Three million years ago, our ancestors were vegetarian

Nitrogen isotopes in tooth enamel show no evidence of meat consumption in Australopithecus

University of the Witwatersrand

 

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Hand-drawn illustration of two of the seven sampled molars from Australopithecus. 

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Credit: Dom Jack, MPIC

Human ancestors like Australopithecus – which lived around 3.5 million years ago in southern Africa – ate very little to no meat, according to new research published in the scientific journal Science. This conclusion comes from an analysis of nitrogen isotope isotopes in the fossilized tooth enamel of seven Australopithecus individuals. The data revealed that these early hominins primarily relied on plant-based diets, with little to no evidence of meat consumption.

The consumption of animal resources, especially meat, is considered a crucial turning point in human evolution. This protein-rich food has been linked to the increase in brain volume and the ability to develop tools. However, direct evidence of when meat emerged among our early ancestors, and of how its consumption developed though time, has been elusive. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa (Wits University) now provide evidence that human ancestors of the genus Australopithecus that lived in southern Africa between 3.7 and 3.3 million years ago subsisted mostly on plants. 

The research team analyzed stable isotope data from tooth enamel of Australopithecus individuals found in the Sterkfontein cave near Johannesburg, part of South Africa’s “Cradle of Humankind”, an area known for its rich collection of early hominins fossils. They compared the isotopic data of Australopithecus with that from tooth samples of coexisting animals, including monkeys, antelopes, and large predators such as hyenas, jackals, and big cats.

Tooth enamel preserved dietary signatures

"Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue of the mammalian body and can preserve the isotopic fingerprint of an animal's diet for millions of years," says geochemist Tina Lüdecke, lead author of the study. Lüdecke has led the “Emmy-Noether Junior Research Group for Hominin Meat Consumption” at the Mainz-based Max Planck Institute for Chemistry since 2021 and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Evolutionary Studies Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She regularly travels to Africa to sample fossilized teeth for her analysis. Wits University owns the Sterkfontein Caves and is the custodian of the Australopithecus fossils.

When animals digest food, biochemical reactions favor the "light" isotope of nitrogen (14N). Consequently, the degradation products that are produced in their body contain high proportions of 14N. The excretion of these "light" nitrogen compounds in urine, feces, or sweat increases the ratio of "heavy" nitrogen (15N) to this “light" nitrogen the body in comparison to the food it eats. This means that herbivores have a higher nitrogen isotope ratio than the plants they consume, while carnivores in turn have a higher nitrogen isotope ratio than their prey. Therefore, the higher the 15N to 14N ratio in a tissue sample, the higher is the trophic position of the organism in the food web.

Nitrogen isotope ratios have long been used to study the diets of modern animals and humans in hair, claws, bones and many other organic materials. However, in fossil material, these measurements have previously been limited to samples that are only a few tens of thousands of years old due to the degradation of organic material over time. In this study, Tina Lüdecke used a novel technique developed in Alfredo Martínez-García’s laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, to measure nitrogen isotopes ratios in fossilized tooth enamel that is millions of years old. 

Evidence of mostly plant-based food

The team of researchers found that the nitrogen isotope ratios in the tooth enamel of Australopithecus varied, but were consistently low, similar to those of herbivores, and much lower than those of contemporary carnivores. They conclude that the diet of these hominins was variable but consisted largely or exclusively of plant-based food. Therefore,Australopithecus did not regularly hunt large mammals like, for example, the Neanderthals did a few million years later. While the researchers cannot completely rule out the possibility of occasional consumption of animal protein sources like eggs or termites, the evidence indicates a diet that was predominantly vegetarian.

Further research on fossilized tooth enamel

Lüdecke's team plans to expand their research, collecting more data from different hominin species and time periods. They aim to examine fossils from other key sites in eastern and southern Africa as well as southeast Asia to explore when meat consumption began, how it evolved, and whether it provided an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors.

"This method opens up exciting possibilities for understanding human evolution, and it has the potential to answer crucial questions, for example, when did our ancestors begin to incorporate meat in their diet? And was the onset of meat consumption linked to an increase in brain volume?” says Alfredo Martínez-García, from the Max Planck institute for Chemistry.

“This work represents a huge step in extending our ability to better understand diets and trophic level of all animals back into the scale of millions of years. The research provides clear evidence that its diet did not contain significant amounts of meat. We are honoured that the pioneering application of this new method was spearheaded at Sterkfontein, a site that continues to make fundamental contributions to science even 89 years after the first hominin fossils were discovered there by Robert Broom,” says Professor Dominic Stratford, Director of Research at the Sterkfontein Caves and co-author of the paper. 

The study was funded by the Max Planck Society. Tina Lüdecke's research group is supported by the Emmy Noether program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). 

The Sterkfontein excavation site, which exposes the ancient deposits that once formed underground and contain Australopithecus fossils. The fossil-bearing red sediments clearly contrast with the grey dolomite of the cave walls and remnant roof of the chamber. 

Credit

Dominic Stratford

Tina Lüdecke stands beside "Little Foot," a remarkably well-preserved skeleton of Australopithecus discovered in the Sterkfontein Cave, celebrated as the most complete pre-human skeleton ever found. In her research, however, Lüdecke and her team primarily work with isolated fossilized tooth fragments. 

Credit

Bernhard Zipfel/Wits University

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adq7315 

Article Title

Australopithecus at Sterkfontein did not consume substantial mammalian meat

Article Publication Date

16-Jan-2025

 

MSU researchers (plus dogs) discover new truffle species

Michigan State University

Images

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University researchers — along with colleagues at the University of Florida, citizen scientists and their “truffle dogs” — have discovered two new species of truffle. 

Tuber canirevelatum, meaning the ‘dog-found’ truffle, was named in honor of truffle dogs and Monza, the dog who discovered it with her trainer Lois Martin. The other, Tuber cumberlandense, was named for the Cumberland Plateau where it was found by Margaret Townsend and her truffle dog, Luca.  

T. canirevelatum did not look or smell like anything known to grow in North America so, curious to know what it was, Martin mailed it to the lab of Gregory Bonito, associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bonito and his undergraduate research student, Alassane Sow, lead author on the study, used DNA analyses to identify the two truffles and to place them in the tree of life.

“Receiving these samples was very exciting, especially because they looked very similar to the well-known edible European truffles Tuber macrosporum and Tuber aestivum,” Sow said. “We hope that by describing both of these species there will be increased interest in cultivating North American truffles. Our analyses show that each has aromatic compounds found in some of the most valuable truffle species.”

Due to their rarity, truffles are expensive and highly prized in the culinary world. According to Bonito, both these new truffle species have economic potential. “In international markets, fresh truffles are sold for hundreds and thousands of dollars per kilogram,” Bonito said. 

Although T. cumberlandense has been harvested in truffle orchards and in woodlands and has been sold under various names, the analysis showed that it is a distinct and previously undescribed species native to North America, Bonito said. 

Currently, efforts are underway in Kentucky to cultivate this native truffle by the distiller Maker’s Mark.

“This particular species enjoys a symbiotic relationship with their host, white oaks, growing from their roots and providing nutrition to the trees,” Bonito said. “Maker’s Mark is interested in cultivating T. cumberlandense because they store their whiskey in white oak barrels. They will be reforesting their land in Kentucky with white oaks for the barrels and hope one day to harvest truffles as well; perhaps they will even create truffle-infused whiskey.”

Historically, the attention has been on cultivating and selling European truffle species, but there is growing interest in cultivating, wild-harvesting and selling species of truffles native to North America.

Bonito said more and more people are trying to grow truffles, which means more truffle dogs are needed for sniffing out these fungal fruits since they grow underground.

“If you have $20,000 of truffles growing underground, you need to find them before they perish, so the dogs are very important,” Bonito said.

Bonito, along with Matthew Smith from the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida, has been surveying and identifying native North American truffles since before 2010. Bonito and Smith received NSF-funding in 2020 to research the evolution of truffles, morels and their relatives known as Pezizales, which supported this work.

Benjamin Lemmond, a member of the Smith lab in Florida, said, “Truffles are some of the most mysterious and alluring fungi on the planet. They live their lives underground, out of sight, but people all around the world are eager to find them and enjoy their unique culinary qualities. This study shows that there are still undiscovered truffles right under our nose, so to speak, and that without the help of dogs (and their incredible noses) we might never find them.”  

In addition to naming and describing these new species, Bonito said that each species of truffle produces a unique aroma, which is the basis for the culinary potential of truffles and, therefore, their value. 

Bonito and Sow worked with MSU’s Randy Beaudry, professor in the Department of Horticulture, to qualify and characterize the volatiles using gas chromatography. Volatiles are the chemical compounds that create a truffle’s aroma.  

“This instrument allowed us to measure the volatile organic compounds released by a truffle,” Sow said. “We found that T. canirevelatum was enriched in compounds such as dimethyl sulfide and methyl 1-propenyl sulfide, which contribute to the truffle’s savory garlic aroma. In T. cumberlandense, we found the compounds dimethyl sulfide (found in the Périgord black truffle and the Piedmont white truffle) and 2,4-dithiapentane (commonly used when making synthetic truffle products).”

“Our research reinforces the importance of using trained truffle dogs in tuber research and truffle farming,” Bonito said. “We suspect many native tuber species remain to be discovered and described. This task will be enhanced through the continued collaboration between mycologists — scientists who study fungi — the public and trained truffle dogs.” 

The research was published in the journal Mycologia and featured on its cover.

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Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for 170 years. One of the world’s leading public research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 400 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

 

For MSU news on the web, go to MSUToday or x.com/MSUnews.

 

 

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Journal

Mycologia

DOI

10.1080/00275514.2024.2407755 

AMERIKA

Growth of private equity and hospital consolidation in primary care and price implications

JAMA Health Forum

About The Study

: In this cross-sectional study, nearly one-half of all primary care physicians (PCPs) were affiliated with hospitals, while private equity-affiliated PCPs were growing and concentrated in certain regional markets. Relative to PCPs in independent settings, hospital-affiliated PCPs and private equity-affiliated PCPs had higher prices for the same services. 

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Yashaswini Singh, PhD, MPA, email yashaswini_singh@brown.edu.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.4935)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article This link will be live at the embargo time https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.4935?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=011725

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Journal

JAMA Health Forum

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Direct measurements can reduce uncertainty in soil carbon credit markets

Yale University

Directly measuring soil carbon rather than relying on predictive models can provide hard evidence of how much carbon is being stored, allowing for better assessments of confidence in carbon markets for croplands, according to a study co-authored by Yale School of the Environment scientists and recently published in Environmental Research Letters.

The researchers also found that using appropriate study designs applied to the real-world scale of agriculture allows for feasible verification of how much carbon is being stored in soil through climate-smart practices, including growing crops to cover soil and not disturbing soil through tillage. The direct measurement method, when coupled with study designs that are common to fields such as epidemiology, can also be used for quantifying how climate-smart practices affect soil health and other desired outcomes, the authors noted.

“The study suggests that we can do direct measurements at scale, taking its application beyond carbon markets to other greenhouse gas accounting efforts like those conducted by countries to report their national emissions,” said co-author Mark Bradford, the E.H. Harriman Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology, who was involved in the work through the Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program, an initiative of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture and The Forest School at YSE.

Natural carbon solutions, which include  managing croplands to enhance carbon storage, is considered essential by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to help mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis, Bradford noted. Soil organic carbon (SOC) accounting and crediting primarily uses measure-and-model approaches, relying on predictive biogeochemical models informed by small field trials and limited direct measurement, but their real-world accuracy for predicting outcomes on commercial farms is uncertain, he said. Instead of relying on predictions from models, the researchers found that a “measure and remeasure” approach using soil samples collected across hundreds of fields can provide reliable evidence of how much carbon is being stored.

Measuring changes in the amount of carbon stored in soils accurately is challenging, Bradford said. Soil carbon changes slowly against a large background stock, meaning that measuring change requires collecting and analyzing many samples. At small scales, this method has long been considered too costly.

The research team found that sampling 10% of fields across many farms — up to tens of thousands of acres —  over longer time frames can provide reliable data. By directly measuring and remeasuring soil carbon using causal study designs, the credits sold are much more likely to reflect actual carbon storage, helping buyers feel confident their money is supporting real climate benefits and, at the same time, shrinking costs as projects are scaled up, the authors conclude. The approach also could be useful for validating the suitability of predictive models currently used for other cropland greenhouse gas accounting purposes, such as the internal accounting that companies do to meet their net-zero goals, they added.

To help farmers calculate the cost-benefit of soil management projects, Eric Potash, a research scientist with the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) at the University of Illinois who led the study, developed an open-source web app that allows users to explore the costs and profitability of soil carbon projects based on specific parameters: project size, duration, analysis costs, and sampling strategy.

“This study suggests that people may be able to reliably quantify how much soil carbon is changing due to adoption of climate-smart agricultural and regenerative practices,” Bradford said. “If you can address the measurement and verification concerns around how soil carbon stocks are actually responding, it will help prioritize policies and investments that achieve soil restoration and protection, leading to improved water and nutrient retention in soils, aeration, and soil biodiversity. Such healthy soils will be more resilient to extreme weather and build food security.”

The study was also co-authored by Emily Oldfield ’05, ’11 MESc, ’19 PhD, a soil scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, and Kaiyu Guan, director of ASC.

 

 

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Journal

Environmental Research Letters

DOI

10.1088/1748-9326/ada16c 

Article Title

Measure-and-remeasure as an economically feasible approach to crediting soil organic carbon at scale

Article Publication Date

17-Jan-2025

 

Research on past hurricanes aims to reduce future risk

UTA-led international study shows how understanding tropical storms can help protect communities from future events, reducing displacement and saving resources

University of Texas at Arlington

 

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New research led by The University of Texas at Arlington emphasizes that studying the impacts of past tropical storms can help communities better prepare for future storms. A key part of the study is analyzing the types and quantities of storm-related precipitation in affected regions to understand its role on local water resources. By mitigating excessive damage, such preparation could enable more people to remain in their home countries. This is increasingly urgent as climate change is expected to make tropical storms 10-15% more frequent and intense.

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Credit: Photo courtesy UT Arlington

Tropical storms like hurricanes are not only terrifying, but also incredibly costly for coastal regions across the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Beyond the immediate devastation, these storms contribute to significant economic losses and human displacement. In 2023 alone, climate migration linked to such events saw 2.5 million individuals attempt to cross the U.S. southern land border.

New research led by The University of Texas at Arlington emphasizes that studying the impacts of past tropical storms can help communities better prepare for future storms. A key part of the study is analyzing the types and quantities of storm-related precipitation in affected regions to understand its role on local water resources. By mitigating excessive damage, such preparation could enable more people to remain in their home countries. This is increasingly urgent as climate change is expected to make tropical storms 10-15% more frequent and intense.

“We already know that tropical storms have a huge impact on water resources in communities, but few studies have examined the water runoff from these events and how they impact local populations—that’s where our research comes in,” said Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo, lead author of the study and associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at UTA.

Dr. Sánchez-Murillo and his team, in collaboration with international partners from hurricane-prone regions in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Trinidad and Tobago, analyzed water “fingerprints” known as isotopic compositions. By studying isotopic data from past storms, they provided new insights into how storm-related precipitation influences regional water cycles, adding depth to our understanding of these weather events.

“Our comprehensive analysis of isotopic compositions in tropical storm-derived precipitation offers a deeper understanding of the role these weather systems play in regional water cycles and climate predictions,” said Sánchez-Murillo. “These results underscore the significance of accounting for storm-related precipitation. We feel that understanding precipitation impacts will help communities better prepare for extreme storms and manage local water resources both before and after the storms.”

The research team, which includes researchers from Brown University, Clemson University, Florida International University, Humboldt University, Oberlin College, Rice University, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Houston, the University of Tennessee and Washington State University, plans to expand its work. Future studies will investigate evaporation and groundwater recharge patterns resulting from tropical storms, as well as how storm paths might shift due to climate change.

“This research has broad implications for improving our understanding of how tropical storms impact water resources and climate, leading to better predictions and management strategies,” Sánchez-Murillo said.

This research was funded in part from grants from the International Atomic Energy Agency and an Early Career Fellowship from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academics of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UT Arlington is the second-largest institution in the UT System. UTA’s combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributes to its designation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and has earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success. The University ranks in the top five nationally for veterans and their families (Military Times, 2024), is No. 4 in Texas for advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), and is No. 6 in the United States for its undergraduate ethnic diversity (U.S. News & World Report, 2025). UT Arlington’s approximately 270,000 alumni occupy leadership positions at many of the 21 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in North Texas and contribute to the University’s $28.8 billion annual economic impact on Texas.

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Journal

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1111/nyas.15274 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Stable isotope tempestology of tropical cyclones across the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Ocean basins

COI Statement

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This network was rooted in the outcomes of a pan-tropical IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled “Stable Isotopes in Precipitation and Paleoclimatic Archives in Tropical Areas to Improve Regional Hydrological and Climatic Impact Models” (2013–2017). Therefore, multiple national and international grants, including IAEA CRPs and Technical Cooperation Projects, have partially funded this collaborative effort. Research reported in this publication was supported by an Early-Career Research Fellowship from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo (#1266805350). The authors also acknowledge the assistance of Stefan Terzer at IAEA-GNIP in providing reanalyzed (by laser spectroscopy) samples from tropical cyclones (1985–1993) from the pioneering and inspiring work conducted by Jim Lawrence at the University of Houston and Stanley Gedzelman at the City College of New York. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

 

Extreme rain heightens E. coli risks for communities of color in Texas

University of Michigan

Nobody wants to share a day on the water with E. coli.

The bacteria is a sure sign of fecal contamination, which is washed into waterways from farm fields or sewage systems by rain. The microbes are also dangerous—exposure to E. coli can lead to illness, hospitalization and even death.

Still, as many beachgoers know, it's not uncommon for E. coli to temporarily shut down lakes and other recreational waters across the U.S. Now, research led by the University of Michigan shows that communities of color in Texas face pronounced risks of E. coli exposure in nearby waters following storms that dump abnormally high amounts of rain.

"E. coli is the leading cause of water quality impairments in the United States, and exposure to this pollution is not evenly distributed. We're also seeing that extreme precipitation has a disproportionate effect on E. coli pollution," said lead author Xiaofeng Liu, a postdoctoral researcher at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability and a Schmidt AI in Science fellow at the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society.

Liu and colleagues worked with E.coli, climate, environmental and socioeconomic data available for the state of Texas between 2001 and 2021. Using computational models, the team could spot when and where the extreme rainfall had the greatest impact on E. coli levels, while uncovering associations between these impacts and socioeconomic factors.

The patterns were complex, but a couple of clear results emerged. 

Communities in the north and east with higher percentages of Black residents had higher concentrations of E. coli flushed into their recreational waters by extreme rain in winter.

Predominantly Latino communities—where the majority of residents were of Latin American descent—in the southern and western parts of the state experienced outsize E. coli increases following intense storms in September.

"This is a complicated issue. The communities live in these places all the time, but the rainfall impact is different in different seasons," Liu said. 

There are numerous social, historical, geological and meteorological variables at play for understanding this seasonality and location dependence, which are not all captured by available data, she says.

Still, when coupled with the team's computational analysis, there is enough data to identify when and where contamination is most likely to occur. And with that knowledge, people can start looking for opportunities to prevent or combat the influx of E. coli.

"This can inform local governments and environmental agencies and help develop targeted policies and targeted water management practices to help these impacted communities," Liu said.

This work, published in the journal of Science of the Total Environment, was part of a larger project looking at water quality issues and their relationship to social factors. 

That project also yielded another recent report—led by Runzi Wang, assistant professor at the University of California, Davis—looking at E. coli levels and trends throughout Texas. That report showed that not only did Black and Latino communities tend to reside near water with higher concentrations of E. coli, so did economically disadvantaged communities.

Liu and her colleagues did not observe a similar correlation between income level and extreme rainfall impacts on E. coli concentrations during their investigation. But they did find that lower-income areas were more likely to experience an increase in extreme rainfall intensity heading forward. 

"The regions with this increasing trend also tended to have higher percentages of lower-income residents," Liu said. "So even though there isn't a correlation now, climate variability could amplify the effect for lower-income communities in the future."

The team focused their initial study on Texas because E. coli is a serious and known problem. About a third of the streams in Texas are polluted by bacteria, Liu said, but the state also has a robust monitoring system.

Because of that, the team could validate their methods while also performing useful analysis. The researchers now plan to extend their work to other locations in the U.S.

"With this study, we wanted to demonstrate our framework to connect surface water quality with social factors," Liu said. "Our model is definitely applicable to other regions." 

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Journal

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178062 

Article Title

Extreme rainfall disproportionately impacts E. coli concentrations in Texas recreational waterbodies

Article Publication Date

17-Jan-2025

 

Navigating a safer path for autonomous vehicles

Texas A&M University is creating advanced mapping technologies to further the evolution of autonomous vehicles.

Texas A&M University

For autonomous vehicles (AVs) to travel safely, they require up-to-date, high-definition maps that accurately reflect their changing surroundings. If not continually revised, these maps quickly become outdated, increasing the risk of accidents and stalling the development of fully self-driving vehicles. 

Dr. Gaurav Pandey, associate professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution (ETID), received a grant from Ford Motor Company to push the boundaries of current technology.  

At his Computer Vision and Robotics Lab in ETID’s Multidisciplinary Engineering Technology program, Pandey is focused on creating the most optimal maps in the most optimal way to make highly and fully automated transportation part of daily life. 

Some people believe AVs can safely navigate from point A to point B relying solely on cameras, just as humans use their eyes. However, Pandey points out that humans utilize their vision in conjunction with mental maps formed in their minds. These mental maps are automatically updated when conditions change, such as during construction. Today’s mapping technology for AVs is costly and offers no easy way to update in real-time. 

To advance this technology, Pandey is developing a software framework for crowd-sourced 3D map generation and visual localization from camera data. The crowd-sourced data will come from the cameras and sensors of Ford vehicles already on the road, leveraging information that is automatically being collected instead of employing specialized mapping cars that travel around to gather data. 

Pandey will use the crowd-sourced data to create new mapping capabilities that allow real-time updates and aid low-cost visual localization. The intent of this technology is to improve autonomous driving and, ultimately, put fully self-driving vehicles on the road.

The Society of Automotive Engineers defines six levels of autonomy, from none at level zero to full at level five. Many of today’s new vehicles are level two, offering driver assistance such as self-parking and speed control. Currently sold by only one company, level three vehicles allow the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel while remaining ready to assist if needed. Level four needs no driver interaction except in some weather conditions. The eventual goal is level five, at which no human intervention is necessary. 

Predictions vary regarding when level four and five AVs will be available for consumer purchase. While several companies are testing level four AVs on public roads in the U.S., only a few have them in any form of service. Currently their use is limited to driverless taxis in limited geographic areas within large cities. Waymo, owned by Google’s Alphabet, operates AV taxis in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles County and Metro Phoenix. Amazon’s Zoox carried its first passengers in California last year and announced it will begin testing its robotaxis in Austin and Miami. Other companies are in the testing phase of their driverless taxis.

Level four and five vehicles are expected to increase safety for riders, surrounding vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists by eliminating human error. They will give their riders free time to work or relax. As a licensed driver will not be required, they may be of great benefit to those with disabilities that make driving difficult or impossible. 

Pandey brings over 10 years of experience in AV research to the goal of making self-driving vehicles a common reality in our world. He says we are already witnessing the use of AVs in various controlled environments, such as in mining and ports, in addition to the AV taxis. For him, it is no longer a question of "if" we will see full automation integrated into all aspects of our lives, but rather "when" it will be implemented at scale.

By Jennifer Nichols, Texas A&M Engineering

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Researcher studies the power of native plants to combat road salt pollution

Virginia Tech

 

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Megan Rippy collects soil samples at a stormwater detention basin along Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia.

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Credit: Photo courtesy of Stanley Grant.

Salt pollution in freshwater is a growing global concern.

Excessive salt harms plants, degrades soil, and compromises water quality. In urban areas, road salts used for de-icing during winter often wash into stormwater systems, posing health concerns and challenges for infrastructure.

Specifically, salts can impact the processes like filtration and contaminate retention basins that are used to manage and treat urban stormwater runoff. Megan Rippy, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, is on a mission to understand how salt affects plants in stormwater detention basins and assess whether certain plants can mitigate salt pollution through a process called phytoremediation.

“Plants play an important role in green infrastructure performance, but only 1 percent of plants, known as halophytes, can handle highly saline environments,” said Rippy. “This makes it important to characterize the threat salts pose to green infrastructure as well as the potential of salt tolerant species to mitigate that threat.”

Rippy led a yearlong study funded by a National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research program award. She studied stormwater detention basins in Northern Virginia, exploring the impacts of road salts on plants, soils, and water quality in green infrastructure systems. These basins, designed to manage stormwater runoff and improve water quality, face challenges from road salts used during winter months.

The research published in Science of the Total Environment shows that the amount of salt present in green infrastructure systems does reach levels that threaten plant communities. However, relying on salt-tolerant plants to mitigate the program is unlikely to be effective because they simply don’t assimilate enough salt.

Salt levels and plant resilience

The research found that basins draining roads exhibited the highest salt levels, causing significant stress to plants. Parking lots were next with moderate salt levels, while basins draining grassy areas had little to no salt stress.

Of the 255 plant species identified in the basins, 48 native species showed the ability to tolerate high salt concentrations. Certain plants, particularly cattails, absorbed substantial amounts of salt, significantly higher than other species.

The researchers focused on 14 detention basins across Northern Virginia, measuring salt levels in water, soil, and plant tissues throughout the four seasons. The water samples were analyzed at the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory for electrical conductivity and major salt ions. The basins provide drainage for different types of land, including roads, parking lots, and grassy areas.

Can plants solve the salinity problem?

While salt-tolerant plants like cattails showed promise, their impact on overall salt removal was limited. Even in a basin densely planted with cattails, only about 5 to 6 percent of the road salt applied during winter could be removed. This suggests that phytoremediation alone cannot resolve salt pollution but could complement broader salt management strategies that also address winter salt application.

“The amount of salt cattails remove is roughly equivalent to the mass of one to two adults,” said Rippy. “That pales in comparison to the amount we actually apply to the roads and parking lots, suggesting that we shouldn’t expect plants to be a silver bullet solution to our salinization problem.”

Climate change also may alter salt stress dynamics in stormwater systems. As winters in transitional climate zones become milder with more rain and less snow, the amount of salt applied to roads could decrease. This shift might bring salt levels in basins more in line with plants’ ability to absorb and process the salinization.

However, regions with persistent snow cover may experience different challenges, such as delayed deicer wash-off and plant emergence, which could affect salt stress profiles and phytoremediation capacity.

Resilient systems for managing urban salt pollution

This study provides valuable insights into the interplay between plants, salt pollution, and green infrastructure. By understanding how plants tolerate and process salt, Rippy is one step closer to developing sustainable solutions for protecting freshwater ecosystems.

While plants alone cannot solve our salt pollution problem, their role in integrated management strategies is critical. This can offer guidance for urban planners, engineers, and environmental scientists to design more effective stormwater systems to manage runoff, reduce salt pollution, and create greener, more resilient cities. 

Original study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178310

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Journal

Science of The Total Environment

Article Title

The impact of deicer and anti-icer use on plant communities in stormwater detention basins: Characterizing salt stress and phytoremediation potential

Article Publication Date

15-Jan-2025