Broccoli grows well under magenta solar panels

Cell Press

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Broccoli growing beneath semi-transparent, colored solar panels at the experimental site at Kärrbo Prästgård farm in Sweden.

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Credit: Silvia Ma Lu

Planting broccoli under magenta solar panels helped the plants absorb sunlight more efficiently than those grown out in the open finds a study publishing October 2 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Physical Science. Scientists used customized, semi-transparent solar panels to generate electricity while boosting blue- and red-light wavelengths to enhance broccoli growth. The crops grown with these panels showed a 4.5-fold increase in how efficiently they used sunlight and ultimately grew as large as traditional broccoli, although it took them 25 days longer to mature. The solar panels offer a potential tool for farmers to harvest renewable energy while sustaining crop yields. 

“The basic concept is quite straightforward,” says author Silvia Ma Lu of Mälardalen University in Västerås, Sweden. “The solar panels use part of the incoming sunlight to generate renewable electricity while allowing part of the light to pass through to the crops growing underneath. The broader goal is to investigate whether sunlight can be used more efficiently by allocating different portions of the solar spectrum to crop growth and electricity generation.” 

Using conventional solar panels on farm fields allows farmers to produce renewable electricity on land where ample space is already available while protecting plants from exposure to too much sunlight and extreme weather such as hail or heavy rainfall. However, since conventional dark-blue panels are typically opaque, they can create too much shade, reducing some crops’ yields—which semi-transparent and colored panels can help mitigate. 

“There is no single agrivoltaic design that will work optimally everywhere,” says Ma Lu. “More research is needed to understand how different crops respond to different system configurations and climatic conditions and to design systems that balance agricultural production with renewable electricity generation.” 

To advance this research, Ma Lu and colleagues chose to focus on broccoli, a highly nutritious crop popular worldwide and well suited to the climate of their experimental site on a farm in Sweden. The researchers built two 20-meter by 20-meter systems made from semi-transparent, magenta-colored solar panels with different levels of transparency, allowing varying amounts of sunlight to reach the plants cultivated beneath. In a third plot of land, broccoli plants were fully exposed to the sun. 

Throughout the 2024 growing season, the team compared the broccoli in each plot, monitoring environmental conditions including air temperature, relative humidity, and soil moisture as well as crop yield, nutrient composition, and how well the plants performed photosynthesis. 

“One of the most interesting findings was how similarly the broccoli performed under the two solar panel systems despite their different transparency levels,” says Ma Lu, noting that solar panels with a greater density of photovoltaic cells can produce more electricity. “However, these findings are specific to our experimental conditions and should be validated across additional growing seasons and system configurations.” 

The systems tested in this study are research prototypes, she added, with more research needed at larger scales and over multiple growing seasons. If the technology were scaled up for commercial use, electricity generated from crops could, in principle, power farm operations such as irrigation, machinery, or cooling and storage systems, or it could be supplied to the electricity grid. This could lower farmers’ electricity bills and even give them an additional source of income. 

Ma Lu and colleagues have already begun further evaluating the magenta panels, as well as red and blue ones, by testing them in controlled lab settings without interference from light that isn’t filtered through the panels. 

“Configurations similar to our prototype may currently be suitable for smaller-scale applications, such as community gardens, or for integration into greenhouse roofs rather than immediate deployment over large agricultural areas,” says Ma Lu. 

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This work was supported by funding from the J. Gust. Richert Foundation, Swedish Energy Agency, the Knowledge Foundation, and Carbon2Food. 

Cell Reports Physical Science, Lu et al., “Evaluating land productivity with semi-transparent colored CdTe thin-film PV and broccoli cultivation in agrivoltaic systems” https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(26)00461-3

Cell Reports Physical Science (@CellRepPhysSci), published by Cell Press, is a broad-scope, open access journal that publishes cutting-edge research across the spectrum of the physical sciences, including chemistry, physics, materials science, energy science, engineering, and related interdisciplinary work. Visit: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/home. To receive Cell Press media alerts, please contact press@cell.com. 

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Journal

Cell Reports Physical Science

DOI

10.1016/j.xcrp.2026.103555

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Evaluating land productivity with semi-transparent colored CdTe thin-film PV and broccoli cultivation in agrivoltaic systems

Article Publication Date

2-Oct-2026

 

Mowing less, spraying smarter gives pollinators a boost

Roadside pollinator populations and the negative impact of intensive roadside vegetation maintenance

University of Ottawa

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Roadsides may not look like wildlife habitat, but a few simple changes to how they are maintained could turn them into much better places for pollinators.

A new uOttawa-led study found that reducing mowing and herbicide use along rural roadsides led to a 45 percent jump in pollinator numbers and a 23 percent increase in the number of species found there.

"Roadsides aren't places most people think of as wildlife habitat, but they add up to a huge amount of land across the country," explains Jessica Forrest, full professor in the Department of Biology at uOttawa’s Faculty of Science and the study’s principal investigator. "What surprised us wasn't that management mattered; it was how much difference two modest changes made."

Comparing Ottawa area roadsides

Researchers compared rural roadsides in neighbouring jurisdictions around Ottawa that use different maintenance practices.

Lanark County mows twice a year and only spot-treats invasive plants like wild parsnip. Ottawa and Leeds & Grenville County mow up to four times a year and spray herbicide more broadly. Because these jurisdictions sit side by side, the team could compare otherwise similar roadsides and isolate the effect of management alone.

"We found that sites managed with this low-intensity approach had far more bees and flower flies, and more species of both, than sites managed conventionally,” says Professor Forrest. “And this wasn't a dramatic overhaul of how roadsides are managed, just mowing a bit less and using herbicide more precisely."

Over 3,700 pollinators identified

Over two summers, lead author Gil Miranda, a former postdoctoral researcher in Forrest's lab now with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, netted and identified 3,773 specimens from 31 sites, totalling 153 species: 100 bees and 53 flower flies. Low-intensity roadsides averaged 27 species per site across the study; conventionally managed ones averaged 22.

A collaborative research effort

The NSERC Alliance-funded project relied on a partnership between the University of Ottawa, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canadian Wildlife Federation, where Carolyn Callaghan, Tracey Etwell, and Vincent Fyson helped conceive and fund the study as part of their Rights-of Way as Habitat program. They also pinpointed site pairs that shared similar surrounding landscape but fell under different mowing regimes. Sophie Cardinal of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada led the DNA barcoding used to confirm species identifications. The research was conducted with the support and cooperation of the City of Ottawa, Lanark County and United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

A practical response to pollinator decline

"Roads still need to be safe to drive, and invasive species still need to be managed," adds Professor Forrest. "But our results suggest land managers don't have to choose between that and supporting pollinators. Mowing less often and spraying herbicide only where it's actually needed rather than across a whole roadside, gets you most of the way there."

The findings arrive as bee and flower fly populations face mounting pressure across North America; a recent continental assessment found more than one-fifth of native pollinator species are now at elevated risk of extinction. Forrest believes that the roadside results offer a rare bit of good news: a low-cost change within reach of any municipality or county maintaining rights-of-way.

"You don't need to plant anything new or spend more money to see a benefit," Professor Forrest concludes. "You just need to let the roadside be a little less tidy."

The study, “Roadside pollinator populations and the negative impact of intensive roadside vegetation maintenance”, is published in the Insect Conservation and Diversity journal.
Authorship:  Gil Miranda, Tracey Etwell, Vincent Fyson, Sophie Cardinal, Carolyn Callaghan, Jessica Forrest. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.70144

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Journal

Insect Conservation and Diversity

DOI

10.1111/icad.70144

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Roadside pollinator populations and the negative impact of intensive roadside vegetation maintenance

 

Research finds sibling aggression to be common, though often dismissed as ‘normal’

University of Kansas

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Using data from 290 elementary-school children with siblings, University of Kansas researchers found about 1 in every 6 children reported using or threatening physical force to dominate a sibling, while about 1 in 8 said they had threatened or bullied a sibling to get something. Illustration: "Brother and Sister After the Quarrel" by Évariste Carpentier | Wikimedia Commons

 

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Credit: Wikimedia Commons Evariste Carpentier https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEvariste_Carpentier_-_Brother_and_sister_after_the_quarrel.jpg?utm_source=chatgpt.com

LAWRENCE — Sibling aggression takes many forms, like hitting, shoving, threatening or calling names. Although sibling aggression is widespread and can shape people for years, it hasn’t been studied well by psychological researchers.

“It’s been understudied because we just think that it’s normal,” said Paula Fite, chair and Dean’s Professor of Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Kansas. “The attitude is, ‘Siblings are going to fight, and they’re not always going to get along, and it’s just a rite of passage.’”

Now, Fite and co-authors have just published an investigation into sibling aggression in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, based on data from 290 elementary-school children with siblings. The researchers found roughly 1 in 6 children reported using or threatening physical force to dominate a sibling, while about 1 in 8 said they had threatened or bullied a sibling to get something.

A key takeaway is that parents should take aggression between siblings seriously, even when it seems more like everyday family squabbling, Fite said.

“Maybe parents see the sibling stuff as normative — but if their kids did that same thing with a peer, parents would feel like they need to do something about it,” Fite said. “But we actually compared the rates, and sibling aggression is much higher than peer aggression.”

The researchers classified sibling aggression into two overarching types: “proactive,” where one sibling is aggressive toward another without provocation, and “reactive,” where a sibling is provoked into aggression as retribution.

“We see that reactive aggression is more common with siblings as well as peers, and part of that, we think, is emotion regulation and trying to build up those skills,” Fite said. “Reactive aggression is going to be more socially acceptable, that you did it in retaliation as opposed to you did this in some sort of cold-blooded, calculated way.”

Fite’s collaborators were lead author Charlsie Solano and Kat Lell Wright, both of whom are clinical child psychology graduate students at KU; and Cara Swit, an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Among their other points, the researchers emphasize that both functions of sibling aggression can have negative results later in life.

“Distinguishing between those subtypes of aggression better predicts outcomes,” Fite said. “Reactive aggression is associated with feeling bad afterward, and a lot of kids who exhibit reactive aggression demonstrate depression and anxiety symptoms. Whereas proactive aggression is more strongly linked to delinquency and substance abuse, in the sense of binge drinking and risk-taking.”

Moreover, aggression between siblings can spill outside the family dynamic. The researchers found both subtypes of sibling aggression are linked to peer aggression six months later.

“It’s certainly related to following aggressive patterns, that you take those same patterns of behavior in the sibling relationship, and that does influence your peer relationships,” said the KU researcher. “We know it’s important to address among siblings, not just wait until they exhibit those problems with peers.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the research team found no difference in reported instances of sibling aggression between boys and girls.

“Once you get outside of the family environment, then you see where boys will be more physically aggressive, specifically,” Fite said. “But we don’t see necessarily within the sibling relationships those gender differences.”

Fite said parents should be mindful of repeated aggressive behavior between siblings, including teasing.

“If you talk to some siblings, they’ll say that what hurt them the most as a kid is their sibling saying mean things about them, and that can have long-lasting impact,” she said. “So I think for parents, it’s important to look at the patterns and have that open dialogue and communication. But just to ignore or tell them to figure it out, sometimes they don’t have the skills to do that, and they need the instruction and someone to explain to them how to do that.”

Fite said many questions remain about sibling aggression and the developmental trajectories of siblings involved in patterns of proactive and reactive aggression.

“I would love to follow the same kids and see how those peer dynamics play out, and then how that’s related to more delinquent behaviors,” she said. “That includes early substance abuse and problem behaviors. I’d be interested in understanding, for both the aggressors and the victims, who they partner with as far as peer relationships, and what those turn out to be like.”

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Journal

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment

DOI

10.1007/s10862-026-10321-4 

 

The risk of looking back at former versions of ourselves

New study examines effects of self-oriented comparison

Ohio State University

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — For decades, body image researchers have focused almost exclusively on how we compare ourselves to others, and the toll it takes on our well-being. But a new study from The Ohio State University shows that we are often our own worst critics, especially when comparing who we are today with past versions of ourselves.

It is well-established that comparing your body to someone else’s can lead to a negative body image and disordered eating. Popular theories in the field suggest that across the lifespan, our peers, parents and the media we consume all reinforce societal beauty standards, driving people to measure their own value against unrealistic ideals. However, according to the study published recently in Body Image, people are just as likely to compare their current bodies to their former appearance, with equally harmful results. And few scholars have studied this phenomenon in-depth.

“There’s so much literature on social comparison, especially in body image and eating disorder literatures, and there’s virtually nothing on self-oriented comparison,” said lead author Tracy Tylka, a professor of clinical psychology at Ohio State’s Marion campus.

Findings in Tylka’s new work, and a measurement scale she and colleagues created and validated, may have potential to alter psychological treatment for people seeking help with adjusting to appearance-related changes – including aging.

“Self-oriented comparison matters. It is uniquely associated with body image and eating behavior,” she said. “In clinical treatment, we shouldn’t just focus on how clients are comparing themselves to others, but also how they are comparing themselves to previous versions of themselves.”

For Tylka, the gap became clear during conversations with her former Ohio State graduate student and the study’s co-author, Nichole Wood-Barcalow, who now works in private practice in Westerville, Ohio. Wood-Barcalow had noticed a pattern among her clients, who frequently compared their current appearance with how they looked in old photos, videos and memories of their younger selves. 

They would tell Wood-Barcalow, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe how much I’ve changed.”

These reflections were often triggered by major life milestones and physical changes, including puberty, pregnancy, menopause, andropause, illness, aging and weight fluctuations. While some people felt they had changed for the better, most perceived these appearance-related shifts negatively.

Tylka has a deep background in psychometrics and analysis and has created scales that measure everything from intuitive eating and body appreciation to body acceptance by others. Established scales measuring social comparison are used regularly in research and clinical practice, so when Tylka searched for a trait-based scale to measure self-oriented comparison, she was surprised to learn it didn’t exist yet.

“Once we found out this was such an untouched construct with no scale developed to measure it, I knew we had to assess it,” she said.

Historically, she explained, body image and eating disorder research have focused on young white women or adolescents, who are comparing themselves more to others than to previous versions of the self.

“The body image field has been late to notice ageism and the lack of research on the aging process as it relates to body image. As we age, we move further away from what society tells us we should look like, and we compare ourselves to previous versions, photos or videos from decades ago,” Tylka said.

Tylka worked with Wood-Barcalow and other experts to design an 11-item measure of self-oriented appearance comparison, named the Self-Oriented Comparison Scale for Appearance (SOCS-A). They tested the scale across two separate community samples of U.S. adults to confirm its accuracy.

Through statistical analysis, the study confirmed support for two distinct subscales: upward and downward self-oriented comparison. Upward comparison involves measuring your current reflection against a past vision of yourself where you felt more attractive, while downward comparison means looking back at a photo, memory or time when you felt less attractive. Among study participants, researchers found that upward comparison was strongly linked to negative body image, body shame, rumination and disordered eating. Downward comparison, by contrast, was associated with lower levels of shame and higher appearance pride and body appreciation.

“What surprised us was that downward comparison was viewed more favorably. We were expecting a pattern more similar to social comparison, where downward comparison is also maladaptive,” Tylka said. “People think comparing themselves to others they view as less attractive would make them feel good, but downward social comparison is linked to body-focused shame, guilt and less body image flexibility.”

In other words, when we use others as a gauge to evaluate ourselves, we might feel bad for those other people or guilty for making comparisons. Downward self-oriented comparison, however, often means you worked to change or overcome something you didn’t like about your appearance, so you’re more likely to report feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment.

The study results also revealed gender differences. While the scale worked the same way structurally across the gender spectrum, women scored considerably higher than men on upward self-oriented comparison, while men scored higher on downward self-oriented comparison.

Tylka said this finding aligns with societal pressures: Women are expected to maintain a certain appearance, and if they deviate from that in any way, it tends to bother them more because their worth in society is often tied to appearance.

She hopes that the SOCS-A will be translated and used by research teams around the world – and in prevention programs, clinical interventions and therapy settings — to explore the experiences of diverse groups of people going through appearance-related changes and evaluate whether upward self-oriented comparison decreases as a result of treatment.

“Beyond age, I think (the SOCS-A) has relevance to be explored in the context of GLP-1 use,” Tylka added. “I am starting to do research with colleagues on GLP-1s, body image and eating behavior. We haven’t analyzed the data yet, but I think the intersection with self-oriented comparison will be really interesting.”

This work was funded by an Ohio State Joan Huber Fellowship Grant.

Written by Elizabeth Weinstein

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Journal

Body Image

DOI

10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102159

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Self-Oriented Comparison Scale for Appearance (SOCS-A): Development and psychometric evaluation

 

Moms of infants overcome barriers to postpartum care with help from patient navigators

‘Pregnancy and the postpartum period are complex, and people often deprioritize themselves,’ author says

Northwestern University

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• Low-income pregnant patients paired with trained, lay navigators were more likely to attend postpartum visits, access preventive care, stay engaged with the healthcare system

• Patient navigation is widely used in cancer care; this is the first large study to evaluate it in obstetric care

• Goal of the program was to 'put the navigators out of business,' make patients more independent when navigating healthcare system

CHICAGO — While the transition to motherhood can be challenging for anyone, barriers such as inadequate health literacy, unreliable transportation, navigating a complex health care system, limited access to childcare or insecure housing can be the tipping point between a new mom accessing needed care or going without it. 

A new Northwestern Medicine study has found patient navigators — trained guides who help patients access care and resources while working alongside the healthcare team — can ease that transition among low-income pregnant individuals, leading to better health in their postpartum period and more consistent primary care for years to come. 

The study will be published Oct. 2 in JAMA Health Forum. The authors said it is among the first to outline what ideal postpartum care in the U.S. should look like. 

A breakdown of the findings

Compared to those who did not receive patient navigation, patients who were paired with a navigator were more likely to:

• Attend postpartum care visits (96% vs. 80% among those receiving usual postpartum care without a patient navigator)
• Be counseled about all needed postpartum topics (65% vs. 51%)
• Have screening and care for postpartum depression (86% vs. 72%) in the critical “fourth trimester” months
• Attend a primary care visit (57% vs. 30%) at one year after giving birth
• Be using their desired family planning method, such as birth control, at one year to help space out their pregnancies (65% vs. 43%)
• Receive preventive health testing (i.e. blood pressure (85% vs 62%), lipids (28% vs 13%) and glucose (31% vs 16%) 

“Pregnancy and the postpartum periods are complex, and people often deprioritize themselves, particularly if they don’t have much support or have complex social needs,” said corresponding author Dr. Lynn Yee, chief of maternal-fetal medicine in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “Combined with a fragmented healthcare system, many people do not receive the care they need.” 

“That makes a perfect storm of suboptimal women’s health in this very key postpartum period, which is when we know many women drop out of care. If we can address this gap early and sustain their engagement with healthcare, we can make a difference in the health and well-being of women over the long run.”

In cancer care, patient navigation has received widespread adoption, and is even funded by Medicaid, but has been largely underused and understudied in postpartum care, Yee said. This is the first large-scale study to examine the benefits of patient navigation among pregnant and postpartum individuals. The findings lay the groundwork for future research and potential funding for patient navigation.

What patient navigators did, how it helped

In the study of 405 pregnant individuals at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago between 2020 and 2024, patient navigators were paired with pregnant individuals near the end of their pregnancy and throughout the first year after delivery. The navigators, who spoke both English and Spanish, created postpartum care plans with patients and shared them with the medical team; scheduled and attended appointments; coordinated social needs such as transportation and childcare; communicated with doctors and nurses; helped patients understand complex medical information and develop self-efficacy skills; and improved health literacy.

Previous research has shown that pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia can affect long-term health, making the transition to primary care of great importance. Even patients with healthy pregnancies can face postpartum challenges, like postpartum depression, unfulfilled social needs such as lack of partner support or housing challenges, or safety risks like domestic violence, making it difficult to prioritize their health, Yee said. The program’s success at engaging postpartum patients in transitioning to primary care shows how navigators can help close these gaps, the authors said. 

“Cumulatively not engaging in health-promotion behaviors in the postpartum period has reverberating implications for the family unit, too,” Yee said.

The study also found the medical care team appreciated the navigators’ help. The navigators would step in to let a doctor know a patient couldn’t attend an appointment and reschedule it, for instance, or complete administrative tasks, thereby freeing up the care team. Navigators also ensured patients followed up on post-appointment tasks, such as getting a glucose tolerance test or attending a subsequent appointment. 

“One of the goals of navigators was not just to help patients, but to help clinicians too, and doctors were happy at how much more efficient and engaged patients were,” said co-author Joseph Feinglass, research professor of general internal medicine at Feinberg. 

A patient navigator’s firsthand account from the study 

Before joining the study, patient navigator Viridiana Carmona-Barrera worked in hospital, insurance and women’s health settings, uniquely positioning her to help pregnant patients. She recalled one pregnant patient with chronic health conditions who was at risk of missing a critical appointment because of transportation and childcare challenges. When other outreach efforts fell short, Carmona-Barrera helped coordinate transportation and childcare so the patient could attend. 

“I like being someone who can help make these processes easier,” Carmona-Barrera said. “As committed as health care organizations are to supporting patients, navigating the system can still be challenging.” 

Teaching self-sufficiency so navigators were no longer needed

A primary objective of the study authors and patient navigators was to increase patients’ independence and comfort with engaging with the healthcare system so they wouldn’t need a navigator in the future and would continue seeking primary care on their own. 

“Their goal was to put themselves out of business, to be able to get to the end of the year and say, ‘You don’t need me anymore,’” Yee said. “That’s success for a navigation program.” 

The study is titled, “A randomized trial of patient navigation to improve postpartum health care.” 

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Journal

JAMA Health Forum

Article Title

A randomized trial of patient navigation to improve postpartum health care

Article Publication Date

2-Oct-2026