Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Energy from the depths of the Earth: Collaborative research project studies temperature-induced change of rocks in geothermal reservoirs

Geothermal energy as a major driver in the energy revolution / German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy provides funding for research on small-scale processes in rocks for deep geothermal reservoirs

Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz

TRIGGER kick-off — image:
Kick-off meeting of the TRIGGER project on the Gutenberg campus: (fltr) Dr. Hagen Deckert (igem), Professor Miriam Christina Reiss (JGU), Professor Virginia Toy (JGU), Professor Boris Kaus (JGU), Dr. Eva Wellmann (MaP), Professor Jörg Renner (RUB), Manuela Richter (Project Management Jülich), Dr. Stephen Michalchuk (JGU), Dr. Joyce Schmatz (MaP), Dr. Hugo Dominguez Carranza (JGU), and Dr. Min Zhang (RUB)
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Credit: photo/©: Valentin Koßmann / TRIGGER

Geothermal energy can make a decisive contribution towards the energy revolution in Germany while supporting the changeover from the use of fossil to climate-neutral energy resources. However, to ensure widespread public acceptance, it is essential to reduce associated risks, such as the triggering of earthquakes, as far as possible. A new research project led by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) will investigate the impact of changes in deep geothermal reservoirs caused by contact between hot rock and cold water. "We want to understand the effect of thermally induced fracture formation on mineral rock properties, such as permeability and strength, which may have an influence on the amount of thermal water that can be extracted and also on seismicity – although we are mostly unaware of the minor induced earthquake activity," explained Professor Miriam Christina Reiss of Mainz University, who coordinates the new joint project on "Formation of fractures and changes in permeability in geothermal reservoirs caused by thermally induced stress changes" (TRIGGER). The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and started in April 2025.

At Mainz University, a total of four research groups are involved in TRIGGER. Professor Reiss's Volcano Seismology group collaborates with the Tectonics and Structural Geology team headed by Professor Virginia Toy, Professor Boris Kaus' Geodynamics group, and the Metamorphic Processes group led by Professor Evangelos Moulas. Other partners in the research collaboration include the Institute for Geothermal Resource Management (igem) of the Institute for Innovation, Transfer, and Consulting (ITB) in Bingen, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), and the Microstructure and Pores GmbH (MaP) in Aachen. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy will provide a total of roughly EUR 2 million, with some EUR 1 million earmarked to fund the groups at JGU. The Mainz-based researchers will mainly contribute to establishing the microstructural and microchemical composition of samples, to the analysis of rock deformation, and to the mathematical modeling of fluid flow and fracture processes.

Understanding fundamental processes to discover options for a more efficient exploitation of natural hot water reservoirs

Deep geothermal systems exploit natural hot water reservoirs at depths of more than 1,500 meters that can be used to generate electricity and heat. Moving down towards the interior of the Earth, the temperature increases by an average of 3 degrees Celsius for each 100 meters. In order to make use of this geothermal heat, hot water has to be extracted. Once the heat has been used, the cooled water is then returned back into the depths. The difference in temperature can be used to generate energy. In the Upper Rhine Graben rift system, the temperature gradient variation is even as much as 5 degrees Celsius for each 100 meters so that exploitable geothermal layers lie at a depth of 3 to 5 kilometers. This presents cost-effective resources as the layers are readily accessible and can supply large amounts of heat. "Geothermal energy is an important option here in Rhineland-Palatinate, particularly in view of the fact that the Upper Rhine Graben rift system is close by," said Reiss. At present, the typical temperatures of injected water are in a range around 70 degrees Celsius. Further reduction of this temperature could result in a greater yield of heat and improved productivity. However, the new TRIGGER project will first investigate the effects of such a reduction on subsurface rocks.

Laboratory trials followed by computer-generated modeling

The contact between cold water and much hotter rock can cause the rock to fracture and change its porosity and permeability. This could influence potentially induced seismicity. Such small-scale processes result in local changes to the properties of rock that, in turn, can influence the large-scale characteristics of thermal reservoirs. The TRIGGER research project thus aims to ascertain exactly what happens during these small-scale processes. "With this in mind, we will be examining drill core samples obtained at depths of up to 3 kilometers. We will analyze their thermal, mechanical, structural, and chemical properties," explained Reiss. In order to simulate the corresponding processes for better understanding, the samples will be subjected to various experiments, such as deformation by the injection of cold water into heated samples. The researchers will use sensors to detect whether and at what point the material fractures.

Moreover, the lab trials will be replicated in the form of computer models to gain greater insight into the occurring processes over a more extensive range of rock characteristics and temperatures. "We will be able to perform experiments in the lab that would not be possible in the field", said Reiss. "Our approach will enable us to understand the ongoing processes in more detail and also to uncover options for a more efficient exploitation." One of the goals of the joint research project is thus to determine the long-term effects of temperature fluctuations of at least 100 degrees Celsius on fracture formation and on the interaction between injected liquid and rock.

Research is being conducted to determine with more precision the risk of induced seismicity, i.e., the risk of earthquakes caused by human activity. "The public in general is more open to the use of geothermal energy today than in previous decades. It is our goal to acquire a better scientific understanding of the associated natural processes to be able to reduce the potential risks of geothermal heat exploitation," concluded Reiss. The geothermal power plant at Insheim in the Vorderpfalz region of Rhineland-Palatinate has been supplying green electricity for 10 years now. Furthermore, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate is currently planning other geothermal-related projects designed to obtain heat, for example in Speyer and Wörth am Rhein.

New insights into subsurface structures

Miriam Christina Reiss was appointed Junior Professor for Volcano Seismology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in August 2023. It was during her education degree in English and Physics that she discovered her interest in geophysics during an academic exchange in New Zealand. She was awarded a doctorate in Seismology / Geosciences by Goethe University Frankfurt in 2017, subsequently held a postdoc position at Yale University, and was entrusted with a research project funded by the German Research Foundation at Goethe University. Through her research, Professor Miriam Christina Reiss aims to extend the knowledge of volcanoes and their subsurface structures. Her investigations in the field of geothermal energy are intended to enable more effective assessment of the framework conditions for this form of power generation and, in particular, of the associated risk of earthquake activity.

The power of play for children with autism

Study reveals cognitive, behavioral benefits of whole-body movement

University of Delaware

Why movement matters — image:
A recent study by physical therapy professor Anjana Bhat found cognitive benefits to whole-body movement in children with autism.
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Credit: Ashley Barnas Larrimore/ University of Delaware

Step into physical therapy professor Anjana Bhat’s colorful Move 2 Learn Innovation Lab on the University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, and you may see children moving to the beat or leaping over structures as part of an obstacle course. For them, it’s fun and games. But for researchers like Bhat, it’s an exploration of how play affects cognitive functioning in children with autism.

Bhat’s intervention research, funded by the Delaware INBRE Pilot Project Award, separated autistic children ages 5 to 15 into two groups: a whole-body movement group and a sedentary play group.

Children in the movement group participated in a gross motor intervention involving full-body exercise.

“There was a lot of decision-making involved,” Bhat explained. “Children can choose to jump over cups or leap over spots. The child had to make these choices ahead of time and cycle through the activity.”

Sometimes music played, and children had to move in sync with an adult.

They’d make music with drums, bells and cymbals, or dance with an adult who switched between moving fast and slow, Bhat said.

Meanwhile, children in the sedentary play group engaged in seated activities like building with blocks, arts and crafts, or reading.

Research published in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation found that children who engaged in whole-body movement saw improved executive functioning.

“These are the skills required in daily life to make decisions and choices about how to do an activity with multiple parts,” Bhat said. "It requires a lot of thinking ahead so the task becomes fluid.”

Bhat also noted that exercise increases blood supply to the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain involved in executive functioning.

“That’s another reason we may see generally improved cognitive performance following exercise,” she said.

No improvements in cognitive function were observed in the sedentary play group.

The study, which spanned from 2020 to 2022, included children who participated either face-to-face or via telehealth.

“Positive outcomes were seen across both subgroups, proving the intervention is effective whether delivered via Zoom or in person,” Bhat said.

Next, Bhat hopes to use these findings to obtain federal funding for a larger study that uses neuroimaging to validate behavioral findings.

Why movement matters

Executive functioning and cognitive performance are linked to behavior.

“Past research shows that in children with autism, those with better executive functioning present with fewer negative and repetitive behaviors,” Bhat said. “That association was also seen in our study.”

In a separate exergaming study, Bhat observed similar positive impacts on improved executive function as children played sports games using Ring Fit, further reinforcing the connection between movement and cognitive gains.

Despite these promising findings, Bhat says children with autism often receive occupational therapy (OT) focused mainly on fine motor skills and emotional regulation, while gross motor challenges are largely overlooked.

“Physical therapists don’t get referrals for autism, and gross motor issues in this population are largely unaddressed, and the issues extend into adulthood,” Bhat said.

Kamryn Lombardi, a 2023 graduate of UD’s College of Health Sciences integrated health sciences program, obtained her master’s in OT from Thomas Jefferson University. At UD, she worked on this research in Bhat’s lab and now incorporates movement breaks into her practice as a pediatric occupational therapist.

“Incorporating movement-based activities even when we’re working on fine motor skills contributes to enhancing engagement," Lombardi said. "Improving their ability to focus enhances their ability to participate in therapy and work toward their goals.”

It’s still unclear whether the cognitive benefits of whole-body movement extend into children’s daily lives outside structured sessions. However, Bhat’s findings show the need for more movement breaks in school settings.

“Post-exercise, you will see improved attention span and learning ability,” Bhat said. “I don’t think it’s happening enough, especially at the middle-school level. As students get older, physical education time is reduced, resulting in students spending more sedentary time in the classroom.”

For Fei Shan, the benefits of movement are clear. As a mother of two boys with autism who have participated in Bhat’s movement studies, she has witnessed firsthand how movement positively impacts her children’s daily lives.

“We hike, swim and do Taekwondo. Movement has been life-changing for my children,” Shan said. “Even 20 minutes daily makes them more in sync and more focused on their daily tasks.”

Xavier Luckett and his little brother participate in a movement study with Anjana Bhat’s research team, including biomechanics and movement science alumna Wan-Chun Su (left) and Kamryn Lombardi (right), who studied integrated health sciences at UD and went on to obtain her occupational therapy degree at Jefferson.

Grant funds movement study [VIDEO] |

Anjana Bhat, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s Physical Therapy department, has been awarded an R01 grant through the NIH for the next three years. Bhat will look at a timely SPARK study dataset of 24,000 school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The goal of Bhat’s grant-funded research is to better understand motor problems in children with ASD – their prevalence and relationship to other problems in ASD.

Credit

Ashley Barnas Larrimore/ University of Delaware

Journal

Disability and Rehabilitation

DOI

10.1080/09638288.2025.2465600

Caltech's CARL-bot catches an underwater wave

California Institute of Technology

Small autonomous underwater vehicles, like the drones of the sea, could be very useful for studying the depths of the ocean and monitoring its changing conditions. But such nautical mini bots can be easily overpowered by turbulent ocean currents.

Caltech scientists led by John Dabiri (PhD '05), the Centennial Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, have been taking advantage of the natural ability of jellyfish to traverse and plumb the ocean, outfitting them with electronics and prosthetic "hats" with which the creatures can carry small payloads on their nautical journeys and report their findings back to the surface. These bionic jellyfish must contend with the ebb and flow of the currents they encounter, but the brainless creatures do not make decisions about how best to navigate to a destination, and once they are deployed, they cannot be remotely controlled.

"We know that augmented jellyfish can be great ocean explorers, but they don't have a brain," Dabiri says. "So, one of the things we've been working on is developing what that brain would look like if we were to imbue these systems with the ability to make decisions underwater."

Now Dabiri and his former graduate student Peter Gunnarson (PhD '24), who is now at Brown University, have figured out a way to simplify that decision-making process and help a robot, or potentially an augmented jellyfish, catch a ride on the turbulent vortices created by ocean currents rather than fighting against them. The researchers recently published their findings in the journal PNAS Nexus.

For this work, Gunnarson returned to an old friend in the lab: CARL-Bot (Caltech Autonomous Reinforcement Learning roBot). Gunnarson built the CARL-Bot years ago as part of his work to begin incorporating artificial intelligence into such a bot's navigation technique. But Gunnarson recently figured out a simpler way than AI to have such a system make decisions underwater.

"We were brainstorming ways that underwater vehicles could use turbulent water currents for propulsion and wondered if, instead of them being a problem, they could be an advantage for these smaller vehicles," Gunnarson says.

Gunnarson wanted to understand exactly how a current pushes a robot around. He attached a thruster to the wall of a 16-foot-long tank in Dabiri's lab in the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory on Caltech's campus in order to repeatedly generate what are called vortex rings—basically the underwater equivalents of smoke rings. Vortex rings are a good representation of the types of disturbances an underwater explorer would encounter in the chaotic fluid flow of the ocean.

Gunnarson began using the CARL-Bot's single onboard accelerometer to measure how it was moving and being pushed around by vortex rings. He noticed that, every once in a while, the robot would get caught up in a vortex ring and be pushed clear across the tank. He and his colleagues started to wonder if the effect could be done intentionally.

To explore this, the team developed simple commands to help CARL detect a vortex ring's relative location and then position itself to, in Gunnarson's words, "hop on and catch a ride basically for free across the tank." Alternatively, the bot can decide to get out of the way of a vortex ring it does not want to get pushed by.

Dabiri points out that this process includes elements of biomimicry, stealing a page from nature's playbook. Soaring birds, for example, will often take advantage of strong winds to save energy rather than attempt to fly against them. Experiments have also shown that fish may allow themselves to be carried by the ocean's swirling currents to help conserve energy. However, in both natural cases, the systems are using relatively sophisticated sensory input and a brain to accomplish this.

"What Peter has figured out is that basically with a single sensor, this one accelerometer, and relatively simple control laws, we can achieve similar advantages in terms of using the energy in the environment to go from point A to point B," Dabiri says.

Looking to the future, Dabiri hopes to marry this work with his hybrid jellyfish. "With the jellyfish, we can have an onboard accelerometer measure how this system is getting pushed around," he says. "Hopefully, we can demonstrate a similar capability to take advantage of environmental flows to move more efficiently through the water."

The PNAS Nexus paper is titled "Surfing vortex rings for energy-efficient propulsion." The work was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Caltech engineers have taught the CARL-Bot to position itself such that it can catch a ride on underwater vortex rings rather than fighting the turbulence.

Credit

Caltech

Journal

PNAS Nexus

DOI

10.48550/arXiv.2407.16839

Article Title

Surfing vortex rings for energy-efficient propulsion

Workplace culture, not policies, biggest factor in helping employees disclose mental health concerns: SFU study

A Simon Fraser University new study is challenging a commonly held misconception that there’s little organizations can do to encourage employees to disclose mental health concerns.

Simon Fraser University

A Simon Fraser University new study is challenging a commonly held misconception that there’s little organizations can do to encourage employees to disclose mental health concerns.

World Health Organization data shows 15 per cent of adults have a mental health concern, while other surveys have found 65 per cent of employees believe mental health concerns interfere with their job. Yet many organizations, even those with mental health supports and programs, see disclosure as a personal decision they have no influence over.

“That’s just not what we saw in the data,” says Zhanna Lyubykh, assistant professor at Beedie School of Business and lead author of the study published in Human Resource Management. “Organizations can do a lot to help employees disclose. Much of it comes down to employee perceptions of how disclosure is going to be handled, which is absolutely within an organization’s control.”

The study found people were 55 per cent more likely to disclose mental health concerns to their employer when they perceived their organization as supportive. Beyond feeling they won’t be discriminated against or stigmatized, Lyubykh says a supportive workplace means people feel truly supported and that they’ll benefit from accessing organizational supports and programs.

This is where employers can step up, she says. Her research revealed the presence of social supports — the subtle environmental cues people pick up on — is the most significant factor that impacts an employee's willingness to disclose.

“People notice things and log them, sometimes consciously and sometimes not,” she explains. “Did they see someone who recently disclosed get passed over for a promotion? Are open, understanding conversations about mental health encouraged and happening among co-workers? Did it take six months and 100 forms for a co-worker to actually get access to the supports they were entitled to? And when that person received those supports, were they really beneficial?”

It’s a classic example of actions speaking louder than words (or policies).

Lyubykh’s research included two survey-based studies. The first study parsed the difference between employees’ willingness to disclose and actual disclosure rates and looked at factors that influenced employee decision-making. The second study examined the connection between organizational support for mental health and wellbeing and absenteeism.

Researchers found low disclosure rates and poor employee perceptions were linked to higher absenteeism, increased anxiety, and lower productivity and performance. But the opposite was also true: The benefits of a supportive workplace touch every level of an organization, from people to paper, says Lyubykh.

“Competent people don’t want to stay in an unsupportive or toxic environment. Now you have the attrition of high performers on top of other costly problems,” she adds. “If an organization cares about the bottom line, they should really care about the environment they’re creating, because that’s going to be their competitive advantage.”

With so much of an organization’s success resting on their employees’ perception of a supportive environment, Lyubykh hopes organizations adapt existing workplace surveys to ask specific questions around how comfortable people feel talking about mental health concerns in the workplace.

“That will give organizations a solid benchmark, help them track perceptions over time,” she says. “Organizations have the responsibility and power to change things. And change starts at the leadership level.”

Journal

Human Resource Management

DOI

10.1002/hrm.22310

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Facilitating Mental Health Disclosure and Better Work Outcomes: The Role of Organizational Support for Disclosing Mental Health Concerns

Olympic anti-doping lab puts U.S. meat supply to the test

Positive tests resulting from meat consumption “highly unlikely”

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences

Instrumentation at the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab — image:
Lab instrument at the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory
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Credit: UCLA Health

Scientists at UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory turned their sophisticated analytical capabilities for testing athlete samples for performance-enhancing drugs to research examining the U.S. meat supply as part of a study led by Texas Tech. The study was designed to investigate concerns that residues of growth promoters used in meat production could potentially cause athletes to test positive.

The laboratory, which typically searches for prohibited substances in urine and blood samples from elite athletes, took part in a comprehensive year-long surveillance study funded by the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) examining beef, pork, and chicken purchased from retail outlets across eight U.S. cities.

Growth-promoting substances like ractopamine and trenbolone are legally used in U.S. livestock production to increase muscle growth and improve feed efficiency. While the European Union bans many of these compounds, U.S. regulations permit their controlled use in specific animals (particularly beef cattle), though suggested voluntary withdrawal periods for ractopamine before slaughter help ensure residue levels remain within established limits for safe human consumption. Some athletes have attributed positive anti-doping tests to contaminated meat from the U.S. food supply.

Researchers at the lab led by Elizabeth (Ellie) Ahrens, director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, employed the same analytical methods used in anti-doping efforts—liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry—to screen meat samples for anabolic steroids and other growth-promoting agents that are prohibited in sports.

The study, led by Dr. Bradley J. Johnson at Texas Tech University, and in collaboration with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), found that while some beef samples contained detectable levels of substances like ractopamine, trenbolone, and estradiol, all measurements remained well below the maximum residue limits established by regulatory authorities such as the FDA. Pork and chicken samples showed minimal residues, with the vast majority testing entirely negative for prohibited substances.

"The findings suggest that positive tests resulting from meat consumption are highly unlikely when consumed in amounts consistent with typical daily diets," the researchers concluded in their report. "This study reinforces the effectiveness of current regulatory practices in limiting growth promoter residues in commercial meat.” The project is ongoing to collect more samples, including examining imported meat into the U.S. from abroad.

Article: Surveillance of Anabolic Agent Residues in US Meat Supply by Liquid Chromatography With High-Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Drug Test Anal. 2025 May 1. doi: 10.1002/dta.3901. Online ahead of print.

Journal

Drug Testing and Analysis

DOI

10.1002/dta.3901

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animal tissue samples

Article Title

Surveillance of Anabolic Agent Residues in US Meat Supply by Liquid Chromatography With High-Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Energy from the depths of the Earth: Collaborative research project studies temperature-induced change of rocks in geothermal reservoirs

The power of play for children with autism

Credit

Journal

DOI

Caltech's CARL-bot catches an underwater wave

Credit

Journal

DOI

Article Title

Workplace culture, not policies, biggest factor in helping employees disclose mental health concerns: SFU study

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

Olympic anti-doping lab puts U.S. meat supply to the test

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

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