American duo win Nobel Economics Prize for work on auctions

by Johannes Ledel, With Marc Preel

Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have helped invent new auction formats

US economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for work on commercial auctions, including for goods and services difficult to sell in traditional ways such as radio frequencies, the Nobel Committee said.

The duo was honoured "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats," the jury said.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted that the discoveries by Milgrom, 72, and Wilson, 83, "have benefitted sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world," it said in a statement.

Wilson, a professor at Stanford in the US, was spotlighted for developing a theory for auctions with a common value, "a value which is uncertain beforehand but, in the end, is the same for everyone," according to the academy.

Wilson's work showed why rational bidders tend to bid under their own estimate of the worth due to worries over the "winner's curse," or winning the auction but paying too much.

Milgrom, also at Stanford, then came up with a more general theory of auctions, by analysing bidding strategies in different auction forms.

The academy noted that while "people have always sold things to the highest bidder," societies have also had to allocate "ever more complex objects... such as landing slots and radio frequencies."

"In response, Milgrom and Wilson invented new formats for auctioning off many interrelated objects simultaneously, on behalf of a seller motivated by broad societal benefit rather than maximal revenue," the academy said.

The winners will share the prize sum of 10 million Swedish kronor (about $1.1 million, 950,000 euros).

Speaking to reporters in Stockholm via a telephone link, Wilson said the announcement had been "very happy news," conceding that despite his research focus he himself had "never participated in an auction."
The winners of the Nobel prize for economics, 2016-2020

However, he quickly had to retract his statement. "My wife is pointing out that we bought ski boots on eBay, I guess that was an auction," Wilson said.

Last year the honour went to French-American Esther Duflo, Indian-born Abhijit Banerjee of the US, and American Michael Kremer for their experimental work on alleviating poverty.

Not created by Alfred Nobel

Even if it might be the most prestigious prize an economist can hope to receive, the economics prize has not reached the same status as the awards originally chosen by Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will founding the awards, which included medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.


It was instead created in 1968 through a donation from the Swedish central bank and detractors have thus dubbed it "a false Nobel."

The award closes the 2020 Nobel season, which saw the closely-watched peace prize awarded to the UN's World Food Programme.

Women have been more prevalent than usual this year, with American poet Louise Gluck winning the literature prize.

Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna became the first all-female duo to win a scientific Nobel on Wednesday, clinching the chemistry award for their discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 DNA snipping "scissors".

While the number of female winners has risen sharply since the turn of the century, they still represent only about one out of every 20 Nobel medals since 1901.

Winners would normally receive their Nobel from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, but the pandemic means it has been replaced by a televised ceremony showing the laureates receiving their awards in their home countries.


Explore furtherNobel awards season comes to an end with economics prize

Ancient tiny teeth reveal first mammals lived more like reptiles

by University of Bristol
Long: Scientists countfossilised growthrings in teeth liketree-rings to findout how long theearliest mammalslived.From left to right:reconstruction ofMorganucodon;Morganucodontooth withcementum, thestructure thatlocks tooth rootsto the gum,highlighted ingreen; as it growsnon-stopthroughout life,cementumdeposits everyyear like treerings, highlightedusing colouredarrows; Thesewere turned into3D models tocount 14 years oflife in the shrew-sizedMorganucodon.Short: Scientistscountfossilisedgrowth ringsin teeth liketree-rings tofind out howlong theearliestmammalslived. Credit: Nuria MelisaMoralesGarcia. Morganucodon based on BobNicholls/Palaeocreations 2018 model

Pioneering analysis of 200 million-year-old teeth belonging to the earliest mammals suggests they functioned like their cold-blooded counterparts—reptiles, leading less active but much longer lives.


The research, led by the University of Bristol, UK and University of Helsinki, Finland, published today in Nature Communications, is the first time palaeontologists have been able to study the physiologies of early fossil mammals directly, and turns on its head what was previously believed about our earliest ancestors.

Fossils of teeth, the size of a pinhead, from two of the earliest mammals, Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, were scanned for the first time using powerful X-rays, shedding new light on the lifespan and evolution of these small mammals, which roamed the earth alongside early dinosaurs and were believed to be warm-blooded by many scientists. This allowed the team to study growth rings in their tooth sockets, deposited every year like tree rings, which could be counted to tell us how long these animals lived. The results indicated a maximum lifespan of up to 14 years—much older than their similarly sized furry successors such as mice and shrews, which tend to only survive a year or two in the wild.

"We made some amazing and very surprising discoveries. It was thought the key characteristics of mammals, including their warm-bloodedness, evolved at around the same time," said lead author Dr. Elis Newham, Research Associate at the University of Bristol, and previously Ph.D. student at the University of Southampton during the time when this study was conducted.

"By contrast, our findings clearly show that, although they had bigger brains and more advanced behaviour, they didn't live fast and die young but led a slower-paced, longer life akin to those of small reptiles, like lizards."

Using advanced imaging technology in this way was the brainchild of Dr. Newham's supervisor Dr. Pam Gill, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol and Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum London, who was determined to get to the root of its potential.

"A colleague, one of the co-authors, had a tooth removed and told me they wanted to get it X-rayed, because it can tell all sorts of things about your life history. That got me wondering whether we could do the same to learn more about ancient mammals," Dr. Gill said.


By scanning the fossilised cementum, the material which locks the tooth roots into their socket in the gum and continues growing throughout life, Dr. Gill hoped the preservation would be clear enough to determine the mammal's lifespan.

To test the theory, an ancient tooth specimen belonging to Morganucodon was sent to Dr. Ian Corfe, from the University of Helsinki and the Geological Survey of Finland, who scanned it using high-powered Synchrotron X-ray radiation.

"To our delight, although the cementum is only a fraction of a millimetre thick, the image from the scan was so clear the rings could literally be counted," Dr. Corfe said.

It marked the start of a six-year international study, which focused on these first mammals, Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, known from Jurassic rocks in South Wales, UK, dating back nearly 200 million years.

"The little mammals fell into caves and holes in the rock, where their skeletons, including their teeth, fossilised. Thanks to the incredible preservation of these tiny fragments, we were able to examine hundreds of individuals of a species, giving greater confidence in the results than might be expected from fossils so old," Dr. Corfe added.

The journey saw the researchers take some 200 teeth specimens, provided by the Natural History Museum London and University Museum of Zoology Cambridge, to be scanned at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the Swiss Light Source, among the world's brightest X-ray light sources, in France and Switzerland, respectively.

In search of an exciting project, Dr. Newham took this up for the MSc in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol, and then a Ph.D. at the University of Southampton.

"I was looking for something big to get my teeth into and this more than fitted the bill. The scanning alone took over a week and we ran 24-hour shifts to get it all done. It was an extraordinary experience, and when the images started coming through, we knew we were onto something," Dr. Newham said.

Dr. Newham was the first to analyse the cementum layers and pick up on their huge significance.

"We digitally reconstructed the tooth roots in 3-D and these showed that Morganucodon lived for up to 14 years, and Kuehneotherium for up to nine years. I was dumbfounded as these lifespans were much longer than the one to three years we anticipated for tiny mammals of the same size," Dr. Newham said.

"They were otherwise quite mammal-like in their skeletons, skulls and teeth. They had specialised chewing teeth, relatively large brains and probably had hair, but their long lifespan shows they were living life at more of a reptilian pace than a mammalian one. There is good evidence that the ancestors of mammals began to become increasingly warm-blooded from the Late Permian, more than 270 million years ago, but, even 70 million years later, our ancestors were still functioning more like modern reptiles than mammals"

While their pace-of-life remained reptilian, evidence for an intermediate ability for sustained exercise was found in the bone tissue of these early mammals. As a living tissue, bone contains fat and blood vessels. The diameter of these blood vessels can reveal the maximum possible blood flow available to an animal, critical for activities such as foraging and hunting.

Dr. Newham said: "We found that in the thigh bones of Morganucodon, the blood vessels had flow rates a little higher than in lizards of the same size, but much lower than in modern mammals. This suggests these early mammals were active for longer than small reptiles but could not live the energetic lifestyles of living mammals."


Explore further Jurassic Welsh mammals were picky eaters, study finds

More information: Nature Communications (2020). 

 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18898-4

Journal information: Nature Communications


Provided by University of Bristol

An open access software-based tool for predicting COVID-19 susceptibility in animals

October 12, 2020 by Ashutosh Kumar, Ravi K. Narayan

Figure 1 Predicting susceptibility for SARS-CoV-2 infection using NCBI protein blast tool. Credit: Kumar et al., 2020. Zoo Biology.

The world is currently in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 from human to wildlife and domestic animals is an immediate concern of medical scientists worldwide. Recently, there have been reports of cats, ferrets, dogs, minks, golden hamsters, rhesus monkeys, tigers and lions testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the zoo and wildlife sanctuaries where chances of animal-human contact are higher should be a priority, as disease may threaten many rare and near-extinct animal species. Additionally, the continued presence of the virus in animals can work as a reservoir that can be a potential reason for failure in containment and recurrence of the pandemic.

SARS-CoV-2 infects humans using a cell-surface protein—angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2). The receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 binds to N-terminal end of ACE2, which is a key step for host cell entry of the virus. The animals that have the ACE2 protein sequence similar to humans, specifically for the segment of protein which binds to SARS-CoV-2 RBD, may also become infected with this virus.

Using the open-access NCBI protein database and protein blast tools, our research group, the Etiologically Elusive Disorders Research Network (EEDRN), has devised a two-step bioinformatics-based method for comparing the homology of human ACE2 with that of animal species-specific ACE2 protein sequence. First, we performed a comparative analysis of the variability of hACE2 with that of wildlife and domestic animal species in complete protein sequences. The species that showed significant homology for the complete sequence were selected for further analysis for the second step.

In the second step, we narrowed down our homology search to a sub-range of amino acid residues of human ACE2, which contain conserved hotspots for binding of SARS‐CoV‐2 RBD. The susceptibility for contracting SARS-CoV-2, and the degree of risk of infection for any animal species for which the ACE2 protein sequence is available at NCBI database can be easily calculated online in these two simple steps using open access NCBI protein blast tools.

On the basis of the sequence homology, we predicted the highest susceptibility for hominids (such as chimpanzee, gorilla, and rhesus monkey) and other primates, followed by carnivores, rodents and artiodactyles (ungulates). The risk for contracting the virus showed a distinct evolutionary trend—the closer to humans in evolution, the higher is the risk of infection. We tested our predictions against PCR‐based laboratory testing results for SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA reported in recent literature for animals such as cats, dogs, golden hamster, rhesus monkey, tigers and lions, which showed our results were highly accurate. Our proposed method can be used as a no-cost screening tool for guiding viral RNA testing for domestic and wildlife animals at risk of getting COVID-19, especially at the settings where immediate availability of PCR-based testing facility cannot be assured.

This story is part of Science X Dialog, where researchers can report findings from their published research articles. Visit this page for information about ScienceX Dialog and how to participate.

More information: Kumar A, Pandey SN, Pareek V, Narayan RK, Faiq MA, Kumari C. Predicting susceptibility for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in domestic and wildlife animals using ACE2 protein sequence homology. Zoo Biology. 2020;1–7. doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21576.

Bio:
Dr. Ashutosh Kumar is an assistant professor and Dr. Ravi K. Narayan is a senior resident doctor, at Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, India.

 

Scientists reconstruct beetles from the Cretaceous

International research team gains new insights into the evolution of fossil beetles

UNIVERSITY OF BONN

Research News

 

IMAGE: MICRO-CT RECONSTRUCTION OF MYSTERIOMORPHUS PELEVINI view more 

CREDIT: D. PERIS & R. KUNDRATA ET AL. / SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

About a year ago, researchers found fossil specimens of beetles in an amber deposit in Myanmar, thereby describing a new beetle family that lived about 99 million years ago. However, the scientists had not been able to fully describe the morphology of the insects in the amber sample, which is why the beetles were subsequently given the mysterious name Mysteriomorphidae. An international research team led by the University of Bonn (Germany) and Palacky University (Czech Republic) has now examined four newly found specimens of the Mysteriomorphidae using computer tomography and has been able to reconstruct them. The results allow to draw conclusions about the evolution of the species during the Cretaceous period. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Small creatures enclosed in amber can provide scientists with important information about past times, some of which date back many millions of years. In January 2019, the Spanish paleontologist Dr. David Peris, one of the two main authors of the study, collected several amber samples from the northern state of Kachin in Myanmar during a scientific trip to China and found beetle specimens from the same group as the Mysteriomorphidae.

Some of the newly found specimens showed a very good state of preservation - a good prerequisite for David Peris and his colleagues to carry out a virtual reconstruction of one of the beetles using computer tomography (CT scan). The technique used in paleontology allows researchers to study many small features of the fossils - even internal structures such as genitalia, if preserved.

While David Peris and his colleagues started to study and describe the morphology, i.e. the outer shape of the beetles, another research group also described the new family of Mysteriomorphidae by means of further specimens, that also came from the amber deposit in Myanmar. "However, the first study left some open questions about the classification of these fossils which had to be answered. We used the opportunity to pursue these questions with new technologies," explains David Peris, researcher now at the Institute for Geosciences and Meteorology at the University of Bonn.

"We used the morphology to better define the placement of the beetles and discovered that they were very closely related to Elateridae, a current family," explains Dr. Robin Kundrata from Palacky University, the second main author of the study and also an expert on this group of beetles. The scientists discovered important diagnostic characters that these beetle lineages share on mouthparts, thorax and abdomen.

Analysis of the evolution of beetles

Apart from the morphology, the researchers also analyzed the evolutionary history of the beetles. Earlier models had suggested that the beetles had a low extinction rate throughout their long evolutionary history, even during the Cretaceous period. However, the researchers provided a list of fossil groups of beetles described from the Cretaceous amber findings that, as Mysteriomorphidae, are only known as fossils from that time and had not survived the end of the Cretaceous period.

Background: During the Cretaceous period, flowering plants spread all over the world, replacing the old plants in the changing environment. This distribution of plants was connected with new possibilities for many associated animals and also with the development of new living beings, for example pollinators of flowers. However, most previous theories had not described that the animal species that were previously well adapted to the old plants were under pressure to adapt to the new resources and possibly became extinct. "Our results support the hypothesis that beetles, but perhaps some other groups of insects, suffered a decrease in their diversity during the time of plant revolution," states David Peris.

###

Institutions involved:

In addition to the University of Bonn (Germany) and Palacky University (Czech Republic), the study involved the University of Barcelona (Spain), the Montana State University and the Smithsonian Institution (USA).

Publication: David Peris*, Robin Kundrata*, Xavier Delclòs, Bastian Mähler, Michael A. Ivie, Jes Rust & Conrad C. Labandeira: Unlocking the mystery of the mid-Cretaceous Mysteriomorphidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) and modalities in transiting from gymnosperms to angiosperms. Scientific Reports; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73724-7 *Equal Contribution https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73724-7

 

Avoiding ableist language in autism research

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC./GENETIC ENGINEERING NEWS

Research News

 

IMAGE: JOURNAL DEDICATED TO RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP ON THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES AFFECTING ADULTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM, FROM EMERGING ADULTHOOD TO LATER LIFE view more 

CREDIT: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC., PUBLISHERS

New Rochelle, NY --Ableist language is often used by autism researchers, which assumes that autistic people are "broken" or inferior to non-autistic people. Strategies for avoiding ableist language are provided in Autism and Adulthood. Click here to read the full article.

"We provide practical guidance to help researchers make language choices that reduce stigmatization, misunderstanding, and exclusion of autistic people," state Kristen Bottema-Beutel, PhD, Boston College, and coauthors.

The authors assert that avoiding ableist language will result in better outcomes for the autistic community and improved communication in research.

"I am amazed at how often researchers inadvertently use ableist, dehumanizing language when speaking about autism. This thoughtful article challenges researchers to re-evaluate the language they use to talk about autism and gives them tools to do better. I expect it will set the standard for how autism, and autistic people, are discussed in the literature," says Editor-in-Chief of Autism in Adulthood, Christina Nicolaidis, MD, MPH, Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University.

###

About the Journal

Autism in Adulthood is a new peer-reviewed journal dedicated to research and scholarship on the most pressing issues affecting adults on the autism spectrum, from emerging adulthood to later life. Led by Editor-in-Chief Christina Nicolaidis, MD, MPH, Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University, the Journal is the premier source for original research, in-depth analysis, and inter-professional dialogue, providing new insights and evidence to promote practice, systems, and policy change. For complete information, please visit the Autism in Adulthood website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. A complete list of the firm's 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

 

Sustainable space management at risk under US-centric policies

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

Research News 

"Other nations need to speak up, now," argue Aaron Boley and Michael Byers in this Policy Forum, in response to U.S. policymakers' attempts to dominate commercial space mining based on a strategic interpretation of international space law. If accepted by many other nations, the resulting policies - unleashed via NASA's Artemis Accords - would position the U.S. as the sole gatekeeper of the Moon and other celestial bodies, the authors warn. Such U.S.-centric policies would go against the UN's 1979 Moon Agreement that protects the Moon as the "common heritage of mankind," as well as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that bans "national appropriation" of the Moon and other celestial bodies. Shortly after President Trump's Executive Order in April 2020 affirming the right to space mining, NASA introduced the Artemis Accords, a set of agreements required for enrollment in NASA's Artemis moon exploration program. Under the Accords, commercialized space mining would be subject only to national regulation, and private companies would be allowed to declare "safety zones" where they could operate without any external interference. The lure of manning the moon could push nations toward accepting the accords. This is all part of NASA's "concerted, strategic effort to redirect international space cooperation in favor of short-term U.S. commercial interests, with little regard for the risks involved," the authors argue. The risks of uncontrolled asteroid mining include human-made meteorites, increased debris that can threaten satellites and space operations, and -- as a worst-case scenario -- redirection of meteorites impacting Earth. "Instead of pressing ahead unilaterally and bilaterally, the United States should support negotiations on space mining within the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space," said Boley and Byers. The authors do note, more broadly, that leaving space regulation to national governments could be workable, but, the current environment risks more of a "race to the bottom."

###

Cannabis ads and store location influence youth marijuana use

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

PULLMAN, Wash. - Advertising and location of cannabis retailers influence adolescents' intentions to use marijuana, according to a new study in the Journal of Health Communication by Washington State University researchers.

Stacey J.T. Hust, associate dean in the Murrow College of Communication, and Jessica Fitts Willoughby, associate professor of communication, conducted a survey of 13- to 17-year-olds in Washington State to find out how marijuana advertising and the location of marijuana retailers influence adolescents' intentions to use the drug. The researchers also asked participants about their outcome beliefs--whether or not they thought using marijuana would be good for them personally and or socially.

Their research shows regular exposure to marijuana advertising on storefronts, billboards, retailer websites and other locations increased the likelihood of adolescents using marijuana.

"While there are restrictions against using advertising designed specifically to target youth, it does still appear to be having some influence," Willoughby said. "Our research suggests a need to equip adolescents with the knowledge and skills to critically evaluate marijuana advertisements."

Location of retail stores also played a role but the results of the survey were mixed.

While the actual density of marijuana retailers in an area was not associated with adolescents' intentions to use, study participants who said they lived within five miles of a marijuana shop were more likely to report intentions to use the drug than those who perceived they lived farther away.

"This was especially the case when they also reported having positive beliefs about marijuana use," Hust said. "The study participants who felt positively about marijuana and perceived living close to retailers were the most likely to report intentions to use marijuana."

The results of the research team's study could have significant policy implications as states that have legalized recreational marijuana use grapple with ways to adhere to the drug's legal status while trying to prevent adolescent marijuana use.

For instance, most states with legalized marijuana restrict placing retailers and advertisements next to schools, but other locations, where adolescents live and spend a lot of their time, remain largely unregulated.

"Our findings are particularly relevant given that most states that have legalized recreational marijuana have not restricted their proximity to neighborhoods or living areas, which may be particularly challenging in large metropolitan areas," Hust said. "States may want to consider using census data to identify the proportion of teens living in particular areas as they identify the location for marijuana retailers."

The researchers are currently in the process of conducting a new experiment where they are testing different types of advertisements to see how young people interpret and respond to them.

"One of the things this research and other studies suggest is that these advertisements are pretty prolific in certain areas and we want to see what type of appeals are used in the advertisements and how those appeals affect viewers," Hust said. "Our long-term goal is really to develop a better understanding of how adolescents can make heathy and informed decisions in an environment in which marijuana is legal."

 

UCI, others see agriculture as major source of increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide

Long-lived greenhouse gas could hinder international climate goals, researchers say

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE

Research News

 

IMAGE: GLOBAL N2O BUDGET 2007-2016 view more 

CREDIT: GLOBAL CARBON PROJECT

Irvine, Calif. ¬ - An international team of researchers - including Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine - recently completed the most thorough review yet of nitrous oxide from emission to destruction in the planet's atmosphere.

In addition to confirming that the 20 percent increase in the amount of the greenhouse gas since the start of the Industrial Revolution can be totally attributed to humans, the team expressed doubt about the ability to reduce emissions or mitigate their future impacts.

In a study published this week in Nature, the researchers document the details of human-sourced N2O emissions and how they have intensified by 30 percent over the past four decades, the dominant share coming from synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and animal manure used in agriculture. The paper notes that emerging economies - particularly Brazil, China and India - are becoming major emitters of the gas as they increase their food production. Once released into the air, nitrous oxide remains for about 116 years.

The buildup of N2O, which is generated naturally as well as through human activities and is also known to deplete stratospheric ozone, creates a dilemma for nations working to put the brakes on runaway climate change, according to co-author Michael Prather, Distinguished Professor of Earth system science at UCI.

"Nitrous oxide emissions are increasing faster than any scenarios considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - so fast that if left unchecked, they along with carbon dioxide will push the rise in global mean temperature to well above 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, the nominal goal of the Paris climate agreement," he said.

Scientists estimate that to achieve this end-of-century objective, cumulative CO2 emissions should not exceed about 700 gigatons throughout the next 80 years; to limit global warming to an even more ambitious 1.5 degrees, this sum drops to 500 gigatons.

"There is some cautious optimism that these goals are achievable if we can curtail fossil fuel emissions and take steps to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere," Prather noted.

Nitrous oxide is a considerably more stubborn greenhouse gas, however. The study found that these emissions have always exceeded expectations, and with nitrogen use being tied to food production, there appear to be limited ways of significantly mitigating the gas's release.

Further, unlike CO2, N2O is not photosynthesized by plants, nor is it chemically reactive enough to be sequestered through geoengineering methods. Prather said that the path to controlling N2O emissions is through more efficient use of fertilizer and the land on which livestock are raised.

According to him, if current nitrous oxide emissions continue, they will be equivalent to about 230 gigatons of cumulative CO2 emissions by the end of the century - almost half of the total CO2 emissions allowed to remain within a 1.5-degree global temperature increase.

"The most optimistic scenarios call for N2O emissions to be cut to the equivalent of 178 gigatons of CO2," Prather said. "But our paper shows that this will be difficult to achieve because N2O emissions are not tied to the carbon sector but to agriculture, which must continue to expand with population and gross domestic product growth."

He said the study is an important step in confronting the challenge presented by this uncooperative greenhouse gas.

"Compared to the well-established understanding of the contributions of carbon dioxide and methane to climate change, nitrous oxide had long been assumed to be the most 'uncertain' of greenhouse gases," Prather said. "With this paper, we can confirm that N2O sources and sinks are now well-defined and attributed, so tackling the task of reducing emissions can be accompanied by appropriate checks and validation procedures."

He said that the often-forgotten, third-most-important greenhouse gas may become a long-term threat to controlling climate change.

###

The project was supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Scotland's Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services division.

About the University of California, Irvine:

Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu.

Media access:

Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for t

 

Survey shows broad bipartisan support for a stronger focus on science

During a highly partisan time in our nation, survey shows broad bipartisan support for a stronger focus on science

RESEARCH!AMERICA

Research News

ARLINGTON, VA -- A recent survey commissioned by Research!America on behalf of a working group formed to assess America's commitment to science shows overwhelming support for science across political parties. A strong majority of Americans agree that "the COVID-19 pandemic is a disruptive event and requires urgent refocusing of America's commitment to science." On a bipartisan basis, Americans:

• Believe science benefits them (88%);
• Would pay $1 more a week in taxes to support scientific research (66%);
• Believe America should maintain its global leadership in science (89%);
• View basic scientific research that advances the frontiers of knowledge as necessary and should be supported by the federal government (77%);
• Support incentives for private sector investment in science and technology (76%);
• Express concern about the number of children without home internet access (64%); and
• Agree the U.S. is at a critical point for committing to a major new initiative to assure health, security and prosperity for the nation (77%).

Science is seen as crucial to addressing urgent and important concerns such as economic growth, climate change, safe drinking water, ensuring the food supply and ending COVID-19 and other diseases. There was striking agreement across racial and ethnic groups.

Of concern is that those ages 18-29 appear to see science as less consequential to our nation's future. They are less likely to say they support a greater share of the U.S. GDP going to research and development (69% compared to 79% of all adults) and less likely to agree the U.S. should be a global leader in scientific research (74% to 89% of all adults). Surprisingly, this group also expresses less interest in federal incentives for STEM education (58% to 70% of adults).

Among all adults, the bipartisan support for U.S. global leadership in science and for increasing the percentage of our GDP spend in science stands in sharp contradiction to the disturbing slippage in our nation's global scientific leadership. According to a report released this month by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Baker Institute of Public Policy, the U.S. has fallen to tenth place among OECD nations in the share of GDP invested in research and development.

Congress has begun to address our global standing in science and technology with legislation and in pointed reports. This includes the Endless Frontiers Act and the America LEADS Act both introduced in the Senate as well as two House reports released by the Foreign Affairs Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence.

"Americans are facing major societal challenges - health, environment, food, and energy - that are now existential, due in large part to decades of underinvestment in STEM and STEM education," said Keith Yamamoto, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy at University of California, San Francisco, a co-chair of the working group. "The survey indicates that Americans are aware of the urgency of addressing these challenges, and that science is essential to succeed."

"The level of bipartisan public consensus in this survey shows that support for science is much more than an agreement; it's a mandate to elected officials to do more. It's time for a national refocus on science so we may address the issues top of mind for Americans and live up to our full potential as a science-strong nation," said Mary Woolley, Research!America President and CEO and a co-chair of the working group.

"All elected leaders should take note of the high expectations and enormous support for science held by the American public," said Sudip Parikh, PhD, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and also a working group co-chair. "Now is the time to summon all our resolve to assure that America leads the way in solving the challenges facing us and the rest of the planet."

Additional survey findings include:

• A strong majority across parties believes it is important for elected officials to listen to scientists (80%);
• It's important for scientists to talk to elected officials (81%) and the public (82%);
• 66% of Americans say that climate change is impacting their own health, an increase of 10 percentage points from when asked the same question just eight months ago in January 2020;
• Agree basic research funded by the federal government is important to private sector innovation (76%); and
• Americans see a positive future for STEM fields, with 83% saying they would strongly or somewhat recommend that their child, family member, or other young person enter a STEM field.

The survey results can be viewed here: http://www.researchamerica.org/bipartisan-support

###

 

Effects of poverty on childhood development seen in children as young as 5

How kindergarten teachers helped UCLA researchers highlight the impact of socioeconomic barriers on children's health and development.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES HEALTH SCIENCES

Research News

 

In a nationwide study, UCLA researchers have found that health inequities can be measured in children as young as 5 years old. The research, published in Health Affairs, contributes to a growing body of literature finding that children of color who are also poor face greater health inequities than their white counterparts.

Researchers trained kindergarten teachers in 98 school districts across the United States to administer the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a measure of children's physical, social, emotional and language development.

The assessment was administered to more than 185,000 kindergarteners from 2010 to 2017. After analyzing and correlating the results according to where the children lived, the investigators found that 30 percent of children in the lowest-income neighborhoods were vulnerable in one or more domains of health development, compared to 17 percent of children in higher-income settings.

The researchers also found that income-related differences in developmental vulnerability varied substantially among children from different ethnic and racial groups. Black children, for example, were at highest risk, followed by Latina/o children. Asian children were at lowest risk. The differences in developmental vulnerability between Black children and white children were most pronounced at the higher socioeconomic levels and tended to narrow for Black and white children from lower-income neighborhoods. Such early disparities can have a profound influence on children's long-term development, leading to higher rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, drug use, mental health disorders and dementia as adults.

"Our findings underscore the pronounced racialized disparities for young children," says lead study author Neal Halfon, MD, director of the Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities at UCLA. "Many other studies have highlighted patterns of income and racial inequality in health and educational outcomes. What this study shows is that these patterns of inequality are clearly evident and measurable before kids start school." Halfon also is a professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Fielding School of Public Health and the Luskin School of Public Affairs.

The report also underscores the value of understanding child-developmental inequities at the most micro levels. "Because the EDI is reported at and linked to Census-tract-level indices of neighborhood risk, this measurement tool helps cities and local grassroots efforts develop targeted supports and services to address racialized disparities," adds co-author Lisa Stanley, project director for Transforming Early Childhood Community Systems at the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities.

The EDI tool was developed by Dr. Dan Offord and Dr. Magdalena Janus at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and has been internationally validated, and used widely in Canada, Australia and other nations. The EDI was first piloted in 2009 by UCLA in Santa Ana, in partnership with First Five Orange County. Over the past 10 years, UCLA had enabled city and school district leaders in over 85 communities, spanning 18 states, to assess the health, development and well-being of more than 350,000 kindergartners across the U.S.

UCLA researchers make this data accessible to local communities to help them develop their own initiatives to address the root causes of inequalities. "These findings not only highlight the equity challenges we face but also reveal the truly inequitable design of all the systems responsible for ensuring that children thrive," says co-author Efren Aguilar, geographic information systems lead at the Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities at UCLA. "Only by addressing the historical exploitation and exclusion of marginalized communities, can we begin to repair the pains and exploitative practices of the past and redesign our community systems so that all children thrive."

###

Other study authors include Emily Hotez, project scientist at the Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities at UCLA; Eryn Block, maternal and child health research fellow in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA; and Magdalena Janus, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at McMaster University.

Research funding was provided by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau for the Life Course Intervention Research Network.

Meltwater lakes are accelerating glacier ice loss

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

Research News

IMAGE: HOOKER LAKE, NEW ZEALAND (2016) view more 

CREDIT: JENNA SUTHERLAND

Meltwater lakes that form at glacier margins cause ice to recede much further and faster compared to glaciers that terminate on land, according to a new study. But the effects of these glacial lakes are not represented in current ice loss models, warn the study authors.

Therefore, estimates of recession rates and ice mass loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the coming decades are likely to be under-estimated.

Many mountain glaciers now terminate in such lakes, formed as meltwater becomes trapped behind ridges of glacier debris. They are known as proglacial lakes. Climate change has increased glacier melt worldwide and this in turn has led to a dramatic increase in the size and number of proglacial lakes. But the effects of proglacial lakes on the rates of deglaciation and on glacier behaviour have previously been poorly understood.

Now, an international team of researchers, led by the University of Leeds, has quantified for the first time the influence of proglacial lakes on mountain glaciers using computer simulations. They found that the presence of a proglacial lake causes a glacier to recede more than four times further and accelerate ice flow by up to eight times when compared to the same glacier terminating on land under the same climate.

The findings, published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, show that a land-terminating glacier took 1000 years to succumb to the same amount of recession as a lake-terminating glacier experienced in 100 years.

Study lead author Dr Jenna Sutherland undertook this research while a PhD candidate in the School of Geography at Leeds. She said: "An ice cube in a bowl of water is going to melt much more quickly than an ice cube sitting on a table, and the effect proglacial lakes have on glacier ice is roughly the same.

"The simulations show that the influence of a proglacial lake on a glacier predominantly takes place over decades to centuries rather than over millennia, meaning the glacier recedes much faster than it ever could from climatic changes alone."

HOOKER LAKE 

Study co-author Dr Jonathan Carrivick, a senior lecturer in geomorphology at Leeds, said: "Our findings suggest that simulations of past, contemporary or future glaciers ignore the effects of ice-contact lakes and will likely mis-represent the timing and rate of recession, especially the changes to the timing and rate that will occur once a proglacial lake forms.

"This effects need to be included in all future models and simulations if we are to have an accurate global picture of glacial ice loss."

The team used the BISICLES ice-flow model, to analyse the effects of a proglacial on the Pukaki Glacier, New Zealand, during recession from the end of the last ice age.

Study co-author James Shulmeister from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand said: "While this study focussed on New Zealand, proglacial lakes are prevalent during glacial retreat worldwide and this paper should therefore be of global interest and importance."

In addition, he noted: "This study is also critical because the timing of ice retreat is often used to determine the synchrony or lack thereof of in climate events globally. Major inferences have been made about the roles of phenomena like oceanic circulation in affecting the global climate system from glacial retreat timings. If the timings are wrong, the relationship between these processes may need to be re-examined."

LAKE TASMAN 

Further information:

Images: All credited to Jenna Sutherland
Hooker Lake, New Zealand (2018)
Hooker Lake, New Zealand (2016)
Lake Tasman, New Zealand_1 (2016)
Lake Tasman, New Zealand_2 (2016)

Animations: All credited to Jenna Sutherland
Movie_S1_LAND - 3D simulation of a land-terminating Pukaki Glacier using the BISICLES ice sheet model
Movie S2_LAKE - 3D simulation of a lake-terminating Pukaki Glacier using the BISICLES ice sheet model

The paper Proglacial lakes control glacier geometry and behavior during recession is published in Geophysical Research Letters on 08 October 2020

For additional information contact University of Leeds press officer Anna Harrison at a.harrison@leeds.ac.uk

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 38,000 students from more than 150 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University plays a significant role in the Turing, Rosalind Franklin and Royce Institutes.

We are a top ten university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and are in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings 2021.

The University was awarded a Gold rating by the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework in 2017, recognising its 'consistently outstanding' teaching and learning provision. Twenty-six of our academics have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships - more than any other institution in England, Northern Ireland and Wales - reflecting the excellence of our teaching. ?http://www.leeds.ac.uk

 

Development of cost-efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen production

Development of a highly efficient and durable electrocatalyst for water electrolysis that will lead to cost-efficient hydrogen production. Trace amounts of titanium doping on low-cost molybdenum phosphide resulting in modified electronic structure with gr

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Research News

 

IMAGE: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE STEP-BY-STEP SYNTHESIS PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF TI.MOP. view more 

CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY(KIST)

The key to promoting the hydrogen economy represented by hydrogen vehicles is to produce hydrogen for electricity generation at an affordable price. Hydrogen production methods include capturing by-product hydrogen, reforming fossil fuel, and electrolyzing water. Water electrolysis in particular is an eco-friendly method of producing hydrogen, in which the use of a catalyst is the most important factor in determining the efficiency and price competitiveness. However, water electrolysis devices require a platinum (Pt) catalyst, which exhibits unparalleled performance when it comes to speeding up the hydrogen generation reaction and enhancing long-term durability but is high in cost, making it less competitive compared to other methods price-wise.

There are water electrolysis devices that vary in terms of the electrolyte that dissolves in water and allows current to flow. A device that uses a proton exchange membrane (PEM), for instance, exhibits a high rate of hydrogen generation reaction even with the use of a catalyst made of a transition metal instead of an expensive Pt-based catalyst. For this reason, there has been a great deal of research on the technology for commercialization purposes. While research has been focused on achieving high reaction activity, research on increasing the durability of transition metals that easily corrode in an electrochemical environment has been relatively neglected.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a team headed by Dr. Sung-Jong Yoo from the Center for Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Research developed a catalyst made of a transition metal with long-term stability that could improve hydrogen production efficiency without the use of platinum by overcoming the durability issue of non-platinum catalysts.

The research team injected a small amount of titanium (Ti) into molybdenum phosphide (MoP), a low-cost transition metal, through a spray pyrolysis process. Because it is inexpensive and relatively easy to handle, molybdenum is used as a catalyst for energy conversion and storage devices, but its weakness includes the fact that it corrodes easily as it is vulnerable to oxidation.

In the case of the catalyst developed by the research team at KIST, it was found that the electronic structure of each material became completely restructured during the synthesis process, and it resulted in the same level of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity as the platinum catalyst. The changes in the electronic structure addressed the issue of high corrosiveness, thereby improving durability by 26 times compared to existing transition metal-based catalysts. This is expected to greatly accelerate the commercialization of non-platinum catalysts.

Dr. Yoo of KIST said, "This study is significant in that it improved the stability of a transition metal catalyst-based water electrolysis system, which had been its biggest limitation. I hope that this study, which boosted the hydrogen evolution reaction efficiency of the transition metal catalyst to the level of platinum catalysts and at the same time improved the stability will contribute to earlier commercialization of eco-friendly hydrogen energy production technology."

###

This study was carried out with a grant from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), as part of the Institutional R&D Program of KIST, the Technical Development Program for Responding to Climate Change, and the Global Frontier Multi-Scale Energy System Research Program. It was published in the latest edition of Nano Energy (IF: 16.602, Top 4.299% in the field of JCR), a leading international journal in the area of energy and nanotechnology.