Camino Real and Chandler -- can grow well in Texas' climate and have the best flavor and aroma.

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The authors acknowledge funding from the Texas Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, the Texas Woman's University--Human Nutrition Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

The abstract that accompanies this paper is available here.

 

Record-breaking temperatures more likely in populated tropics

New research shows that most extreme heat events are going to occur in the tropics rather than the poles

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Research News

 

Icebergs crumbling into the sea may be what first come to mind when imagining the most dramatic effects of global warming.

But new University of Arizona-led research, published in Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that more record-breaking temperatures will actually occur in the tropics, where there is a large and rapidly growing population.

"People recognize that polar warming is much faster than the mid-latitudes and tropics; that's a fact," said lead study author Xubin Zeng, director of the UArizona Climate Dynamics and Hydrometeorology Center and a professor of atmospheric sciences. "The second fact is that the warming over land is greater than over ocean. The question now is: Where do we see more extreme heat events? Over polar regions or the tropics? Over land or ocean? That's the question we answer."

Zeng and his collaborators analyzed temperature data from the last 60 years in two different ways: by looking at raw temperature trends and normalized temperature trends. Raw temperature is the actual temperature measured outside, whereas normalized temperature is raw temperature divided by the year-to-year variations.

Raw temperature data over the polar region reveals a huge range in temperature. Over the tropics, where it's warm and humid, raw temperature data reveals smaller temperature fluctuations. But when temperature is normalized - or divided- by the temperature fluctuations over the same period, the data shows that the tropics have greater normalized warming and are actually experiencing more record-breaking heat events.

This new perspective allowed Zeng and his team describe the threat to these areas in a new way.

"We realized that very few researchers have addressed the relationship between warming and extreme hot events between different regions, but when you do, the answer is unexpected," said Zeng, who is also the Agnes N. Haury Endowed Chair in Environment in the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.

Mitigating Harm

It is generally understood that warming trends would increase the occurrence of extreme events in a given region. For instance, Arctic amplification, which is the scientific way of saying there's a larger temperature increase at the poles, has been emphasized in all five Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, reports. But it can overshadow what's happening in regions like the tropics, around the equator, where less dramatic swings in temperature are the norm.

"Temperature trends in the tropics don't need to be as large to break records and affect the environment, ecosystem and human well-being," Zeng and his study co-authors write.

The study authors also identified two surprising "hot spots" for the occurrence of extreme events: over the Northern Hemisphere's ocean and over the Southern Hemisphere's tropical land.

This is important because marine heat waves are not well understood but would likely have large impacts on marine ecosystems.

"These regions we've identified should receive more attention due to their significant impacts on ecosystem and environment. People know tropical forests are important, but here we're saying they're even more important because suddenly we realized there are going to be more extreme events and weather over the Amazon rainforest," Zeng said.

Species can navigate change - if the change is gradual - via adaptation, but extreme events occur too quickly and often.

Zeng also publishes annual hurricane forecasts for the North Atlantic. He said ocean warming not only leads to more intense hurricanes, but ocean temperatures also affect climate and weather in other ways.

"For example, when we talk about the current drought over the western United States, it's linked to the ocean surface temperature," he said. "Earth system models for IPCC reports should not only use raw temperature data, but also normalized temperature data to understand the impacts of global warming on the occurrence of extreme heat events."

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Study offers insights for communicating about wildlife, zoonotic disease amid COVID-19

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

A new study from North Carolina State University found that certain types of messages could influence how people perceive information about the spread of diseases from wildlife to humans.

The researchers say the findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Communication, could help scientists, policymakers and others more effectively communicate with diverse audiences about zoonotic diseases and the role of wildlife management in preventing them from spreading to people. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that originate in wildlife and become infectious to people.

"If we want to prevent and mitigate the next giant zoonotic disease, we need people to recognize these diseases can emerge from their interactions with wildlife," said study co-author Nils Peterson, professor of forestry and environmental resources at NC State. "We have to do better with how we interact with wildlife. We also have to do better in terms of our communication, so people recognize the root of the problem. We need to learn how to communicate with people about zoonotic diseases and wildlife trade across partisan divides."

In the study, researchers surveyed 1,554 people across the United States to understand whether they would see greater acceptance of scientific information about zoonotic diseases - specifically in regard to the potential role of wildlife trade in the origin and spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 - depending on how they structured their messaging. Scientists from the World Health Organization concluded in a report earlier this year that evidence points to a likely animal origin. One group of scientists has recently called for more clarity.

In the experiment, study participants were asked to read one of three articles. One article used a "technocratic" frame that emphasized the use of technology and human ingenuity to address diseases from wildlife, such as using monitoring and culling of animals with diseases. This frame was designed to appeal to people with an "individualistic" worldview. A second article had a "regulatory frame" that emphasized using land conservation to create wildlife refuges as a solution. This frame was designed to appeal to people with a "communitarian" view. The third article was designed as a control, and was intended to be neutral.

Researchers then asked all of the participants to read part of an article that researchers wrote about COVID-19 and the potential role of wildlife trade in its origin and spread, and asked them about their perceived validity of the information. Researchers also surveyed participants about their trust in science overall, and belief in COVID-19's wildlife origin.

"Past research suggests people process and filter information through their cultural lens, or based on how they think the society should function," said the study's lead author Justin Beall, a graduate student in parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State. "We wanted to know, in the domain of zoonotic disease management, what are the solutions for managing diseases that might align with different cultural values in the United States? Would using those perspectives impact how people accepted scientific information about the wildlife origin of COVID-19?"

Researchers found that people who identified as liberal reported higher perceived risk on average from COVID-19. They were also more likely to accept evidence for the wildlife origin of COVID-19 and support restrictions on wildlife trade.

When researchers considered the link between message frames and participants' acceptance of the information about COVID-19 and the potential role of wildlife trade in its origin and spread, they found liberals who received the technocratic framing were significantly less likely to find the information valid, while conservatives were slightly more likely to find it valid. They didn't see any statistically significant relationship between the "regulatory" framing and participants' acceptance of the information.

"The findings show us that cultural views are relevant for communicating about wildlife disease," Beall said. "We found that the technocratic viewpoint might be more polarizing."

That suggests that for communicating to a diverse public audience about zoonotic disease and wildlife trade, communicators should avoid using the technocratic frame. However, when communicators are speaking to a conservative audience, they could consider using the technocratic frame to increase acceptance.

Researchers underscored the importance of the findings for conveying the idea that the health of humans, wildlife and the environment are connected.

"We all exist in this giant ecosystem, and disease is part of it," said study co-author Lincoln Larson, associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State. "If we're talking about the health of humans, we're talking about the health of wildlife and ecosystems simultaneously. It's critical to develop effective communication strategies that resonate with ideologically diverse audiences and lead to bipartisan support and action."

"Improving communication and framing around zoonotic disease could help to prevent the next global pandemic, and that's a message everyone can get behind," he added.

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The study, "Cultural cognition and ideological framing influence about zoonotic disease in the era of COVID-19," was published online in Frontiers in Communication on May 31, 2021. In addition to Beall, Larson and Peterson, other authors included William R. Casola, Wylie A. Carr, Erin Seekamp, Kathryn T. Stevenson and Steven B. Jackson. The work was supported by grant No. G15AP00162 from the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, which is managed by the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Note to editors: The abstract follows.

"Cultural cognition and ideological framing influence about zoonotic disease in the era of COVID-19"

Authors: Justin M. Beall, William R. Casola, M. Nils Peterson, Lincoln R. Larson, Wylie A. Carr, Erin Seekamp, Kathryn T. Stevenson, Steven B. Jackson.

Published online in Frontiers in Communication on May 31, 2021.

DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.645692

Abstract: The efficacy of science communication can be influenced by the cultural values and political ideologies (i.e., cultural cognitions) of target audiences, yet message framing rarely accounts for these cognitive factors. To explore the effects of message framing tailored to specific audiences, we investigated relationships between political ideology and perceptions about the zoonotic origins of the COVID-19 pandemic using a nationally-representative Qualtrics XM panel (n=1554) during August 2020. First, we examined differences in attitudes towards science (in general) and COVID-19 (specifically) based on political ideology. We found that, compared to conservatives, and moderates, liberals trusted science more, were less skeptical of science, perceived greater risk from COVID-19, were more likely to believe in a wildlife origin of COVID-19, and were more likely to support restrictions on wildlife trade. Second, we examined the influence of cultural framing on the perceived validity of science related to COVID-19. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) a technocratic framing that highlighted feats of human ingenuity to overcome zoonoses; (2) a regulatory framing that highlighted regulations and expansions of protected areas for wildlife as a means to prevent zoonoses, and (3) a control article about traffic lights with no cultural framing. After reading the initial framing article, all three groups read the same fictional, yet factually accurate, 'Nature Science study' generated by the authors. An OLS regression model revealed a significant interaction between the technocratic framing and political ideology. Relative to the control group, the technocratic framing slightly increased perceived validity of the Nature Science study for conservatives, significantly lowered perceived validity for liberals, and had no impact on moderates. We did not detect any significant interaction between framing and political ideology for the regulatory framing. Findings of this study highlight the need to account for cultural cognitions when communicating about COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases. Communication strategies carefully designed to resonate with ideologically diverse audiences may ultimately lead to bipartisan support for actions required to promote "One Health" approaches that reduce the impacts of zoonoses on human and environmental health.

Beneficial arthropods find winter sanctuary in uncultivated field edges, study finds

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

Research News

 

IMAGE: U. OF I. ENTOMOLOGY PROFESSOR ALEXANDRA HARMON-THREATT AND FORMER DOCTORAL STUDENT SCOTT CLEM FOUND THAT FIELD EDGES WITH A DIVERSITY OF PLANTS SUSTAIN A DIVERSITY OF BENEFICIAL INSECTS, SPIDERS AND... view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY L. BRIAN STAUFFER

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Many species of ground-dwelling beetles, ladybugs, hoverflies, damsel bugs, spiders and parasitic wasps kill and eat pest species that routinely plague farmers, including aphids and corn rootworm larvae and adults. But the beneficial arthropods that live in or near cropped lands also are susceptible to insecticides and other farming practices that erase biodiversity on the landscape.

A new study reveals that beneficial arthropods are nearly twice as abundant and diverse in uncultivated field edges in the spring as they are in areas that are cropped - if those field edges are rich in an array of flowers and other broad-leaved plants and not just mowed grass. The findings are reported in the Journal of Insect Science.

Former graduate student Scott Clem, who led the research with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entomology professor Alexandra Harmon-Threatt, captured the beneficial bugs as they emerged from the soil in early spring. The study focused on overwintering arthropods in organic farm fields and field edges in Illinois, as the use of pesticides may wipe out many of the beneficial creatures, said Clem, who earned a Ph.D. in May.

Predatory arthropods that overwinter near cropped areas are immediately available in spring and may be more useful to farmers than insects and other arthropods that disperse in agricultural fields during the growing season, Clem said.

"A benefit of understanding overwintering is that those arthropods that emerge in the spring may be more inclined to feed on pests when pest populations are low," he said. "And so, they may be more likely to nip pest populations in the bud before the pest problem becomes a big deal."

To understand how species richness and diversity differed between cropped land and natural field edges, Clem set up dozens of tiny "emergence tents" that capture any insects emerging from the ground in a small area. He put 10 tents in each of five organic soybean fields in Illinois and 10 in nearby field edges in early March, and left them there until late April. Then he collected and analyzed all the arthropods caught in the tents.

Four of the five uncultivated field edges were enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, a land conservation initiative administered by the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The CRP offers financial rewards to farmers who agree to "remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality." It is the largest conservation program in the nation, protecting 22 million acres. The field edges in the study were a mixture of grasses and broadleaf plants, including some flowering plants.

Clem collected and identified more than 4,200 potential natural enemies of pests, consisting of 95 species including predatory beetles, true bugs and parasitoid wasps. Overall arthropod diversity and abundance were nearly two times greater in the field edges than in the adjoining fields. However, one site - with a field border made up mostly of mowed grass and less plant diversity than the other sites - had far fewer of these beneficial arthropods, the researchers found.

"We were able to determine that these field edges are important for maintaining natural enemies of pest species in the landscape," Clem said. "And the quality of the field border is likely to benefit the arthropod communities that live there and enhance the services they provide."

"This research supports the idea that these uncropped areas - whether you want to call them field borders, field margins or even ditches - are really beneficial for insects and other arthropods," Harmon-Threatt said. "Preserving some land that is not cultivated and not mowing your field edges might make a big difference for insect conservation, but it's probably also making a difference in controlling pests in farm areas, which is also super-important for meeting our other goals of feeding a growing population."

CAPTION

Clem stands near one of the field sites. The small tents capture arthropods as they emerge from their winter hibernation.

CREDIT

Photo courtesy Scott Clem

The USDA North Central Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education award and a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Education and Workforce Development Predoctoral Fellowship grant supported this research.

Editor's notes:

To reach Scott Clem, email carlc2@illinois.edu.

To reach Alexandra Harmon-Threatt, email aht@illinois.edu.

The paper "Field borders provide winter refuge for beneficial predators and parasitoids: A case study on organic farms" is available online and from the U. of I. News Bureau.

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