It's award season: let's celebrate microbes in movies

A review in FEMS Microbiology Letters by Professor Manuel Sanchez from UMH (Spain) reveals how movies can raise public awareness and appreciation of the world of microbiology

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSIDAD MIGUEL HERNANDEZ DE ELCHE

 

IMAGE: 

DEAD ANT INFECTED WITH OPIOCORDYCEPS UNILATERALIS, BY DAVID P. HUGHES, MAJ-BRITT PONTOPPIDAN. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PEDRO PASCAL AND BELLA RAMSEY IN THE HBO SERIES "THE LAST OF US" (2023).

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CREDIT: UMH

Elche (Spain), January 22, 2024. Usually, show business depicts viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms as one of the worst menaces to humankind. Entertainment movies influence the way audiences understand and perceive these topics. Yet, few films accurately portray the science of microbiology and its social implications. Movies and TV series often feature outbreaks of deadly diseases and the efforts of scientists and medical professionals to contain them. However, entertainment movies can also educate the public about the importance and the impact those microorganisms have on our lives. A new publication in FEMS Microbiology Letters provides insights and examples to teach microbiology concepts to undergraduate students. Manuel Sanchez is a Microbiology professor at the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche. He's been using movies in class for many decades. He finds students can learn complex scientific concepts easily when integrated into a story. The expert has recently published a review in FEMS Microbiology Letters to show the relationship between movies and microbiology, from the fight against diseases such as AIDS or tuberculosis to the zombie apocalypse. "Maybe one day the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor an Oscar award for microbes", writes Sanchez. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), as of June 2023, there were 2,502 titles related to the keyword' virus', 184 related to 'bacteria', and 760 to 'infection'. For example, without viruses, we would not have such cinematic characters as the zombies that try to eat Brad Pitt and his family in "World War Z" or the cool vampires from the "Blade" saga. But are microbes villains, or are they heroes? Although microbes do much more good than harm in nature, this aspect is rarely represented on screen. Professor Sanchez explains that some film productions, especially recent ones, take great care in enrolling scientific advisors to have the most plausible and realistic scripts. However, in most occasions, that situation does not occur, so making a virtue out of necessity, movie goofs such as the scene from "Mission: Impossible II" where a flu virus infects a red blood cell, can be seen as an opportunity to explain the concept and conditions of viral host recognition to undergraduate students. Movies can be used in the classroom in two ways, depending on the time available. Students can watch the whole film as an external activity and then discuss its content in class. Another option is to use clips of selected scenes related to the subject to be addressed. For example, in minute 19 of "Dallas Buyers Club", a medical doctor (Jennifer Garner) explains to her AIDS patient (Matthew McConaughey) what is a double-blind clinical trial. This scene can be used as an introduction to a class about bioethics and/or drug development. Another example is the sequence at minute 74 from the movie "Panic in the Streets", which can be used to explain the 'One Health' concept, thanks to the following dialogue: Community? What community? Do you think you're living in the Middle Ages? Anybody that leaves here can be in any city in the country within 10 hours. I could leave here today and be in Africa tomorrow. And whatever disease I had would go with me… Then think of it when you're talking about communities! We're all in a community…the same one! Professor Sanchez's review can be helpful for teachers looking for such learning material. The paper is organized into three major sections, providing insights and examples of movies and TV/streaming series telling stories involving real diseases, others about the role of scientists, and feature films about the apocalyptic results of microbial infection. The first section is dedicated to the real infectious diseases represented on the screen. Commercial movies are better known to the general public than documentaries, so they could be used to explain the symptoms of the illness and other aspects, such as the care of the sick or the impact of the disease in a particular historical moment or in our current society. For example, in "The African Queen" (John Huston, 1951), Charlie, Humphrey Bogart's character, is bitten by a mosquito and is affected by malaria. Spoiler alert: he survives, unlike Giovanni de Medici in "Il mestiere delle armi" ("The Profession of Arms, Ermanno Olmi, 2001). A second section is dedicated to movies where the protagonists are the scientists and medical doctors who fight against microbial diseases. In this case, the main concepts to be explained are scientific methods and biocontainment measures. For example, "Outbreak" (Wolfgang Petersen, 1995) is so full of scientific mistakes that it's actually amusing to dissect. Also, the stereotype of the scientist has evolved from the solitary, dedicated hero of the 1930s to today's interdependent groups of highly technical researchers. Finally, the last part deals with the films in which microbes manage to defeat humanity, creating a dystopian world. Movies and series like "I Am Legend" (Danny Boyle, 2002), "28 Days Later", or "The Last of Us" (Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, 2023) are well known by the public and can be used to explain key concepts in epidemiology and disease transmission but also how to deal with highly stressful situations. Professor Sanchez is a microbiologist and science communicator. He has written several books regarding this subject and articles about microbiology in popular culture for The Conversation.

JOURNAL FEMS Microbiology Letters

DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnad129

ARTICLE TITLE Microbial pathogens in the movies

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JOURNAL

FEMS Microbiology Letters

DOI

10.1093/femsle/fnad129 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Content analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Microbial pathogens in the movies

 

Do apes have humor?

Study shows that great apes playfully tease each other

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

 

IMAGE: 

JUVENILE ORANGUTAN PULLING ITS MOTHER'S HAIR.

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CREDIT: BOS FOUNDATION BPI

Babies playfully tease others as young as eight months of age. Since language is not required for this behavior, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals. Now cognitive biologists and primatologists from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA, US), the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB, Germany), Indiana University (IU, US), and the University of California San Diego (UCSD, US) have documented playful teasing in four species of great apes. Like joking behavior in humans, ape teasing is provocative, persistent, and includes elements of surprise and play. Because all four great ape species used playful teasing, it is likely that the prerequisites for humor evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago.

Joking is an important part of human interaction that draws on social intelligence, an ability to anticipate future actions, and an ability to recognize and appreciate the violation of others’ expectations. Teasing has much in common with joking, and playful teasing may be seen as a cognitive precursor to joking. The first forms of playful teasing in humans emerge even before babies say their first words, as early as eight months of age. The earliest forms of teasing are repetitive provocations often involving surprise. Infants tease their parents by playfully offering and withdrawing objects, violating social rules (so-called provocative non-compliance), and disrupting others’ activities.

In a study recently published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists from the University of California Los Angeles, the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, and the University of California San Diego (Isabelle Laumer, Sasha Winkler, Federico Rossano, and Erica Cartmill) report evidence of playful teasing in the four great ape species: orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas. “Great apes are excellent candidates for playful teasing, as they are closely related to us, engage in social play, show laughter and display relatively sophisticated understandings of others’ expectations,” says Isabelle Laumer (UCLA/MPI-AB) a post-doctoral researcher and the first author of the study.

The team analyzed spontaneous social interactions that appeared to be playful, mildly harassing, or provocative. During these interactions, the researchers observed the teaser’s actions, bodily movements, facial expressions, and how the targets of the teasing responded in turn. They also assessed the teaser’s intentionality by looking for evidence that the behavior was directed at a specific target, that it persisted or intensified, and that teasers waited for a response from the target.

The researchers found that orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas all engaged in intentionally provocative behavior, frequently accompanied by characteristics of play. They identified 18 distinct teasing behaviors. Many of these behaviors appeared to be used to provoke a response, or at least to attract the target’s attention. “It was common for teasers to repeatedly wave or swing a body part or object in the middle of the target’s field of vision, hit or poke them, stare closely at their face, disrupt their movements, pull on their hair or perform other behaviors that were extremely difficult for the target to ignore,” explains UCLA and IU professor Erica Cartmill, senior author of the study.

Although playful teasing took many forms, the authors note that it differed from play in several ways. “Playful teasing in great apes is one-sided, very much coming from the teaser often throughout the entire interaction and rarely reciprocated,” explains Cartmill.  “The animals also rarely use play signals like the primate ‘playface’, which is similar to what we would call a smile, or ‘hold’ gestures that signal their intent to play.”

Playful teasing mainly occurred when apes were relaxed, and shared similarities with behaviors in humans. “Similar to teasing in children, ape playful teasing involves one-sided provocation, response waiting in which the teaser looks towards the target’s face directly after a teasing action, repetition, and elements of surprise,” Laumer explains.

The researchers noted that Jane Goodall and other field primatologists had mentioned similar behaviors happening in chimpanzees many years ago, but this new study was the first to systematically study playful teasing. “From an evolutionary perspective, the presence of playful teasing in all four great apes and its similarities to playful teasing and joking in human infants suggests that playful teasing and its cognitive prerequisites may have been present in our last common ancestor, at least 13 million years ago,” explains Laumer. “We hope that our study will inspire other researchers to study playful teasing in more species in order to better understand the evolution of this multi-faceted behavior. We also hope that this study raises awareness of the similarities we share with our closest relatives and the importance of protecting these endangered animals.”

Two gorillas playing.

CREDIT

Max Block

Picture of the cognitive biologist and primatologist Dr. Isabelle Laumer. 

CREDIT

Alice Auersperg

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2023.2345 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Spontaneous playful teasing in four great ape species

 

Polar bears unlikely to adapt to longer summers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

VIDEO: 

IMAGES FROM POLAR BEAR COLLAR CAMERAS DOCUMENT ACTIVITY
THROUGH THE SUMMER SEASON, AND INFORM A NEW RESEARCH
STUDY BY USGS AND WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY.
POLAR BEARS EXHIBITED A WIDE RANGE OF BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES
WHILE ON LAND FROM RESTING 98% OF THE TIME TO TRAVELLING UP
TO 330 KM (205 MILES) OVER 3 WEEKS AND SPENDING UP TO 40%
OF THEIR TIME FORAGING ON BERRIES.
ULTIMATELY, ALL THE BEARS, EXCEPT ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO FOUND A
MARINE MAMMAL CARCASS ON LAND, LOST ABOUT 1 KG (2.2 LBS) PER
DAY ON AVERAGE, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THAT NONE OF THESE BEHAVIOR
STRATEGIES WERE BENEFICIAL FOR EXTENDING THE PERIOD IN WHICH
POLAR BEARS CAN SURVIVE ON LAND.

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CREDIT: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

PULLMAN, Wash. – More time stranded on land means greater risk of starvation for polar bears, a new study indicates.

During three summer weeks, 20 polar bears closely observed by scientists tried different strategies to maintain energy reserves, including resting, scavenging and foraging. Yet nearly all of them lost weight rapidly: on average around 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, per day.

Some have speculated that polar bears might adapt to the longer ice-free seasons due to climate warming by acting like their grizzly bear relatives and either rest or eat terrestrial food. The polar bears in this study tried versions of both strategies—with little success.

“Neither strategy will allow polar bears to exist on land beyond a certain amount of time. Even those bears that were foraging lost body weight at the same rate as those that laid down,” said Charles Robbins, director of the Washington State University Bear Center and co-author of the study in the journal Nature Communications. “Polar bears are not grizzly bears wearing white coats. They’re very, very different.”

Usually larger than grizzly bears, adult male polar bears can reach 10 feet in length and weigh 1,500 pounds compared to grizzly bears’ 8 feet and 800 pounds. To maintain that great mass, polar bears rely on the energy-rich fat of seals, which they best catch on the ice.

Little has been known about polar bear energy expenditure and behavior when confined to land, so researchers used collars with video cameras and GPS to track polar bears summering in the western Hudson Bay region of Manitoba, Canada. They wanted to see what the specialized ice-hunters ate and did during the extended time on land when their preferred seal prey was out of reach.

The researchers also weighed the bears before and after the observation period and measured their energy expenditures.

“We found a real diversity of bear behaviors, and as a result, we saw a diverse range of energy expenditures,” said lead author Anthony Pagano, research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Polar Bear Research Program and former WSU post-doctoral researcher.

Many of the adult male polar bears simply laid down to conserve energy, burning calories at rates similar to hibernation. Others, actively searched for food, consuming bird and caribou carcasses as well as berries, kelp and grasses.

In all, the researchers found a five-fold range in energy expenditure from an adult male that rested 98% of the time to the most active who clocked 330 kilometers (205 miles). Some adult females spent as much as 40% of their time foraging. Yet all that activity didn’t pay off.  

“The terrestrial foods did give them some energetic benefit, but ultimately, the bears had to spend more energy to access those resources,” said Pagano.

Three polar bears went for long swims – one swimming 175 kilometers (about 110 miles) across the bay. Two found carcasses in the water, a beluga and a seal, but neither bear could feed on their finds while swimming nor bring them back to land.

Only one bear out of the 20 gained weight after stumbling across a dead marine mammal on land.

The study focused on the southern-most extent of polar bear range in the western Hudson Bay, where climate warming is likely impacting the bears at a faster rate than other Arctic regions. The polar bear population in the area has already declined by an estimated 30% since 1987. This study indicates that polar bears across the Arctic are at risk of starvation as the ice-free period continues to grow.

“As polar bears are forced on land earlier, it cuts into the period that they normally acquire the majority of the energy they need to survive,” said Pagano. “With increased land use, the expectation is that we'll likely see increases in starvation, particularly with adolescents and females with cubs.”

This research received support from the National Science Foundation, Environment and Climate Change Canada, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Detroit Zoological Association, Polar Bears International, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and WSU. 

Polar bear on land in Western Hudson Bay region
 

Polar bear from the Western Hudson Bay region

CREDIT

David McGeachy

Still taken from video captured by a polar bear collar used in the study.

CREDIT

U.S. Geological Survey and Washington State University

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-44682-1 

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Feb-2024

 

Hydro One reports $181M profit in Q4, revenue up from year earlier

The Canadian Press

Hydro One Ltd. reported $181 million in fourth-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders as its revenue edged higher compared with a year earlier. Rows of power lines are shown in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday, August 19, 2019. , THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

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Hydro One Ltd. reported $181 million in fourth-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders as its revenue edged higher compared with a year earlier.

The power utility says the profit amounted to 30 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

The result compared with a profit of $178 million or 30 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue totalled $1.98 billion, up from $1.86 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, while revenue net of purchased power totalled $989 million, up from $967 million.

The increase was due in part to higher average monthly peak demand and energy consumption, as well as higher rates, partially offset by regulatory adjustments.

Hydro One is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider

Nearly half of Canadians still expect to make an RRSP contribution: survey

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg

New data shows that nearly half of Canadians expect to contribute to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) this year, despite higher interest rates and elevated inflation. 

Survey data from Edward Jones Canada, released Tuesday, found that 49 per cent of Canadians still believe they will contribute to their RRSP this year amid uncertain economic conditions. However, only 21 per cent of respondents indicated they plan to contribute their maximum amount. 

“It’s clear that amid the current economic climate, Canadians prefer to stick to what they know by contributing to their RRSP this year,” Julie Petrera, a senior strategist at Edward Jones, said in a press release Tuesday. 

Feb. 29 is the deadline for investors looking to deduct RRSP contributions from their 2023 taxable income. 

The survey also found that 58 per cent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 planned to contribute to their RRSP. This number was slightly higher for those between 35 and 54, with 62 per cent indicating plans for an RRSP contribution. 

“RRSPs are a valuable retirement savings tool. In fact, they can be used for saving for more than just retirement,” Petrera said.

“I find it promising that a high portion of young Canadians are making choices to save for long-term goals and trust they fully understand the benefits of RRSPs, which can be used for a first home purchase, returning to school, and retirement.” 

The survey also found that 10 per cent of Canadians have plans to invest in something other than an RRSP, like a tax-free savings account (TFSA) or a first home savings account (FHSA). 

Methodology:

Survey data was conducted through an online poll between Jan. 24 and 26. Answers were collected from 1,699 Canadians over the age of 18.