Sea level rise to dramatically speed up erosion of rock coastlines by 2100

Peer-Reviewed Publication

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

Imperial College London press release  

Sea level rise to dramatically speed up erosion of rock coastlines by 2100 

Rock coasts, which make up over half the world’s coastlines, could retreat more rapidly in the future due to accelerating sea level rise. 

This is according to new Imperial College London research that modelled likely future cliff retreat rates of two rock coasts in the UK. The forecasts are based on predictions of sea level rise for various greenhouse gas emissions and climate change scenarios.  

The study found that rock coasts, traditionally thought of as stable compared to sandy coasts and soft cliffs, are likely to retreat at a rate not seen for 3,000-5,000 years.  

At the UK study sites in Yorkshire and Devon, this will cause rock coast cliffs to retreat by at least 10-22 metres inland. The rate of erosion is likely between three and seven times today’s rate and potentially up to tenfold. 

Senior author Dr Dylan Rood, of Imperial’s Department of Earth Science said: “Coastal erosion is one of the greatest financial risks to society of any natural hazard. Some rock cliffs are already crumbling, and within the next century, rock coast erosion rates could increase tenfold. Even rock coasts that have been stable in the last hundred years will likely respond to sea level rise by 2030.” 

Globally, coasts are home to hundreds of millions of people and hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure like homes, businesses, nuclear power stations, transport links, and agriculture.  

The researchers are calling on policymakers, planners, and insurers to take action to classify rock coasts as high-risk areas in future planning for climate change response, as well as to limit climate change through achieving Net Zero as an immediate priority.  

Dr Rood added: “Rock coast erosion is irreversible: now is the time to limit future sea level rise before it’s too late. Humanity can directly control the fate of our coastlines by reducing greenhouse gas emissions — the future of our coasts is in our hands.” 

The research is published today in Nature Communications. 

A rocky road 

The new study is the first to validate models of the expected erosion of hard rock coasts from sea level rise using observational data over prehistoric timescales. Previous studies have mostly focused on theoretical models of soft, sandy coasts. The new results suggest that as sea levels continue to rise, the rate of rock coastal erosion will also accelerate. 

To study the future rate of erosion, the researchers looked at past and present cliff retreat rates on the coastlines near Scalby in Yorkshire and Bideford in Devon, finding that by 2100 they will likely retreat by 13-22m and 10-14m, respectively.  

They collected rock samples and analysed them for rare isotopes called cosmogenic radionuclides (CRNs) that build up in rocks exposed to cosmic rays. Concentrations of CRNs in rock reveal how quickly, and for how long, the rock has been exposed, reflecting the rate of erosion and retreat. 

They combined these data with observed coastal topography to calibrate a model that tracks the evolution of these rock coasts over time, before comparing them with rates of past sea level change dating back 8000 years. They found that the rate of coastal erosion on these two sites has closely matched the rate of sea level rise.  

The researchers say this is clear evidence of a causal relationship between cliff retreat and sea level from which future forecasts can be made, and that rock coasts are more sensitive to sea level rise than previously thought. The findings, they say, could be applied to rock coasts worldwide because the rock type is common globally, and similar hard rock coasts are likely to respond in a similar way to sea level rise. 

Lead author Dr Jennifer Shadrick, who conducted the work in Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering as a member of the NERC Science & Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Partnership, and now works in the marine and coastal risk management team at JBA Consulting, said: “Sea level rise is accelerating, and our results confirm that rock coast retreat will accelerate in line with this. It isn’t a matter of if, but when. 

“The more positive news is that, now that we have a better idea of magnitudes and timescales, we can adapt accordingly. The more data we have on the effects of climate change on sea level rise and coastal erosion, the more we can prepare by championing urgent policies that protect coasts and their communities.” 

Sea level rise 

As the climate warms, sea levels are forecast to rise one metre by 2100 unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. 

This study is the first to confirm with observational data that the rate of past coastal erosion followed the rate of sea level rise over prehistoric timescales. The researchers say this erosion was driven by waves, which will likely get larger and more forceful as future sea level rises, and more land is given over to the sea. 

While this study looked at the effects of sea level rise, it did not account for the effects of stronger storms, which some studies forecast will happen more frequently due to climate change. Next, the researchers will adapt their model to also forecast the rate of cliff retreat for softer rock coasts, such as chalk. 

Dr Rood said: “Our study did not account for the effect of increased storms, which may become stronger and more frequent in the future as the climate changes, on wave-driven cliff erosion. However, increased storms would only speed up the cliff retreat even more than our forecasts. This is another angle to the climate crisis we will account for in future studies to give a more complete picture of likely rates of rock coast erosion. We are also looking to improve our models for softer rock coasts where erosion other than by waves is more important.” 

Dr Shadrick said: “The findings are a stark warning that we must better adapt to coastal retreat or face the loss of the people, homes, and infrastructure that call coastal areas home.” 

Study co-author Dr Martin Hurst at the University of Glasgow said: “The implication is that rock coasts are more sensitive to sea level rise than previously thought. We need to pay more attention to how our rock coasts continue to erode as sea levels rise. 

“Heightened erosion risks at our coasts will continue throughout this century. Even if we achieve Net Zero tomorrow, a substantive amount of sea level rise is already baked in as our climate, glaciers and oceans continue to respond to the emissions that have already taken place.”

This study was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), the British Geological Survey (BGS), and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). 

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Sea-level rise will likely accelerate rock coast cliff retreat rates

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Nov-2022

LABs fermentation side-product positively influences rhizosphere and plant growth in greenhouse lettuce and tomatoes

Scientists at Università Cattolica at Piacenza have shown that they work as well as chemical fertilizers and can reduce their use by 30 percent.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE

Researchers from the Università Cattolica at Piacenza, have developed a new 'bio and green' fertilizer from food chain waste, specifically from the waste of the productions of lactic acid bacteria that currently have to be eliminated through purification processes.

This is the result of  the study published in the peer review journal Land and coordinated by Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, professor of Food Microbiology at the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at Cattolica University, and Edoardo Puglisi of the Department of Food Science and Technology for a Sustainable Food Supply Chain - DiSTAS. The study was carried out in collaboration with the company Sacco srl of Cadorago (CO) and the agronomic assay center LandLab srl of quinto Vicentino (VI); Gabriele Bellotti, a PhD student at the Agrisystem School of the Università Cattolica, is the first author.

LACTIC ACID BACTERIA

Lactic acid bacteria are a group of microorganisms capable of fermenting various substrates, giving rise to numerous products of interest to the agri-food and industrial sectors. Lactic acid bacteria are involved in the production of cheeses, fermented milks, and sausages.

"Lactic acid bacteria," Professor Cocconcelli says, "are produced for food and nutraceutical use, to produce foods, beverages and probiotics. Normally the waste from the culture substrate used in the production of lactic acid bacteria is cleared off by using purification plants; this is several thousand tons of waste produced each year in Italy."

THE HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS

"The agricultural plant production sector is subject to new and complex challenges determined also by international economic and geopolitical conjunctures," Professor Pier Sandro Cocconcelli emphasizes, "as well as by an increasing attention of citizens and consumers towards environmental protection. The European Commission has committed, accordingly with the Farm to Fork strategy, to reduce by 2030the use of fertilizers by 20 percent, nutrient losses from the soil by 50 percent, and the use of chemical pesticides by 50 percent. Moreover, the geopolitical situation and especially the conflict in Ukraine have sharply raised prices of raw materials used in agriculture, starting with chemical fertilizers. "In this scenario, circular economy approaches, aimed at enhancing industrial waste by minimizing waste and reducing dependence on external inputs," Professor Cocconcelli says. 

THE STUDY.

The Italian researchers showed how it is possible to recycle waste from industrial production of lactic acid bacteria as fertilizers and biostimulants in agriculture. 

Specifically, the trials focused on greenhouse cultivation of tomatoes and lettuce and demonstrated how the use of these industrial wastes makes it possible to reduce the amount of chemical nitrogen fertilizers by 30 percent, without reducing production at all and also improving some physiological characteristics of the plant. 

In addition, they estimated that this approach could reduce by 40 percent greenhouse gas emissions associated with chemical fertilizer production. 

"Extensive chemical, microbiological and ecotoxicological analyses have ruled out any negative impact on the environment and soil, indeed showing effects of promoting microorganisms useful for plant growth and defense," Professor Edoardo Puglisi explains.

The advantage of using this fertilizer would be that it would simultaneously nourish the plant (with direct and indirect nutrients), the soil bacteria that have positive effects on the plant, and the soil itself (enriching the humification rate of the soil). "It would thus be an ecological fertilizer in the broadest possible meaning, able to stimulate the whole system and not just one organism at the expense of others," Professor Cocconcelli points out. 

"This study shows the ability of research in the agricultural sector to quickly provide solutions to contingent emergencies in the sector," Professor Puglisi concludes; it is also a virtuous example of technology transfer, demonstrated by the fact that the company Sacco srl involved in the project is now recycling more than 700 tons per year of residues from their production process with this approach.

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JOURNAL

Land

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

LABs Fermentation Side-Product Positively Influences Rhizosphere and Plant Growth in Greenhouse Lettuce and Tomatoes

MINING IS UNSUSTAINABLE

12.3 million EU project will digitize the mining industry and ensure increased sustainability

The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute will lead he high-level, industry-driven multidisciplinary consortium with partners from Norway, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands

Business Announcement

NORWEGIAN GEOTECHNICAL INSTITUTE

 

IMAGE: NGI'S SEAN SALAZAR (LEFT) WILL LEAD DINAMINE AND MAHDI SHABANIMASHCOOL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROJECT'S TECHNICAL CONCEPT. PHOTO: NGI. view more 

CREDIT: NGI

Today, Europe imports many of the mineral resources needed to produce everything from mobile phones, renewable energy, and modern defence equipment from, among other places, Asia. In the coming decades, it is expected that the need for minerals will increase heavily. In Europe, small and medium-sized mines account for more than half of the value added.

"These mines play a decisive role for Europe to become more independent of imports and more competitive in terms of sustainability – both economically and environmentally, but also socially, through responsible mining practices," says NGI's senior engineer Sean Salazar who will lead this 3.5-year project.

DINAMINE, which stands for "Digital and Innovative MINE of the future", is an Innovation Action that was recently granted under Horizon Europe, the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation. DINAMINE will develop an innovative and holistic mine management system that aims to change and modernize the industry.

"The keyword to bring about this paradigm shift is digitalization. With DINAMINE, we want to demonstrate how we can build a more sustainable industry through innovative solutions," states NGI's senior engineer Mahdi Shabanimashcool, who is responsible for the project's technical concept.

11 European project partners

In the next 3.5 years, NGI will lead the 12.3 million Euro project. The high-level, industry-driven multidisciplinary consortium is comprised of partners from Norway, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. New technologies to be developed and demonstrated include:

• A smart database system for real-time integration of various types of information such as geological and geophysical data, mineral resources, geomechanics, mineral processing data, tailing and environmental data. The data system will be utilised in combination with the economical and practical factors for holistic mine planning, monitoring, and managing.
• A machine vision-based technology for improving rock engineering-related activities such as rock mass mapping, optimising rock blasting, and suggesting relevant stabilising measures. This will be achieved by incorporating the technology in a semi-autonomous jumbo drill.
• Real-time geomechanical monitoring technology for underground openings and open pits.

Besides having the role of project coordinator, NGI is responsible for developing major parts of the above-mentioned technologies. This development work will be led by Salazar (consortium lead) and Shabanimashcool (technical lead) and will involve multiple scientists with technical disciplines from across NGI.

The technology that will be developed will be tested at two demonstration sites in Norway and Portugal, under the auspices of Norwegian Skaland Graphite and Portuguese Felmica Minerais Industriais, respectively. The test sites have been selected to be representative of European regions, raw materials, and value chains.

Illustrative photo of mining. Photo: Abert Hyseni, Unsplash.

DINAMINE PROJECT PARTNERS:

Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (Norway)
Skaland Graphite AS (Norway)
Felmica Minerais Industriais SA (Portugal)
Worldsensing SL (Spain)
SINTEF Nord AS (Norway)
SINTEF AS (Norway)
SINTEF Helgeland AS (Norway)
National Institute of Chemistry (Slovenia)
AMV AS (Norway)
Ciaotech Srl (Italy)
SPECTRAL Industries BV (Netherlands)

 

CAPTION

Overview of partners in the EU-project DINAMINE.

CREDIT

NGI

What Darwin would discover today

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KONSTANZ

 

IMAGE: FILMMAKER VICTOR RAULT SET SAIL FROM PLYMOUTH ON THE CAPTAIN DARWIN IN 2021, FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DARWIN'S HMS BEAGLE. HE WANTS TO EXPLORE HOW THE ECOSYSTEM HAS CHANGED SINCE DARWIN'S VOYAGE IN 1832. view more 

CREDIT: VICTOR RAULT / CAPTAIN DARWIN

• Video and photo gallery of the expedition available at: https://www.campus.uni-konstanz.de/en/science/what-darwin-would-discover-today

"If Charles Darwin had had the opportunity to dive off the Cape Verde Islands, he would have been completely thrilled", Eduardo Sampaio is convinced, because Darwin would have seen a fascinating, species-rich landscape. But he lacked the diving equipment. Thus, in his notes The Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin described Cape Verde as a barren landscape.

Eduardo Sampaio, affiliate member of the Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" (CASCB) at the University of Konstanz, had quite the opposite experience. He was invited on board the ship Captain Darwin by filmmaker Victor Rault to continue his octopus research.

Victor Rault, 30, set sail from Plymouth on the Captain Darwin in 2021, following in the footsteps of Darwin's HMS Beagle. He wants to explore how the ecosystem has changed since Darwin's voyage on the HMS Beagle in 1832. Researchers and citizens have been invited to travel along and conduct experiments in the spirit of Darwin. "When Victor told me about his project, I was baffled", recalls biologist Eduardo Sampaio from Portugal. He says: "It was immediately clear to me that it's an excellent idea to retrace the path of Charles Darwin. I was more than keen to jump on board!"

What do octopuses see in a mirror image?
Eduardo Sampaio spent ten days on the Captain Darwin. The focus was on the dives: The biologist, who works with the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, actually wanted to observe the joint hunting behaviour of octopuses and fish. However, as it was mating season, the animals rarely showed themselves. If they came out, they wanted to interact with other octopuses and did not hunt at all.

So, he spontaneously changed his research project and conducted a mirror test instead: "We wanted to determine whether the octopuses could realize that they were seeing another individual in the mirror." In the evening on board, the crew watched the video footage: "When the octopus approached the mirror, it changed colour – but only the side facing the mirror changed. That was very fascinating to watch", says Eduardo Sampaio. In a further experiment, the researcher now wants to test whether the octopuses can even recognize themselves.

Bringing Darwin's research style up to date
In the evenings, Eduardo Sampaio read Darwin's The Origin of Species, because "it inspired me". Often, he wondered: "How can we update Darwin's kind of scientific work with the new methods we have today, like machine learning and computer vision, to better understand how animals move in their natural habitats or use different strategies to exploit social information?" He does not have an answer yet, but may find it the next time he sails on the Captain Darwin.

Great support for scientists who do not have the necessary resources
Eduardo Sampaio will be back on board the Captain Darwin: "This trip, launched as a Citizen Science project, is a great support for researchers who don't have the means to do this kind of field research, especially for researchers from disadvantaged areas and in countries where research structures are not so well equipped." Much of the work that researchers usually have to handle themselves was taken over, such as obtaining permits, purchasing equipment and raising funds. "I also realized that citizens can play a much more active role in science than just collecting data", says Eduardo Sampaio, who hopes that this sailing trip will be a prelude to more exciting Citizen Science expeditions. Eduardo Sampaio and Victor Rault also wrote a report about the collaboration published in PLOS Biology on 15 November 2022.

Key facts

• Dr Eduardo Sampaio from the Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" and researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior participated in a Citizen Science-led expedition
• Publication on the benefits of such research projects in PLOS Biology: Sampaio E, Rault V (2022) Citizen-led expeditions can generate scientific knowledge and prospects for researchers. PLoS Biol 20(11):e3001872. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001872

  

What do octopuses see in a mirror image? “When the octopus approached the mirror, it changed colour – but only the side facing the mirror changed", says Eduardo Sampaio.

CREDIT

Victor Rault / Captain Darwin

Dr Eduardo Sampaio from the Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" and researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

CREDIT

Copyright: Victor Rault / Captain Darwin

Note to editors:
You can download photos here:

Photo 1: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2022_EXSTRA/was_darwin_heute.jpg
Caption: Filmmaker Victor Rault set sail from Plymouth on the Captain Darwin in 2021, following in the footsteps of Darwin's HMS Beagle. He wants to explore how the ecosystem has changed since Darwin's voyage in 1832.
Copyright: Victor Rault / Captain Darwin

Photo 2: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2022_EXSTRA/was_darwin_heute_2.jpg
Caption: Dr Eduardo Sampaio from the Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" and researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Copyright: Victor Rault / Captain Darwin

Photo 3: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2022_EXSTRA/was_darwin_heute_3.jpg
Caption: What do octopuses see in a mirror image? “When the octopus approached the mirror, it changed colour – but only the side facing the mirror changed", says Eduardo Sampaio.
Copyright: Victor Rault / Captain Darwin

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JOURNAL

PLoS Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pbio.3001872 

ARTICLE TITLE

Citizen-led expeditions can generate scientific knowledge and prospects for researchers

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Nov-2022

Lab grown 'mini eyes’ unlock understanding of blindness in rare genetic condition

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Researchers at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) have grown ‘mini eyes', which make it possible to study and better understand the development of blindness in a rare genetic disease called Usher syndrome for the first time.

The 3D ‘mini eyes’, known as organoids, were grown from stem cells generated from skin samples donated by patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). In a healthy eye, rod cells - the cells which detect light - are arranged in the back of the eye in an important region responsible for processing images called the retina. In this research, published in Stem Cell Reports1, the team found that they could get rod cells to organise themselves into layers that mimic their organisation in the retina, producing a ‘mini eye’.

These ‘mini eyes’ are an important step forward because previous research using animal cells couldn’t mimic the same sort of sight loss as that seen in Usher syndrome.

Usher syndrome is the most common genetic cause of combined deafness and blindness, affecting approximately three to ten in 100,000 people worldwide. Children with Type 1 Usher syndrome are often born profoundly deaf, while their sight slowly deteriorates until they are blind by adulthood.

Although cochlear implants can help with hearing loss, there are currently no treatments for retinitis pigmentosa, which causes vision loss in Usher syndrome. While this research is in early stages, these steps towards understanding the condition and how to design a future treatment could give hope to those who are due to lose their sight.

The ‘mini eyes’ developed in this research allow scientists to study light-sensing cells from the human eye at an individual level, and in more detail than ever before. For example, using powerful single cell RNA-sequencing, it is the first time researchers have been able to view the tiny molecular changes in rod cells before they die. Using the ‘mini eyes’, the team discovered that Müller cells, responsible for metabolic and structural support of the retina, are also involved in Usher syndrome. They found that cells from people with Usher syndrome abnormally have genes turned on for stress responses and protein breakdown. Reversing these could be the key to preventing how the disease progresses and worsens.

As the ‘mini eyes’ are grown from cells donated by patients with and without the genetic ‘fault’ that causes Usher syndrome, the team can compare healthy cells and those that will lead to blindness.

Understanding these differences could provide clues to changes that happen in the eye before a child’s vision begins to deteriorate. In turn, this could provide clues to the best targets for early treatment - crucial to providing the best outcome.

Dr Yeh Chwan Leong, Research Associate at UCL GOS ICH and first author said: “It’s difficult to study the inaccessible tiny nerve cells of the patient’s retina as they are so intricately connected and delicately positioned at the back of the eye. By using a small biopsy of skin, we now have the technology to reprogramme the cells into stem cells and then create lab-grown retina with the same DNA, and therefore same genetic conditions, as our patients.”

Professor Jane Sowden, Professor of Developmental Biology & Genetics at UCL, and senior author, said: “We are very grateful to patients and families who donate these samples to research so that, together, we can further our understanding of genetic eye conditions, like Usher syndrome.

Although a while off, we hope that these models can help us to one day develop treatments that could save the sight of children and young people with Usher syndrome."

The ‘mini eye’ model for eye diseases could also help teams understand other inherited conditions in which there is the death of rod cells in the eye, such as forms of retinitis pigmentosa without deafness. Additionally, the technology used to grow faithful models of disease from human skin cells can be used for a number of other diseases - this is an area of expertise at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children at UCL GOS ICH.

Future research will create ‘mini eyes’ from more patient samples, and use them to identify treatments, for example by testing different drugs. In the future, it may be possible to edit a patient’s DNA in specific cells in their eyes to avoid blindness.

This research was funded by National Institute for Health and Care Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, Medical Research Council, GOSH Children's Charity and Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children.

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JOURNAL

Stem Cell Reports

DOI

10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.09.006 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Molecular pathology of Usher 1B patient-derived retinal organoids at single cell resolution

Moral behavior pays off

Coupling two approaches of game theory can shed light on how moral norms evolve

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

Selfless behaviour and cooperation cannot be taken for granted. Mohammad Salahshour of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (now at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior), has used a game theory-based approach to show why it can be worthwhile for individuals to set self-interests aside.

One of the most fundamental questions facing humanity is: why do we behave morally? Because it is by no means self-evident that under certain circumstances we set our self-interest aside and put ourselves in the service of a group – sometimes to the point of self-sacrifice. Many theories have been developed to get to the bottom of this moral conundrum. There are two well-known proposed solutions: that individuals help their relatives so that the common genes survive (kin selection), and that the principle of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" applies. If people help each other, everyone benefits in the end (principle of reciprocity).

Prisoner’s dilemma combined with a coordination game

Mathematician Mohammad Salahshour of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, has used the tools of game theory to explain the emergence of moral norms – because game theory studies how people make rational decisions in conflict situations. For Salahshour, the question at the outset was: why do moral norms exist in the first place? And why do we have different, or even contrasting moral norms? For example, while some norms such as “help others”, promote self-sacrificing behaviour, others, such as dress codes, appear not to have much to do with curbing selfishness. To answer these questions, Salahshour coupled two games: first, the classic prisoner's dilemma, in which two players must decide whether to cooperate for a small reward or betray themselves for a much larger reward (social dilemma). This game can be a typical example of a social dilemma, where success of a group as a whole requires individuals to behave selflessly. In this game everybody loses out if too many members of a group behave selfishly, compared to a scenario in which everybody acts altruistically. However, if only a few individuals behave selfishly, they can receive a better outcome than their altruistic team members. .Second, a game that focuses on typical decisions within groups, such as a coordination task, distribution of resources, choice of a leader, or conflict resolution. Many of these problems can be ultimately categorized as coordination or anticoordination problems.

Without coupling the two games, it is clear that in the Prisoner's Dilemma, cooperation does not pay off, and self-interested behaviour is the best choice from the individual’s perspective if there are enough people who act selflessly. But individuals who act selfishly are not able to solve coordination problems efficiently and lose a lot of resources due to failing to coordinate their activity. The situation can be completely different when the results of the two games are considered as a whole and there are moral norms at work which favour cooperation: now cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma can suddenly pay off because the gain in the second game more than compensates for the loss in the first game.  

Out of self-interest to coordination and cooperation

As a result of this process, not only cooperative behaviour emerges, but also a social order. All individuals benefit from it – and for this reason, moral behaviour pay off for them. "In my evolutionary model, there were no selfless behaviours at the beginning, but more and more moral norms emerged as a result of the coupling of the two games," Salahshour reports. "Then I observed a sudden transition to a system where there is a lot of cooperation." In this “moral state”, a set of norms of coordination evolve which help individuals to better coordinate their activity, and it is precisely through this that social norms and moral standards can emerge. However, coordination norms favour cooperation: cooperation turns out to be a rewarding behaviour for the individual as well. Mahammad Salahshour: “A moral system behaves like a Trojan horse: once established out of the individuals’ self-interest to promote order and organization, it also brings self-sacrificing cooperation”.

Through his work, Salahshour hopes to better understand social systems. "This can help improve people's lives in the future," he explains. "But you can also use my game-theoretic approach to explain the emergence of social norms in social media. There, people exchange information and make strategic decisions at the same time – for example, who to support or what cause to support." Again, he said, two dynamics are at work at once: the exchange of information and the emergence of cooperative strategies. Their interplay is not yet well understood – but perhaps game theory will soon shed new light on this topical issue as well.

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JOURNAL

PLoS Computational Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010429 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Interaction between games give rise to the evolution of moral norms of cooperation

Research suggests that children who doubt their gender identity enter puberty earlier

A new study from Aarhus University shows that children who have expressed a desire at the age of 11 to be a different gender enter puberty earlier than their peers. However, more research is required, says the researchers behind the study.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

A new study from Aarhus University shows that children who have expressed a desire at the age of 11 to be a different gender enter puberty earlier than their peers. However, more research is required, says the researchers behind the study.

The transition to puberty can be difficult for children who are afflicted by doubt about their own gender identity. New research from the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University suggests that these children also enter puberty earlier than children who are not in doubt about their gender identity. Master’s programme student Anne Hjorth Thomsen and Professor Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen are behind the study.

The study, which is one of the first in the world to examine the correlation between children’s desire to be the opposite gender and their development in puberty, was undertaken as part of the research project “Better Health for Generations” (BSIG), which has monitored 100,000 Danish women’s pregnancies and births, as well as the growth and development of their children, since 1996.

In the study, the children were asked at the age of 11 about a possible desire to be the opposite gender. This information was then combined with data in which, every six months, the children reported their current stage in various puberty milestones. At age 11, around 5% of the children in the study reported either a partial or a full desire to be the opposite gender.

“The results indicate that children who at age 11 reported a desire to be the opposite gender tended to go into puberty before children who had not expressed a desire to change their gender. In the study, both birth-assigned boys and girls with a previous expressed desire to change gender entered puberty around two months earlier than their peers,” says Anne Hjorth Thomsen.

Anne Hjorth Thomsen stresses that more research is needed before any final conclusions can be drawn, but that it is important that health staff are aware of children’s previous puberty development.

“Health professionals may encounter a desire to slow down puberty, because the child may not feel comfortable in their own body, or able to identify with it. It is therefore important that the healthcare professionals possess basic knowledge about the puberty development of the children, so that treatment can be applied at the right time.”

Anne Hjorth Thomsen and Professor Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen recommend that the research results be followed up by new studies.

“In this study, we see earlier puberty development among children who wish to be the opposite gender, compared to children who do not wish to be the opposite gender. But we do not know whether the children’s own gender perception affects their puberty development, or whether there may be other explanations. We do not know the underlying causes,” says Anne Hjorth Thomsen.

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Behind the research results:

• Type of study: Cohort study
• Partners: Centre for Sexology Research, Aalborg University Hospital, Centre for Gender, Sexuality and Difference, University of Copenhagen
• Conflicts of interest: None
• Read the scientific article: https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(22)00474-5/fulltext

Read more about 'Better health for Generations' here: https://www.bsig.dk

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JOURNAL

Fertility and Sterility

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Gender incongruence and timing of puberty: a population-based cohort study

Black holes in eccentric orbit

Researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Turin (Italy) decipher gravitational wave signal GW190521

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER-UNIVERSITAET JENA

 

IMAGE: ROSSELLA GAMBA, PHD STUDENT AT THE GERMAN UNIVERSITY OF JENA, IS FIRST AUTHOR OF THE PUBLICATION. view more 

CREDIT: (IMAGE: ANNE GÜNTHER/UNIVERSITY OF JENA)

Jena/Turin (18.11.2022) When black holes collide in the universe, the clash shakes up space and time: the amount of energy released during the merger is so great that it causes space-time to oscillate, similar to waves on the surface of water. These gravitational waves spread out through the entire universe and can still be measured thousands of light years away, as was the case on 21 May 2019, when the two gravitational wave observatories LIGO (USA) and Virgo (Italy) captured such a signal. Named GW190521 after the date of its discovery, the gravitational wave event has since provoked discussion among experts because it differs markedly from previously measured signals.

The signal had initially been interpreted to mean that the collision involved two black holes moving in near-circular orbits around each other. “Such binary systems can be created by a number of astrophysical processes,” explains Prof. Sebastiano Bernuzzi, a theoretical physicist from the University of Jena, Germany. Most of the black holes discovered by LIGO and Virgo, for example, are of stellar origin. “That means they are the remnants of massive stars in binary star systems,” adds Bernuzzi, who led the current study. Such black holes orbit each other in quasi-circular orbits, just as the original stars did previously.

One black hole captures a second

“GW190521 behaves significantly differently, however,” explains Rossella Gamba. The lead author of the publication is doing her doctorate in Jena Research Training Group 2522 and is part of Bernuzzi’s team. “Its morphology and explosion-like structure are very different from previous observations.” So, Rossella Gamba and her colleagues set out to find an alternative explanation for the unusual gravitational wave signal. Using a combination of state-of-the-art analytical methods and numerical simulations on supercomputers, they calculated different models for the cosmic collision. They came to the conclusion that it must have occurred on a strongly eccentric path instead of a quasi-circular one. A black hole initially moves freely in an environment that is relatively densely filled with matter and, as soon as it gets close to another black hole, it can be “captured” by the other’s gravitational field. This also leads to the formation of a binary system, but here the two black holes do not orbit in a circle, but move eccentrically, in tumbling motions around each other.

“Such a scenario explains the observations much better than any other hypothesis presented so far. The probability is 1:4300,” says Matteo Breschi, doctoral student and co-author of the study, who developed the infrastructure for the analysis. And postdoctoral researcher Dr Gregorio Carullo adds: “Even though we don’t currently know exactly how common such dynamic movements by black holes are, we don’t expect them to be a frequent occurrence.” This makes the current results all the more exciting, he adds. Nevertheless, more research is needed to clarify beyond doubt the processes that created GW190521.

Teamwork in the Research Training Group

For the current project, the teams in Turin and Jena (as part of the German Research Foundation-funded Jena Research Training Group 2522 “Dynamics and Criticality in Quantum and Gravitational Systems”) developed a general relativistic framework for the eccentric merger of black holes and verified the analytical predictions using simulations of Einstein’s equations. For the first time, models of dynamic encounters were used in the analysis of gravitational wave observation data.

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JOURNAL

Nature Astronomy

DOI

10.1038/s41550-022-01813-w 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

ARTICLE TITLE

GW190521 as a dynamical capture of two nonspinning black holes.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Nov-2022