Political panel survey: Germans feel strongly threatened by current crises

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG

The majority of Germans feel that their security is threatened by the current crises: over 78 percent of respondents to the latest “Politikpanel Deutschland” (Political Panel Germany) survey conducted by the University of Freiburg regard the war in Ukraine as threatening or very threatening. The war in eastern Europe thus overshadows all other problems. In second place is the fear of inflation and rising prices (72 percent). Of the participants in the online survey, 65 percent perceive the climate crisis as rather or very threatening.

The Freiburg political scientists Prof. Dr. Uwe Wagschal and Dr. Sebastian Jäckle, in collaboration with Dr. James Kenneth Timmis from the Medical Center – University of Freiburg, interviewed more than 8,000 people from all over Germany on political and social issues for the Political Panel Germany survey.  In the current survey, the long-dominant Corona issue only ranks fifth among threatening crises, behind the issue of national debt, with only 29.6 percent of respondents still seeing a major threat here.

Clear differences by party preference

Depending on their voting intentions, respondents differ significantly in their perception of the threat: for example, only 47 percent of AfD supporters see the Ukraine war as threatening or very threatening, whereas more than 80 percent of CDU/CSU, SPD and Green Party supporters do. The perception of the climate crisis also varies greatly: 48 percent of AfD supporters do not see the climate crisis as a threat at all, while only 0.25 percent of Green supporters view it as non-threatening.

Society divided on many issues

One focus of the current political panel survey is the division of society. More than 80 percent of respondents see society as fairly strongly or very strongly divided when it comes to income and wealth distribution. When it comes to gender issues (e.g. gender sensitive language), nearly 70 percent see such a strong split. “Obviously, strong differences can be observed in society when it comes to attitudes toward values and norms,” Jäckle explains.

He adds that this also applies with regard to a so-called cancel culture, such as the tendency to block other people on the basis of their views and attitudes and to exclude them from events. Here, too, a majority sees society as divided; at the same time, almost 30 percent of respondents are unfamiliar with this term or have no opinion on it. The least division is seen between East and West Germany, with only just over 30 percent of respondents seeing a strong division here.

Germans want to reintroduce compulsory service - especially the elderly

The issue of compulsory service (including military and civil service), which was recently raised by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, meets with overwhelming approval among the population. Between 60 and 70 percent of respondents over the age of 30 are in favor of compulsory service, with the strongest support among respondents over 60. The youngest group of 18- to 30-year-olds, on the other hand, rejects compulsory service by a majority, although here, too, around 42 percent have a positive attitude toward it.

There is virtually no difference between the age groups when it comes to the question of whether society is dependent on the population’s volunteerism. Around 85 percent tend to agree or agree completely with this statement. The vast majority of those who have done service in the past (for example, military or civilian service) remember it as a good and meaningful experience.

Overview of facts:

• The Political Panel Germany is a survey conducted by the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg. It has been held at irregular intervals since the 2017 federal election.
• The current results can be accessed at www.politikpanel.uni-freiburg.de.
• For the current survey, more than 8,000 people from all over Germany were asked online about political and social issues. The survey ran from June 30 to July 17, 2022. The data of the participants was weighted according to the socio-demographic characteristics age, gender, federal state and voting intention and thus adjusted to the real distribution in the population.
• Prof. Dr. Uwe Wagschal is Professor of Comparative Government in the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg. Dr. Sebastian Jäckle is an academic advisor there. Dr. James Kenneth Timmis is a staff member at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg.

Religious leaders reduce intimate partner violence in Uganda

Christian leaders exert influence to shift traditional gender norms & violence drops, study shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PRINCETON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Intimate partner violence — or abuse and aggression in a romantic relationship — is a pervasive global issue. In Uganda, a primarily Christian country in East Africa, 56% of women who’ve been married report being sexually violated by a current partner. Strong patriarchal beliefs often influence this behavior, but those in positions of power, like religious leaders, can shift traditional gender roles.

A team of psychologists, public health and political scientists, human-centered design experts, and NGO researchers, including Betsy Levy Paluck of Princeton University, wanted to determine whether religious leaders could reduce intimate partner violence by incorporating more progressive interpretations of Bible teachings on romantic partnerships into their couples counseling.

They conducted a randomized controlled trial among 1,680 heterosexual couples in Uganda who were either enrolled in a 12-session group counseling course or wait-listed. Those in the course experienced a curriculum in which men and women were viewed as equals. The approach intentionally skirted the topic of violence and instead highlighted the benefits and religious importance of a more egalitarian relationship.

Findings

When Christian leaders in Uganda offered these types of courses, intimate partner violence decreased by 5 percentage points a year later.

• Couples who participated in the 12-week course experienced less violence, greater power-sharing in the relationship, and grew closer compared to the couples on the waitlist.
• Couples enjoyed their time together and reported less depression.
• Couples were more likely to see eye-to-eye when it came to financial decision-making.
• Men voluntarily ceded their power — rather than being coerced or pressured to share. Losing power can lead to a backlash against the partner, but it didn’t, perhaps due to the new benefits stemming from a more equal partnership.

Policy Point

Religious leaders can be effective change agents for reducing violence. This type of intervention — which included a shift in religious instruction — also has the potential to reach a massive audience.

“This approach is unique because it’s driven by leaders within a longstanding cultural and religious tradition who shape how couples relate to each other. It is a benefits-centered approach, meaning that couples are motivated by religious and interpersonal reasons to respect and enjoy one another in a more power-balanced relationship. This change-from-within strategy could be useful if there are constraints on state capacity.” — Elizabeth Levy Paluck

Study Authors

• Lead Author: Christopher Boyer, Harvard University
• Elizabeth Levy Paluck, Princeton University
• Jeannie Annan, International Rescue Committee
• Tvisha Nevatiae, Innovations for Poverty Action (Uganda)
• Jasper Cooper, University of California San Diego
• Jackline Namubirue, Innovations for Poverty Action (Uganda)
• Lori Heise, Johns Hopkins University
• Rachel Lehrer, International Rescue Committee

Data

This study measures the effect of the “Becoming One” program, which was designed by the International Rescue Committee’s Airbel Impact Lab team. Religious leaders are trained for two days and given instructional materials for themselves and the couples.

The study involved a pair-matched randomized control trial with 3,360 men and women in monogamous heterosexual relationships and with 140 religious leaders (mainly catechists, pastors, and priests) identified by World Vision, the implementing NGO partner, in three districts in Western Uganda.

Men and women were invited to participate through informed consent. Within each pair, they randomized one couple to begin the 12-session program immediately (October 2018) and the other to begin in December 2019.

Funding

The study was supported by the Wellspring Foundation, awarded through Innovation for Poverty Action’s Intimate Partner Violence Initiative.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Religious leaders can motivate men to cede power and reduce intimate partner violence: Experimental evidence from Uganda

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Jul-2022

Tree fern genome provides insights into its evolution

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CARL R. WOESE INSTITUTE FOR GENOMIC BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

 

IMAGE: ALSOPHILA SPINULOSA IN A FOREST view more 

CREDIT: QUANZI LI

Land plants evolved 470 million years ago from algae and have since reshaped our world. Throughout their evolution, ferns have undergone a series of changes that have helped them survive on land. For the first time, researchers have characterized the genome arrangement of tree ferns, which sheds new insight into how ferns evolved.

A major event in the evolution of land plants was the invention of their vascular systems, which help them conduct water, nutrients, and food throughout their bodies. These systems consist of two tissues: xylem and phloem. While the xylem enables the transport of water to the stems and leaves, the phloem helps transport sugars, made from photosynthesis, to the rest of the plant. Additionally, only xylem cells are lined with lignin—supportive structural materials that provide rigidity to wood and bark. The researchers wanted to understand how these vascular systems evolved in ferns and how lignin is made.

“Ferns are the earliest vascular plants, and lignified cell walls were a key innovation during the evolution of these plants,” said Ray Ming (GEGC), a professor of plant biology. “This study has improved our understanding of how vascular tissues developed in ferns and other land plant species.”

For this study, the researchers sequenced the genome of flying spider-monkey tree fern Alsophila spinulosa and investigated how its vascular tissues are constructed. They found that two Vascular-related Mac-Domain genes were highly expressed in xylem compared to other tissues, indicating that these might be key regulators in the formation of xylem-specific cells.  

Using microscopy and biochemical methods, the researchers also measured the levels of lignin and secondary metabolites—compounds that are not required for growth or reproduction, but confer certain benefits—in ferns. They found that lignin made up 40% of the stem cell wall. In comparison, wood generally contains 25%. They also discovered a new secondary metabolite primarily made in the xylem, which they named “alsophilin”.

“This new compound is abundant in the xylem, likely as one of the compounds filling up the cavity of non-functional tracheid cells. We also identified the genes involved in the biosynthesis of alsophilin in the genome,” Ming said.

To understand how ferns evolved, the researchers compared the genomic sequence of A. spinulosa to other members of the same species across nine locations in China. To their surprise, they discovered that there were six distinct populations, differing in their genomic sequences. Based on their sequencing results, the researchers reconstructed the history of the fern population and saw that there were two times that these species underwent a drastic decrease in population numbers. The first one occurred 35.6 – 34.5 million years ago and the second occurred 2.5 – 0.7 million years ago.

“This analysis of genomes and lignin composition from a broader collection of ferns will help us understand the role of lignin in the early lineage of vascular plants,” Ming said. “In our future studies, we hope to increase the number of locations and the sample sizes for the genomic analysis.”

The paper “The flying spider-monkey tree fern genome provides insights into fern evolution and arborescence” was published in Nature Plants and can be found at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01146-6.

The biochemical analysis was performed in collaboration with Quanzi Li’s group at the State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Beijing, China.

The study was funded by the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry; the National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University; CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences; PUMC Disciplinary Development of Synthetic Biology; and the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

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JOURNAL

Nature Plants

DOI

10.1038/s41477-022-01146-6 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The flying spider-monkey tree fern genome provides insights into fern evolution and arborescence

Implicit bias and concern about appearing racist predict teachers’ reluctance to discuss race and racism in the classroom

UMass Amherst research aims to help equip teachers to engage in crucial conversations

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

 

IMAGE: LINDA TROPP, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES AT UMASS AMHERST, CONDUCTS RESEARCH ON HOW MEMBERS OF DIFFERENT GROUPS EXPERIENCE CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER. HER GOAL IS TO ACHIEVE GREATER LEVELS OF SOCIAL EQUALITY AND JUSTICE. view more 

CREDIT: UMASS AMHERST

Across the U.S., K-12 public school teachers face significant psychological barriers to discussing issues of race and racism with their students, according to new research by a University of Massachusetts social psychologist.

Linda Tropp, professor of psychological and brain sciences, examined how teachers’ implicit racial biases and concerns about appearing racist may affect their intentions and confidence about engaging their students in race talk. The findings were recently published online by the journal Social Psychology of Education. 

“This research was done to try to understand what can sometimes get in the way of teachers’ best intentions to want to talk about race with their students,” says Tropp, who has extensive experience working in schools and seeking to support teachers in engaging students in conversations about race and other important and sensitive topics. “How do we equip teachers to engage in these conversations? What we’re hoping is that findings from this research can be used to inform future professional development programs for teachers, so that they feel more prepared to ‘go there’ with their students.” 

Analyzing data from two large surveys, each including responses from more than 1,000 K-12 teachers, Tropp found that teachers’ implicit racial biases and their explicit fears of being perceived as racist both independently contributed to lower intentions to talk about race with their students. These psychological barriers are still evident, even after Tropp took into account numerous other variables such as teachers’ years of experience, their demographic characteristics, characteristics of the schools in which they teach and their own prior exposure to diversity training.

Recent teacher training and professional development programs have typically focused on educating teachers about implicit racial biases – that is, unconscious racial biases they may have and about which they may have limited awareness – without sufficiently addressing teachers’ conscious concerns about how they may be seen, or how their comments may be interpreted, Tropp explains.

“This is not just something unique to teachers, but something that we all experience in our society, where people are very quick to judge what we say,” Tropp says. “It’s understandable that we would have concerns about how what we say might be perceived or received by others.”

Tropp emphasizes that future training efforts need to consider how both implicit racial biases and conscious concerns about being seen as racist may curb teachers’ willingness to engage students in meaningful and productive conversations around race. Tropp’s paper states, “As we examine potential barriers to teachers’ engagement in race talk with students, we must also learn how to support teachers effectively when they are called upon to facilitate these discussions.”

In light of current political and social debates about race-related topics in school curricula, Tropp says it is increasingly urgent for teachers to discuss race in the classroom to help students process what they see and hear outside of the classroom. She notes, “By providing stu­dents with opportunities to engage in meaningful discussions about race, teachers can prepare them for respectful exchanges of perspectives with others and full participa­tion as engaged citizens in an increasingly multifaceted and diverse society.” 

 

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JOURNAL

Social Psychology of Education

DOI

10.1007/s11218-022-09715-5 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

How implicit racial bias and concern about appearing racist shape K-12 teachers’ race talk with students

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Jul-2022

COI STATEMENT

Both authors have served as research advisors for Perception Institute.

Designing roots to reach new depths could help carbon storage in soil

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

 

IMAGE: X-RAY MICRO-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCAN IMAGE OF MOREX (WILD-TYPE) AND EGT1 (MUTANT) ROOTS IN SOIL, SHOWING MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN SEMINAL ROOT GROWTH ANGLE. MUTANT ROOTS SHOW STEEPER ROOT PHENOTYPE COMPARED TO THE WILD-TYPE view more 

CREDIT: DR. RICCARDO FUSI, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM.

Scientists have discovered how to potentially design root systems to grow deeper by altering their angle growth to be steeper and reach the nutrients they need to grow, a discovery that could also help develop new ways to capture carbon in soil.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham and Bologna have discovered a key gene in barley and wheat that controls the angle of root growth. Steeper root angle helps bury carbon deeper in soil as well as improving resilience in crops to drought stress. Their findings have been published today in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Nottingham team have discovered how a new gene (called Enhanced Gravitropism 1 or EGT1) normally controls root angle by stiffening the core of growing root tips, making it more difficult to bend downwards. However, after this gene is disrupted, the team used X-ray micro CT imaging to reveal that every different type of root has a steeper angle.

Rahul Bhosale, Assistant Professor from the School of Biosciences and the Future Food Beacon at the University of Nottingham, who co-led the research, explains: “Root angle controls how efficiently plants can capture water and nutrients. For instance, shallow roots best capture phosphate which accumulates in the top-soil region, while steeper roots are better for foraging for water and nitrate in deeper soil layers. Steeper roots are also important for helping bury carbon deeper into soil. Discovering genes like EGT1 and how they control root angle is critical for developing novel future crop varieties better able to capture nutrients and carbon.” 

The international team includes researchers from the University of Adelaide, University of Bologna and Penn State University. The Nottingham team was funded by ARPA-E, BBSRC Discovery Fellowship, European Research Council, Royal Society and University of Nottingham Future Food Beacon awards.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2201350119 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Root angle is controlled by EGT1 in cereal crops employing a novel anti-gravitropic mechanism

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Jul-2022

Straightening out kinky roots captures carbon and avoids drought stress

Researchers have discovered a new gene in barley and wheat that controls the angle of root growth in soil, opening the door to new cereal varieties with deeper roots that are less susceptible to drought and nutrient stress, thus mitigating the effects of

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

 

IMAGE: X-RAY MICROCT REVEALS THE ROOT 3D ARCHITECTURES OF WILD TYPE (LEFT) AND EGT1 MUTANT (RIGHT) BARLEY. view more 

CREDIT: DR RICCARDO FUSI (UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM)

Researchers have discovered a new gene in barley and wheat that controls the angle of root growth in soil, opening the door to new cereal varieties with deeper roots that are less susceptible to drought and nutrient stress, thus mitigating the effects of climate change.

“The angle at which barley roots grow down into the soil enables them to capture water and nutrients from different soil layers,” said Dr Haoyu (Mia) Lou from the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine who was joint first author on the study.

“Shallow roots enable plants to capture phosphate and surface water, while deeper, straighter roots can stabilise yield by accessing deeper water and nitrate; they can also bury carbon deeper in the soil.”

Working alongside scientists from the UK, Italy, Germany and the USA the team identified a new gene called Enhanced Gravitropism 1 (EGT1) in barley.

“By identifying the genes that control root growth angle we can greatly aid efforts to develop crops that are better adapted to specific soil types and more resilient to fluctuating environmental conditions, helping to mitigate carbon burden and counter the effects of climate change,” said Dr Lou.

“We have found that mutants lacking function of the EGT1 gene exhibit a steeper growth angle in all classes of roots.

“Remarkably, the roots behave as if they are overly sensitive to gravity – they are unable to grow outwards from the plant, and instead grow straight down.”

Australian farmers face a wide range of risks, but they are particularly exposed to variability in climate which has a flow-on effect to commodity prices. Severe droughts are frequent and prolonged with eastern and south-eastern parts of the country particularly badly affected. Coupled with rising fertiliser costs and increased pressure to achieve sustainability, there is a pressing need to develop new crop varieties better able to capture nutrients, carbon and water.

Co-author Associate Professor Matthew Tucker, Deputy Director of the Waite Research Institute said: “These findings were made possible through exciting technologies such as X-ray CT, enabling root growth to be traced in soil. They could immediately help cereal breeders to select varieties with straighter roots from their genetic stocks, or aid in the development and deployment of new EGT1 alleles in the near future.”

Dr Lou undertook the research as part of a joint PhD program with the University of Nottingham, UK. The team’s findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Media contacts:

Dr Haoyu (Mia) Lou, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide.
Mobile: +61 (0)449 681 077, Email: haoyu.lou@adelaide.edu.au

Associate Professor Matthew Tucker, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide.
Mobile: +61 (0)403 314 740, Email: Matthew.tucker@adelaide.edu.au

Crispin Savage, Acting Manager, News and Media, The University of Adelaide.
Mobile: +61 (0)481 912 465, Email: crispin.savage@adelaide.edu.au

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2201350119 

Trilobites’ growth may have resembled that of modern marine crustaceans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Trilobites- extinct marine arthropods that roamed the world’s oceans from about 520 million years ago until they went extinct 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period - may have grown in a similar fashion and reached ages that match those of extant crustaceans, a new study has found.

In a paper published in the journal Paleobiology, researchers from the University of British Columbia and Uppsala University show that the Ordovician trilobite Triarthrus eatoni, some 450 million years ago, reached a length of just above 4 cm in about 10 years, with a growth curve very similar to that of small, slow-growing crustaceans.

“T. eatoni lived in low-oxygen environments and, similarly to extant crustaceans exposed to hypoxic conditions, exhibited low growth rates compared with growth under more oxygenated conditions,” said Daniel Pauly, principal investigator of UBC’s Sea Around Us initiative and lead author of the study. “Low-oxygen environments make is more difficult for water-breathers to grow, and add to the difficulties of breathing through gills, which, as 2D surfaces, cannot keep up with the growth of their 3D bodies. Thus, under hypoxic conditions, they must remain small if they are to maintain the rest of their body functions.”

In the case of trilobites, their exopods —external branches on the upper part of their limbs— functioned as gills. Thus, these ancient animals had similar growth constraints to those of their modern counterparts.

To reach these conclusions, Pauly and his colleague from Uppsala University, paleontologist James Holmes, resorted to the analysis of length-frequency data, a method developed within fisheries science and marine biology for studying the growth of fish and invertebrates lacking the physical markings that indicate their age. 

The information to perform their analysis was obtained from an earlier publication with information of the length frequency distribution of 295 exceptionally-preserved trilobite fossils collected at ‘Beecher’s Trilobite Bed’ in New York State.

After estimating the parameters of a growth model widely used in fisheries science, the von Bertalanffy growth function, the researchers compared their results with published data on the growth of extant crustaceans. They found that the growth parameters they estimated for Triarthrus eatoni were well within the range of recent, slow-growing crustaceans.

“These findings provide the first reasonable estimates of absolute growth in early animals using methods known to accurately characterize growth in comparable living species,” Holmes said. “They show us that nearly half-a-billion years ago, growth in marine arthropods like trilobites was similar to modern examples like crustaceans living in today’s oceans.”

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JOURNAL

Paleobiology

DOI

10.1017/pab.2022.22 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Reassessing growth and mortality estimates for the Ordovician trilobite Triarthrus eatoni

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Jul-2022

How did Earth avoid a Mars-like fate? Ancient rocks hold clues

New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

 

IMAGE: A DEPICTION OF EARTH, FIRST WITHOUT AN INNER CORE; SECOND, WITH AN INNER CORE BEGINNING TO GROW, AROUND 550 MILLION YEARS AGO; THIRD, WITH AN OUTERMOST AND INNERMOST INNER CORE, AROUND 450 MILLION YEARS AGO. UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER RESEARCHERS USED PALEOMAGNETISM TO DETERMINE THESE TWO KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE INNER CORE, WHICH THEY BELIEVE RESTORED THE PLANET’S MAGNETIC FIELD JUST BEFORE THE EXPLOSION OF LIFE ON EARTH. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ILLUSTRATION / MICHAEL OSADCIW

Approximately 1,800 miles beneath our feet, swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s outer core generates our planet’s protective magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is vital for life on Earth’s surface because it shields the planet from solar wind—streams of radiation from the sun.

About 565 million years ago, however, the magnetic field’s strength decreased to 10 percent of its strength today. Then, mysteriously, the field bounced back, regaining its strength just before the Cambrian explosion of multicellular life on Earth.

What caused the magnetic field to bounce back?

According to new research from scientists at the University of Rochester, this rejuvenation happened within a few tens of millions of years—rapid on geological timescales—and coincided with the formation of Earth’s solid inner core, suggesting that the core is likely a direct cause.

“The inner core is tremendously important,” says John Tarduno, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and dean of research for Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester. “Right before the inner core started to grow, the magnetic field was at the point of collapse, but as soon as the inner core started to grow, the field was regenerated.”

In the paper, published in Nature Communications, the researchers determined several key dates in the inner core’s history, including a more precise estimate for its age. The research provides clues about the history and future evolution of Earth and how it became a habitable planet, as well as the evolution of other planets in the solar system.

Unlocking information in ancient rocks

Earth is composed of layers: the crust, where life is situated; the mantle, Earth’s thickest layer; the molten outer core; and the solid inner core, which is, in turn, composed of an outermost inner core and an innermost inner core.

Earth’s magnetic field is generated in its outer core, where swirling liquid iron causes electric currents, driving a phenomenon called the geodynamo that produces the magnetic field.

Because of the magnetic field’s relationship to Earth’s core, scientists have been trying for decades to determine how Earth’s magnetic field and core have changed throughout our planet’s history. They cannot directly measure the magnetic field due to the location and extreme temperatures of materials in the core. Fortunately, minerals that rise to Earth’s surface contain tiny magnetic particles that lock in the direction and intensity of the magnetic field at the time the minerals cool from their molten state.

To better constrain the age and growth of the inner core, Tarduno and his team used a CO2 laser and the lab’s superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer to analyze feldspar crystals from the rock anorthosite. These crystals have minute magnetic needles within them that are “perfect magnetic recorders,” Tarduno says.

By studying the magnetism locked in ancient crystals—a field known as paleomagnetism—the researchers determined two new important dates in the history of the inner core:

• 550 million years ago: the time at which the magnetic field began to renew rapidly after a near collapse 15 million years before that. The researchers attribute the rapid renewal of the magnetic field to the formation of a solid inner core that recharged the molten outer core and restored the magnetic field’s strength.
• 450 million years ago: the time at which the growing inner core’s structure changed, marking the boundary between the innermost and outermost inner core. These changes in the inner core coincide with changes around the same time in the structure of the overlying mantel, due to plate tectonics on the surface.

“Because we constrained the inner core’s age more accurately, we could explore the fact that the present-day inner core is actually composed of two parts,” Tarduno says. “Plate tectonic movements on Earth’s surface indirectly affected the inner core, and the history of these movements is imprinted deep within Earth in the inner core’s structure.”

Avoiding a Mars-like fate

Better understanding the dynamics and growth of the inner core and the magnetic field has important implications, not only in uncovering Earth’s past and predicting its future, but in unraveling the ways in which other planets might form magnetic shields and sustain the conditions necessary to harbor life.

Researchers believe that Mars, for example, once had a magnetic field, but the field dissipated, leaving the planet vulnerable to solar wind and the surface ocean-less. While it is unclear whether the absence of a magnetic field would have caused Earth to meet the same fate, “Earth certainly would’ve lost much more water if Earth’s magnetic field had not been regenerated,” Tarduno says. “The planet would be much drier and very different than the planet today.”

In terms of planetary evolution, then, the research emphasizes the importance of a magnetic shield and a mechanism to sustain it, he says.

“This research really highlights the need to have something like a growing inner core that sustains a magnetic field over the entire lifetime—many billions of years—of a planet.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-31677-7 

ARTICLE TITLE

Early Cambrian renewal of the geodynamo and the origin of inner core structure

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Jul-2022

Smaller, stronger magnets could improve devices that harness the fusion power of the sun and stars

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DOE/PRINCETON PLASMA PHYSICS LABORATORY

 

IMAGE: PPPL PRINCIPAL ENGINEER YUHU ZHAI WITH IMAGES OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET, WHICH COULD IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF SPHERICAL TOKAMAK FUSION DEVICES. view more 

CREDIT: COLLAGE BY KIRAN SUDARSANAN / PPPL OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have found a way to build powerful magnets smaller than before, aiding the design and construction of machines that could help the world harness the power of the sun to create electricity without producing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

The scientists found a way to build high-temperature superconducting magnets that are made of material that conducts electricity with little or no resistance at temperatures warmer than before. Such powerful magnets would more easily fit within the tight space inside spherical tokamaks, which are shaped more like a cored apple than the doughnut-like shape of conventional tokamaks, and are being explored as a possible design for future fusion power plants.

Since the magnets could be positioned apart from other machinery in the spherical tokamak’s central cavity to corral the hot plasma that fuels fusion reactions, researchers could repair them without having to take anything else apart. “To do this, you need a magnet with a stronger magnetic field and a smaller size than current magnets,” said Yuhu Zhai, a principal engineer at PPPL and lead author of a paper reporting the results in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity. “The only way you do that is with superconducting wires, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Fusion, the power that drives the sun and stars, combines light elements in the form of plasma — the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei — that generates massive amounts of energy. Scientists are seeking to replicate fusion on Earth for a virtually inexhaustible supply of safe and clean power to generate electricity.

High-temperature superconducting magnets have several advantages over copper magnets. They can be turned on for longer periods than copper magnets can because they don’t heat up as quickly, making them better suited for use in future fusion power plants that will have to run for months at a time. Superconducting wires are also powerful, able to transmit the same amount of electrical current as a copper wire many times wider while producing a stronger magnetic field.

The magnets could also help scientists continue to shrink the size of tokamaks, improving performance and reducing construction cost. “Tokamaks are sensitive to the conditions in their central regions, including the size of the central magnet, or solenoid, the shielding, and the vacuum vessel,” said Jon Menard, PPPL’s deputy director for research. “A lot depends on the center. So if you can shrink things in the middle, you can shrink the whole machine and reduce cost while, in theory, improving performance.”

These new magnets take advantage of a technique refined by Zhai and researchers at Advanced Conductor Technologies, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, in Tallahassee, Florida. The technique means that the wires do not need conventional epoxy and glass fiber insulation to ensure the flow of electricity. While simplifying construction, the technique also lowers costs. “The costs to wind the coils are much lower because we don’t have to go through the expensive and error-prone epoxy vacuum-impregnation process,” Zhai said. “Instead, you’re directly winding the conductor into the coil form.”

Moreover, “high-temperature superconducting magnets can help spherical tokamak design because the higher current density and smaller windings provide more space for support structure that helps the device withstand the high magnetic fields, enhancing operating conditions,” said Thomas Brown, a PPPL engineer who contributed to the research. “Also, the smaller, more powerful magnets give the machine designer more options to design a spherical tokamak with geometry that could enhance overall tokamak performance. We’re not quite there yet but we’re closer, and maybe close enough.”

This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (Small Business Innovation Research and Laboratory Directed Research and Development).

PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, N.J., is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas — ultra-hot, charged gases — and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. The Laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science

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JOURNAL

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2022.3167343 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

HTS Cable Conductor for Compact Fusion Tokamak Solenoids