Elephants found to be increasingly isolated, leading to fractured social networks

With a troubling decline in the population, researchers warn of a tipping point for the highly social animals

University of California - San Diego

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UC San Diego researchers studied more than 400 elephants at the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka.

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Credit: Credit: Udawalawe Elephant Research Project, CC BY-ND

Humans and many other social animals thrive in well-established community networks. Asian elephants are one example of a species that flourishes in groups that work together to access food and care for their young, among other social bonds.

University of California San Diego scientists in the School of Biological Sciences studying the intricacies of Asian elephant community structures have documented a troubling downturn in the population of the animals resulting in fractured social communities. Their study is published November 12 in Science.

Analyzing the social dynamics of more than 440 wild female Asian elephants over 12 years at the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka, the researchers studied key shifts in the demographics of the elephants that seemed to trigger social communities becoming smaller and more isolated.

“We found that gradual accumulation of losses from turnover preceded sudden change in the social networks among females in a wild population of Asian elephants,” the researchers explained in the study, which was led by Postdoctoral Researcher Anastasia Madsen from the laboratory of Associate Professor Shermin de Silva in the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. de Silva also serves as president and founder of the conservation nonprofit Trunks & Leaves Inc.

The researchers’ analysis indicates a social structure tipping point. As the number of elephants in the population decreased over time, due to a combination of likely deaths, permanent emigrations of elephants and fewer incoming individuals, the population as a whole appears to have crossed a critical threshold that resulted in a shift from large, densely connected social communities, to smaller and less-connected social groupings.

“We see individual elephants leaving and possibly dying at accelerating rates, but new individuals are not coming into the population,” said Madsen. “With fewer individuals in the population, those who are left will naturally have fewer relationships. However, the remaining elephants are also changing their relationships with each other.”

This new dynamic is a cause for concern, says Madsen, since the animals leverage their social groups and connections to forage, acquire information and raise young.

“We can probably all relate to the feeling of social isolation brought about, paradoxically, with the advent of digital communications that seem to remove the physical constraints of needing to be in the same place at the same time,” said de Silva. “But for many social species, which includes ourselves as much as elephants, we have to remember that social connectivity is very much a matter of sharing space and building relationships throughout our lives. Crucially, in order to have resilient communities, we need to be able to replace the relationships that are lost over time.”

Many elephant populations are already impacted through deaths resulting from poaching and conflicts with humans. Other contributing factors may be disruptions in habitat connectivity and less food available for the elephants as ecological conditions change across the 119-square-mile park and surroundings.

The new social fracturing structure observed by the scientists may not be easily repaired, the researchers warn.

“In general, we need to be more aware of these types of tipping points where we see sudden shifts after changes have been slowly building up,” said Madsen. “Once we move past the tipping point, it’s much harder to go back to previous states.”

The new findings will serve future studies seeking to understand shifts in animal society structures, how to detect such tranformations and the factors responsible for vulnerabilities. The study also stimulates ongoing discussions for conserving elephant populations as humans expand into areas where elephants historically thrived.

“We are gaining more evidence that studying social patterns is an important tool for us to see when things are going wrong in natural populations and, hopefully, to be able to do something about it,” said Madsen.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.aef6714

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Increased demographic turnover and isolation precede social fragmentation in Asian elephants

Article Publication Date

12-Nov-2026

Asian elephants thrive in groups that work together to access food and care for their young.

The new findings serve future studies seeking to understand shifts in animal society structures.

Credit

Udawalawe Elephant Research Project, CC BY-ND

 

A molecular bridge Strengthens perovskite solar cells for higher efficiency and longer stability

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal Center

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• Bridging the 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid salt molecule at the self-assembled molecules/perovskite buried interface enhances charge transfer via π–π stacking and passivates defects via Pb2+ coordination, yielding a superior power conversion efficiency of 26.21%.
• The modified devices demonstrate exceptional storage stability, retaining over 90% of their initial power conversion efficiencies after 4500 h in a nitrogen atmosphere without encapsulation.
• Na+ from 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid salt effectively occupy A-site vacancies in the perovskite lattice, reinforcing structural stability and substantially improving device longevity.

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Credit: Leying Zha, Weilu Ding, Yalin Gao, Xiao Wu, Tinglu Song, Changhua Li, Chenghao Duan*, Xinhui Lu, Guilong Cai*, Suojiang Zhang*.

Perovskite solar cells have emerged as promising next-generation photovoltaic technologies, with rapidly advancing power conversion efficiencies and strong potential for scalable manufacturing. However, the performance and durability of inverted perovskite solar cells remain closely linked to the quality of the buried interface between the self-assembled molecular (SAM) hole-transport layer and the perovskite absorber. Poor interfacial adhesion, inefficient charge extraction, and defects within the perovskite lattice can promote non-radiative recombination and accelerate device degradation. To address these challenges, researchers from Henan University, the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a molecular bridging strategy that simultaneously improves interfacial charge transport, defect passivation, and long-term device stability.

Why This Interface Matters

SAM-based hole-transport layers offer important advantages for inverted perovskite solar cells, including favorable energy-level alignment and low-temperature processing. Nevertheless, their molecular aggregation and incomplete substrate coverage can compromise the contact with the perovskite layer. Meanwhile, undercoordinated Pb2+ ions and A-site vacancies at the buried interface create defect sites that facilitate charge recombination and ion migration. Addressing these interconnected problems requires an interfacial modifier capable of strengthening adhesion while maintaining efficient electronic communication between adjacent layers.

Innovative Design and Mechanism

The research team introduced two sulfonate-based molecules, sodium methyl allyl sulfonate (SMAS) and 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt (2-FAS), as functional interlayers between the SAM and perovskite. Both molecules improve substrate wettability, regulate perovskite crystallization, and passivate interfacial defects through coordination between their sulfonate groups and undercoordinated Pb2+ ions. Notably, 2-FAS offers an additional advantage: its benzene ring forms strong π–π interactions with the conjugated SAM molecules, creating an effective molecular bridge that facilitates hole extraction and interfacial charge transfer. Its Na⁺ ions can also occupy A-site vacancies in the perovskite lattice, helping suppress ion migration and phase transitions while reinforcing structural stability.

Outstanding Performance

The optimized 2-FAS-modified inverted perovskite solar cells achieve a champion power conversion efficiency of 26.21%, with an open-circuit voltage of 1.164 V and a fill factor of 86.15%. This substantially exceeds the efficiencies of the untreated control (24.58%) and SMAS-modified devices (25.41%). More importantly, unencapsulated devices retain 90.06% of their initial efficiency after 4500 hours of storage in a nitrogen atmosphere, outperforming both the control and SMAS-based devices.

Applications and Future Outlook

By combining molecular-level interfacial bridging, defect passivation, and lattice stabilization, this work establishes a practical strategy for addressing multiple performance-limiting factors in inverted perovskite solar cells. The use of low-cost, readily available sulfonate molecules also offers advantages for accessible interface engineering. These findings provide a promising foundation for developing more efficient and durable perovskite photovoltaic devices, bringing their potential for long-term practical applications closer to reality.

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Journal

Nano-Micro Letters

DOI

10.1007/s40820-026-02278-6

Method of Research

News article

Article Title

A Buried Sulfonate Molecular Bridge for Synchronous Charge Transport and Defect Passivation in High‑Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

 

Feeling safe, being heard and staying connected are important to children receiving end-of-life care

University of Eastern Finland

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A systematic review conducted by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland brings together studies from mainland China and Taiwan. The review highlights the importance of emotional security, family relationships and culturally sensitive support for children receiving end-of-life care.

The needs of children approaching the end of life extend beyond pain relief and the management of physical symptoms. Children may worry about losing loved ones, wish to stay in touch with friends and seek reassurance that they will be remembered.

The systematic review, published in Palliative Medicine, analysed 16 studies conducted in mainland China and Taiwan and published between 2000 and 2025. The researchers examined the psychosocial and spiritual needs of children and their families, as well as how these needs were identified and addressed.

The findings highlight children’s need for emotional security, meaningful relationships, connection with others and opportunities to express their feelings and thoughts. Children’s spiritual concerns do not necessarily take a religious form. They may emerge through stories and imagination, or through questions about the meaning of life.

Family relationships play an important role in how children’s needs are addressed. Parents sometimes try to protect their child by avoiding conversations about death. Although well-intentioned, this may also limit children’s opportunities to express their fears, wishes and preferences.

The review also identified gaps in the support provided by professionals. Psychosocial and spiritual support was sometimes fragmented, while culturally informed guidance on communication and support for coping with grief were not consistently available.

“A child approaching the end of life needs more than physical care. Children should have opportunities to express their feelings, maintain their relationships and have their voices heard. Addressing these needs requires close collaboration between healthcare professionals, children and their families,” says Doctoral Researcher Xiao Liu of the University of Eastern Finland.

The researchers emphasise that the findings do not necessarily suggest that children’s needs in mainland China and Taiwan differ from those elsewhere. Rather, cultural expectations, family relationships and healthcare structures shape how needs are expressed and addressed.

The findings support integrating psychosocial support into paediatric end-of-life care. As members of multidisciplinary teams, social workers can support communication between children and their families, help identify psychosocial needs and connect families with appropriate services. Coordination between health and social care professionals and providers of psychosocial support should also be strengthened.

Relatively few of the studies included in the review explored children’s experiences directly through their own accounts. Children’s and families’ needs were more often described from the perspectives of parents and professionals.

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Journal

Palliative Medicine

DOI

10.1177/02692163261498541

Article Title

Psychosocial and spiritual needs of children at the end of life and their families in Chinese societies: A systematic review

Article Publication Date

6-Nov-2026

 

Wildfire smoke during pregnancy linked to asthma in young children

New research finds the later months of pregnancy may be an especially sensitive time

American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology

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ACAAI 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting

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Credit: American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Nov. 12, 2026) – Babies whose mothers breathed in wildfire smoke and other air pollution during the middle and later months of pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma as young children. That’s according to a new study being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Devastating large wildfires burned across Northern California from 2017 to 2020, spreading smoke over areas where millions of people live. Pregnant women and young children are among those most at risk from any smoke exposure, including wildfire. A baby’s lungs are still growing in the womb, so researchers wanted to know whether wildfire smoke during pregnancy could affect a child’s breathing and lung health in later years.

“A baby’s lung development begins before birth, and our study suggests that certain stages of pregnancy maybe be especially vulnerable to the effects of wildfire smoke,” said Anh Nguyen, MD, lead author of the study and ACAAI member. “As wildfires become more frequent and affect larger population, knowing when the exposure poses the greatest risk can help families, healthcare providers, and public health officials to take steps to protect both mothers and babies.”

The researchers studied 1,097 children who were born full-term in Northern California. 108 children were born from mothers who were pregnant during the 2017 – 2020 Northern California wildfires and were recruited from B-SAFE (Bio-Specimen Assessment of Fire Effects) study. 989 children who were born at UC Davis Medical center between 2017-2019 and from areas affected by the recent Northern California wildfires were also included through chart review.

The researchers estimated how much polluted air each mother breathed every day during pregnancy and after the baby was born. They looked at two things:

• Fine particulate matter (PM2.5): Tiny bits of pollution in the air, many times smaller than the width of a human hair. They can come from smoke, cars, and factories, and they can travel deep into the lungs.
• Wildfire pollution: Pollution that came from the wildfire smoke itself.

The researchers accounted for other things that can affect asthma development, such as the child’s age and sex, how far along the pregnancy was at birth, family history of asthma and whether the mother was around cigarette smoke while pregnant. Then they found:

• More fine-particle pollution during the second trimester (months 4 to 6 of pregnancy) was linked to asthma in early childhood.
• More wildfire pollution during the third trimester (months 7 to 9) and around the time of birth was also linked to asthma in early childhood.

The study shows a link between wildfire smoke and asthma. It does not prove that smoke causes asthma. Still, knowing which months of pregnancy may matter most could help doctors offer pregnant women clearer advice during wildfire season. It could also help health leaders plan ways to protect pregnant women when the air is affected by smoke.

“Pregnant women can’t control when a wildfire happens, but there are things they can do on smoky days,” said Dr. Nguyen. “Staying indoors, keeping windows closed, and using an air purifier can help lower how much smoke they breathe in.”

Abstract Title: Effect of Prenatal Wildfire Exposure on Asthma Development

Presenter: Anh Nguyen, MD

If your child’s asthma is not well controlled, talk with a board-certified allergist about treatment options. To find an allergist near you, visit AllergyandAsthmaRelief.org. The ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting is Nov. 12-16. For more news and research from the ACAAI Scientific Meeting, go to our newsroom and follow the conversation on X/Twitter #ACAAI26.

About ACAAI

The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) is a professional medical organization of more than 6,500 allergists-immunologists and allied health professionals, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill. Founded in 1942, the College fosters a culture of collaboration and congeniality in which its members work together and with others toward the common goals of patient care, education, advocacy, and research. ACAAI allergists are board-certified physicians trained to diagnose allergies and asthma, administer immunotherapy, and provide patients with the best treatment outcomes. For more information and to find relief, visit AllergyandAsthmaRelief.org. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X.

EFFECT OF PRENATAL WILDFIRE EXPOSURE ON ASTHMA DEVELOPMENT

R141
A. Nguyen*, A. Goodrich, Y. Ren, K. Kim, R. Schmidt, Sacramento, CA.

Introduction: In the past few years, multiple wildfires caused devastating destruction in Northern California, affecting millions, especially pregnant women and children who are particularly vulnerable. Our study aims to investigate the impact of wildfire smoke on developing fetal lung. 

Methods: Analyses included 1097 full term (≥ 37 gestation weeks) children. 108 children were born from mothers who were pregnant during the 2017 – 2020 Northern California wildfires and were recruited from B-SAFE (Bio-Specimen Assessment of Fire Effects) study. 989 children who were born at UC Davis Medical center between 2017-2019 and from areas affected by the recent Northern California wildfires were also included through chart review. Daily air pollution exposures were estimated using a hybrid modeling approach that captured estimate PM2.5 exposure for each subject. A Cox proportional hazards model combined with distributed lag nonlinear model was used to evaluate the associations of asthma and wheezing with PM2.5 exposure and wildfire (WF)-specific pollutant during pregnancy and infancy.

Results: Distributed lag models adjusting for child age, sex, gestational age, and secondhand smoking during pregnancy showed that increased PM2.5 exposure levels during second trimester and increased WF-specific pollutant during third trimester and at birth were significantly associated with early childhood asthma development.

Conclusion: Prenatal exposures to PM2.5 and WF-specific pollutants, especially during second and third trimester, were associated with later development of asthma. In identifying sensitive window of gestation exposure to wildfire smoke, this can help shape preventive strategies that mitigate maternal exposure and ultimately protect children’s health. 

 

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Journal

Annals of Allergy Asthma & Immunology

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

EFFECT OF PRENATAL WILDFIRE EXPOSURE ON ASTHMA DEVELOPMENT

Article Publication Date

12-Nov-2026

 

Wildfire in a wood stove: on the trail of the nitrogen oxide mystery

Paul Scherrer Institute

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Markus Ammann and Fengxia Bao have elucidated how brown carbon produced by wildfires accelerates the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. 

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Credit: Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Markus Fischer

In laboratory experiments, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have discovered how brown carbon from wildfires promotes the formation of harmful nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. This could improve prediction of the effects wildfires have on air quality and climate. The results have now been published in the journal Science Advances.

Wildfires bring to mind a blazing sea of flames. But what happens to the smoke? Anyone observing a wildfire from a safe distance notices mainly the enormous clouds that tower above the fire. These rise several kilometres and then embark on journeys that can extend across continents and oceans. Pollutants from wildfires in Canada can still be detected, for example, at the Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps.

These pollutants – which include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides – have diverse and well-documented effects on air quality and climate. Among other things, they lead to respiratory illnesses and accelerate climate change through the greenhouse effect. Now researchers led by Markus Ammann at the PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences have investigated the formation of these pollutants in more detail, and they found an explanation for why elevated nitrogen oxide concentrations are still present even at great distances from wildfires.

The path of nitrogen oxides

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) – compounds consisting of one nitrogen atom and one or two oxygen atoms – are produced during combustion processes. Wildfires and lightning are natural sources. However, due to the burning of fossil fuels, current nitrogen oxide levels in urban areas are many times higher than in pre-industrial times.

In the lower atmosphere, nitrogen oxides are responsible for the formation of ozone, a greenhouse gas and irritant. Furthermore, nitrogen oxides oxidise to nitric acid (HNO3) in the atmosphere. This dissolves as nitrate in tiny aerosol particles, which act as nuclei for cloud droplets. Rain carries the nitrate back to earth, where it is deposited in the soil.

This continuous conversion of nitrogen oxides to nitrate should ultimately result in a much lower amount of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere than is actually present.

There is also a known reverse pathway in the atmosphere: triggered by sunlight, nitrate can be converted back into nitrogen oxide. This process is called photolysis. “However, this process is far too slow to account for the observed amounts of nitrogen oxide,” Ammann says.

One hypothesis in aerosol chemistry was, therefore, that in addition to this known, slow photolysis, there must be another, faster photolysis process – and that other substances released during wildfires could play a role in this.

Simulated wildfire in a wood-burning stove

Wildfires differ from other sources of nitrogen oxide in that they also produce a large amount of particulate matter from organic compounds, including some soot. The cause of this is incomplete combustion of wood and other biomass. This organic particulate matter is responsible for the greyish-white colour of the smoke. Some of the organic compounds absorb light in the visible spectrum. These are collectively referred to as brown carbon.

To investigate the influence of brown carbon on photolysis, researchers at PSI conducted a laboratory experiment: in a wood-burning stove, they first simulated a wildfire by reducing the air supply to produce more smoke – and thus more brown carbon. This was collected using filters, then dissolved in water, and finally placed in a temperature-stabilised glass tube.

The researchers then exposed nitrate to the light of various UV lamps that simulated sunlight under different conditions – once without the added brown carbon and once with it. In each case, they measured the concentration of nitrogen oxides produced.

Nitrogen oxides were always produced with light containing a particularly high-energy ultraviolet component, that is, hard UV light. The photolysis of nitrate under hard UV light is known. However, the amount of nitrogen oxide was significantly higher in the samples that also contained brown carbon.

“When we then used lamps without a hard UV component, we could only detect nitrogen oxides in the presence of brown carbon,” says Fengxia Bao, a researcher in Markus Ammann’s group and first author of the study.

Since direct photolysis with the remaining soft UV light is not possible, the researchers concluded that the path to nitrogen oxide in this case is indirect: the organic substances in the brown carbon absorb the soft UV light. This causes them to enter an excited state and donate an electron to the nitrate. That’s how the nitrate is converted into nitrogen oxide. In this way, nitrogen oxide production is accelerated tenfold compared to the known process with hard UV light.

A powerful effect

“This is a clear, powerful result,” Ammann says. “We were able to demonstrate experimentally what up to now had only been vaguely suspected. Our study will enable better predictions about the effects of wildfires on air quality and climate.”

Further research will be needed to clarify additional pathways for the formation of nitrogen oxides, Ammann continues: “Our result can explain a larger proportion of the nitrogen oxides present in the atmosphere – but not yet all of them.”

In the future, he would like to make his research, which was funded by the ETH Board’s ReCLEAN project, even more realistic. For example, the simulation chamber at PSI could use all of the burned material, not just the components filtered out and dissolved in water.

Text: Oliver Morsch

 

About PSI

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland. It is the central location of Switzerland’s large research facilities, available to both the scientific community and industry. Its research spans future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation and fundamentals of nature. The annual budget is CHF 450 million. PSI employs 2300 people; around a quarter of these are postdoctoral researchers, PhD students or apprentices. PSI is part of the ETH Domain, which also includes ETH Zurich and ETH Lausanne, as well as the other federal research institutes Empa, Eawag and WSL. 

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Journal

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.aeg9077

Article Title

Brown carbon in biomass burning aerosol enhances HONO production

Article Publication Date

11-Nov-2026

The wood stove at PSI that the researchers use to simulate a wildfire. 

Credit

Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Markus Fischer

 

Ebola resource equips healthcare workers, policymakers and researchers with evidence-based interventions

Curated collection provides free access to the latest medical and social science research

Taylor & Francis Group

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Leading knowledge publisher Taylor & Francis has announced a new collection of key books and journal articles, supporting the global response to the current Ebola outbreak. Curated by expert editors, the featured content is free for everyone to access, making trusted research available to all frontline workers, researchers and policymakers.

Drawing on the breadth of the Taylor & Francis publishing program across disciplines, the collection features not only critical medical and health research but also humanities and social science contributions, essential for addressing the societal, ethical, and policy impacts of the disease.

Across seven sections, the resource brings together articles and book chapters covering transmission and diagnosis; vaccine strategy; treatment; health communication; and international relations. Context for the latest outbreak is provided by resources examining the origins and history of the disease.

Leon Heward-Mills, Managing Director Academic and Chief Content Officer at Taylor & Francis, said: “Publishers play a key role in putting the latest peer-reviewed research into the hands of those who can apply it on the ground and that’s especially critical during health crises. The new Ebola resource features some of the most important contributions from experts across diverse disciplines, offering valuable knowledge to those tackling this devastating disease.”

The Ebola resource is available on the Taylor & Francis website.