Thursday, November 30, 2023

Rice husk and recycled newspaper may be the eco-friendly insulation material of the future

Scientists develop an insulation material made of rice husk and cellulose; an eco-friendly mix based on materials often considered waste

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

Composition panels — IMAGE:
THREE TESTED COMPOSITION PANELS
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CREDIT: UNIVERSIDAD TECNOLÓGICA DE PANAMÁ, GRUPO DE INVESTIGACIÓN: INICIATIVA DE INTEGRACIÓN DE TECNOLOGÍAS PARA EL DESARROLLO DE SOLUCIONES INGENIERILES (I2TEDSI)

The building sector is the second largest sector in plastic consumption and is responsible for more than a third of energy related greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Manufacturing processes of construction materials pollute air, land, and water. Accordingly, construction materials made from agro-industrial waste become increasingly attractive due to their lower environmental impact.

To contribute to a new generation of materials made from what is often considered waste, researchers in Panama have now developed a rice husk-based insulation material and evaluated its thermal and mechanical properties. They have published their results in Frontiers in Built Environment.

“Here we show that is possible to create alternative insulating material from recycled newspaper and rice husk,” said Dr Nacarí Marín Calvo, a researcher at the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Centro Regional de Azuero and first author of the article. “The developed material has competitive thermal conductivity compared to many natural and recycled insulation materials.”

A four-ingredient recipe

In rural Panama, where the study was conducted, rice husk is considered agricultural waste, normally disposed of in landfills or incinerated, which makes it a significant environmental concern. To produce the mix, the husks were shredded. Then cellulose, obtained from recycled and shredded newspaper, was added, followed by borax, which made the mix resistant against fungi and gave it fire retardant properties. All components were bonded with glue.

The researchers tested different material compositions to verify the behavior of the material when more or less rice husk was used. The first mix was made from 14% newspaper, 9% rice husk, 15% borax, and 62% glue. In the other two compositions, the amount of rice husk was increased, while the amount of newspaper was decreased. The amounts of borax and glue remained unchanged. “We found that the results were similar in all three compositions in k-values, maximum stresses, and compressive strength values,” said Marín Calvo.

Head-to-head with other natural materials

Thermal conductivity, also often called k-value, describes the ability of a material to conduct heat. A lower value means the material is more suited for insulation. For the tested compositions, the k-value ranged between 0.0409-0.04607 watts per meter Kelvin (W/mK). Other natural and recycled insulation materials have k-values ranging from 0.027 to 0.1 W/ m/K.

Tensile strength is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. Testing showed that maximum stress in average tension ranged from 1.31 to 1.76 megapascals (MPa) for the three compositions. Pascal is the unit used to measure the force applied in a 90° angle on the surface of an object. Materials based on cardboard, cement, and sand have similar tensile strength values.

The compressive strength values obtained were between 20.19 and 21.23 MPa. Compressive strength describes a material’s ability to withstand being pushed together. The obtained values allowed the researchers to verify the possibility of using the developed material in construction applications.

Beyond building

The researchers pointed out that in the future, more studies would be needed to confirm the material’s insulating properties, and how it handles climates different to the high humidity of Panama. “As a part of future research, we are evaluating the degradation of the developed material under ambient controlled conditions,” Marín Calvo said.

Further research could also include other configurations, such as the addition of long fibers pointing in one direction to reinforce the behavior of the material in tension. “We can conclude that the material could also potentially be used in various engineering domains, including the production of lightweight components, construction panels, and sustainable packaging,” Marín Calvo concluded.

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Samples from tensile strength testing

Temperature measuring

CREDIT

Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Grupo de Investigación: Iniciativa de Integración de Tecnologías para el Desarrollo de Soluciones Ingenieriles (I2TEDSI)

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Built Environment

DOI

10.3389/fbuil.2023.1271317

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Thermal insulation material produced from recycled materials for building applications: Cellulose and rice husk-based material

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Nov-2023

Building blocks for life could have formed near new stars and planets

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. According to research published in ACS Central Science, the simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed alongside stars or planets within interstellar ices. The findings could be used to train deep space instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in distant, star-forming regions of the universe.

It has long been hypothesized that one of the building blocks for life, amino acids, could have formed during reactions in the “primordial soup” of the early, prebiotic Earth. However, another theory suggests that amino acids could have been carried to the Earth’s surface by meteorites. These space rocks might have picked up the molecules from dust or interstellar ices — water and other gases frozen solid by the cold temperatures of outer space. But because meteorites came from far away in the universe, scientists are left wondering, where did these molecules form, and when? To help answer these questions, Ralf Kaiser, Agnes Chang and colleagues wanted to investigate the chemical reactions that might have taken place in interstellar ices that once existed near newly forming stars and planets.

The team created model interstellar ices containing ammonia and carbon dioxide, which were deposited onto a silver substrate and slowly heated. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, they found that carbamic acid and ammonium carbamate started to form at -348 degrees Fahrenheit and -389 degrees (62 and 39 Kelvin), respectively. These low temperatures demonstrate that these molecules — which can turn into more complex amino acids — could have formed during the earliest, coldest stages of star formation. In addition, the researchers found that at warmer temperatures, similar to those produced by a newly formed star, two carbamic acid molecules could link together, making a stable gas. The team hypothesized that these molecules could have been incorporated into the raw materials of solar systems including our own and then delivered to the early Earth by comets or meteorites once the planet formed. They hope this work will inform future studies that use powerful telescopes to look for evidence of prebiotic molecules in the far reaches of space.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Division for Astronomy of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The paper’s abstract will be available on Nov. 29 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.3c01108

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The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Note: ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

JOURNAL

ACS Central Science

DOI

10.1021/acscentsci.3c01108

ARTICLE TITLE

Thermal Synthesis of Carbamic Acid and Its Dimer in Interstellar Ices: A Reservoir of Interstellar Amino Acids

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Nov-2023

Study highlights the vulnerability of England’s only resident bottlenose dolphins

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

England’s only resident population of bottlenose dolphins is under serious threat from a combination of human activity, environmental pollution and difficulties in rearing young that survive into adulthood, according to new research.

For almost a decade, scientists and conservation groups based along the English Channel coast have been working together with citizen scientists to monitor the movements and distribution of this population.

This has enabled them to establish the most detailed picture yet of this population, their movements and social interactions, and the challenges they face on a daily basis.

Writing in the journal Animal Conservation, the researchers report that as a result of their ongoing research they estimate the pod currently consists of just 48 individual dolphins.

That is less than half the size of most coastal bottlenose dolphin populations, and around 10 times smaller than a pod known to inhabit the Channel coast of France.

Their fight for survival is made even more challenging by the fact they inhabit some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and also coastal waters known to suffer from repeated and prolonged spells of pollution and fishing pressure.

These findings have led the researchers to call for urgent measures to protect the population and its habitats, or risk the possibility that this group of animals may not survive.

The ongoing research is being led by Cornwall Wildlife Trust and scientists at the University of Plymouth, who have been having working with a range of partners along the Channel coast over a number of years to collate and analyse sightings data, through the South Coast Bottlenose Dolphin Consortium.

This particular study is the result of work by former Marine Biology MRes student Shauna Corr, and former MSc Marine Conservation students Rebecca Dudley and Saskia Duncan, supervised by Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Dr Simon Ingram.

Dr Ingram, who leads the bottlenose dolphin research project and is senior author on the study, said: “Bottlenose dolphins are highly intelligent and social animals with complex cultures. They are known to have some of the closest interactions with humans of any species on the planet, but because they live in the sea, and not on land, they go unseen by most people and we fail to appreciate quite how amazing yet vulnerable they are. This population lives along one of the most developed and busy coastlines in the world which poses a clear threat to their conservation. To see the south coast population decline to extinction would be a local tragedy for the dolphins and for us.”

This population of bottlenose dolphins was first documented by scientists in the mid-1990s and became the subject of detailed scientific analysis again in 2017 due to concerns raised by Cornwall Wildlife Trust about their plight and vulnerability to human impacts.

Individual bottlenose dolphins can be identified from their unique fin markings enabling scientists to build up a catalogue of known dolphins which, through repeated sightings, enabled the MSc students to track the movements of individual dolphins over several years.

To achieve this, a citizen science network of boat owners, ecotour operators and members of the public was established along the length of the south coast from Cornwall to Sussex to pool sightings from the entire coast.

As a result of the South Coast Bottlenose Dolphin Consortium was formed and to date has yielded almost 7,500 sighting reports generated between 2000 and 2019.

These repeat sightings revealed that dolphins from this pod travel the coast between North Cornwall and East Sussex, with some individuals known to have travelled up to 760km between sightings.

The population appears to be isolated with individuals known to socialise within their own pod close to the shore but not with others from other populations normally found in the open sea.

The study’s authors hope this information will be used by statutory marine conservation organisations to provide better protection for this highly vulnerable population and to take appropriate measures in order for the pod to survive.

Shauna Corr added: “Conservation measures to protect these animals have previously been hindered by a lack of knowledge of population size, distribution, and ranging behaviour. Thanks to a citizen science network stretching right along the English Channel and beyond, we can now fill these knowledge gaps. By highlighting the most damaging human activities, and regions of conservation significance, our results will be useful for developing management policies for threat mitigation and population conservation, to protect this vulnerable group.”

About the University of Plymouth

The University of Plymouth is renowned worldwide for its high-quality research, teaching and innovation. With a mission to Advance Knowledge and Transform Lives, the University drives the global debate in disciplines from marine and maritime to medicine, law, computing and climate action.

With a city centre campus and further state-of-the-art facilities spread across Plymouth and beyond, plus Devon and Cornwall’s stunning coast and countryside on the doorstep, the University provides a unique blend of urban and outdoor lifestyle opportunities for everyone who studies and works here. A three-time winner of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education – most recently in respect of its pioneering research on microplastics pollution in the ocean – Plymouth consistently ranks among the world’s leading universities for its innovation, research and teaching in relation to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Plymouth’s teaching and learning excellence is reflected in one of the highest numbers of National Teaching Fellows of any UK university. With over 18,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, plus a further 7,000 studying at partner institutions in the UK and around the world, and over 175,000 alumni pursuing their chosen careers internationally, the University of Plymouth has a growing global presence.

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk

About Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Cornwall Wildlife Trust has been protecting Cornwall’s wildlife, on land and at sea, since 1962. It is Cornwall’s leading local wildlife conservation charity, with over 17,000 members and 1,000 volunteers. The charity manages 59 nature reserves across Cornwall, including a range of habitats such as woodlands, meadows, wetlands and heaths. It also runs a number of marine and terrestrial based conservation projects in partnership with others, including Upstream Thinking and Penwith Landscape Partnership, and hosts the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS).

The Trust is one of 46 in the UK. Together, they make up the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Visit http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk and follow @cwallwildlife on Twitter or Cornwall Wildlife Trust on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to keep up-to-date with Trust’s projects, events and news.

The South Coast Bottlenose Dolphin Consortium

The South Coast Bottlenose Dolphin Consortium was instigated by Cornwall Wildlife Trust in 2017 and is a partnership of various stakeholders throughout the southwest of England sharing a common interest in developing understanding and conservation of the region’s bottlenose dolphins. The Consortium collates records and photos of bottlenose dolphin encounters from the public to build on previous research, with reports coming from ferries, marine tour operators, charitable organisations, land-based observers and other interested parties.

For more information and to report an sighting please see: https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/our-conservation-work/at-sea/south-coast-bottlenose-dolphin-consortium.

JOURNAL

Animal Conservation

DOI

10.1111/acv.12921

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Imaging analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Using citizen science data to assess the vulnerability of bottlenose dolphins to human impacts along England’s South Coast

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Nov-2023

XAOS THEORY

Noise – not a nuisance but a source of information

Researchers at the University of Konstanz discover a new type of ultrafast magnetic switching by investigating fluctuations that normally tend to interfere with experiments as noise

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KONSTANZ

Noise on the radio when reception is poor is a typical example of how fluctuations mask a physical signal. In fact, such interference or noise occurs in every physical measurement in addition to the actual signal. "Even in the loneliest place in the universe, where there should be nothing at all, there are still fluctuations of the electromagnetic field", says physicist Ulrich Nowak. In the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1432 "Fluctuations and Nonlinearities in Classical and Quantum Matter beyond Equilibrium" at the University of Konstanz, researchers do not see this omnipresent noise as a disturbing factor that needs to be eliminated as far as possible, but as a source of information that tells us something about the signal.

No magnetic effect, but fluctuations
This approach has now proved successful when investigating antiferromagnets. Antiferromagnets are magnetic materials in which the magnetizations of several sub-lattices cancel out each other. Nevertheless, antiferromagnetic insulators are considered promising for energy-efficient components in the field of information technology. As they have hardly any magnetic fields on the outside, they are very difficult to characterize physically. Yet, antiferromagnets are surrounded by magnetic fluctuations, which can tell us a lot about this weakly magnetic material.

In this spirit, the groups of the two materials scientists Ulrich Nowak and Sebastian Gönnenwein analysed the fluctuations of antiferromagnetic materials in the context of the CRC. The decisive factor in their theoretical as well as experimental study, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, was the specific frequency range. "We measure very fast fluctuations and have developed a method with which fluctuations can still be detected on the ultrashort time scale of femtoseconds", says experimental physicist Sebastian Gönnenwein. A femtosecond is one millionth of a billionth of a second.

New experimental approach for ultrafast time scales
On slower time scales, one could use electronics that are fast enough to measure these fluctuations. On ultrafast time scales, this no longer works, which is why a new experimental approach had to be developed. It is based on an idea from the research group of Alfred Leitenstorfer, who is also a member of the Collaborative Research Centre. Employing laser technology, the researchers use pulse sequences or pulse pairs in order to obtain information about fluctuations. Initially, this measurement approach was developed to investigate quantum fluctuations, and has now been extended to fluctuations in magnetic systems. Takayuki Kurihara from the University of Tokyo played a key role in this development as the third cooperation partner. He was a member of the Leitenstorfer research group and the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz from 2018 to 2020.

Detection of fluctuations using ultrashort light pulses
In the experiment, two ultrashort light pulses are transmitted through the magnet with a time delay, testing the magnetic properties during the transit time of each pulse, respectively. The light pulses are then checked for similarity using sophisticated electronics. The first pulse serves as a reference, the second contains information about how much the antiferromagnet has changed in the time between the first and second pulse. Different measurement results at the two points of time confirm the fluctuations. Ulrich Nowak's research group also modelled the experiment in elaborate computer simulations in order to better understand its results.

One unexpected result was the discovery of what is known as telegraph noise on ultrashort time scales. This means that there is not only unsorted noise, but also fluctuations in which the system switches back and forth between two well-defined states. Such fast, purely random switching has never been observed before and could be interesting for applications such as random number generators. In any case, the new methodological possibilities for analyzing fluctuations on ultrashort time scales offer great potential for further discoveries in the field of functional materials.

Key facts:

Original publication: M. A. Weiss, A. Herbst, J. Schlegel, T. Dannegger, M. Evers, A. Donges, M. Nakajima, A. Leitenstorfer, S. T. B. Goennenwein, U. Nowak & T. Kurihara: Discovery of ultrafast spontaneous spin switching in an antiferromagnet by femtosecond noise correlation spectroscopy. Nat Commun 14, 7651 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43318-8
By studying fluctuations, researchers at the University of Konstanz discover a new type of magnetic switching
Project cooperation between materials scientists Professor Alfred Leitenstorfer, Professor Ulrich Nowak and Professor Sebastian Gönnenwein from the University of Konstanz, Associate Professor Makoto Nakajima from Osaka University and Dr. Takayuki Kurihara from the University of Tokyo
The study was funded by the Collaborative Research Centre 1432.

You can download images here:

https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2023/rauschen_sns.jpg

Caption:

Testing the ultrafast fluctuations of the magnetic moments in an antiferromagnet with two laser pulses transmitted with a time delay.

https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2023/rauschen_rtn.jpg

Caption:

What is known as telegraph noise occurs when the magnetic moments in antiferromagnets switch back and forth between two well-defined states.

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-43318-8

Loss of auditory nerve fibers uncovered in individuals with tinnitus

Mass Eye and Ear researchers link tinnitus to auditory nerve degeneration in individuals with a normal hearing test

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY

Stéphane F. Maison, PhD, CCC-A — IMAGE:
STÉPHANE F. MAISON, PHD, CCC-A, AN INVESTIGATOR AT MASS EYE AND EAR'S EATON-PEABODY LABORATORIES, AND CLINICAL DIRECTOR OF THE TINNITUS CENTER AT MASS EYE AND EAR.
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CREDIT: MASS EYE AND EAR

A new study from Mass Eye and Ear investigators shows that individuals who report tinnitus, which present as a ringing in the ears in more than one out of ten adults worldwide, are experiencing auditory nerve loss that is not picked up by conventional hearing tests. This work is part of a P50 grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to Mass Eye and Ear researchers within the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories (EPL) for their work on cochlear synaptopathy, which is commonly referred to as “hidden hearing loss.” The results from this study provide a better understanding on the origins of tinnitus and are published November 30th in Scientific Reports.

“Beyond the nuisance of having persistent ringing or other sounds in the ears, tinnitus symptoms are debilitating in many patients, causing sleep deprivation, social isolation, anxiety and depression, adversely affecting work performance, and reducing significantly their quality of life,” said senior author Stéphane F. Maison, PhD, CCC-A, a principal investigator at Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, and clinical director of the Mass Eye and Ear Tinnitus Clinic. “We won’t be able to cure tinnitus until we fully understand the mechanisms underlying its genesis. This work is a first step toward our ultimate goal of silencing tinnitus.”

Many individuals with hearing loss report a buzzing, humming, ringing or even roaring sound in their ears. It’s been a longstanding idea that these symptoms, known as tinnitus, arise as a result of a maladaptive plasticity of the brain. In other words, the brain tries to compensate for the loss of hearing by increasing its activity, resulting in the perception of a phantom sound, tinnitus. Until recently though, this idea was disputed as some tinnitus sufferers have normal hearing tests.

However, the discovery of cochlear synaptopathy back in 2009 by Mass Eye and Ear investigators brought back to life this hypothesis as it was evidenced that patients with a normal hearing test can have a significant loss to the auditory nerve. In view of this paradigm shift in the way researchers and clinicians think about hearing loss, Maison and his team sought to determine if such hidden damage could be associated with the tinnitus symptoms experienced by a cohort of normal hearing participants. By measuring the response of their auditory nerve and brainstem, the researchers found that chronic tinnitus was not only associated with a loss of auditory nerve but that participants showed hyperactivity in the brainstem.

“Our work reconciles the idea that tinnitus may be triggered by a loss of auditory nerve, including in people with normal hearing,” said Maison.

In terms of future directions, the investigators aim to capitalize on recent work geared toward the regeneration of auditory nerve via the use of drugs called neurotrophins.

“The idea that, one day, researchers might be able to bring back the missing sound to the brain and, perhaps, reduce its hyperactivity in conjunction with retraining, definitely brings the hope of a cure closer to reality”, Maison added.

Disclosures: The authors declare no competing interests.

Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the NIDCD (P50 DC015857) and the Lauer Tinnitus Research Center at the Mass Eye and Ear.

Paper cited: Vasilkov, V et al. “Evidence of cochlear neural degeneration in normal-hearing subjects with tinnitus” Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46741-5

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About Mass Eye and Ear

Massachusetts Eye and Ear, founded in 1824, is an international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. A member of Mass General Brigham, Mass Eye and Ear specializes in ophthalmology (eye care) and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ear, nose and throat care). Mass Eye and Ear clinicians provide care ranging from the routine to the very complex. Also home to the world's largest community of hearing and vision researchers, Mass Eye and Ear scientists are driven by a mission to discover the basic biology underlying conditions affecting the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck and to develop new treatments and cures. In the 2023–2024 “Best Hospitals Survey,” U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass Eye and Ear #4 in the nation for eye care and #7 for ear, nose and throat care. For more information about life-changing care and research at Mass Eye and Ear, visit our blog, Focus, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-46741-5

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Evidence of cochlear neural degeneration in normal-hearing subjects with tinnitus

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Nov-2023

Variety is key

University of Bonn study shows where diversified farming also makes economic sense

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BONN

Where and how can diversified farming practices be put to profitable use in order to boost both productivity and biodiversity? Researchers at the University of Bonn have tackled this question in a study that has now been published in Communications Earth & Environment.

Agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, is a profit-driven business. Simple cultivation systems such as monocultures have therefore become firmly established, because they promise higher returns. However, they are more susceptible to diseases and parasites, which can cause total crop failure among other things. Diversified cultivation practices such as mixed cropping and crop rotation offer a sustainable alternative. It has already been scientifically proven that they can be profitable, perhaps even more so than monocultures. But under what conditions will these diversified farming practices turn a profit? And how can they help to intensify agricultural systems in a sustainable way?

A research team from the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn applied a method taken from ecology and used for modeling species distribution to their study so that they could make predictions about where in the world diversified farming practices could be profitable. To this end, lead author Hannah Kamau, a doctoral student and member of Junior Professor Lisa Biber-Freudenberger’s working group in the Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area at the University of Bonn, considered over 2,000 locations all over the world that were found to have profitable diversified farming practices as well as socio-economic conditions that determine profitability: population density, access to local markets, electricity supply, gross domestic product per capita and governance.

Hannah Kamau then predicted which other regions of the world had similar conditions as the observed locations of profitable diversified farming practices . Her predictions suggest that the Global North and parts of the Global South that are close to urban centers are particularly suitable for profitable diversified farming practices. “Developed infrastructure played a key role in forecasting suitable areas,” she explains.

In addition to identifying potentially suitable regions, Kamau also determined how production in each individual area could be increased sustainably. “There are two approaches to boosting production,” she says. “The first is extensification, which means expanding agricultural areas. The other is intensification, i.e. ramping up cultivation density. Depending on the region, diversified farming practices can help make both extensification and intensification more sustainable. But each approach has its risks.”

Which approach is more promising depends on the region in question. Agricultural land in Western Europe, China, parts of India and Brazil as well as Eastern Europe that is already being intensively farmed could benefit from various forms of extensification such as incorporating mixed planting and lowering the cultivation density. While areas in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Brazil, India,Tajikistan as well as Canada, and Australia could benefit from intensification according to the study. Other areas may be suitable for both options, such as most parts of West Africa.

Funding: The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the project entitled “At the Science Policy Interface: LANd Use SYNergies and CONflicts within the framework of the 2030 Agenda” (LANUSYNCON) [01UU2002].

JOURNAL

Communications Earth & Environment

DOI

10.1038/s43247-023-01062-3

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Nearly half of the world is suitable for diversified farming for sustainable intensification

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Nov-2023

Setting out priority areas of cooperation and concrete action for Ukraine’s forests

Meeting Announcement

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Modern, target-oriented research and quality education, more exchange with international peers and partners, better science-policy interaction, and improved coordination and communication with international and national actors are crucial for ensuring a sustainable future of Ukraine’s forests.

Forests in Ukraine make up about 16.5% of the country’s territory and fulfil important functions including support of rural livelihoods, conservation of biodiversity, and protection of agricultural land against erosion.

Currently, they are heavily impacted by two main factors: climate change and the ongoing war. In addition to the degradation and dieback of forests as a result of storms, pests, diseases, and wildfires, the war has damaged large areas of forests and made them inaccessible due to contamination with unexploded ordinance. The war also disrupted research and education infrastructure, including the regular collection of forest-related data, and led to the displacement of forest scientists and students to other parts of the country or abroad.

Robust science, strong policy support, and quality forest education are needed to tackle these challenges. However, forest research and education are struggling in Ukraine. Main challenges include strengthening research capacity for addressing priority research areas and underrepresented research fields; maintaining, circulating, and digitalizing quality research data; promoting excellence in forest science; involving researchers in networks and collaboration; and, more generally, the need for more science-based policymaking and forest management on the ground.

There is also a clear need to increase the attractiveness of forestry program and careers, for example, by adapting university curricula to include more environmental, social, and political sciences, facilitate more exchange with international and national peers and networks, improve English language skills, and offer more practical experience. Moreover, there is often a lack of awareness of existing opportunities of collaboration and a lack of capacity to participate in international projects, or the absence of topics related to Ukraine in the projects.

These and other major challenges were identified during a two-day hybrid Forum on Ukraine Forest Science and Education: Needs and Priorities for Collaboration on 21-22 November 2023 at the IIASA premises in Laxenburg, Austria. The event was organized jointly by IIASA, the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP), and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), with support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions, and Water Management (BML).

“The forum brought together Ukrainian forestry students, early and mid-career forest researchers, and representatives of leading European universities and international institutions to discuss practical measures and strategic steps toward supporting sustainable forest management in Ukraine,” notes Forum Chair, Sergiy Zibtsev (NUBiP/IIASA).

“International collaboration in science and education is crucial to overcome the challenges posed by war and climate change. When planning this forum, keeping in mind the background and missions of the host organizations NUBiP, IIASA, and IUFRO, a deliberate decision was therefore made to focus on forest research and education needs and priorities of Ukraine to address a gap in ongoing international collaborative efforts,” explains Alexander Buck, Executive Director of IUFRO.

“An integrated and systems-based approach is suggested to support forest science and – together with a healthy forest education system – prepare the sector for speedy recovery now to ensure forest restoration in the mid- to long-term,” says Florian Kraxner, who leads the Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group in the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program.

To address these and other priority areas for international collaboration identified at the forum, participants suggested a series of ad hoc and mid-term activities considering impact, budget needs, and ease of implementation to enhance international collaboration. A report summarizing the main outcomes of the Forum will soon be published and shared widely with the intent of mobilizing coordinated and impactful action by stakeholders and policymakers in support of forest science and education in Ukraine.

Visit the event pages at:
Forum on Ukraine Forest Science and Education: Needs and Priorities for Collaboration | IIASA
IUFRO: Forum on Ukraine Forest Science and Education: Needs and Priorities for Collaboration / Other Major Events / Events

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at

About NUBiP
The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP) with its more than 110 year of history is one of the leading education and science institutions that deals with landscapes including agriculture, forests and protected areas all over Ukraine. Joint scientific projects and exchange programs that involve Master and PhD students and are important tools for better management of landscapes and increasing society awareness. https://nubip.edu.ua/en

About IUFRO
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Early humans hunted beavers, 400,000 years ago

Evidence from eastern Germany shows that early humans had a more varied diet than previously known

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ

Evidence from eastern Germany shows that early humans had a more varied diet than previously known

Around 400,000 years ago, early humans hunted beavers as a food resource and possibly also for their pelts. This is the conclusion of a team from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA), also in Mainz, and Leiden University in the Netherlands. In their publication in the journal Scientific Reports, the authors show that Middle Pleistocene humans systematically fed on these smaller animals and hence had a more varied diet than thusfar known. Previously, the opinion was that that hominins of this age primarily subsisted on large mammals, such as bovids and rhinoceroses, for one simple reason: "The remains of large mammals from this period are generally much better preserved than those of small ones, not to mention plant remains," says Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Professor in the Department of Ancient Studies/Section Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at JGU and Director of the Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, MONREPOS, in Neuwied, which is part of LEIZA. She authored the new study together with two colleagues, Lutz Kindler, also from JGU and MONREPOS, and Wil Roebroeks from Leiden University. "Until now, cut marks on Palaeolithic beaver bones had been identified very rarely and on isolated bones only. Dietrich Mania's extensive and long-term excavations in Bilzingsleben yielded a large number of beaver remains. Their study has now revealed for the first time the long-term strategy behind the exploitation of these animals," she explains.

Targeted hunting of young adults

The researchers used magnifying glasses and digital microscopes to examine the approximately 400,000-year-old bones of at least 94 beavers, excavated several decades ago in Bilzingsleben, Thuringia. This enabled them to identify cut marks from stone tools that indicate intensive use of the carcasses. "It is interesting that the remains in Bilzingsleben mainly represent young adult beavers," says Gaudzinski-Windheuser. This indicates that hominins back then would have deliberately hunted inexperienced but fully grown and fat-rich animals. Fat was a very important food resource during the Pleistocene. "Until now, it was generally thought that people in Europe fed primarily on large game until around 50,000 years ago, and that this was an important difference to the more flexible dietary strategies of modern humans. We have now demonstrated that the hominin food spectrum was much broader much earlier," says Gaudzinski-Windheuser.

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-46956-6

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Beaver exploitation, 400,000 years ago, testifies to prey choice diversity of Middle Pleistocene hominins