"Lost" birds list will aid in protecting species

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

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THE LOUISIADE PITTA IS ONE OF THE "LOST" SPECIES FOUND IN 2022 AND 2023 ON ROSSEL ISLAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. THERE HAD BEEN NO DEFINITE RECORD OF THIS BIRD SINCE 1898.

 

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CREDIT: PHOTO BY WANG BIN | CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY | MACAULAY LIBRARY.

A group of scientists has released the first comprehensive list of birds that haven’t been seen in more than a decade, with the help of Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Their methods, and the global list of “lost” birds, have been published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

“We started with the Macaulay Library because it is the richest depository of bird media, and we quicky found documentation for the vast majority of the world’s birds,” said lead author Cameron Rutt, a bird biologist with the American Bird Conservancy at the time of the research. “We also used data from iNaturalist and xeno-canto. We looked for species not represented at all with a recent image, video, or sound recording. A species would be considered ‘lost’ to science if there was no media of the bird within the past 10 years or more.”

The list was generated on behalf of the Search for Lost Birds at the American Bird Conservancy. This project is a global partnership among the American Bird Conservancy, Re:wild and BirdLife International. Repeating this data exercise every year or two will help capture new species approaching the 10-year benchmark without searchable media.

The study’s authors collated 42 million photos, videos and audio records – with more than 33 million from the Macaulay Library alone. Out of all the records, 144 species, 1.2% of all known bird species, qualified as lost.

Since this study was initiated, other lost birds have been rediscovered, including the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, which hadn’t been documented on a remote island of Papua New Guinea in more than 100 years. Currently the list stands at 126 species, the majority of which are threatened with extinction.

“We had several goals in mind here,” said study co-author Eliot Miller, then a postdoctoral researcher at the Cornell Lab. “We wanted to see if well-vetted public media databases would be comprehensive and trustworthy enough to document the presence or absence of species. Once absent species are identified, we can look for them and see if they need some kind of protection – this method helps identify research priorities for possible conservation action.”

Most of the undocumented species are concentrated in Asia, Africa and the scattered islands of Oceania. In some cases, species may be considered lost simply because their habitat is so remote that nobody has returned since the initial sightings. Only three species made the lost list in the continental United States: Eskimo curlew, Bachman’s warbler, and the ivory-billed woodpecker. Six native species are on the list from Hawaii.

“One of the things I learned from doing this is how many whimbrel and curlew relatives have likely gone extinct or seem to be heading in that direction,” Miller said. “It seems to be a group of birds that does not do well with people.”

A vital element of the project is tapping into local knowledge with on-site partners and helping fund expeditions to find the birds and assess their conservation needs. This knowledge will be crucial to the success of efforts to find species such as the Himalayan quail, Itombwe nightjar, Jerdon’s courser or the Bates’s weaver in Cameroon.

“A narrow slice of the world’s birds has fallen through the cracks,” said Rutt. “The coming years and decades will be critical if these birds are going to persist.”

This work was supported by the Constable Foundation and the American Bird Conservancy. It was conducted by scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International, and Re:wild.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

DOI

10.1002/fee.2778 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Global gaps in citizen-science data reveal the world's “lost” birds

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Jun-2024

 

Frederick Douglass’ relationship with audiences illustrates ‘outsized impact’ of public speaking in politics, scholar says

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

LAWRENCE, KANSAS — The late 18th to the mid-19th century was the golden age of public speaking. Part education, part entertainment, being a good orator was critical — particularly in certain social circles.

For writer and reformer Frederick Douglass, public speaking was among the vehicles he used to tell his story of enslavement, to call for abolition and to defend Black Americans’ rights. 

A new scholarly article from Laura Mielke, “‘The Sea of Upturned Faces’: The Rhetorical Role of Audience in Frederick Douglass’s Constitutional Interpretation at Midcentury,” examines Douglass’ relationship as an orator with his audiences — both present and imagined — and how this give-and-take was present during a notable shift in his thinking. 

Mielke is the Dean’s Professor of English at the University of Kansas, where she also serves as interim chair of the Department of History. The article appeared in the journal MELUS (Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States).

Douglass was acutely aware of his audiences, both those in the room and the audience that would read written accounts of his oration in newspapers and other publications. In fact, Douglass advised fellow anti-slavery organizers to make sure the venues for lecturers had the audience illuminated.

“I imagine how Douglass wanted to see his audience so that he was constantly gauging their reaction, shifting his delivery and his tactics based on what he saw,” Mielke said. “He could shift from fire to comedy, from condemnation to satire.” 

Mielke, whose scholarship has delved into the impact of theatre on the anti-slavery movement, said Douglass and his contemporaries understood how to leverage the art form’s popularity, even incorporating imitations of pro-slavery preachers and politicians.

“We can have a negative connotation with performance, but he was a talented performer,” Mielke said. “He knew it was important for him to perform — to capture imaginations — but also to counter the racist performances of popular theater,” Mielke said.

In her article, Mielke explores Douglass’ ideological transformation from seeing the U.S. Constitution as a pro-slavery document to seeing it as an anti-slavery document through the lens his relationships with his audiences. What has otherwise been described as Douglass’ personal and intellectual transformation, Mielke sees having taken place in the presence of his many live audiences, as well as other writers, thinkers, readers and activists.

“He had shifted from lectures that were primarily focused on his autobiography to lectures that are more about what he is reading, what others should read — the sense of it being a collective project,” Mielke said. “Thinking about audience and the way he was seeing audiences and they were seeing him led him down this road toward reinterpreting the Constitution.”

Particularly in a presidential election year, the term “political theatre” is a charged one. Yet the way candidates relate to and play off their audiences matters, even to those who aren’t present to witness it.

“Today it might be too easy for us to say politics are all about social media and the internet,” Mielke said. “I would suggest that public speaking still has an outsized impact on the American political scene.”

Case in point, the amount of coverage given to candidates’ audiences as well as the candidates themselves — not unlike newspaper coverage of Douglass in the 1800s. 

“Live public speaking and its reception are very powerful, even when we are encountering them in a written record,” Mielke said.

The written record of Douglass’ life is a particular area of interest for Mielke, who has been involved in KU’s observance of Douglass Day, a nationwide event during which volunteers transcribe documents related to Black history to make the content digitally accessible.

“I love participating in Douglas Day because I love looking at old documents and learning about history,” Mielke said. “But I also have a sense that if I'm going to do scholarship in the field of 19th century African American literature I should do something to help sustain it. Anything we can do to help sustain community around the preservation of that history and the dissemination of those documents is important.”
 

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DOI

10.1093/melus/mlae009 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Content analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

“‘The Sea of Upturned Faces’: The Rhetorical Role of Audience in Frederick Douglass’s Constitutional Interpretation at Midcentury"

 

New funding to support Wales’ development of pioneering marine energy technology

Grant and Award Announcement

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

 

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A PHOTO OF THE PELAFLEX FLOATING WIND TURBINE.

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CREDIT: MARINE POWER SYSTEMS.

Innovate UK has awarded funding to further optimise a unique and flexible floating offshore wind platform for applications in the Celtic Sea, a collaboration involving Swansea University.

The funding will help establish the Launchpad project to ensure that, where possible, a local supply chain will support the fabrication, manufacture, and deployment of the platform, known as PelaFlex.

Led by Marine Power Systems, Swansea University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will be working with Ledwood Mechanical Engineering, Tata Steel UK, ABP (Associated British Ports) Port Talbot, and the Port of Milford Haven on the project, which is worth over £800,000.

Launchpad will optimise PelaFlex's structural efficiency, paying particular attention to the challenging environment in the Celtic Sea while minimising the cost of materials and deployment. This includes using strip steel manufactured in Port Talbot, components fabricated by local suppliers, and assembly and rollout using existing ports in southwest Wales.

Swansea University will provide design input by applying the latest developments in structural design modelling, and Ledwood, based in Pembrokeshire, will provide feedback that will help maximise the extent to which local suppliers can support fabrication.

Input from Associated British Ports and the Port of Milford Haven will ensure that the platform can be assembled and deployed from those locations whilst minimising the investment required to do so.

The project will support Tata Steel UK’s vision to decarbonise Port Talbot’s steel production, one example being the production of green strip steel using an electric arc furnace. It will also help position the town as an industrial hub for the development and deployment of offshore wind.

Dr Will Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Swansea University, said: “It is a great opportunity to be working with MPS, Ledwood, Tata Steel, the Port of Milford Haven and ABP Port Talbot to deliver this exciting project. Each of the partners brings different and complementary expertise to this engineering challenge, and the project really showcases the potential of industry in South-West Wales. MPS has developed a world-class concept which we are really excited to help them optimise, using experience in computation techniques at Swansea University and to support local industry.”

Graham Foster, Chief Technology Officer at Marine Power Systems, commented: “We are really excited to receive support through Innovate UK. With the deployment of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea becoming a reality the time is absolutely right to work with local supply chain to optimise the detailed design of our technology and maximise its deliverability. A good example of that, is that we are confident that through this project we will be able to optimise our platform design to increase the amount of local steel used to fabricate it from around 10% to over 50%.”

Mark Davies of Ledwood Mechanical Engineering commented: “Launchpad represents another step forward for the emerging floating offshore wind industry. As a locally-based engineering company, we are pleased to be working with MPS, Tata Steel, the Port of Milford Haven, ABP Port Talbot and Swansea University to help build a local supply chain by capitalising on the skills, expertise and infrastructure that we have here in South-West Wales. This is an exciting time for us and we hope the region can take advantage of the opportunities that will soon emerge.”

WWIII

SwRI breaks ground on new hypersonic engine research facility

Institute will demonstrate faster methods of producing high-speed propulsion systems

SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

 

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SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SWRI) TODAY CELEBRATED THE GROUNDBREAKING OF THE CENTER FOR ACCELERATING MATERIALS AND PROCESSES (CAMP), A NEW RESEARCH FACILITY THAT DEMONSTRATES FASTER METHODS OF PRODUCING HYPERSONIC ENGINES.

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CREDIT: SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SAN ANTONIO — June 17, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) today celebrated the groundbreaking of the Center for Accelerating Materials and Processes (CAMP), a new facility that will support research and development for tomorrow’s high-speed aerospace engines.

“This project will help ensure the U.S. is a leader in high-speed propulsion research and development,” said Dr. Barron Bichon, director of SwRI’s Materials Engineering Department. “SwRI is committed to advancing this vital technology on behalf of Texas and the nation.”

Market forces including growth in global defense, air travel, delivery and transportation needs are driving the demand for high-speed engines. Initial projects in the new CAMP facility will focus on demonstrating faster, more efficient techniques for manufacturing high-speed propulsion systems.

Once construction on the new two-story, 36,600 square-foot facility is complete, SwRI will begin evaluating new materials and processes designed to produce a high-speed engine in a considerably shorter amount of time than current production timelines.

“This new facility will see the development of innovative technology that reflects SwRI’s mission of serving humankind,” said Dr. Ben Thacker, vice president of SwRI’s Mechanical Engineering Division. “Advancing high-speed propulsion systems propels us toward a future with stronger defense capabilities and greater global connectivity.”

One of the CAMP facility’s initial projects will involve procuring and installing manufacturing process test equipment. Under a contract from the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Manufacturing Science and Technology Program, SwRI engineers will demonstrate how the facility will reduce production times and costs. The Institute will invest $34 million in the construction of the CAMP facility.

For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/technical-divisions/mechanical-engineering.

 

AI shows how field crops develop

Tool developed at the University of Bonn should enable yield forecasts, among other things, in the future

UNIVERSITY OF BONN

 

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OF VARIOUS GROWTH STAGES (LEFT). IT CAN THEN, BASED ON A SINGLE INITIAL PHOTO OF ANOTHER FIELD, MODEL HOW THE CROP WILL DEVELOP (CENTER; THE IMAGES SHOW HOW THE VARIATION OF CERTAIN CROP PARAMETERS AFFECTS GROWTH).

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CREDIT: FIGURE: LUKAS DREES/UNIVERSITY OF BONN

Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed software that can simulate the growth of field crops. To do this, they fed thousands of photos from field experiments into a learning algorithm. This enabled the algorithm to learn how to visualize the future development of cultivated plants based on a single initial image. Using the images created during this process, parameters such as leaf area or yield can be estimated accurately. The results have been published in the journal Plant Methods.

Which plants should I combine in what ratio to achieve the greatest possible yield? And how will my crop develop if I use manure instead of artificial fertilizers? In the future, farmers should increasingly be able to count on computer support when answering such questions.

Researchers from the University of Bonn have now taken a crucial step forward on the path towards this goal: “We have developed software that uses drone photos to visualize the future development of the plants shown,” explains Lukas Drees from the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Bonn. The early career researcher is an employee in the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence. The large-scale project based at the University of Bonn intends to drive forward the intelligent digitalization of agriculture to help farming become more environmentally friendly, without causing harvest yields to suffer.

A virtual glimpse into the future to aid decision-making

The computer program now presented by Drees and his colleagues in the journal Plant Methods is an important building block. It should eventually make it possible to simulate certain decisions virtually – for instance, to assess how the use of pesticides or fertilizers will affect crop yield.

For this to work, the program must be fed with drone photos from field experiments. “We took thousands of images over one growth period,” explains the doctoral researcher. “In this way, for example, we documented the development of cauliflower crops under certain conditions.” The researchers then trained a learning algorithm using these images. Afterwards, based on a single aerial image of an early stage of growth, this algorithm was able to generate images showing the future development of the crop in a new, artificially created image. The whole process is very accurate as long as the crop conditions are similar to those present when the training photos were taken. Consequently, the software does not take into account the effect of a sudden cold snap or steady rain lasting several days. However, it should learn in the future how growth is affected by influences such as these – as well as an increased use of fertilizers, for example. This should enable it to predict the outcome of certain interventions by the farmer.

“In addition, we used a second AI software that can estimate various parameters from plant photos, such as crop yield,” says Drees. “This also works with the generated images. It is thus possible to estimate quite precisely the subsequent size of the cauliflower heads at a very early stage in the growth period.”

Focus on polycultures

One area the researchers are focusing on is the use of polycultures. This refers to the sowing of different species in one field – such as beans and wheat. As plants have different requirements, they compete less with each other in a polyculture of this kind compared to a monoculture, where just one species is grown. This boosts yield. In addition, some species – beans are a good example of this – can bind nitrogen from the air and use it as a natural fertilizer. The other species, in this case wheat, also benefits from this.

“Polycultures are also less susceptible to pests and other environmental influences,” explains Drees. “However, how well the whole thing works very much depends on the combined species and their mixing ratio.” When results from many different mixing experiments are fed into learning algorithms, it is possible to derive recommendations as to which plants are particularly compatible and in what ratio.

Plant growth simulations on the basis of learning algorithms are a relatively new development. Process-based models have mostly been used for this purpose up to now. These – metaphorically speaking – have a fundamental understanding of what nutrients and environmental conditions certain plants need during their growth in order to thrive. “Our software, however, makes its statements solely based on the experience they have collected using the training images,” stresses Drees.

Both approaches complement each other. If they were to be combined in an appropriate manner, it could significantly improve the quality of the forecasts. “This is also a point that we are investigating in our study,” says the doctoral researcher: “How can we use process- and image-based methods so they benefit from each other in the best possible way?”

the future growth of the plants using drone photos or other images from an early growth stage. 

CREDIT

Photo: Volker Lannert/University of Bon

Participating institutions and funding:

The University of Bonn and Forschungszentrum Jülich took part in the study. The work was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the German Excellence Strategy.

Publication: Lukas Drees, Dereje T. Demie, Madhuri R. Paul, Johannes Leonhardt, Sabine J. Seidel, Thomas F. Döring, Ribana Roscher: Data-driven Crop Growth Simulation on Time-varying Generated Images using Multi-conditional Generative Adversarial Networks; Plant Methods; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-024-01205-3, URL: https://plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13007-024-01205-3

Media contact:

Prof. Dr. Ribana Roscher
Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn
Tel. +49 (0)228/7360854
Email: ribana.roscher@uni-bonn.de

Lukas Drees
Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn
Tel. +49 (0)228 7360854
Email: ldrees@uni-bonn.de

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JOURNAL

Plant Methods

DOI

10.1186/s13007-024-01205-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Data-driven Crop Growth Simulation on Time-varying Generated Images using Multi-conditional Generative Adversarial Networks

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2024

Ancient remedies for modern woes: TCM in the fight against African swine fever

 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

HUAZHONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

 

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DIFFERENT PATHWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE HERBS AGAINST AFRICAN SWINE FEVER.

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CREDIT: ANIMAL DISEASES

Recent research reveals the potential of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in combating African Swine Fever (ASF), a viral disease with near 100% mortality rate in pigs. The study explores TCM's antiviral properties and its role in enhancing immunity, offering a novel strategy in the face of limited effective treatments.

African Swine Fever (ASF) poses a grave threat to the swine industry, with the virus causing severe economic and agricultural disruptions since its emergence in China in 2018. The disease, transmitted by the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), has become endemic with a high mortality rate nearing 100%. Despite extensive efforts, the development of effective vaccines or treatments has been hindered by the virus's complex nature. This urgency calls for innovative approaches to manage and mitigate the impact of ASF on pig farming communities.

Researchers from Huazhong Agricultural University, in collaboration with the Hubei Jiangxia Laboratory, have published a comprehensive review (DOI: 10.1186/s44149-024-00122-1) in the journal Animal Diseases. The study delves into the advancements of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the prevention and control of ASF, highlighting the antiviral and immunoregulatory capabilities of herbal compounds.

The comprehensive review meticulously details the multifaceted approach of TCM in addressing ASF. It underscores the antiviral potential of various herbal extracts, such as berbamine hydrochloride from Berberis amurensis Rupr., which inhibits ASFV proliferation by interfering with early viral infection stages. Luteolin, found in common vegetables like broccoli, has demonstrated the ability to suppress the virus's replication cycle by modulating key signaling pathways. The study also highlights the role of TCM in immunomodulation, showcasing how certain herbal formulas can enhance the pigs' immune responses and potentially reduce the severity of ASF. The integration of such traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods presents a robust strategy to combat this devastating disease, illustrating the profound impact of TCM in contemporary veterinary medicine.

Dr. Qiang Zhang, a corresponding author and expert in veterinary medicine, emphasizes the importance of this research, stating, "TCM offers a unique perspective in managing diseases like ASF. Its multi-component, multi-target approach can potentially lead to more effective and safer treatments with less risk of resistance development."

The findings suggest that integrating TCM into modern pig farming practices could significantly bolster disease prevention and control measures. The use of herbal additives in feed and the development of TCM-based antiviral drugs present promising avenues. Moreover, this research could pave the way for a deeper understanding of TCM mechanisms, facilitating its integration with Western medicine and contributing to global health strategies against ASF and potentially other infectious diseases.

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References

DOI

10.1186/s44149-024-00122-1

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1186/s44149-024-00122-1

Funding information

This study was funded by the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (Grant No. GZB20230245).

About Animal Diseases

Animal Diseases (ISSN 2731-0442, CN 42-1946/S) is a peer-reviewed, free open access academic journal sponsored by Huazhong Agricultural University. The journal promotes the One Health initiative and is committed to publishing high-quality innovated and prospective works in animal disease research/application that are closely related to human health. The founding chief editors are Drs. Huanchun Chen (Huazhong Agricultural University, China) and Zhen F. Fu (University of Georgia, USA). It has been indexed by ESCI in 2024.

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JOURNAL

Animal Diseases

DOI

10.1186/s44149-024-00122-1 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Advances in research on the efficacy of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in combating African swine fever

 

Novel method for measuring nano/microplastic concentrations in soil using spectroscopy

Researchers have devised a novel and simple method to measure nano/microplastic concentrations in soil using spectroscopy at two wavelengths

WASEDA UNIVERSITY

 

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A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS HAS DEVELOPED A NOVEL AND SIMPLE METHOD TO MEASURE THE CONCENTRATION OF NANO/MICROPLASTICS IN SOILS USING SPECTROSCOPY AT TWO WAVELENGTHS. THE NOVELTY OF THIS METHOD IS THAT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SOIL TO BE SEPARATED IN ORDER TO DETECT THE N/MPS AND CAN MEASURE N/MPS AT SIZES AS SMALL AS ≤1 ΜM. MOREOVER, USING A COMBINATION OF TWO WAVELENGTHS HELPS NEGATE THE INFLUENCE OF SOIL PARTICLES AND OTHER LEACHING COMPONENTS INSIDE THE SOIL SUSPENSION.

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CREDIT: KYOUHEI TSUCHIDA FROM WASEDA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN

Nano and microplastics are a well-known menace, found practically everywhere in nature, including soil, oceans, drinking water, air, and even the human body. Studies show that soils in particular hold a significant portion of N/MPs. The problem with these N/MPs is their microscopic size, which allows them to easily migrate through soil into the ground or freshwater bodies due to rainwater leaching. From there, they enter the human body. Hence, it is imperative to understand the distribution and movement of the soil’s N/MPs to gauge their threat and mitigate it.

Current techniques for measuring N/MP concentrations in soil require separating the soil organic matter content through chemical and physical processes. Subsequently, the isolated N/MPs are analyzed using a microscope, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, or Raman spectrometry. However, these techniques require advanced skills and have limited resolution for analyzing N/MPs smaller than 1 µm. Moreover, often some of the N/MPs in the soil are lost during the separation process, leading to inaccurate measurements. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a simple yet accurate method to detect and measure N/MPs ≤1 µm in soil.

To this end, a team of researchers led by Mr. Kyouhei Tsuchida from Waseda University and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, along with Dr. Yukari Imoto, Dr. Takeshi Saito, and Dr. Junko Hara from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Dr. Yoshishige Kawabe, also from Waseda University, devised a novel and simple method to measure N/MP concentrations in soil using spectroscopy without separating the soil organic matter. Spectroscopy can determine the concentration of N/MPs in soils based on how much light of a particular wavelength passes through the sample and how much gets absorbed. In this way, spectroscopy can potentially detect N/MPs regardless of size, provided the correct wavelengths are used to distinguish between the N/MPs and soil. Accordingly, the researchers developed a method to use the difference between the absorbance spectra of N/MPs and soil particles to quantify the N/MPs. Their findings were published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety journal on 28 May 2024.

Six soil suspensions were created from soil samples with different characteristics, such as particle size distribution and organic content, and were mixed with polystyrene nanoparticles sized 203 nm. This created six different simulated N/MP-contaminated soil suspensions, with the N/MP concentration maintained at 5 mg/L. “We measured the absorbance of these soil suspensions at various wavelengths ranging from 200 to 500 nm using a spectrophotometer and based on this, determined the N/MP concentrations in the soil. Then the best combination of two wavelengths was identified for measuring N/MPs, which helped negate the interference from soil particles and leached components in the suspension,” explains Tsuchida.

The researchers found that a wavelength combination of 220–260 nm and 280–340 nm had the lowest error level for the six samples and was thus found to be suitable for measuring N/MP concentrations in different soil types. They also created a calibration curve between the concentration of N/MPs in the soil suspensions and N/MP content added to the dry soil samples. The calibration curve showed a linear relationship between the two variables and took into account the adsorption of N/MPs on soil particles. This enabled accurate estimation of the concentration of N/MPs in the soil.

These results demonstrate the efficacy of this simple spectroscopy-based method to correctly measure the concentration of N/MPs in soil, without any cumbersome separation process. “Our novel measurement approach can quantify different N/MPs, including polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate, in a variety of soils and can easily be used as an initial assessment tool. Moreover, it can help further our understanding of the distribution and migration behavior of N/MPs in the geosphere environment,” concludes Tsuchida.

 

***

 

Reference

Authors: Kyouhei Tsuchida1,2, Yukari Imoto1, Takeshi Saito1, Junko Hara1, and Yoshishige Kawabe2

Title of original paper: A novel and simple method for measuring nano/microplastic concentrations in soil using UV-Vis spectroscopy with optimal wavelength selection

Journal: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety                                                          

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116366

Affiliations:

1National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan

2Department of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Japan

 

About Waseda University

Located in the heart of Tokyo, Waseda University is a leading private research university that has long been dedicated to academic excellence, innovative research, and civic engagement at both the local and global levels since 1882. The University has produced many changemakers in its history, including nine prime ministers and many leaders in business, science and technology, literature, sports, and film. Waseda has strong collaborations with overseas research institutions and is committed to advancing cutting-edge research and developing leaders who can contribute to the resolution of complex, global social issues. The University has set a target of achieving a zero-carbon campus by 2032, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. 

To learn more about Waseda University, visit https://www.waseda.jp/top/en  

About Kyouhei Tsuchida

Mr. Kyouhei Tsuchida is a researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and is a doctoral student at the Department of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University. At AIST he is part of the Geo-Environmental Risk Research Group, where his specialization is studying environmental risk and transport phenomena of pollutants. He recently presented his work on the “Impact of Soil Properties on Microplastics Aggregation to Soil Particle Surfaces” at AGU23—the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, which was held in San Francisco in December 2023.

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JOURNAL

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

DOI

10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116366 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A novel and simple method for measuring nano/microplastic concentrations in soil using UV-Vis spectroscopy with optimal wavelength selection

 

Polarization and risk perception could play important roles in climate-policy outcomes

When people's perception of risk is low and society is polarized, strong policy measures can backfire in the long run.

SANTA FE INSTITUTE

Times of crises often call for strong and rapid action, but in polarized societies, strong top-down policies can backfire. 

In a paper published on June 17, 2024, in Environmental Research Letters, SFI Applied Complexity Fellow Saverio Perri, SFI Science Board Fellow Simon Levin (Princeton University), and colleagues present a conceptual model of how these dynamics could play out in efforts to decarbonize our energy supply. The model illustrates the complex interplay between strong policies, people’s perception of risk, and the amount of polarization in a society. They show that in situations where the perception of risk is low — where the threat does not feel immediate or particularly dangerous — and opinion polarization is high, strong policy mandates can potentially worsen the long-term outcomes.

It’s a dynamic we saw play out in real-time throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As policymakers took measures to slow transmission of the disease, the global perception of risk was very high. But as masks and lockdowns worked to curb the spread of the virus, our perceived risk declined; mandates lifted, individuals opted out, and case numbers rose again, often surpassing earlier surges.

Perri et. al’s new model suggests that a similar rebound could happen with policies to encourage a transition to low-carbon energy. Say the global community invested heavily in renewable-energy infrastructure in response to the damaging effects of climate change. If those investments were strong enough to reduce the damages, our human tendency would be to lower our guard. Perri and Levin’s model suggests that, in more polarized societies, this could trigger moves to reinvest in fossil fuels. “In this scenario, you have a very strong, effective policy, and that’s good,” says Perri. “But at the same time, in the long term, it’s ineffective.”

The model shows that, in highly polarized situations, social interactions — behaviors that reinforce dominant norms — can lead to a phase shift where an initial state-change can happen quickly, but subsequent transitions become harder. “It’s a double-edged sword. In one sense, it can accelerate a transition. But at the same time, it can make the threshold for that transition harder to meet,” says Perri. “It's beneficial if public opinion tends to favor a transition toward a sustainable state, but it’s clearly detrimental if there is a general consensus to maintain the unsustainable status quo or move toward a degraded state.” 

These dynamic elements of human behavior aren’t included in climate models, but they should be, says Perri. “Our model is not predictive. But we can use it to understand how the dynamics of the system work,” he says. “What we find is that the perception of risk and the impact of opinions on climate mitigation actions are extremely important.” The authors hope that more climate models — and the policy decisions they might inspire — will consider these human–social feedbacks in the future.  

Read the paper “Socio-political dynamics in clean energy transition” in Environmental Research Letters (June 17, 2024). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad5031

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JOURNAL

Environmental Research Letters

DOI

10.1088/1748-9326/ad5031 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

ARTICLE TITLE

Socio-political dynamics in clean energy transition

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Jun-2024